Managing Information Systems In Organizations Essay -- Database Manage

Managing Information Systems In Organizations INTRODUCTION In recent years, there has been an abundance of new technologies in the information systems field. These new technologies have altered the very development process itself. Information systems have gone from being a series of one level databases to three dimensional reality, virtual reality, and multimedia systems. In the early days of information systems, the demands were for data, with no real function of artificial intelligence. However, as the 21st century approaches, business has taken on an entirely different function, and the need for individual information systems has grown immensely. This demand for information technology is in all areas of business: corporations, law, medicine, science and even small business. In addition, the worldwide web and the Internet have added an additional factor of communications. Most information systems in use today require at the very least, a measure of Internet capability. In order to understand the changes in these development processes, the history of databases should be analyzed. BACKGROUND Database Management Systems actually began in the 1950s, with what is known as the first generation, also known as file systems on tape. The major task of any computer in those days was to process data under the control of a program. This primarily meant calculating, counting and simple tasks. Second generation databases, file systems on disk, allowed use of computers in dialogue mode as well as batch mode. The development of magnetic disks allowed for more sophisticated file systems, making multiple access possible. These first two generations of DBMS were characterized by the availability of file systems only; strictly speaking these were the forerunners of database systems, the foundations. An important component of these database systems were the static association of certain data sets (files) with individual programs that would concentrate on these. There were high redundancy problems between files; inconsistencies when one program made changes that are not made in all programs; inflexibility against changes in applications; low productivity by programmers since program maintenance was expensive; and the problem of adopting and maintaining standards for coding and data formats. The third generation, pre-relational databases, started in the 1960s a... ... rapid development in this area, not only in technology but also in functionality. Information Systems will rapidly emerge into a wealth of applications until it eventually becomes an extension of the person (maybe in a literal sense some day). That, I believe, is the future. Works Cited: Cattell, R.G.G., â€Å"Object Data Management: Object-oriented and Extended Relational Database Systems† Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1991. Gagnon, Gabrielle, â€Å"Data Warehousing: An Overview† PC Magazine, March 9, 1999. Hammond, Mark, â€Å"DRDA Standard Could Finally Get Rival Databases Talking†, PC Week, December 7, 1998. Mayor, Tracy, â€Å"Look Ma, No Hands† PC Week, July 1, 1996. Coskun, Samli A., â€Å"Information-Driven Marketing Decisions: Development of Strategic Information Systems† Quorum Books, 1996. Schindler, Esther, â€Å"The Computer Speech Book† Academic Press, Inc., 1996. Sichel, Daniel E., â€Å"The Computer Revolution - An Economic Perspective† The Brookings Institution, 1997. Vossen, Gottfried, â€Å"Data Models, Database languages and Database Management Systems† Wokingham, 1991. Watterson, Karen, â€Å"Blueprint For A Database† Data Based Advisor, June, 1990.