Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Informatics
The subject of informatics as taught at German universities since the early 1960s can be subdivided
into theoretical informatics, technical informatics, practical informatics and applied informatics.
Theoretical informatics is concerned with the theory of information systems, such as theory of
computers and theory of programming languages. Technical informatics, which is not to be confused
with engineering informatics, as one of the subfields of applied informatics, deals with the technical
components of computers or computer networks (hardware), thus it is concerned with the
development of processors, storage media, screens and data transfer systems. Practical informatics
deals with the main aspects of informatics that are studied in applied informatics, such as operating
systems, programming languages, computer networks, database systems and software engineering.
Business Informatics
Business informatics has been taught at German universities since the 1970s and is usually associated
with business schools or departments. But a number of universities have created specific study
programs in business informatics. The term business informatics is composed of business (studies) and
informatics and deals with the use of computer supported ICT systems (information and
communication) systems.
Information Systems
Information systems are systems for processing information, i.e., information is retrieved,
transformed (processed), stored, and made visible and accessible to users.
Communication Systems
By means of communication systems information is transferred and analyzed. ICT systems deal with
processing and communicating information (a special subfield of information processing).
Goals and Objectives of Business Informatics
One important goal of business informatics is to set up ICT systems in companies and administrations
in such a way that their application is efficient and profitable.
ICT Systems
Key requirements for this are careful designing and structuring of the ICT systems, i.e. the architecture
and the development or purchase of appropriate hardware and software. Business informatics does
not only consider the technical components, i.e. the hardware and software of computers and
networks, but looks also at the tasks that ICT systems can perform. These include applications in
accounting, in sales/distribution, in HR, or in management and decision making (management tasks).
People are also an important component of ICT systems, as they are the ones undertaking the tasks
and are using the technical components (IT technology) of the ICT systems. To sum up, the question
What is business informatics? can be answered in the following way:
Definition
Business informatics deals with the design and implementation of ICT (Information and
Communication Technology) systems for companies and organizations.
Design means that the ICT systems have to be planned, built and developed. The focus is on the
applications of ICT systems that are to support business processes. The holistic view of ICT systems
also looks at the hardware (computers and networks, see chapters Computer Systems and Computer
Networks) and the people, who are users of the ICT applications and are in charge of them.
Design of Application Software
Designing application software involves developing or writing the software and/or purchasing software
(e.g. standard software packages). The design and creation of software application refers to the whole
process of software development or software engineering, this includes planning, analysis of needs,
draft, implementation and integration of software systems . Maintaining software applications is also
part of software development and planning.
The figure 2.1-1 gives a holistic view of ICT systems as subjects of business informatics.
occupational studies and law. Legal issues that are relevant to business informatics are data protection,
i.e. the protection of personal-related data and many IT related issues dealing with e-commerce fraud
or manipulation of computer networks.
The use of IT offers a number of benefits and opportunities that must be recognized. But there are also
considerable risks and disadvantages that can have negative effects that can be costly. As part of risk
management strategy, risks must also be systematically assessed and analyzed, in order to be able to
take appropriate measures for risk reduction.
Examples
Examples for opportunities of IT use:
improved decision making in production planning due to the use of a computer-supported
production planning system;
reduction of delivery times by using an online ordering system;
more efficient procurement processes by using an efficient software-based supply chain
management system;
more efficient and systematic mass data analysis in distribution with the help of a database
system.
Examples for risks of IT use:
unauthorized access to information, e.g. personal private data (violation of data protection);
Making use of opportunities creates benefits of IT use, in particular the use of highly efficient IT
systems as well as profitable support of operational processes (increased work satisfaction). Risks can
interrupt work processes, which can create disadvantages for a company and its end users and can
lead to financial problems for the company.
can be further subdivided into management tasks (strategic tasks), analysis, planning and controlling
tasks and operative tasks, which are part of the actual value creation, such as manufacturing goods or
providing services. The structure of a company, i.e. the procedures and processes is illustrated by the
organizational chart (see figure 2.4-1).
End users, i.e., the employees of a company, use ICT to improve their workflow and their results. In
addition to this group of users, there are also employees that are IT specialists, e.g. business IT
specialists, who give advice on using the technology and design the required ICT systems. They are
responsible for ensuring the accuracy of information processing.
The following section defines key terms.
Definition
Information processing is defined as any process that is concerned with retrieving, storing and
transferring or transforming data (see [HaNe09], p. 9).
Definition
Data presents information (i.e. references to facts and processes) in machine-readable form, based
on known or assumed conventions. A means of storing data is referred to as a data medium.
Data are raw facts and numbers that are processed by ICT systems, usually computers, to produce
usable information that benefit decision makers in organizations.
Definition
A computer is a data processing unit, i.e. for the execution of mathematical operations to transform
data, to transfer data and to store data (see [HaNe09], p. 6).
Computer
There are some other terms that can replace the term computer, such as PC, laptop, tablet etc. In this
book, we will normally use the term computer.
Communication
While the dominant form of computer communication used to be the LAN, (i.e. the local area network
of a company or household) today global connectivity is the main focus. The internet as technical
infrastructure, with all the services and options that are connected to it (email, world wide web, voice
over IP) and all the possibilities for file transfers made possible through the FTP (file transfer protocol),
has become a major focus of our business and private lives.
Mobile Systems
Wireless connected mobile devices such as laptops, tablets, smart phones and smart watches play an
important role in private lives, and they have an increasing relevance for companies (mobile systems).
In addition to global networks and local networks, there are also personal networks that connect
different devices that are in the immediate environment of a person.
Computers offer word processing software, allow data processing, and they allow the use of audio,
image and video material. This means that they are multimedia devices.
Definition
The term multimedia stands for the integrated processing of several different types of information,
such as formatted data, texts, audio and image material (graphs, photos, animations, video clips etc.).
Computers are also referred to as digital data processing systems, as they process data that is in digital
form, as opposed to analogue data.
Definition
Digital data is represented by characters. A character is defined as an element for the display of
information, composed of a finite set of different elements or characters (see [HaNe09], p. 7).
Character
Examples of characters are capital letters and lower case letters (the alphabet), digits (numbers) and
symbols. A sequence of characters can be used to create words, such as the word university, or
numbers, such as the number 1347. There are also the sign characters such as -, +, $, %, and #.
Characters can be used to form texts, but also to create tables or charts and graphs. All data to be
processed are represented as characters that can be transformed by means of technology. The
computer can only differentiate two distinct states, these are binary values that can be represented as
1 and 0. (binary: having only two possible values)
Bit & Byte
A binary character is the smallest information unit and is called a bit (binary digit). A set of eight bits is
called a Byte, and a set of four is called a nibble.
ASCII Code
A sequence of bits creates a character, 8 bits= 1 byte. One byte (8 bit) can create or encode 28=256
different characters (the 8-bit code). One example is the ASCII (American Standard Code for
Information Interchange). You will find more information on this topic in the definitions section of the
chapters Information Management and Computer Systems.
Information Technology
The subject of business informatics deals with a company's computer-based ICT system. In addition to
the users and the tasks, information technology is the focus of our analysis. Information technology
(IT) can be subdivided into hardware technology and software technology (see figure 2.4-2).
Hardware
Hardware or hardware technology mainly deals with the computer systems and the computer
networks that are explained in the chapters Technical Foundations: Computer Systems and Technical
Foundations: Computer Networks.
Software
Software, i.e. the software technology, is subdivided into systems software and application software
(see chapter Business Applications). In business informatics, the focus is on application software, which
can also be called operational information systems.
Definition
An operational information system supports the processes of a company and supports the exchange
between the company and its environment, i.e. clients and suppliers etc. (see HaNe09, p.132).
Definition
A computer based information system is a system that uses partly automated processes for the
retrieval, the transfer or the transformation of data (see HaNe09, p.133).
Application Software
Business application software or information systems examples include accounting software used to
calculate salaries and wages, or industrial production software used to analyze, control, and plan
production and distribution. Both types require suitable hardware (computer and computer networks)
and application software and, most importantly, require a suitable operating system.
The density of PCs across the globe is represented in the figure 2.5-2.
The figure 2.5-3 shows the use of computers in different fields and business sectors.
While computers and internet access are more or less globally available, the use of multimedia
applications, such as online information systems, games and learning platforms (e-learning), are
advancing quickly.