The Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh

Information and Communication Technology

(TA223)

Submitted by

Name:

Registration No:

Session: July – December, 2022

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 Answer to the Question Number 1(a)

Information system (IS)

Information system is an integrated set of components for collecting, storing, and processing data and
for providing information, knowledge, and digital products. Business firms and other organizations rely
on information systems to carry out and manage their operations, interact with their customers and
suppliers, and compete in the marketplace. Information systems are used to run interorganizational
supply chains and electronic markets.

For instance, corporations use information systems to process financial accounts, to manage their
human resources, and to reach their potential customers with online promotions. Many major companies
are built entirely around information systems.

These include eBay, a largely auction marketplace; Amazon, an expanding electronic mall and provider
of cloud computing services; Alibaba, a business-to-business e-marketplace; and Google, a search
engine company that derives most of its revenue from keyword advertising on Internet searches.
Governments deploy information systems to provide services cost-effectively to citizens.

Components of Information Systems

The main components of information systems are computer hardware and software,
telecommunications, databases and data warehouses, human resources, and procedures. The hardware,
software, and telecommunications constitute information technology (IT), which is now ingrained in
the operations and management of organizations.

Computer hardware

Today throughout the world even the smallest firms, as well as many households, own or lease
computers. Individuals may own multiple computers in the form of smartphones, tablets, and other
wearable devices.

Together with the peripheral equipment—such as magnetic or solid-state storage disks, input-output
devices, and telecommunications gear—these constitute the hardware of information systems. The cost
of hardware has steadily and rapidly decreased, while processing speed and storage capacity have
increased vastly.

Computer Software

Computer software falls into two broad classes: system software and application software. The principal
system software is the operating system. It manages the hardware, data and program files, and other
system resources and provides means for the user to control the computer, generally via a graphical user
interface (GUI). Application software is programs designed to handle specific tasks for users.
Smartphone apps became a common way for individuals to access information systems.

Telecommunications

Telecommunications are used to connect, or network, computer systems and portable and wearable
devices and to transmit information. Connections are established via wired or wireless media. Wired
technologies include coaxial cable and fiber optics. Wireless technologies, predominantly based on the
transmission of microwaves and radio waves, support mobile computing. Pervasive information
systems have arisen with the computing devices embedded in many different physical objects.

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Various computer network configurations are possible, depending on the needs of an organization.
Local area networks (LANs) join computers at a particular site, such as an office building or an
academic campus. Metropolitan area networks (MANs) cover a limited densely populated area and are
the electronic infrastructure of “smart cities.” Wide area networks (WANs) connect widely distributed
data centers.

Databases and data warehouses

Many information systems are primarily delivery vehicles for data stored in databases. A database is a
collection of interrelated data organized so that individual records or groups of records can be retrieved
to satisfy various criteria.

Typical examples of databases include employee records and product catalogs. Databases support the
operations and management functions of an enterprise. Data warehouses contain the archival data,
collected over time, that can be mined for information in order to develop and market new products,
serve the existing customers better, or reach out to potential new customers.

Human resources and procedures

Qualified people are a vital component of any information system. Technical personnel include
development and operations managers, business analysts, systems analysts and designers, database
administrators, programmers, computer security specialists, and computer operators.

Answer to the Question Number 1(b)

The impact of the IS on management process in an organization can be compared to the role of heart
in the body. The information is the blood and Information System (IS) the heart. In the body the heart
plays the role of supplying pure blood to all the elements of the body including the brain. The heart
work faster and supplies more blood when needed. It regulates and controls the incoming impure blood,
processed it and sends it to the destination in the quantity needed. It fulfills the needs of blood supply
to human body in normal course and also in crisis.

The IS plays exactly the same role in the organization. The system ensures that an appropriate data is
collected from the various sources, processed and send further to all the needy destinations. The system
is expected to fulfill the information needs of an individual, a group of individuals, the management
functionaries: the managers and top management.

Impact of IS on Management Process

1. The IS satisfies the diverse needs through variety of systems such as query system, analysis system,
modeling system and decision support system.

2. The IS helps in strategic planning, management control, operational control and transaction
processing. The MIS helps in the clerical personal in the transaction processing and answers the queries
on the data pertaining to the transaction, the status of a particular record and reference on a variety of
documents.

3. The IS helps the junior management personnel by providing the operational data for planning,
scheduling and control, and helps them further in decision-making at the operation level to correct out
of control situation.

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4. The IS helps the middle management in short term planning, target setting and controlling the
business functions. It is supported by the use of the management tools of planning and control.

5. The IS helps the top- level management in goal setting, strategic planning and evolving the business
plans and their implementation.

6. The IS plays the role of information generation, communication, problem identification and helps in
the process of decision-making. The MIS, therefore, plays a vital role in the management,
administration and operation of an organization. Impact on this overhead. It creates information –based
working culture in the organization.

Answer to the Question Number 1(c)

Major challenges of IS

New skills There is a need for a more, differentiated set of skills in the process of developing
information systems. New types of skills are needed. Systems analysts and programmers are no longer
a sufficient partitioning of “workers” in a development project. It is a challenge to identify these skills
as well as to provide them with adequate training.

Methods and techniques Most, if not all system development methods do. Hardly address the issue
that the kinds of problems we most often are tackling are “wicked”. Most method research deals with
development (or re-development) of formal description techniques with a high expressive power for
describing things which can be formally described.

Informality Many IT development projects deal today with engineering or re-engineering of business
processes and with providing adequate IT-support for the processes. The development process can, in
its initial stages.

Maintenance A key problem for management information systems is the provision of the raw data
input and the maintenance of up-to-date information, your company already generates data on sales,
revenue, expenses, payments and other fundamental business information. Marketing departments often
have additional databases.

Use Usability is a major problem for management information systems. A powerful system perfect for
the data of your company is wasted if your employees don’t use it.

Changes An important management information system characteristic is the ability to adapt to changes
in your company. The available information may change, the reports you want may vary and often the
personnel using the system changes.

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 Answer to the Question Number 2(a)

System Development Life Cycle

A system development life cycle or SDLC is essentially a project management model. It defines
different stages that are necessary to bring a project from its initial idea or conception all the way to
deployment and later maintenance.

7 Stages of the System Development Life Cycle

There are seven primary stages of the modern system development life cycle. Here’s a brief breakdown:

1. Planning Stage
2. Feasibility or Requirements of Analysis Stage
3. Design and Prototyping Stage
4. Software Development Stage
5. Software Testing Stage
6. Implementation and Integration
7. Operations and Maintenance Stage

Now let’s take a closer look at each stage individually.

1. The Planning Stage

The planning stage (also called the feasibility stage) is exactly what it sounds like: the phase in which
developers will plan for the upcoming project.

Perhaps most importantly, the planning stage sets the project schedule, which can be of key importance
if development is for a commercial product that must be sent to market by a certain time.

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 2. Analysis Stage

The analysis stage includes gathering all the specific details required for a new system as well as
determining the first ideas for prototypes.

This includes all the specifications for software, hardware, and network requirements for the system
they plan to build. This will prevent them from overdrawing funding or resources when working at the
same place as other development teams.

3. Design Stage

The design stage is a necessary precursor to the main developer stage. Developers will first outline the
details for the overall application, alongside specific aspects, such as its:

User interfaces

System interfaces

Network and network requirements

Databases

4. Development Stage

The development stage is the part where developers actually write code and build the application
according to the earlier design documents and outlined specifications.

Developers will follow any coding guidelines as defined by the organization and utilize different tools
such as compilers, debuggers, and interpreters.

5. Testing Stage

Building software is not the end. Now it must be tested to make sure that there aren’t any bugs and that
the end-user experience will not negatively be affected at any point.

During the testing stage, developers will go over their software with a fine-tooth comb, noting any bugs
or defects that need to be tracked, fixed, and later retested.

6. Implementation and Integration Stage

After testing, the overall design for the software will come together. Different modules or designs will
be integrated into the primary source code through developer efforts, usually by leveraging training
environments to detect further errors or defects.

7. Maintenance Stage

The SDLC doesn’t end when software reaches the market. Developers must now move into a
maintenance mode and begin practicing any activities required to handle issues reported by end-users.
Implement logical systems while keeping modularity for later integration.

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 Answer to the Question Number 2(b)

Information system in today's business environment play many different roles however they
primarily to assist with storing and analyzing data, reducing workload and managing compliance.

There are three significant roles that information systems play in the competitive business world as
follows:

a) Storing information and using data for analysis

b) Assist in decision making
c) Ensure the smooth running of business operations
d) Acts as goal-oriented process.
e) Acts as a big revolutionary change in Business Environment.

In addition, there are many benefits of information systems in the highly advancing business
environment of today. These benefits include:

Companies having easily accessible data to further improve their product offerings

Companies can identify potential problems earlier through information systems as they can obtain the
necessary data on their clients

Lucrative profits can be made through the effective use of information systems ensuring that they
always play a significant role in the ever-changing business sector.

Answer to the Question Number 2(c)

Characteristics of Management Information System (MIS)

Following are the key characteristics of MIS:

System approach

MIS follows the system approach, which implies step by step approach to the study of system and its
performance in the light of the objective for which it has been constituted. It means taking an inclusive
view at sub-systems to operate within an organization.

Management-oriented

The management-oriented characteristic of MIS implies that top-down approach needs to be followed
for designing MIS. A top-down method says the initiation of system development determines
management requirements as well as business goals. MIS implies the management dynamically to the
system development towards the completion of management decision.

Future-oriented

The design and development of MIS should also be future purpose so that the system is not restricted
to provide only the past information.

Integrated

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A complete MIS is a combination of its multiple sub-components to provide the relevant information
to take out a useful decision. An integrated system, which blends information from several operational
areas, is a necessary characteristic of MIS.

Common data flows

This concept supports numerous basic views of system analysis such as avoiding duplication,
combining similar functions and simplifying operations. The expansion of common data flow is a cost-
effectively and logical concept.

Long-term planning

MIS should always develop as a long-term planning because it involves logical planning to get success
of an organization. While developing MIS, the analyst should keep future oriented analysis and needs
of the company in mind.

Relevant connection of sub-system planning

The MIS development should be decomposing into its related sub-systems. These sub-systems must be
meaningful with proper planning.

Central database:

it contains data in tabular form. The data base is responsible to operations like insertion, deletion,
updating of records. This database covers information related to inventory, personnel, vendors,
customers, etc. the data stored in the database.

Answer to the Question Number 3(a)

Definition of enterprise resource planning (ERP)

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) refers to a type of software that organizations use to manage day-
to-day business activities such as accounting, procurement, project management, risk management and
compliance, and supply chain operations. A complete ERP suite also includes enterprise performance
management, software that helps plan, budget, predict, and report on an organization’s financial results.

ERP systems tie together a multitude of business processes and enable the flow of data between them.
By collecting an organization’s shared transactional data from multiple sources,

Today, ERP systems are critical for managing thousands of businesses of all sizes and in all industries.
To these companies, ERP is as indispensable as the electricity that keeps the lights on.

Core Modules of an ERP

ERP is ubiquitous in businesses of all sizes. The modular design of ERP provides data and supports the
processes that help employees manage their daily tasks. Each module is integrated into the system to
ensure a single source of accurate data in the organization.

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These are some basic modules of ERP software

1. Finance and Accounting

2. Human Capital Management
3. Procurement
4. Manufacturing
5. Order Management
6. Inventory Management
7. Warehouse Management
8. Supply Chain Management
9. Customer Relationship Management
10. Ecommerce

1. Finance and Accounting

This module allows manufacturers to understand the current financial state and future outlook of the
organization. The major features in this module include general ledger, accounts payable, accounts
receivable, and taxation.

2. Human Capital Management

This module promotes an approach for managing, recruiting, and developing human resources
(employees). The Human Capital Management software module is the repository for employee data. It
helps Human Resource departments with the onboarding process and ensures education about the
organization is shared with all employees.

3. Procurement

Also known as Purchasing, this module helps an organization manage and safeguard goods required to
manufacture or sell products. The Procurement ERP software module helps you automate, track, and
analyze quotes. Once a quote is accepted, this module helps the purchasing department prepare and
send a purchase order. As a manufacturer, you can keep a list of approved vendors and associate specific
supply items with each vendor.

4. Manufacturing

The first version of ERP was designed for manufacturers. MRP or Material Requirement Planning was
the earliest version of ERP that helped businesses estimate quantities of raw materials to schedule on-
time deliveries.

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Modern ERP for manufacturers offers functionality such as Material Requirement Planning (MRP),
Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS), and Manufacturing Execution System (MES).

5. Order Management

Order Management provides a single platform to manage orders from all sales channels, from receipt
to delivery. It tracks their status as they are shipped to customers. This ensures on-time delivery of
orders and that no orders are lost.

6. Inventory Management

Inventory Management allows manufacturers to gain real-time inventory information and manage all
aspects of the business on one platform. This includes finance, planning, logistics, and operations.

7. Warehouse Management

Warehouse Management software manages high-volume warehouse operations and guides employees
throughout the operation, from put away to picking, packing, and shipping. It is a crucial module for
manufacturing organizations.

8. Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management tracks every step in the supply chain process. It ensures the availability of
the right inventory, in the right place, and at the right time. This module also manages man, materials,
and refunded products or replacement orders.

9. Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) helps manufacturers manage the customer lifecycle, from
initial contact to sales, production, and post-sale maintenance and support services. You can find
information about customers and prospects, their communication history, and purchase history.

10. Ecommerce

An Ecommerce module integrated with ERP software provides a feature-rich eCommerce platform for
B2B and B2C manufacturers. It ensures a shared database of payment, order, and inventory information.

Answer to the Question Number 3(b)

Selecting and Evaluating IS Projects

The measurement of the efficiency of information systems is the evaluation of information systems.
The evaluation of information systems depends on the amount of efficiency in workflow and
management an organization achieved by implementing an information system.

Evaluation of information systems is measured based on a few criteria as follows:

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 1. Dependency of Information
2. Availability of Information
3. Support in Business Operation
4. Help to Survive in Competition
5. Reduce Uncertainty
6. Value and Cost of Information
7. Presentation of Information
8. Accuracy of Information
9. Verification and Validation of Information

1. Dependency of Information

How much an organization can rely on the information it gets from its information system is a criterion
while evaluating the information system as if the information system is not providing reliable
information, then there is not mean to have it in the organization.

2. Availability of Information

Information systems are meant to deliver information when asked for. So, if an information system
can’t deliver information in time, that if information is unavailable at the moment when required, the
whole system becomes useless.

3. Support in Business Operation

An organization implements single or multiple information systems to get support in every level of the
organization’s operations. Thus, an efficient information system is supposed to support business
operations in each level.

4. Help to Survive in Competition

To survive and run successfully in the market an organization need to face and win various challenges
from other organization in the market. Information systems are supposed to help organization in this
survival by delivering competitive reports.

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 5. Reduce Uncertainty

Information systems are supposed to deliver forecast based data and current market data to take business
decision in a way that reduces uncertainty of the business.

6. Value and Cost of Information

The cost of developing, implementing and running an information system must be less than the value
of the information it provides. If it is costlier to operate an information system than what the information
system gives in return then there is no need to have such an information system.

7. Presentation of Information

Efficiency of an information system depends on the presentation of information by the system. The
information system that represents information in an attractive, easy and more understandable format
is obviously more efficient than others.

8. Accuracy of Information

Like reliability of the information achieved from an information system, accuracy of the information is
also important.

9. Verification and Validation of Information

If data were collected from multiple sources than information system must cross-check the data to verify
and validate it before using it in processing to generate information.

Answer to the Question Number 3(c)

Risks associated with IS projects

If your business relies on information system (IS) such as computers and networks for key business
activities you need to be aware of the range and nature of risks to those systems.

Find out more about cyber security and protecting your online business activity.

General IS threats

General threats to IS include:

Hardware and software failure – such as power loss or data corruption

Malware – malicious software designed to disrupt computer operation

Viruses – computer code that can copy itself and spread from one computer to another, often disrupting
computer operations

Spam, scams and phishing – unsolicited email that seeks to fool people into revealing personal details
or buying fraudulent goods

Human error – incorrect data processing, careless data disposal, or accidental opening of infected
email attachments.

Criminal IS threats

Specific or targeted criminal threats to IS include:

Hackers – people who illegally break into computer systems

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Fraud – using a computer to alter data for illegal benefit

Passwords theft – often a target for malicious hackers

Denial-of-service – online attacks that prevent website access for authorized users

Security breaches – includes physical break-ins as well as online intrusion

Staff dishonesty – theft of data or sensitive information, such as customer details.

Natural disasters and IS

Natural disasters such as fire, cyclone and floods also present risks to IS, data and infrastructure.
Damage to buildings and computer hardware can result in loss or corruption of customer
records/transactions.

Answer to the Question Number 4(a)

Blockchain

Blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change,
hack, or cheat the system.

A blockchain is essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the
entire network of computer systems on the blockchain. Each block in the chain contains a number of
transactions, and every time a new transaction occurs on the blockchain, a record of that transaction is
added to every participant’s ledger.

The decentralized database managed by multiple participants is known as Distributed Ledger

Technology (DLT). Blockchain is a type of DLT in which transactions are recorded with an immutable
cryptographic signature called a hash.

Blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are constantly and continually growing as blocks are being
added to the chain, which significantly adds to the security of the ledger.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a virtual currency designed to act as money and a form of payment outside
the control of any one person, group, or entity, and thus removing the need for third-party involvement
in financial transactions. It is rewarded to blockchain miners for the work done to verify transactions
and can be purchased on several exchanges.

Bitcoin was introduced to the public in 2009 by an anonymous developer or group of developers using
the name Satoshi Nakamoto. It has since become the most well-known cryptocurrency in the world. Its
popularity has inspired the development of many other cryptocurrencies. These competitors either
attempt to replace it as a payment system or are used as utility or security tokens in other blockchains
and emerging financial technologies.

Fintech

Financial technology (better known as Fintech) is used to describe new tech that seeks to improve and
automate the delivery and use of financial services. At its core, fintech is utilized to help companies,

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business owners, and consumers better manage their financial operations, processes, and lives by
utilizing specialized software and algorithms that are used on computers and, increasingly,
smartphones. Fintech, the word, is a combination of "financial technology."

Fintech also includes the development and use of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. While that segment
of fintech may see the most headlines, the big money still lies in the traditional global banking industry
and its multi-trillion-dollar market capitalization.

Broadly, the term "financial technology" can apply to any innovation in how people transact business,
from the invention of digital money to double-entry bookkeeping. Since the Internet revolution and the
mobile Internet/smartphone revolution, however, financial technology has grown explosively. Fintech,
which originally referred to the use of computer technology applied to the back office of banks or
trading firms, now describes a broad variety of technological interventions into personal and
commercial finance.

IR4

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, 4IR, or Industry 4.0, conceptualizes rapid change to technology,
industries, and societal patterns and processes in the 21st century due to increasing interconnectivity
and smart automation. The term has been used widely in scientific literature and in 2015 was
popularized by Klaus Schwab, the World Economic Forum

A part of this phase of industrial change is the joining of technologies like artificial intelligence, gene
editing, to advanced robotics that blur the lines between the physical, digital, and biological worlds.

Throughout this, fundamental shifts are taking place in how the global production and supply network
operates through ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices, using
modern smart technology, large-scale machine-to-machine communication (M2M), and the internet of
things (IoT).

Big data

Big data refers to data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data-processing
application software. Data with many fields (rows) offer greater statistical power, while data with higher
complexity (more attributes or columns) may lead to a higher false discovery rate. Big data analysis
challenges include capturing data, data storage, data analysis, search, sharing, transfer, visualization,
querying, updating, information privacy, and data source. Big data was originally associated with three
key concepts: volume, variety, and velocity. The analysis of big data presents challenges in sampling,
and thus previously allowing for only observations and sampling.

Thus, a fourth concept, veracity, refers to the quality or insightfulness of the data. Without sufficient
investment in expertise for big data veracity, then the volume and variety of data can produce costs and
risks that exceed an organization's capacity to create and capture value from big data.

IoT

The internet of things, or IoT, is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital
machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) and the ability to
transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

A thing in the internet of things can be a person with a heart monitor implant, a farm animal with a
biochip transponder, an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tire pressure is low

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or any other natural or man-made object that can be assigned an Internet Protocol (IP) address and is
able to transfer data over a network.

Machine learning

Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn',
that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of
artificial intelligence. Machine learning algorithms build a model based on sample data, known as
training data, in order to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed to do so.

Machine learning algorithms are used in a wide variety of applications, such as in medicine, email
filtering, speech recognition, and computer vision, where it is difficult or unfeasible to develop
conventional algorithms to perform the needed tasks. A subset of machine learning is closely related to
computational statistics, which focuses on making predictions using computers, but not all machine
learning is statistical learning. The study of mathematical optimization delivers methods, theory and
application domains to the field of machine learning.

Answer to the Question Number 4(b)

Contemporary developments of computer science and business

With the explosion of technology over the past couple of decades, computer science is growing in
popularity. It's also an exceedingly valuable field for business. The better you understand the technology
and use it, the better you can streamline operations, crunch numbers, and much more. A computer
science education can help you run your business more efficiently and scale more effectively.

This training includes courses on Python, JavaScript, Raspberry Pi, SQL, Google Cloud Platform, and
more of today's top programming tools. You'll learn web development basics from scratch, understand
how to support them with tools like Java and Spark for handling streaming, and much more.

In terms of data, you'll not only get familiar with SQL for querying databases, but you'll also explore
hypothesis testing for data science and develop probability foundations for working with and analyzing
large amounts of data.

Finally, with Google Cloud Platform and Raspberry Pi, you'll learn how to work with machine learning
and Internet of Things (IoT) applications to better understand some of today's most important
technological frontiers.

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