Oliver Lines
BABS 2 Option
Managing Information Systems In Organisations
RECENT ADVANCES IN SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT WILL RADICALLY
CHANGE THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, there has been an abundance of new technologies in the information
systems field. These new technologies have altered the very development process itself.
Information systems have gone from being a series of one level databases to three
dimensional reality, virtual reality, and multimedia systems. In the early days of
information systems, the demands were for data, with no real function of artificial
intelligence. However, as the 21st century approaches, business has taken on an entirely
different function, and the need for individual information systems has grown immensely.
This demand for information technology is in all areas of business: corporations, law,
medicine, science and even small business. In addition, the worldwide web and the
Internet have added an additional factor of communications. Most information systems in
use today require at the very least, a measure of Internet capability.
In order to understand the changes in these development processes, the history of
databases should be analyzed.
BACKGROUND
Database Management Systems actually began in the 1950s, with what is known as the
first generation, also known as file systems on tape. The major task of any computer in
those days was to process data under the control of a program. This primarily meant
calculating, counting and simple tasks. Second generation databases, file systems on disk,
allowed use of computers in dialogue mode as well as batch mode. The development of
magnetic disks allowed for more sophisticated file systems, making multiple access
possible. These first two generations of DBMS were characterized by the availability of
file systems only; strictly speaking these were the forerunners of database systems, the
foundations. An important component of these database systems were the static association
of certain data sets (files) with individual programs that would concentrate on these. There
were high redundancy problems between files; inconsistencies when one program made
changes that are not made in all programs; inflexibility against changes in applications;
low productivity by programmers since program maintenance was expensive; and the
problem of adopting and maintaining standards for coding and data formats.
The third generation, pre-relational databases, started in the 1960s and continued into the
1970s. This generation is characterized by the introduction of a distinction between logical
and physical information, along with a parallel need to manage large collections of data.
Data models were used for the first time to describe physical structures from a logical
