Page 210 - Business Principles and Management

Chapter 8 • Technology and Information Management

8.2 Managing Technology

Goals Terms
• Describe the basic technology • chief information • extranet
infrastructure used by businesses. officer (CIO) • firewall
• Describe the information systems • telecommunications • database
that managers use to aid in their (data communications) • information system
decision making. • local area network • management infor-
(LAN) mation system (MIS)
• file server (server) • decision support
• wide area network system (DSS)
(WAN) • executive informa-
• intranet tion system (EIS)

Managing Technology

As computers became a dominant force throughout the world, organizations
had to manage the computer systems as well as the computer specialists. In
major organizations, the top computer executive is the chief information officer,
or CIO. The CIO reports to the CEO (chief executive officer). The CIO must
possess not only knowledge about electronic equipment but also expert manage-
ment skills.
CIOs must keep up with new technologies and know what types of equip-
ment to purchase to meet an organization’s specific needs. Because many workers
use computers, keeping them trained and productive is equally important. CIOs
make it possible for all people who need information to get it easily and quickly
from anywhere it exists. CIOs also protect information from being improperly
used or getting to people who should not have it.

DISTRIBUTING INFORMATION

Employees are constantly using their computers to record, process, send, store, and
retrieve information. The company’s computer system must make these tasks easy
and fast to perform. Telecommunications (data communications) is the movement
of information from one location to another electronically. The means used for this
movement may be telephone lines, cable, or satellite. Telecommunications compa-
nies sell different systems for transmitting information within firms and to business
partners and customers. Customers can even have training programs and sports
events appear on a portion of their computer monitors, thanks to telecommuni-
cations providers.
Workers need an electronic means for sharing information. A local area
network (LAN) is a network of linked computers that serves users in a single
building or building complex. In a LAN, a computer that stores data and
application software for all PC workstations is called a file server, or, more
commonly, a server.

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