As discussed earlier, an information system needs not to use computers. However, modern organizations increasingly rely on information technology as the core of their information systems. We define information technology to include hardware, software and telecommunication equipment that is used to capture, process, store and distribute information. 

Hardware is the physical equipment – such as a personal computer, a laptop, a portable computing device, and even a modern cell phone – used to process information. Software is the set of coded instructions (programs) that direct the hardware to perform the required tasks. A typical example is Google Docs – a word processing program designed to instruct a computer to create text documents. Telecommunication systems are the networking equipment enabling users and devices to communicate. An example of a telecommunication system is a telephone network, which allows two callers to interact by voice over a distance.

These three elements – hardware, software, and telecommunication systems – comprise the IT component of an information system. For example, the technology components of the automated payroll system mentioned in the first example include:

  • hardware – computers and printers
  • software – the accounting software application designed to keep track of the salaries and the staff scheduling system designed to keep track of hours worked and how much each employees should be paid
  • telecommunication systems – local and inter-organizational channels of communication and routing equipment designed to connect the company to the bank for automatic money transfers.