DATA IN TODAY'S INFORMATION SYSTEMS ENVIRONMENT

Using Data for Competitive Advantage

Today's computers are technological marvels. Their speeds, compactness, ease of use, price as related to capability, and, yes, their data storage capacities are truly amazing. And yet, our fundamental interest in computers is the same as that of the ancient Middle-Eastern shepherds in their pebbles and sacks: they are the vehicles we need to store and utilize the data that is important to us in our environment.

Indeed, data has become indispensable in every kind of modern business and government organization. Data, the applications that process the data, and the computers on which the applications run are fundamental to every aspect of every kind of endeavor. When speaking of corporate resources, people used to list such items as capital, plant and equipment, inventory, personnel, and patents. Today, any such list of corporate resources must include the corporation's data. It has even been suggested that data is the most important corporate resource because it describes all of the others.