Running the Backbone: A Training Course on Information Systems Management Fundamentals
1Summary
Take away the information system behind almost any modern organisation and operations grind to a halt within hours — payroll stalls, orders stop moving, decisions get made blind. That dependency is exactly why understanding how these systems are designed, run, and protected has become a core management skill, not just an IT specialty. This course from the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy, Fundamentals of Information Systems Management, was built around that reality.
Participants work through how information systems are structured, how to align them with an organisation's goals, and how to analyse and manage them with confidence. The course also covers current thinking in information security, database management, and the link between well-run systems and institutional excellence — combining technical grounding with managerial judgment so participants are ready to operate in increasingly information-driven environments.
2Objectives and target group
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Explain the fundamentals and general concepts behind management information systems.
- Identify a system's components and how they evolve across its lifecycle within a business.
- Evaluate systems critically and choose the option best suited to their organisation.
- Connect information systems to an organisation's strategic planning.
- Apply the skills needed to manage data responsibly and keep information secure.
Who should attend:
- IT administrators and systems managers.
- Staff in technical and digital departments.
- Professionals working in systems analysis and database design.
- Administrators whose decisions depend on information systems.
- Fresh graduates looking to break into the information systems field.
3Course Content
Module 1: Information Systems as a Strategic Asset
- The different types of information systems — transaction processing, decision support, and executive/strategic systems.
- Why these systems matter for achieving an organisation's core business objectives, not just for running daily operations.
Module 2: From Data to Decisions
- The real difference between data, information, and knowledge.
- How information systems function to support decision-making at every level.
Module 3: What an Information System Is Made Of
- The human components — users, analysts, and managers — alongside the technical components: hardware, software, and databases.
- The processes and procedures that hold a system together.
Module 4: Building and Evolving a System
- The stages a system goes through: analysis and design, implementation and operation, maintenance and evaluation.
- Comparing development methodologies — the traditional Waterfall model, Agile and Scrum, and iterative and evolutionary approaches.
Module 5: Reading the Organisation Before You Build
- Identifying user requirements and analysing existing tasks and processes.
- Running a gap analysis to find where performance can improve.
Module 6: Managing Data and the Databases Behind It
- The data lifecycle, and what keeps data accurate, high-quality, and private.
- Types of databases — relational and non-relational — database management systems (DBMS), and how applications connect to them.
Module 7: Turning Data into Decisions
- Data mining tools and analytical decision support systems.
- Building dashboards and performance reports that make data usable.
Module 8: Securing the System and Staying Compliant
- Cyber threats and risks, access control policies, encryption, and backup practices.
- Data protection laws such as GDPR, security standards like ISO/IEC 27001, and how security audits verify compliance.
Module 9: Staying Resilient — Continuity and Disaster Recovery
- Emergency plans and recovery procedures, Business Impact Analysis (BIA), and managing technological risk.
Module 10: Aligning Systems with Strategy and Institutional Excellence
- Aligning information systems with organisational vision, measuring the value they add, and managing the organisational change that comes with them.
- How systems improve service and process quality, drive innovation, and support digital transformation.
Module 11: The Road Ahead for Information Systems
- Artificial intelligence and system integration, cloud computing and modern storage technologies, and automation's growing impact on the labour market.