We’ve seen that businesses need information systems to operate today and that they use many different kinds of systems. But who is responsible for running these systems? Who is responsible for making sure the hardware, software, and other technologies used by these systems are running properly and are up to date? End users manage their systems from a business standpoint, but managing the technology requires a special information systems function.
1. The Information Systems Department
In all but the smallest of firms, the information systems department is the formal organizational unit responsible for information technology services. The information systems department is responsible for maintaining the hardware, software, data storage, and networks that comprise the firm’s IT infrastructure.
The information systems department consists of specialists, such as programmers, systems analysts, project leaders, and information systems managers. Programmers are highly trained technical specialists who write the software instructions for computers. Systems analysts constitute the principal liaisons between the information systems groups and the rest of the organization. It is the systems analyst’s job to translate business problems and requirements into information requirements and systems. Information systems managers are leaders of teams of programmers and analysts, project managers, physical facility managers, telecommunications managers, or database specialists. They are also managers of computer operations and data entry staff. Also, external specialists, such as hardware vendors and manufacturers, software firms, and consultants, frequently participate in the day-to-day operations and long-term planning of information systems.
In many companies, the information systems department is headed by a chief information officer (CIO). The CIO is a senior manager who oversees the use of information technology in the firm. Today’s CIOs are expected to have a strong business background as well as information systems expertise and to play a leadership role in exploring new technologies and integrating technology into the firm’s business strategy. Large firms today also have positions for a chief security officer, chief knowledge officer, chief data officer, and chief privacy officer, all of whom work closely with the CIO.
The chief security officer (CSO) is in charge of information systems security for the firm and is responsible for enforcing the firm’s information security policy. (Sometimes this position is called the chief information security officer [CISO] where information systems security is separated from physical security.) The CSO is responsible for educating and training users and information systems specialists about security, keeping management aware of security threats and breakdowns, and maintaining the tools and policies chosen to implement security.
Information systems security and the need to safeguard personal data have become so important that corporations collecting vast quantities of personal data have established positions for a chief privacy officer (CPO). The CPO is responsible for ensuring that the company complies with existing data privacy laws.
The chief knowledge officer (CKO) is responsible for the firm’s knowledge management program. The CKO helps design programs and systems to find new sources of knowledge or to make better use of existing knowledge in organizational and management processes.
The chief data officer (CDO) is responsible for enterprise-wide governance and utilization of information to maximize the value the organization can realize from its data. The CDO ensures that the firm is collecting the appropriate data to serve its needs, deploying appropriate technologies for analyzing the data, and using the results to support business decisions. This position arose to deal with the very large amounts of data organizations are now generating and collecting.
End users are representatives of departments outside of the information systems group for whom applications are developed. These users are playing an increasingly large role in the design and development of information systems.
In the early years of computing, the information systems group was composed mostly of programmers who performed highly specialized but limited technical functions. Today, a growing proportion of staff members are systems analysts and network specialists, with the information systems department acting as a powerful change agent in the organization. The information systems department suggests new business strategies and new information-based products and services and coordinates both the development of the technology and the planned changes in the organization.
In 2019 there are about 4.5 million information system managers and employees in the United States, with an estimated growth rate of 13 percent through 2026, expanding the number of new jobs by more than 550,000. Although all IT/ IS occupations show above-average growth, the fastest-growing occupations are information security analysts (28 percent), software developers (24 percent), computer scientists (19 percent), web developers (15 percent), IS/IT managers (12 percent), computer support specialists (11 percent), database administrators (11 percent), systems analysts (9 percent), computer network architects (6 percent), and network and system administrators (6 percent) (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). The number of computer programmers will decline 7 percent in
this period, in part because the process of creating computer programs is becoming increasingly efficient with the growth of online software services, cloud computing, and outsourcing of coding to low-wage countries. In general, the management of IT occupations is showing faster expansion than the technical occupations in IT. System and network security management positions are especially in demand. See the Learning Track for this chapter titled “Occupational and Career Outlook for Information Systems Majors 2016-2026″ for more details on IS job opportunities.
2. Organizing the Information Systems Function
There are many types of business firms, and there are many ways in which the IT function is organized within the firm. A very small company will not have a formal information systems group. It might have one employee who is responsible for keeping its networks and applications running, or it might use consultants for these services. Larger companies will have a separate information systems department, which may be organized along several different lines, depending on the nature and interests of the firm. Our Learning Track describes alternative ways of organizing the information systems function within the business.
The question of how the information systems department should be organized is part of the larger issue of IT governance. IT governance includes the strategy and policies for using information technology within an organization. It specifies the decision rights and framework for accountability to ensure that the use of information technology supports the organization’s strategies and objectives. How much should the information systems function be centralized? What decisions must be made to ensure effective management and use of information technology, including the return on IT investments? Who should make these decisions? How will these decisions be made and monitored? Firms with superior IT governance will have clearly thought out the answers.
Source: Laudon Kenneth C., Laudon Jane Price (2020), Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, Pearson; 16th edition.
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