Computer Based Information Systems

Transaction Processing System (TPS)

It processes business transaction of the organization which is well-structured processes. Transaction can be any activity of the organization. Transactions differ from organization to organization. This provides high speed and accurate processing of record keeping of basic operational processes. These include calculation, storage and retrieval. TPS provide speed and accuracy, and can be programmed to follow routines functions of the organization. It substitutes computer-based processing for manual procedures. For example, take a railway reservation system. Booking, cancelling, etc are all transactions. Any query made to it is a transaction.

Management Information System (MIS)

It assists lower management in problem solving and making decisions. They use the results of transaction processing and some other information as well. It is a set of information processing functions. It should handle queries as quickly as they arrive. An important element of MIS is database. E.g. at the end of the day the report of transactions in submitted to the management. Here MIS comes into the picture.

Decision Support System (DSS)

It assists higher management to make long term decisions. These type of systems handle unstructured or semi structured decisions. A decision is considered unstructured if there are no clear procedures for making the decision and if not all the factors to be considered in the decision can be readily identified in advance. These are not of recurring nature. Some recur infrequently or occur only once. Hence it is called as highly unstructured.

Office Automation System (OAS)

It deals with automating the office work. It is different from TPS, DSS and MIS but is a combination of all three.