Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS)

BBA 3551 Unit 1 #6: Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS)
Name
Institution
Date
Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS)
Information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) are synonymous terms but in real sense information technology is a division of information systems. The perception that the two terms can be used interchangeably can cause confusion. Even though information systems and information technology both deals with computers, they have distinct characteristics. Organizations need to understand the two different terms to classify information based on its usage in order to understand how to divide organization operations in terms of support and management (Ward, 1995).
IS is defined as the coordinated networks of computer components that operate to produce, distribute and process information (Singh, 2007). They are a set of coordinated network systems that work together in the process of producing, collecting, distributing and processing information. IT comprises of hardware, software, computer network systems, and databases. It deals with processing storage, acquiring and disseminating digital information. It mainly focuses on managing technology and improving utilization of information to advance overall business goals. IT is an umbrella term used to describe technological processes of the IS (Singh, 2007).
IT and IS differ in relation to the nature of how information interaction takes place within the organization. Whereas IT are the hardware and software that supports organization information processes, the actual implementation of IT process forms part of the IS (Ward, 1995). IS differs from IT in that it contains an aspect of communication. Organizations need to know the differences between IT and IS for businesses to know how to plan better and implement high-level informati...