Information systems specialists focus on integrating information technology solutions and business processes to meet the information needs of businesses and other enterprises, enabling them to achieve their objectives in an effective, efficient way. This discipline’s perspective on information technology emphasizes information, and views technology as an instrument for generating, processing, and distributing information. Professionals in the discipline are primarily concerned with the information that computer systems can provide to aid an enterprise in defining and achieving its goals, and the processes that an enterprise can implement or improve using information technology. They must understand both technical and organizational factors, and they must be able to help an organization determine how information and technology-enabled business processes can provide a competitive advantage.
The information systems specialist plays a key role in determining the requirements for an organization’s information systems and is active in their specification, design, and implementation. As a result, such professionals require a sound understanding of organizational principles and practices so that they can serve as an effective bridge between the technical and management communities within an organization, enabling them to work in harmony to ensure that the organization has the information and the systems it needs to support its operations. Information systems professionals are also involved in designing technology-based organizational communication and collaboration systems.
All IS degrees combine business and computing coursework. A variety of IS programs exist under various labels which often reflect the nature of the program. For example, programs in Computer Information Systems usually have the strongest technology focus, while programs in Management Information Systems emphasize the organizational and behavioural aspects of IS.
