ICAG Paper 1.2 BMIS key terms

An organised combination of people, hardware, software, data and procedures that collects, processes, stores and distributes information to support decision making, coordination and control in an organisation.

Data are raw, unorganised facts and figures with little meaning on their own; information is data that has been processed, filtered and contextualised so it becomes meaningful and useful to a decision maker.

The degree to which information is accurate, timely, complete, relevant, concise and presented in a form the user can act upon. Poor quality information leads to poor decisions regardless of system sophistication.

A computer-based system that converts internal transaction data into regular summary reports used by middle managers to monitor performance, compare actual results with plans and support structured decisions.

A system that captures and processes the routine, high-volume day-to-day transactions of an organisation, such as sales orders, payments and payroll, ensuring each transaction is recorded completely and accurately.

An interactive system combining data, analytical models and user-friendly interfaces to help managers solve semi-structured problems where judgement is needed alongside computation.

A tailored system for senior executives that presents high-level internal and external information through dashboards, trend indicators and drill-down facilities, emphasising ease of use over detailed transaction handling.

The classification of managerial work into strategic, tactical and operational levels, each needing different information characteristics: strategic needs summarised external and forward-looking data, operational needs detailed, frequent and internal data.

A set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome, such as order fulfilment or payroll, often crossing departmental boundaries and therefore a prime candidate for system support or redesign.

The fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in cost, quality, speed and service, rather than incremental tweaking of existing procedures.

Integrated software using a single shared database to support core processes such as finance, procurement, manufacturing, inventory and human resources, replacing disparate legacy systems with one consistent source of data.

An older application or platform still in productive use because it supports critical operations, often costly to maintain, poorly documented and difficult to integrate with newer technology.

A structured project approach dividing system work into phases such as feasibility, requirements analysis, design, build, testing, implementation and review, each with defined deliverables and sign-off points.

An early assessment of whether a proposed system is technically achievable, economically justified, legally permissible and operationally acceptable, used to decide whether to commit further resources.

A sequential development approach in which each phase is completed and approved before the next begins, offering clear control and documentation but limited flexibility when requirements change late.

An iterative approach delivering working software in short increments with continuous user feedback, valuing adaptability to changing requirements over exhaustive up-front specification.

Building a simplified working model of a system to clarify requirements and obtain user feedback early, after which the prototype may be refined, extended or discarded.

Formal testing by intended users against agreed business scenarios to confirm the system performs required tasks correctly before it goes live and is accepted from the supplier.

The transition from an old system to a new one, carried out by direct, parallel, phased or pilot methods, each trading off risk, cost and disruption differently.

The structured process of preparing people for, supporting them through and embedding organisational change, addressing communication, training, resistance and stakeholder engagement alongside technical delivery.

An organised collection of related data stored so that it can be accessed, managed and updated efficiently, usually under the control of a database management system.

Software that sits between users or applications and stored data, providing facilities for defining, storing, retrieving, updating, securing and backing up data, and controlling concurrent access.

A database in which data are held in tables of rows and columns and relationships are represented by shared key values rather than physical links, queried using structured query language.

A column or combination of columns whose value uniquely identifies each row in a table, must be unique and cannot be null, and is used to enforce entity integrity.

A column in one table whose values must match a primary key value in another table, used to create and enforce relationships and to maintain referential integrity between the tables.

A rule ensuring every foreign key value corresponds to an existing primary key value, preventing orphan records and keeping relationships between tables consistent when data are inserted, updated or deleted.

The process of structuring tables to reduce redundant data and avoid insertion, update and deletion anomalies, typically by progressively ensuring each fact is stored once and depends only on the key.

A standard declarative language for defining, manipulating and querying data in relational databases, including statements to select, insert, update, delete and control access.

A subject-oriented, integrated, time-variant store of data extracted from multiple operational systems, structured for querying and analysis rather than day-to-day transaction processing.

The use of statistical and computational techniques to discover previously unknown patterns, correlations and trends in large data sets, supporting forecasting, segmentation and fraud detection.

The core, relatively stable reference data shared across systems and processes, such as customer, supplier, product and employee records, whose consistency is essential to reliable reporting.

A visual display consolidating key performance indicators, charts and alerts on a single screen so users can monitor status at a glance and drill into detail where needed.

A quantifiable measure selected to track progress towards a critical business objective, defined with a clear formula, data source, target and reporting frequency.

A modelling technique that changes one or more input assumptions to observe the effect on outcomes, allowing managers to compare alternative scenarios before committing to a decision.

A technique that tests how much a result changes when a single input varies, identifying which assumptions most influence the outcome and therefore deserve closest monitoring.

A structured comparison of the total expected costs of a project, including acquisition, implementation and running costs, against its expected tangible and intangible benefits, often using discounted cash flow.

A processing method in which transactions are accumulated over a period and processed together as a group, suited to high-volume routine work where immediate output is not required.

A processing method in which each transaction is handled immediately as it occurs, so that records and responses are current, essential where delay would cause error or loss.

The planned transfer of data, functionality and users from an existing system to a replacement, requiring data cleansing, mapping, testing and rollback arrangements to control risk.

A model describing the sequence of primary and support activities through which an organisation creates value for customers, used to identify where information systems can add competitive advantage.