Information Systems

When it comes to how information systems help the business process is very simple, but also complex. You first have to develop the business model. In order to do so you need to get together with the users assigned to the project team, prepare a high-level business model identifying the key business processes within the project scope. Afterwards, you need to identify the major functional areas or subsystems. Functional areas represent the major business activities, at a high-level, that the customer performs to successfully carry out their business mandate, including mission critical and support processes. Once you have assigned the members that are going to be working on the project; you have to prepare a list of integrated business scenarios. Integrated business scenarios are events, transactions, and information, including reports, which are required to run the business. They are an ordered sequence of business process scripts that represent a typical situation that occurs within the business. Integrated business scenarios cut across subsystems and business processes to form an integrated view of the functionality. An integrated business scenario can be functionally-based or time-based. For example, customer order processing is a functionally-based integrated business scenario and month-end processing is a time-based integrated business scenario.

Even though I am not currently working at this time, I have previously worked at a call center that certainly utilized information systems, in order to perform its business functions. This particular call center was receiving incoming phones calls, from customers intending to place orders and had questions with your previous order. There are several hundred customer service representatives that were using computers to place these orders for the customers. The representatives were able to use the database to check the tracking on an order, change credit card information, place new orders, cancel or modify orders, replace an order, refund a credit card, research the different type of products we have to offer, able to file reports about fraud, and were able to sign the customers up for free catalogs or email notifications. The supervisors, on the other hand, were able to do everything that a customer service representative did; plus, were able to override or make an executive decision. The supervisors are given more power to provide more possible things that is why there are more possible things that supervisors have access too. Everyone obviously works with a computer, so everyone has their own username and password to log on to the computer. Once you have accomplished login on to the computer, you have a different username and password to access the database.

Some of the strengths are that we share data, easy to order and do research, shared printers, able log on to any computer, automated time keeping, network access, and had a strong password policy in use. The fact that we shared data is a great thing because if there was an issue that needed to get resolved, the customer service representative and their supervisor was able to see the exact same thing without leaving their desk. I cannot tell you how many times I had to contact my supervisor for help without seeing her face to face. It is a great idea because I was able to learn to do things based on my actions. How the database was set up to make is so easy to place orders and do research for the customer. There was a shared printer for every floor, which made it very confident to know exactly where to go, if you printed something. The fact that you were able