Managing Computer Resources [antikvár]

PREFACE Computers today are used for operations, control, and planning and to improve office efficiency. Indeed, few organization have been left untouched by the computer revolution. Although computers facilitate decision making and management of operations, they do add to the work of managers, because computing resources require supervision. This book explains how to acquire, organize, monitor, and control information resources and discusses management problems unique to computer environments. While many of the references in the text are business oriented, most of the issues discussed refer to computer use in government and nonprofit organizations as well. The chapters are addressed primarily to managers (or students of management) but should also be of interest to data processing professionals. This book began as a new edition of the textbook Information Resource Management, which we published in 1984. However, so many changes have occurred in the field of computing since that time that a new book evolved during the rewrite. Today, managers are concerned not only with mainframe computing by EDP professionals but with end-user computing (use of computers by persons who lack a data processing background). They want to know how to control use of desktop micros, how to initiate micro to mainframe links, how to utilize computer networks, and how to employ information as a strategic weapon. We have addressed these topics by adding new sections to almost every chapter of the original text, by updating those remaining, and by including a totally new chapter on information centers. Another topic not covered in the original text but added to this book is how to design a computer center. We made some deletions from the contents of Information Resource Management as well. To make the reworked text manageable in size, ix