Management information systems were once little more than automated reports that were formerly generated manually. General ledger reports, aging reports, and other reports were processed using centralized computer systems, and used by managers. Today's managers have considerably more sophisticated tools available to them, including data warehousing, intranets, and executive information systems. Combined with company intranets, these tools can form an impressive management information system which moves far beyond merely automating reports. Dynatech, a high technology company owned primarily by venture capitalists, is in a prime position to harness the power offered by these tools and use them to build an effective management reporting system which crosses both organizational and physical boundaries.
Information technology has traditionally been the domain of a company's management information system (MIS) department. Companies based decisions to implement such applications on demonstrated cost savings or avoidance and the availability of MIS resources (both system resources and labor resources for development and support). The advent of personal computers has strengthened the argument for implementing a database application because it greatly relieves the burden on the MIS department (Inmon, 1998, p. 88NA1).
Using a PC, many individuals are now capable of creating a data maintenance screen and reports and developing a relatively sophisticated application. The PC revolution has given individuals access to immediate results, autonomy and ingenuity that come from direct interaction with computer applications. When database applications were created exclusively by the MIS department, integrity and access control were managed by people who were specifically trained to handle them. Today, companies are faced with the problem of how to capitalize on the advantages of end-user computing while encouraging data-sharing and ensuring...