SY BMS SEM III – Information Technology in Business Management

Chapter 1 – Introduction to IT Support in Management

 Information Technology Concepts-

1. Data & Information- Data simply means “Raw Fact”, which means it is fact but it can’t
be used as it, for example if we know that a college is having 2000 students, we cannot
use this fact to assign “Roll No.”, to prepare “ID Cards” because though the number of
students are 2000 is fact but we need to process it to get further details like how many
students are in first year, how many students are in which branch (e.g. Arts, Commerce,
Science etc.). once we get these raw facts processed it becomes “Information” and then
it can be used for further action desired.
Data can be presented in form of numbers, text, pictures etc.

In simple words – “Data = Raw Facts” (which can’t be used as it is).

Data is like a raw material which gets appropriately processed by Computers / IT and
we get the output which is known as “Information”.

In simple words – “Information = Processed Data (Raw Facts)” (which can be used
further for making decisions).

Types of Data (Data Types)-

1 Numeric (Int) Integer, Numbers, Digits e.g. Roll No, Employee ID, Account No
2 Text (Char) Characters, Words e.g. First name. Last name, Address etc.
3 Date (Date) Dates (DD/MM/YYYY) e.g. Date of Birth, Joining Date, Expiry
Date etc.
 Data Types are used to store data (Information) in Databases as per its type.

Characteristics of the Information-

a. Relevant – Information should be in context with the user query, if it doesn’t fulfill
requirement of user it is called irrelevant e.g. if user needs current year exam
topper’s list and if information is given about last year’s toppers, it is called
irrelevant information.
b. Complete - Information should be in complete with all details and it should not
be partial. If it misses any part, it may give wrong picture to the user e.g. If sales
figures of entire nation for any company and if information is left about any state
it will give wrong information due to missing data.
c. Timely – Information has a time value; after which it has no importance for the
user. If a person received information about Job interview call after some days,
it will be of no use to him as he already missed interview call.
d. Accurate – Information should be accurate (very much correct and to the point)
and should cover the query in great details and very much true.
e. Accessible – User should be able to access the information as & when he needs
it. If user can’t access information at the right time it has no use / value of it.
f. Understandable – Information should not be very complicated to understand by
the user. It should be in simple form / language and clear & free from any
ambiguity (confusing and having multiple meanings).
g. Valuable – Information should be valuable to the user / organisation, it should
be exclusive and effective so that user / organisation can remain ahead of all
rivals.

2. Knowledge- Knowledge means facts, information, and skills acquired through

experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.
In simple words, knowledge is the collection of information on various or a single topic
or subject. Knowledge need not be practical or self-experienced, it could have been
obtained or received from sources like print media (books, magazines etc.), electronic
media (TV, Movies etc.), Audio Channels (Radio), Wireless media (Internet,
messengers) or Social Media etc. with / without any practical experience. For example,
when we say we know how to drive car it means we know all the information about car
driving procedure.

3. Database- We are surrounded with the databases and we use databases in our daily
life e.g. Phonebook in mobiles, Bus Numbers, Train Timetable etc. Databases are even
used right from school & colleges where all the details of students, teachers, teaching
staff, non-teaching staff, office staff are stored in the form of tables in database.

Database is a collection of the Information (processed data) systematically structured

so that information can be added, updated, deleted or distributed in very easy manner.
Database can be manual (in the form of physical files) or Computerised.
 Database Table

Data in computerised databases are stored in table files. Databases are having multiple
tables which are connected to each other (Relational Data Base Management System -
RDBMS). Table structure of Databases are as shown in above pic. Two key elements
in any table are Columns (Fields) & Rows (Records / Tuples). The data in each
column are of the same type i.e. digits, text or dates (as explained previously in DATA
Types).

Database is very crucial part of any organisation & business management for growth &
retention of profit & earnings.