Information Systems Reengineering, Integration and Normalization - Information Systems Reengineering, Integration and Normalization - page 10

Local
Consultant

Foreign
Consultant

Request&
Reply

Vancancy&
Personnel
Information

Ask&
Answer

Ask&
Answer

Request &
Reply

Manager Interpreter

Ask&
Answer

Bi-directionalinformationflow

Fig. 1.3 A job vacancy problem application model

resource management consultant agency. The experts in this agency will then use
their expertise to produce a human resource plan and hence give the manager some
suggestions. Figure 1.3 shows the relationship between these components. Taking
a system view, the manager is the end-user, the human resource consultant is the
ES, and the personnel information and job vacancy information are stored into the
database (for detailed information, see Sect. 8.4, which contains a description of a
human resource management EDS).
An easy way to model this application situation is to view each component as
an independent module. The system's performance will depend on the performance
of each module and on communication (i.e., message passing). The normal way for
information passing is as follows: the manager (end-user) asks the consultant (ES) to
do a job, then the consultant (ES) analyzes this particular job and asks the company
(database (DB)) to supply the necessary information that is needed for this particular
job. The company (DB) then sends this information to the consultant (ES) and the
consultant (ES) uses his/her expertise to generate a result that is sent back to the
manager (end-user). The consultant may be a foreigner and may not know the local
language. Thus sometimes an interpreter (interface) is needed at the same time. It is
also necessary to support an open structure to allow any new subsystem to join the
system.
EDS are widely used in the current information systems. Further examples can
be found in the areas of business, industry, banking, and retail. For example, a busi-
ness plan is necessary when planning for future events. A planning manager (end-
user) asks experts (ES) to analyze the plan and give suggestions by using the com-
pany information, market information (DB), and so on.
Current EDS technology still has a long way to go in order to achieve the full
requirements of EDSs from the two different view points, i.e., DB users and ES