Information Systems is integrated system hardware, software, and process used by the people or organizations to collect, store, and process data for providing information. In general, information systems have three main components: inputs, information processing, and outputs.
Inputs consist of various information that is processed to provide outputs information useful for the system. The information systems have a crucial role in organizations for carrying their daily operations such as process financial accounts, manage human resources, etc. Information systems are closely related to database systems: tools for storing, controlling, and managing essential databases.
The most common database type is the relational database since it provides a significant impact on sales, according to Handbook of Industrial and Systems Engineering by Badiru (2006).
A simple example of a relational data storage model is tables. Every entity has attributes describing its characteristics and each row is uniquely identified by an attribute called the primary key. This key attribute could connect entity on different tables, making data easier to access and process.
Moreover, some programming languages are created to manipulate relational tables, with ANSI Standard SQL (Structured Query Language) is the most common one. Since databases provide a large amount of information, designing the database systems to precisely illustrate the data is important. Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) is one common method to model the database systems by a set of entities, their attributes, and relationships among these objects.
ERD is a very simple, representative method and it is easy to understand for people unfamiliar with this field. Every entity is represented by a labeled rectangle while ellipses serve as attributes’ symbols. The relationships between entities are shown using lines or arrows.
Information systems enable organizations to integrate their operations from multiple departments through real-time information flows and better communications. Hence, it is worthwhile for organizations to apply this system for their operations since it provides a competitive advantage to the organizations.
Comentários