Electronic data processing: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:07, 9 February 2004

Revision as of 22:13, 9 February 2004

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Early commercial systems were installed by large organisations. These could afford to invest the time and capital necessary to purchase hardware, hire specialist staff to develop bespoke software and work through the consequent (and often unexpected) organisational and cultural changes.

At first, individual organisations developed their own software, including data management utilities, themselves. Different products might also have 'one-off' bespoke software. This fragmented approach lead to duplicated effort and mangementthe production of management information needed manual collationeffort.

High hardware costs and relatively slow processing speeds forced developers to use resources 'efficiently'. Data storage formats were heavily compacted, for example. A common example is the removal of the century from dates, which eventually lead to the 'millenium bug'.

Data input required intermediate processing via punched paper tape or card and separate input to computers, usually for overnight processing. Data required validation in batches. Rejected data needed correction and resubmission with consequences for data and account reconciliation.