What is Management Information System (MIS)?

The study of people, technology, organizations, and their interactions is known as management information systems (MIS). Professionals in management information systems (MIS) assist businesses in getting the most out of their investments in people, technology, and procedures. MIS is a people-focused field that emphasizes technology-assisted service. A degree in management information systems (MIS) may be right for you if you enjoy technology and want to utilise it to better people's lives.

How MIS works  

MIS refers to computer software that is used to store, organize, and analyze data, in addition to operating as a department inside a firm. Sales, inventories, equipment, and associated company data are all tracked using management information systems. Mainframe computers were once used to run management information systems. MIS began to operate on client/server systems as computer technology advanced. It's typical for MIS to run on the cloud or in a hybrid cloud these days.

Types of Management Information Systems

The following are the four categories of MIS:

• The Transaction Processing System (TPS) is a system that handles a company's normal transactions. Payroll processing, order processing, such as for an e-commerce firm, and invoicing are examples of transactions.

• End users can produce reports and analyze data using Management Support Systems (MSS), which store and arrange data to fulfill corporate needs and inform planning. A Management Support System is an example of a data warehouse.

• Decision Support Systems (DSS) are software programmers that evaluate company data to aid managers in making decisions. A DSS may, for example, forecast revenue based on new product sales expectations.

• Expert Systems, which use artificial intelligence (AI) to imitate the expert knowledge of a human in a given sector, provide managers with insights and suggestions.

IT management vs. MIS management

The growth of corporate applications in the 1990s ushered in a new set of IT duties. Companies thrived by delivering better customer services than competitors, utilizing a balanced mix of enterprise and indigenous apps. Order entry, accounting, and budgeting were among the activities handled by the programmed, which also included enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, and sales force automation. Many of these responsibilities did not belong primarily to the IT department; outside vendors, outsourcers, and line-of-business computing departments all claimed a piece of the corporate computing pie.

Information systems evolved from a commanding central entity to a strategic director of the enterprise's software and underlying hardware technologies. Information technology, or IT, rather than IS, was given a new name to represent the new responsibility. The initial MIS section shrank once again, becoming a minor component of the larger picture.

Management information systems is a word that is now used in a variety of applications. Among them are, but are not limited to:

• Automated decision-making

• Apps for managing resources and people

• Managing projects

• Apps that retrieve information from databases.

MIS still includes systems that are vital to the company's capacity to thrive, such as accounting and order entry, despite the blurring of the lines between MIS and IT management over time. The value of MIS in terms of enterprise income should be understood by upper management.