190 Part II • Applying Information Technology
Enterprise SystemsManagerial Support SystemsTransaction Processing Systems
Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
Data Warehousing
Customer Relationship Management Systems
Office Automation
Groupware and Collaboration
Intranets and Portals
Factory Automation
Supply Chain Management SystemsDecision Support Systems
Data Mining
Group Support Systems
Geographic Information Systems
Executive Information Systems
Business Intelligence Systems
Knowledge Management Systems
Expert Systems
Neural Networks
Virtual RealityFIGURE 5.1 Types of Application Systemsmall group of managers. This chapter covers enterprise
systems, such as transaction processing systems and
groupware, as well as the critical concepts of client/server
architecture and service-oriented architecture (SOA).
Chapter 6 deals with systems specifically designed to
support managers, such as decision support systems and
expert systems.
Figure 5.1 lists these two major categories of
applications, along with representative application areas
that fall within each category. This figure provides the
primary framework for our discussion of intraorganizational
IT applications in this chapter and the following chapter.
Please note that the application areas are neither unique nor
exhaustive. For example, some specific applications fall in
two or more application areas (such as enterprise resource
planning systems also being transaction processing
systems). Further, it is easy to argue that an application
area such as groupware is both an enterprise system and
a management support system. Somewhat arbitrarily, we
have chosen to discuss group support systems, which is
an important subset of groupware concerned with sup-
porting the activities of a small group in a specific task or
a specific meeting, as a management support system
while discussing the broader category of groupware as
an enterprise system. Despite these caveats, however, the
Critical IT Applications and Technologies
In a 2009 survey of Society for Information Management (SIM) members—primarily chief information
officers (CIOs) and other senior IS executives—the executives placed “business intelligence” at the top
of their to-do lists. A business intelligence system is an IT tool for focusing, filtering, and organizing
business information so that executives can make more effective use of it. Business intelligence moved
to the top of the list in 2009, after being in the number two position in the three previous annual SIM
surveys. “Server virtualization” ranked second among the applications and technologies of importance
to IS executives, with “enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems” ranking third, “customer/corporate
portals” fourth, and “enterprise application integration/management” fifth. In the sixth position came
“continuity planning/disaster recovery,” followed by “collaborative and workflow tools” in the seventh
position. Items two through five are on the list in large part because all four represent ways to cut or
contain IT costs. Items one and seven are primarily concerned with improving efficiency and
effectiveness, while item six is a recognition of the importance of restoring mission-critical IT services
after a major incident (Luftman and Ben-Zvi, 2010).
All seven of these critical applications and technologies will be discussed in this chapter or in later
chapters in the book. “Business intelligence” will be considered in Chapter 6, and “server virtualization,”
“ERP systems,” and “customer/corporate portals” will be covered in this chapter. “Enterprise application
integration/management,” which is the integration of a set of enterprise computer applications, is inter-
woven throughout this chapter as we discuss ERP, customer relationship management (CRM), supply
chain management (SCM), and other enterprise applications. “Continuity planning/disaster recovery”
will be considered in the chapter on information security (Chapter 14), and “collaborative and workflow
tools” will be covered in Chapter 6. Thus, the topics covered in this chapter and the next relate to six of
the top seven critical applications and technologies, with the seventh topic dealt with in Chapter 14.application areas given in Figure 5.1 encompass the
overwhelming majority of specific applications.