Task 2
A wireless device is any device that can send information wirelessly from one device to another so it does not consist of any physical wires, mobile devices are portable, and can connect to the internet wirelessly. In my chosen department it is very important to be able to access data, emails etc on the go without being inside the office. Mobile devices that allow an individual to access are very useful for an individual to carry out their duties outside the office as well as inside. These devices help to save a business money as well as work sustainably.
The devices that are used are:
- Laptops- these are portable devices that can be used anywhere, they can connect wirelessly to internet/printers (wireless printers), and can have all the software that’s on office computers on them, this allows an individual to check there emails, or work on any pending work e.g. profit and loss accounts, auditing, payroll etc. laptops are very practical as they allow the individual to work from home in severe weather conditions, and by the help of Tele-communications they can interact with colleagues and other staff
- USB devices- these allow an individual to save all the documents they may need to use outside their office. They can access these files by inputting the USB in another computing device.
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Smart phones e.g. blackberry, android and Iphones- these allow an individual to access the internet, it also allows them to set up their email account on them, so each email they get is sent straight to their phone like a text message they can also reply to their emails. Smart phones usually have Microsoft word, excel, presentation on them, this allows the individual to work but also open up any Microsoft files. A ‘Smartphone helps the accountant to ‘connect’, enabling effective out-of-office working through unfettered access to colleagues and clients, office systems, client information and documents. In turn, this increases client responsiveness, satisfaction and retention and improves the productivity and competitiveness of the accountant. Alongside this, the added flexibility delivered can help to improve the work-life balance of a busy professional, even though a small minority may find it an intrusion’
(http://uk.blackberry.com)
- Portable tablets e.g. Ipads, galaxy tabs - these devices are very similar to laptops, but cant are not as useful as a laptop, as portable tablet do not have CD drives, USB ports and have less memory, but still can be used for email, opening files, and working on your own files, make graphs, use Microsoft Excel and are relatively smaller than a laptop. Hence these are much easier to carry around then a laptop.
- Internet Dongles- these are small dongles that attach to a computer/laptop via USB port, they allow you to access the internet even without a wireless connection as they use 3G (similar to mobile phones). This would allow an individual to access documents online whilst on a train, in a public area etc.
All of the devices I named above are wireless, so this means that they will be taken out of the security of a office, to ensure that the data being used on these devices is secure, passwords, encryption in emails, passwords on wireless router etc allow the data on the devices to only be seen by authorised personnel. For example data like the companies’ accounts and financial information is very important and it is vital that data stays within the company, so the security techniques used above allow this data to stay secure.
For any system (department) within a company it is very important to have effective communication across departments, telecommunication is used for companies to communicate, it not only allows the use of send and receiving files it also consists of video conferencing, for example the accounts department will need to communicate with the HR department to obtain payroll data, to the make balance sheets, profit loss accounts etc, sometimes departments may be spread across the country so video conferencing can be used to discuss matters etc, and for them to effectively do this companies use LAN (local area network) when two or more LAN’s are connected they create a WAN this allows business that have offices in different place to communicate, these WAN’s are private, you also get public WAN’s such as the internet which allows you to also communicate via hotmail etc, but also many companies use online systems such as Base camp and High rise. Base camp is an online system which helps you to create widgets for accounts etc, but is totally private to you, as you long into it with user names and passwords. High Rise is an online system usually used by small companies, it allows you stay in contact with customer (email), record deals, task reminders etc, this is usually used in B2C e-business model (business to consumer)
VAN (value added networks) which is usually used in a B2B situation (business to business), this is when a software is bought of another company, e.g. Sage, sage will then provide a VAN for the accounts department, for when they may need help, if anything goes wrong with the system etc.
Network topology is what defines the procedure of the system on a computer network. This can include many fundamentals such as links, nodes etc. There are 2 main types of topologies which are physical and logical. Physical topology includes such as the networking, the wiring and the location of the system. Whereas logical topology defines what is inside the physical topology such as the data being transferred through the network. Overall the network topology defines how the network and the data are connected to each other and it is the structure of a network. There are various types of network topologies and they are listed below:
- Ring network
- Bus network
- Star network
- Hybrid network
- Hierarchy network
Figure.4
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The best network topology I think is the hybrid network this is because even if one of the nodes fails the data can still be transmitted and many more computers can be connected. This is expensive network to be installed in the business but it is more worth it and it will be much more reliable compared to other networks. This would be a great network for accountants as they need to gain access to data instantly and if one of the nodes is not working they will still be able to access crucial information needed.
Many of the employees can be linked to the network and they will have their own log in. All the work produced by the accountants would be saved in one of the many servers or nodes that the company has installed. The addition on the nodes is also very easy and they can be operated easily. All the computers do not have to remain turned on as you would do in ring network so this would also be a very reliable network for the accounting department. The computers can also be connected to the internet and they can be accessed from any other computer with internet facility.
If the accounts department is considering an alternative then they can use bus network as this is also good for the department but this has its drawbacks as if one of the nodes fails to work it will not communicate with other nodes but the sub-nodes will be able to communicate so this means it hasn’t completely cut off from the firms data. This is relatively cheap compared to hybrid network but not as reliable.
E-Business/ecommerce is the act of buying/selling products or services online, There are four different models for E-business, which are; Business to Business, Business to Customer, Customer to Customer and Government to Customers many business are based online, as there are low barriers of entry, it is fast effective, has low telecommunication cost and cancels out barriers such as distance. Businesses like EBay rely totally on ecommerce, and consists of C2C trading as consumers sell to consumer with the help of a platform which is EBay. Ecommerce gives a chance to businesses of all size to compete globally, there are some businesses that don’t solely rely on ecommerce but do use it as an extra, e.g. retail store use it for online shopping which consists of B2C trading. Some large trading companies use ecommerce to trade raw materials, this would be C2C trading, companies will have contracts with companies to supply materials e.g. Ford will have a contract with a company to supply material ‘Just in time’ for production, and many of the dealing is done online.
Task 3
There are many systems within an organisation, yet not all these systems work efficiently or used to the best of their potential, but by the help of information systems methodologies, systems can be developed to the point where they are efficient. When developing a system it needs framework and methodology to guide and control the information system development. The system methodologies can be separated into hard and soft systems, a hard system is usually used in department that collect large amounts of data, also the department is very data intensive an requires a lot of control and organisation. Soft systems are usually used in small organisations and in departments such as HR. A hard system is appropriate/practical for the department I have chosen, because accounts consists of large amounts of numerical data, and is very data intensive, as all its information is based upon the collection and processing of figures.
Figure.5
Figure.5 Shows all the methodologies that can be used to improve a system, to improve the current system planning and analysis is needed, these methodologies help to improve efficiency which then makes it easier to meet targets/deadlines, and the end result would ensure the need of the end user are met.
From the above methods I have chosen Soft System Analysis and Design Method (SSADM) system which I think will work most effectively with my chosen department of accounts, as it is a disciplines engineering approach to systems development and is usually used in government computing systems which means it is very extensive in evaluating the current system on working on how to make the system more effective. It has three major tools which are:
- Logic modelling- the identification and modelling of data requirements systems
- Data flow modelling- the identification and modelling of activities that transform data from one form to another.
- Entity Event Modelling- the identification and ,modelling of business events
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According to Z.Hussain (2009), there are 7 main stages of the SSADM life cycle, which are the following:
- Feasibility stage- interviews and questionnaires are done to review the system. These interviews and questionnaires can be done by asking current users of the system, how effective the system is and what changes can be made to improve the system.
- Investigation of the current system environment-expanding on the first stage
- Business systems options stage- see how cost effective the system is (cost benefit) and cost ratio will go to next stage
- Definition of requirements of the system- the establishment of what the requirements are to develop the systems design this is the stage in which you prototype. This prototype could be the right one to make the system work effectively but many times the first prototype doesn’t work, so another one has to be made which is another way of evaluating the system further.
- Technical systems options stage- selecting the software and hardware which may be applied to the information system, this would consist of bringing in the latest software for the department to use e.g. the latest version of SAGE
- Logical design stage- incorporating views of the users in order to establish the coherent requirements if the system, this may mean the current software is no longer appropriate and the company may need to invest in a totally different software, as some time the size of a organization may increase this would mean more data/figures, so the organisation may have to invest in a software that can cope with this data because the current software can’t handle the data load.
- Physical design stage- conversion of the logical design into a physical ICT environment. Which meets the needs of the user
Like every system this system also has its advantages and disadvantages. SSADM ensures that the benefits outweigh the cost of using the methodology, so it would be efficient to use this methodology another one of the main advantages for this department would be that the system is very structured so it will evaluate all aspects of the information system and will consist of less flows, a disadvantage maybe that it is time consuming and takes along period of time to evaluate the current system and put in a new system, it is very expensive to do so not all companies may be able to afford it. Some organisations that are smaller may choose to use Rapid Application Development rather than SSADM as it is a much faster process but on the down side it doesn’t spend as much time in evaluating the current system so it may leave out some essential information and hence the outcome won’t be as effective.
Overall I think that any of the methodologies will work in this department but some will work more effectively than others. Each of the methodologies has there advantages as well as disadvantages.
Task 4
In this section of the assignment I am going to discuss what I learnt each week, and how this helped me to do my coursework and built up my understanding of Organizational information systems.
Week 1
This week was an introduction to the module, I learnt the basic workings of information system, and how the mechanism within a system were all interconnected, I thought that the OIS was going to be similar to a ICT module but realised how different it was later on in the module.
Week2
This week I learnt the development of the general systems theory philosophy, the difference between the physical and logical systems, and the nature and the characteristics that make up a system. I also started understanding task one, choose a department (accounts) and did some research on the department.
Week3
This week I got an understanding on planning, decision making and control within the information system environment, I understood the difference between decision making at TPS and EIS. Also learnt what the differences between operational, management and strategic systems are. I also applied the structure to my department for task one.
Week 4
This week I didn’t attend the lecture or tutorial but I manages to read up on the lecture slides, I learnt about the different types of software, the issues behind software’s and hardware’s and learnt about the different components of a computer.
Week 5
I learnt what telecommunications are and the role they played within a business environment, how telecommunications were used to meet the needs of an organisation, the software that can be used and what hardware would be needed to ensure that the communication is happening effectively e.g. a webcam and a speaker for video calling. This week I also did a draft copy for task one, and structured task two.
Week 6
This week I learnt how mobile computing was used within an organisation; I learnt what devices can be used to form, a wireless network and how to keep these networks safe and the importance of security for the wireless devices/networks. I also completed task one and made a plan and drafted out task two.
Week 7
This week in learnt the different types of e-business modules (B2B, B2C, C2C, C2C), I also learnt about the different web browsers e.g. Java and the benefits of Ecommerce. This week I completed task 2 and planned task 3.
Week 8
I learnt about the business environment and how the economic environment affects an organisation, learnt about the legal protection behind communication, data etc. I also did further research on task three and completed a draft copy
Week 9
I learnt about global systems development, system design e.g. SLDC and how the system implements and evaluates the information systems. I also completed task 3.
Week 10
I learnt about RAD, and prototyping and how RAD is used within the business environment. I also touched up on all my tasks.
Week 11
I completed the coursework, and did task 4 in which I explained what I learnt in the module
Overall when completing the coursework I spent the most time on task one as I found it difficult to understand and grasp the concepts.
Bibliography
Books:
Hussain, Z. (2009), Organisational Information Systems, 1st Edition, Great Britain: Pearson.
Elliott, G (2004), Global Business Information Technology.
Websites:
www.comp.glam.ac.uk
http://kane18.wordpress.com
http://uk.blackberry.com
www.2020software.com