The Computer Revolution/MIS/TPS

What is TPS

TPS stands for transaction processing systems. TPS is defined as "a computer - based information system that keeps track of the transactions needed to conduct business" (Using Information & Technology p436).

Features of a TPS

Rapid Response

Fast performance with a rapid response time is critical. Businesses cannot afford to have customers waiting for a TPS to respond, the turnaround time from the input of the transaction to the production for the output must be a few seconds or less.

Reliability

Many organisations rely heavily on their TPS; a breakdown will disrupt operations or even stop the business. For a TPS to be effective its failure rate must be very low. If a TPS does fail, then quick and accurate recovery must be possible. This makes well–designed backup and recovery procedures essential. Inflexibility

A TPS wants every transaction to be processed in the same way regardless of the user, the customer or the time for day. If a TPS were flexible, there would be too many opportunities for non-standard operations, for example, a commercial airline needs to consistently accept airline reservations from a range of travel agents, accepting different transactions data from different travel agents would be a problem. Controlled processing

The processing in a TPS must support an organisation's operations. For example if an organisation allocates roles and responsibilities to particular employees, then the TPS should enforce and maintain this requirement.

Input and output

The inputs of a system are transaction data: bills, orders,inventory levels, and the like. The output consists of processed transactions: bills, paychecks. Data can be numeric or general.

For Operational Managers

The TPS deals with day-to-day matters, it is principally of use to operational-level or supervisory managers, although it can also be helpful to tactical-level managers.

Basis for MIS and DSS

MIS: management information systems, a database designed to aid in management decisions and overall directions of the businesses.

DSS: decision support system, also a data base created for business decisions. --> The purpose for having two of such systems is to be redundant and hopefully build upon each others responses to a grand question.

Order Entry Systems

This type of system records and manages order processing. This doesn't necessarily need to be on a computer, it can be in person, through the mail or even on the phone which means there are plenty of types of these systems. The more familiar types are e-commerce systems and point-of-sale systems (POS). More and more stores have been using a new form of POS called a MPOS or mobile-point-of-sale. You may have noticed that when you enter an Apple Store you can't find a cashier station. This is because they are using a MPOS and have been. The trend has been spreading to some retail stores as well. Urban Outfitters has recently introduced this in their stores just before the winter holidays hit in 2011. This trend has been growing not to eliminate the registers but to provide relief for long lines during peak times when there are only a limited amount of registers available. The only downfall this system has is that it is not possible to handle cash due to security.