The four dimensions of an information system
The informational, technological, organisational and human dimensions through which an information system, and a project that changes it, is read, and what happens when a project deals with only one.
- 23 cards
- 5 topics
- Free
The outline, topic by topic
Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.
- Concepts
- Questions
- Sort and link
- Scenarios
- Understand
A few cards from the deck
Informational dimension: what is it?
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What decides which data the system handles: their definition, their quality, their owner and who has access to them.
If two departments define an 'active customer' differently, the best software will give two figures: the flaw is in the data, not the tool.
A company replaces its quoting software. The new one calculates well, but it took over outdated prices and duplicate customer records as they were, and the quotes come out wrong. Which dimension was neglected?
- Informational
- Technological
- Human
- Organisational
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Informational
The software does its job: data quality is what is missing. Changing the tool settles nothing unless prices and records are cleaned before being carried over.
The four dimensions of an information system are the …, the …, the organisational and the human.
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The four dimensions of an information system are the informational, the technological, the organisational and the human.
A well-run project asks, for each one: what changes, and who has to change with it?
Technological dimension: what is it?
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What covers the hardware, software, networks and services the system relies on, with their capacities and limits.
It is the most visible dimension and the one handled by instinct, but it only enables: a powerful server says nothing about how it will be used.
The new scheduling tool runs without any outage, yet six months later the nurses still keep the rota on a whiteboard. Which fix addresses the cause?
- Replace the rota server with a faster, more recent model
- Impose the tool on them through a memo from management
- Redefine the rota's data fields in the tool
- Involve them, adapt the tool to their work and train them
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Involve them, adapt the tool to their work and train them
The failure is human: the tool does not match their real work and they were not involved. A faster server changes nothing, and imposing without listening reinforces workarounds.