component of information systems. The process element in information systems will be discussed in Chapter 8. The Role of Information Systems You should now understand that information systems have a number of vital components, some tangible, others intangible, and still others of a personnel nature. These components collect, store, organize, and distribute data throughout the organization. You may have even realized that one of the roles of information systems is to take data and turn it into information, and then transform that information into organizational knowledge. As technology has developed, this role has evolved into the backbone of the organization, making information systems integral to virtually every business. The integration of information systems into organizations has progressed over the decades. The Mainframe Era From the late 1950s through the 1960s, computers were seen as a way to more efficiently do calculations. These first
business computers were room- sized monsters, with several machines linked together. The primary work was to organize and store large volumes of
IBM 704 Mainframe (Copyright: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
information that were tedious to manage by hand. Only large businesses, universities, and government agencies could afford them, and they took a crew of specialized personnel and dedicated facilities to provide information to organizations. Time-sharing allowed dozens or even hundreds of users to Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) pg. 8
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