INTRODUCTIONBy definition, the term Information System (IS) is not an alternative name for IT. The use of the word system indicates that the users are a part of the information system. At a more abstract level, an IS can be imagined, designed, or proposed without any technological reference. The IS is a part of a larger social system composed of individuals and groups. In their social lives, individuals, groups, or business units experience information needs whose satisfaction would enable them to solve organizational problems. These organizational problems may be located at the level of the task, process, organization, or industry. Information needs pertaining to a problem can be formalized into a requirements analysis. In this sense, an IS is an answer to information requirements for a particular problem; the IS, combined with new procedures, processes, competencies, and resources will lead to new capabilities that will solve the identified problem with the help of information technology.
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Society for the Management of Information Systems ...
West Point cadets at U.S. Army Africa, 07-2010In order for a problem to be solved, an IS must be developed or adapted in accordance with the requirements analysis. Approaches and methods for developing an IS have changed with the appearance of new IT capabilities. Each IS development project requires the explicit and formal expression of a stated problem. That formalization expressed through various approaches and formal languages leads to design and implementation phases.
The IS layer is just above the IT layer, benefiting from its services. The soft dimensions are very important in the IS layer. IS participants are numerous (users, analysts, programmers, interface designers, project managers, etc.), and bring a human and organizational dimension to the success or failure of any IS implementation. The hard dimensions are the machine domain of the system where data architecture, storage, processes, inputs, and outputs have to be designed, programmed, and implemented by using IT...