Business Information Systems

In a business, information is an asset. In the future, successful firms will manage information just as they manage their other assets. Information is a commodity with all ranges of relevance - knowing what time a PIA Flight leaves Karachi or knowing the fourth root of 6.432 has only marginal value for the average person. But knowing the split second when a fully loaded 747 should begin its roll down the runway at an air runway strip can mean a great deal to the pilot of that flight if avoiding a collision with other air traffic is at stake. Information can literally be the difference between life and death.

What could very well separate the winning firms from the losing firms may be the accuracy and timeliness of their information. It is a condition in which companies do not have the option of passing - they must elect to play. Information is our world, and as competitors learn new strategies for managing (analyzing and using) information, they have an advantage over their less sophisticated and energetic counterparts.

The Database Approach

The database approach has developed as a natural and necessary evolutionary step. Conceptually it is shown in the figure below. All data are stored in a central filing system called the database and all applications access and modify the various elements in those databases using a master set of logic. In the database approach, the customer's address, e.g., is stored in one place. If that address is changed, only one input is required to the system, as all the various files in the database are interlocked. In the general context of people and information, using people to process information is a luxury on four counts: time, cost, expertise, and durability. With the advent of the computer such disadvantages have almost altogether been offset.

MEConsult is well equipped in terms of technical expertise and computer support services to develop integrated data-base systems for corporate and industrial environments. MEConsult's philosophy in this direction is to emphasize upon institutional development in so far as information management is concerned by providing rigorous analysis of all interlinking system areas.