Background information Essay Example for Free

Background information Essay Technology is known to be the best tool for efficiency and reliability. A professional having adequate information on information management is responsible for technology implementation in organizations. They are responsible for facilitation of computer related activities in a firm. They plan the communication network in an organization. Before any decision making in a company or organization, there is need to communicate to the top management. These professionals aid during this communication pattern by establishing both technical goals and business goals. They have the responsibilities of directing other computer related workers like the programmers. They are assigned to plan and perform such duties as upgrading and installing hardware and software, Implementing the internet and intranet in an organization etc. They also ensure the upkeep and maintenance of information systems and internal networks of an organization. They should view the information needs of the organizations they work with from an operational and strategic point of view. They are to keep a close watch to the organization to ensure that it does not pull behind its competitors. It is necessary for a company to employ an information systems manager. He is a person with good leadership qualities since he extensively works in constant interaction with the staff. He has a wide range of duties to perform in an organization among them; installation of computer systems, purchasing hardware and software, ensuring that there is backup systems incase of power crises. He is supposed to ensure a good strategic plan for a company and a policy that is of high quality standards. He has a staff of several workers among them; technicians, database administrators etc who are eligible to reporting to him. Advantages of an information system Information systems facilitate planning by providing the relevant information for effective decision making. It is sometimes difficult for managers to get into contact with operation scenes because of the complexities of organizations. Sometimes managers receive a lot of detailed facts. Information system minimizes the information overload. This is achieved through summarization of the large amount of data to avoid confusion. It is possible to decentralize authority. Information systems are able to monitor operations at lower levels and measure respective performance of these operations. This is effective for managers to make the necessary plans, procedures and implement change in an organization. It will facilitate coordination by making departments aware of requirements and problems of other departments. It functions in coordinating all the decision centers within an organization. Since it acts as a link between control and managerial planning, it makes control easier. Computers have reduced costs, increased data processing and the increased storage capabilities. Information needs. An organization has different departments in which there are different users. Each user has a different information need. The needs depend on where the user works, why he is trying to access the information and when he is accessing information. For a professional to come up with a good system design, he should have a careful study of and identify information needs within an organization. And also for effective providence of information services. Information needs have to be identified and this calls for careful study on the factors that affect information needs and therefore determining an effective method for collecting the information needs. There is need to follow a procedure when collecting information needs of users. There may exist different types of needs, but the information system requires only actual needs. And so there should be careful analysis on the gathered data to distinguish the actual needs. This will be able to discover ideas, tools, techniques and methods that will satisfy the users so as they can be able to meet their needs. Information needs present vacuums in the current knowledge of the end-user. Some needs are unexpressed by the users of which they are aware but do not wish to express. Another set of information needs includes those that the service provider shades light on but are null to users. A need is usually time bound and specific. Some areas that information needs depend on include: †¢ Position of individuals within an organization. †¢ The various areas of interest and departments where they work †¢ Activities engaged in at work. †¢ Factors that are motivating †¢ Consequences of information †¢ Recovering priorities. †¢ Availability of future ideas. Sometimes the process of identifying information needs becomes technical in the sense that. Researchers may find it necessary to go through original information which maybe unavailable. Same information is perceived differently by users hence interpretation becomes difficult. Some of the processes that aid in identifying information needs include: †¢ A careful study of the various disciplines that are of interest to the users. †¢ A study of an organization together with the surrounding environment. †¢ A special study to the environment of users. †¢ Keen study on the user. †¢ Conducting an interview that is formal to the users. †¢ Keep a record of the gathered information, analyzing and refining them.