P4

People	Within a business, people typically associated with collecting data are from the marketing department as they collect data on their target market. People entering this department must have the correct training and relevant experience because their stage of data collection is so vital.
Telecommunications	After information is processed and is ready to distribute, telecommunications are used to do so. Information needs to be shared in order to make the process worth it, whether it's shared throughout the business or shared for money to other businesses.
Data	Data is just raw figures that don't really make sense to someone who isn't an expert in reading them when they're unprocessed. Once this is processed the output should be easy to read information, but data must be accurate in order for the information to follow suit.
Software	Businesses must employ the most suitable software for the task at hand in this case the handling of data and the transformation into information. This suitability must carry through to the employee work stations to allow workers to analyse and process information such as reports and data.
Functions of Information Systems	Information systems should be able to do everything needed to create information, this can include, inputing data onto a system, processing that data, storing it and producing the end product of information. They also control feedback loops.
Control and Feedback Loops	Once the data has been transformed into information which has then been analysed and looked at specialists, this information can be put into a feedback loops which then offers the information up to any later data collection that it might help/speed up.
Hardware	Hardware used for information systems must compliment the software used in order to have an effective machine(s). If it can't handle the software loaded on to it, it can be slow and stop employees from meeting deadlines set by managers. Hardware must also allow for vast amounts of storage to keep all of the information on.
Storage	Storage is where the information is stored after is have been processed from data into information. Storage needs to be organised in business in order for easy access when looking for old information. Backups of all these storage formats will be kept so the business is immune to technological failure.
Input	After you have collected data, whether it's from an external source or collected by the business itself, it's needs to be processed an the data in question is then called input. Systems usually ask the user what kind of analysis it wants to run then uses this input to create output.
Output	Output is the information that has been created after processing the input. Output is usually used to show staff how the business is performing in the form of graphs, charts, pictures and diagrams.
Closed and Open Systems	As you would presume, an open system means that it can be accessed at anytime by a range of people because the information on there is not of much importance and the business is not risking security by allowing this. A closed system is one that is more secluded from the business environment and will be accessible to a few people but only management  and will need to have been planned to be accessed as it has high security details.
Processing	This is the vital stage that turns inputs into outputs, data into information for ease of viewing. Simple processing is where the computer is used but not to it's full potential as the task it's given is easy to do and could be done by a human, e.g. adding up sales for a day/month or counting how many customers they had in a day. Complex processing involves using the computer to calculate equations to hard or time consuming for humans, e.g.  how much milage company cars will do taking into account their weight and the distance they travel to work.