kinds of systems mgmt reporting eeo, osha, etc. absenteeism by department decision support staffing...
Post on 30-Dec-2015
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Kinds of Systems
Mgmt ReportingEEO, OSHA, etc. absenteeism by department
Decision Support staffing (long and short term) benefits planning
Workflow recruitment & hiring performance appraisal
Transaction Processingtime and attendance forms requests benefits enrollment
Executive SupportStrategic planningPlant opening/closing
Transaction Processing
• Basic, routine requests– Time & attendance records– Benefits enrollment
• Normally done with a form– Labor intensive & Error prone
• Automation of routine transactions provides data that other processes can use (informating HR work)
Management Reporting
• Basic, routine questions– How many people work here?– What are we paying them?
• Also need capability to generate “ad hoc” reports to answer non-routine questions
• Client-server systems can enable more flexible reporting by allowing users to design their own reports
Workflow
• Most transactions require multiple steps– Hiring is a classic example
• Where does the paperwork go next?
• Workflow systems expedite processing by moving the “paperwork” from step to step electronically
• Vision: the paperless office
Decision Support
• Algorithms can be used for routine decisions – daily/weekly/seasonal staffing levels)
• Analysis tools can be used to support non-routine decisions– When bargaining over wages or benefits, DSS
can help analyze true costs over time.
Enterprise Resource Planning
• Very popular category of software– PeopleSoft, SAP, Oracle, Baan, JD Edwards,
etc.
• Objectives:– integrate HR, financial and manufacturing data
into a single system– Facilitate operations and decision-making
• Can be very complex: thousands of tables!
Special purpose systems
• Many other kinds of systems are available– Job description writers– Applicant &resume tracking– Test administration
• Or you can write your own
• A constant issue: systems integration (getting systems to work together)
What do systems do?
• Automating: replacing human work with machines– Generally aimed at cost reduction
• Informating: creating information as a by product of work– Feeds management decision making– Can enhance effectiveness
• HR Systems can do either or both
What goes on in your PC?Random Access Memory: RAM
Backup Storage: • tape • optical
Input Devices • keyboards • pens • scanners • bar code • network
interface • audio
interface • video
interface
Output Devices • screens • printers • network
interface • audio
interface • video
interface
Disk Storage
. . . GET xxxx, R1 GET yyyy, R2 ADD R1, R2 PUT R0, zzzz . . .
What does the OS do?
• It talks to the little man!• Multi-processing
– Can you print and edit at the same time?– Which process gets the little man’s attention?
• Memory management– Where is everything stored right now?
• Input/Output (I/O)– Disk, keyboard, video, network, etc.
Systems have layers
Hardware (CPU, RAM, disk, etc.)
Operating system (I/O, process & memory mgmt)
Application SW Network SW Network
End User SW (e.g., HR/Vantage)
Examples of each layer
Hardware (Pentium, PowerPC, etc.)
Operating system (Win98, Linux, MacOS, etc.)
MS Access TCP/IP Internet
End User SW (e.g., HR/Vantage)
Client/Server Systems
• A way of distributing computing resources, such as:– Files -- data and programs– Processing– I/O devices (print, fax, etc.)
• Objective: To create flexible infrastructure and provide information at your fingertips
Why is C/S so popular?
• Hoped-for benefits (pull)– lower cost, greater IS value– greater functionality & flexibility– fits 1990s organizational paradigm
• Enabling technology available (push)– Cheap, powerful hardware– Relational database technology– Network technology (the intranet)
Trend toward distributed resources
• 20 years ago– Central mainframe running batch jobs– Dumb terminals, but limited interactivity
• 10 years ago– Central mainframe– Mini- and micro-computers attached
• Recently– Increased network capacity & cheap PCs– 90% of corporate MIPS are on the desktop
What is a client?
• A process that interacts with the user to:– provide a user interface– formulate queries (for example)– communicate with server– analyze data returned from server
• Examples: – WWW browsers like Netscape are clients– E-mail readers like Eudora or MS Outlook
What is a server?
• A set of processes that:– provides services to client(s)– responds to requests (does not initiate)– makes the system transparent to client
• Examples:– Web servers respond to requests for web pages– Also: File servers, email servers, print servers…
Client/Server Architecture
Client:•HR/Vantage•MS Access•TCP/IP•Win98•Intel CPU
TCP/IP
Server:•HR/Vantage•MS Access•TCP/IP•WinNT•Intel CPU
Database server?Web Server?
A Few Examples
Clients:•Wintel•MacOS•“Thin” client
TCP/IP
Servers:•Unix/Linux•WinNT•AS/400
Databases•Oracle•Sybase•SQL Server
Web Servers•Apache•MS IIS•Netscape
There are many more examples in each category!!
Popular OS’s for Servers
• UNIX (2,575,347 Web pages…)
• LINUX (3,139,952 web pages…)– http://www.redhat.com/ -- it’s free!
• Windows NT (1,781,753 Web pages…)– SSC and SLIR servers run NT 4.0
• IBM AS/400 (545,150 pages. . .)– http://www.as400.ibm.com/
HR & client server systems
• Most major HR applications use client-server technology– Data are centralized and can be shared– Access and decision-making can be
decentralized
• Examples: – open positions need to be posted everywhere– Policies and procedures, benefits enrollment. . .
C/S systems are not simple
• Lots of pieces interacting– Server platform, client platform, network ...
• Maintenance is expensive
• Security and control is always a concern– Who should have access? To which data?
• HR requires excellent support from IS to make these systems successful
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