instructions or data via a keyboard or stylus; also called palmtop
computer or personal digital assistant.
Hardware The physical pieces of a computer or telecommuni-
cations system, such as a central processing unit, a printer, and a
terminal.
Help desk A support service for IT users that can be
accessed via phone or e-mail. The service might be provided
by IS specialists who are employees in the same organization
or by IS specialists who are under contract to provide this
service (i.e., an outsourcing vendor).
Hertz Cycles per second; one measure of data transmission
speed. Hertz is usually equivalent to baud (another measure of
transmission speed) and to bits per second.
Hierarchical decomposition The process of breaking down a
system into successive levels of subsystems. This recursive
decomposition allows a system to be described at various levels
of detail, each appropriate for a different kind of analysis or for a
different audience.
HIPAA The Health Information Portability and Accountability
Act (HIPAA), passed by the U.S. government in 1996, sets stan-
dards for U.S. organizations to maintain the privacy of medical
record information and related payment data; it also establishes
both civil and criminal penalties for noncompliance.
Horizontal mechanisms Intentional management actions to
link employees that work in business units that don’t have a direct
reporting relationship. Horizontal linking mechanisms include
structural designs (such as formal groups and integrator roles) as
well as other linking devices (such as job rotations) that are
intended to help build and foster relationships across different
workgroups. Common structural mechanisms to link IS and
business groups are IS advisory councils (with senior business
leaders) and IS account managers (individuals that serve as a key
point-of-contact for a specific business unit).
Hosted solution A method of using a software package (such
as an ERP or CRM system) in which the software runs on the
vendor’s hardware, and the customer pays a subscription fee on a
per-user, per-month basis to use the application; also called an
on-demand solution or Software as a Service (SaaS).
HTML SeeHypertext Markup Language.
HTTP SeeHypertext Transfer Protocol.
Hub A simple hardware device employed in a telecommunica-
tions network to connect one section of a local area network
(LAN) to another. A hub forwards every message it receives to
the other section of the LAN, whether or not the messages need
to go there. Another use of a hub is to create a shared Ethernet
LAN; in this case, the hub is a junction box containing up to
24 ports into which cables can be plugged. Embedded inside the
hub is a linear bus connecting all the ports.
Hypertext As used on the World Wide Web, this is the linking
of objects, such as text, pictures, sound clips, and video clips, to
each other so that by clicking on highlighted text or a small icon,
the user is taken to the related object.
Glossary 677Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) A specialized
language to “mark up” pages to be viewed on the World Wide
Web. The “markups” consist of special codes inserted in the text
to indicate headings, boldfaced text, italics, where images or
photographs are to be placed, and links to other Web pages,
among other things.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) The underlying
protocol used by the World Wide Web. HTTP defines how
messages are formatted and transmitted and what actions Web
browsers and Web servers should take in response to various
commands.
I-CASE SeeIntegrated-CASE.
Identity theft The act of appropriating an individual’s
personal information without that person’s knowledge to commit
fraud or theft. An identity thief uses information such as name,
address, social security number, credit card number, and/or other
identifying information to impersonate someone else and obtain
loans or purchase items using his or her credit.
IM SeeInstant messaging.
Imaging A computer input/output method by which any type
of paper document—including business forms, reports, charts,
graphs, and photographs—can be read by a scanner and tran-
slated into digital form so that it can be stored in the computer
system; this process can also be reversed so that the digitized
image stored in the computer system can be displayed on a video
display unit, printed on paper, or transmitted to another computer
or workstation.
In-line system A computer system in which data entry is
accomplished online (i.e., a transaction is entered directly
into the computer via some input device), but the processing
is deferred until a suitable batch of transactions has been
accumulated.
Incremental commitment A strategy in systems analysis and
design in which the project is reviewed after each phase and con-
tinuation of the project is rejustified.
Informal system The way the organization or business process
actually works. See alsoFormal system.
Information Data (usually processed data) that are useful to a
decision maker.
Information resources assessment The act of taking inventory
and critically evaluating technological and human resources in
terms of how well they meet the organization’s business and IS
needs.
Information system (IS) A computer-based system that uses
information technology, procedures (processes), and people to
capture, move, store, and distribute data and information.
Information systems (IS) department An organizational unit
that has the primary responsibility for managing information
technology within a business or other type of organization.
Information technology (IT) Computer hardware and soft-
ware for processing and storing data, as well as communications
technology (networks) for transmitting data.