Business Informatics and Systems (BIS) research interrogates and aligns the key concepts and methods from various fields, including computer science, management science, organizational science, and information science.

The goal? To understand and elevate how organizations use information and technology.

In addition to deep interdisciplinary research, BIS knowledge fuels practitioners in organizations across industries. These BIS professionals include business systems analysts, ERP analysts, and IT project managers who couple information and technology to help organizations

Coordinate complex activities
Make informed decisions
Reduce errors and wasted effort
Scale operations efficiently

On this resource page you’ll learn…

Which BIS knowledge areas are foundational? For starters: information technologies, data and analytics, and soft skills such as human-centered design and change management.
Which trends are shaping the BIS future? AI is evolving from being a tool to being a teammate, while data shifts from passive asset to automated pipeline.
What challenges does the field face? Urgent issues include data security and the integration of increasingly complex systems in and beyond organizational borders.
What are some promising career paths in BIS? Key jobs include business intelligence analyst and IT project manager.
Which ethical challenges are most urgent in BIS? Fairness, privacy, and accountability top the list.
How can I stay up to date on BIS news and research? Access the latest standards, SME insights, and industry trends.

Learn more about the field at the IEEE International Conference on e-Business Engineering (ICEBE)

Fundamental Knowledge Areas in Business Informatics and Systems

To grasp the intricacies of technology, business, and the stakeholders in both, BIS professionals must contend with a variety of foundational and emerging knowledge areas.

Information Systems and Technology

Establishing a technical foundation is a solid starting point for evaluating and working with business technologies and ensuring that they support concrete organizational goals. Key knowledge areas include

Systems architecture and design
Databases and information management
Networks, cloud, and enterprise systems
Software development and integration
Cybersecurity, privacy, and IT governance

Research Methods and Organizational Inquiry

Knowledge of research methods and theory development is clearly fundamental for academics and researchers. However, these BIS foundations also benefit practitioners by offering methodological approaches for describing, predicting, and designing information systems and organizational processes in real-world business environments. Key knowledge areas include

Research methods and study design
Statistical analysis and qualitative methods
Business process modeling and improvement
Workflow and automation
Operations and supply chains
Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

Data and Analytics

A key BIS outcome is turning reliable information into useful business insights. Key knowledge areas include

Data management, quality, and governance
Data analytics and statistics
Business intelligence and visualization
Data integration and interoperability
AI-ready and real-time data architectures

Business and Organizational Knowledge

With BIS, technology is not an end but rather a means to meet specific organizational needs. To achieve this, BIS researchers and professionals must understand how organizations create value, make decisions, allocate resources, and compete in their lanes. Key knowledge areas include

Business strategy and operations
Finance and accounting
Marketing and customer management
Organizational structure and management
Risk management and regulatory compliance

People, Communication, and Change Management

To successfully integrate BIS technologies requires understanding how people use, adapt to, and sometimes resist the use of various tools. Key knowledge areas include

Human-centric design and user experience
Requirements gathering
Project and change management
Communication and collaboration
Human-AI collaboration and oversight

Key Trends in Business Informatics and Systems

Organizations are rapidly accelerating digital technology integrations in their business operations. While AI leads this transformation, cloud computing, IoT devices, and enterprise data analytics are simultaneously blowing up the scale and complexity of BIS.

AI: From Tool to Teammate

Once relegated to isolated applications, many organizations are now integrating AI into their core business systems and workflows. Autonomous AI agent capabilities are also expanding, enabling agents to analyze information; make recommendations; and execute complex, multistep workflows. All of this has the potential to radically change how organizations operationalize tasks and make decisions.

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When Everything Connects, Complexity Explodes

The interconnection of legacy systems, cloud platforms, applications, devices, data, and AI across an organization creates opportunities to seamlessly automate and share information. It also creates massive challenges in systems integration, architecture, governance, and human oversight that have yet to be fully grasped, let alone surmounted.

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Data: From Passive Asset to Autonomous Pipeline

For organizations, data is a critical resource for streamlining operations, generating insights, and advancing strategic goals. AI can dramatically elevate these outcomes by analyzing and acting on organizational data at a far greater speed and scale. But doing so in a way that delivers on its promise requires high-quality, well-governed data and human judgment; without them, automated workflows can amplify errors, allow AI hallucinations to infiltrate downstream logic, and deliver flawed output (at best).

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Key Challenges in Business Informatics and Systems

Current BIS challenges range from ensuring data security to the equally herculean task of integrating increasingly complex systems so information can enter and circulate through the organization in a timely manner. The third challenge? Ensuring that the information is actually useful enough to justify all those other efforts.

Information Security, Privacy, and Trust

In many organizations, BIS are connected to everything from customers and partners to cloud services and AI; this complicates an organization’s need to protect sensitive information while simultaneously meeting the business need to make it accessible. Threats to information security include cyberattacks, fraud, and unauthorized surveillance; evolving privacy regulations and policies add further complexity.

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Integrating Complex Systems

Today’s organizational systems include databases, legacy software, cloud platforms, mobile apps, third-party services, and IoT devices. Add to that ecosystem the increasing use of AI, and the challenge of integrating systems and data in a reliable way grows ever more complicated. And ever more essential.

Poor integration can lead to inconsistent, duplicated, or outdated information. With existing systems, this can undermine the goals and value of BIS, adding to rather than reducing inefficiency. Couple all this with AI systems and the consequences of compromised or poor-quality data skyrocket, easily triggering the rapid production of flawed insights across the organization.

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Using AI to Turn Data into Good Decisions

Today’s organizations generate far more data than mere humans can efficiently analyze. Enter AI, which can increase both the volume of data and its potential uses. Making this valuable, however, requires high-quality data and, in turn, good governance, analytics, and human judgment to avoid disseminating information riddled with errors, blind spots, or biases.

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Building a Career in Business Informatics and Systems

If managed appropriately, AI can radically boost the value of organizational data and information, which increases the importance of BIS research and professionals across institutions and sectors. This is particularly true in sectors undergoing rapid AI adoption and digital transformation, including healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, and professional and technology services.

BIS Researcher / Research Scientist

Focus: Conducting research on information systems, organizational processes, technology adoption, decision-making, and related BIS questions.
Sectors: Universities, research institutes, government agencies, technology companies, consulting firms
Job titles: Research Scientist; Information Systems Researcher; Research Associate; Research Fellow
Requirements: Master’s or Ph.D. in BIS, information systems, computer science, management science, organizational science, or related field; research experience and publications are also increasingly important.
Average salary: US$132,500
Where to network: IEEE International Conference on e-Business Engineering (ICEBE); IEEE Conference on Business Informatics (CBI)
Related research: IT Professional; IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems; IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems

Business Intelligence Analyst

Focus: Turning organizational data into reports, dashboards, insights, and information that support business decisions.
Sectors: Most sectors, including finance, healthcare, government, manufacturing, retail, technology, education, and professional services.
Job titles: Business Intelligence Analyst; BI Analyst; Business Intelligence Developer; Reporting Analyst
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in BIS, business analytics, information systems, statistics, computer science, or related field, plus 1–3 years’ experience in data analysis, business intelligence, reporting, or database work.
Average salary: US$100,000
Where to network: IEEE International Conference on e-Business Engineering (ICEBE); IEEE Conference on Business Informatics (CBI)
Related research: IT Professional; IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management

Business Systems Analyst

Focus: Analyzing business needs and translating them into requirements for information systems and technology solutions.
Sectors: Most sectors, including finance, healthcare, government, manufacturing, retail, technology, education, and professional services.
Job titles: Business Systems Analyst; Systems Business Analyst; IT Business Analyst; Business Analyst
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in BIS, information systems, business analytics, computer science, or related field, plus 1–3 years’ experience in business analysis, requirements gathering, systems, or process improvement.
Average salary: US$103,00
Where to network: IEEE International Conference on e-Business Engineering (ICEBE); IEEE Conference on Business Informatics (CBI)
Related research: IT Professional; IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Analyst

Focus: Implementing, configuring, maintaining, and improving ERP systems to support business processes and organizational goals.
Sectors: Most sectors, especially manufacturing, finance, retail, healthcare, and professional services.
Top job titles: ERP Analyst; ERP Systems Analyst; ERP Business Analyst; ERP Functional Analyst; ERP Applications Analyst.
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in BIS, information systems, business analytics, computer science, business, or a related field, plus 1–3 years of experience in ERP systems, business analysis, process improvement, data management, or IT. Experience with platforms such as SAP, Oracle, or Microsoft Dynamics is also valuable.
Average salary: US$111,000
Where to network: IEEE International Conference on e-Business Engineering (ICEBE); IEEE Conference on Business Informatics (CBI)
Related research: IT Professional

IT Project Manager

Focus: Planning and managing technology projects, coordinating teams and resources, and ensuring projects meet organizational goals.
Sectors: Most sectors, including finance, healthcare, government, manufacturing, retail, technology, education, and professional services.
Top job titles: IT Project Manager; Technology Project Manager; IT Program Manager; Technical Project Manager
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in BIS, information systems, computer science, business, project management, or related field, plus at least 2–3 years’ experience supporting or managing technology projects.
Average salary: US$113,700
Where to network: IEEE International Conference on e-Business Engineering (ICEBE); IEEE Conference on Business Informatics (CBI)
Related research: IT Professional; IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management

Computer and Information Systems Manager

Focus: Leading an organization’s information systems and technology operations, aligning technology with business goals, and managing IT teams, projects, budgets, and vendors.
Sectors: Most sectors, including finance, healthcare, government, manufacturing, retail, technology, education, and professional services.
Top job titles: Computer and Information Systems Manager; Information Systems Manager; IT Manager; MIS Manager; IT Operations Manager.
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in information systems, computer science, business, or a related field, plus 5+ years of experience in IT, information systems, systems administration, project management, or related technology roles. Management and leadership experience is typically expected. BLS classifies a bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of related experience as the typical preparation for this occupation.
Average salary: US$102,100
Where to network: IEEE International Conference on e-Business Engineering (ICEBE); IEEE Conference on Business Informatics (CBI)
Related research: IT Professional

Ethical Issues in Business Informatics and Systems

BIS researchers and practitioners further the design, implementation, and oversight of systems that impact how people work, make decisions, access services, and are treated within organizations. Given this, it is essential to ensure that these systems are fair and unbiased, have clear oversight strategies, and respect user privacy.

Fairness and Discrimination

Data and automated systems can reproduce or amplify existing biases. The latter can lead to unfair outcomes in areas such as hiring, lending, employee evaluation, or service access.

Human Judgment and Accountability

Organizations and BIS professionals must understand how and when important decisions are being influenced by algorithms, who oversees that process, and who is accountable when those decisions cause harm.

Privacy and Workplace Surveillance

BIS technologies can easily collect detailed information about employees, customers, and other people using or interacting with them. In designing these systems, BIS professionals must consider issues ranging from consent and proportionality to the impact of monitoring on privacy, trust, and human dignity.

Resources: A Business Informatics and Systems Knowledge Hub

Stay up to date with the latest on BIS technologies and issues by accessing our Tech News blog, which is updated daily with the insights, trends, and research related to all things computing. Among recent BIS-related articles are the following:

The goal? To understand and elevate how organizations use information and technology.

Coordinate complex activities
Make informed decisions
Reduce errors and wasted effort
Scale operations efficiently

On this resource page you’ll learn…

Which BIS knowledge areas are foundational? For starters: information technologies, data and analytics, and soft skills such as human-centered design and change management.
Which trends are shaping the BIS future? AI is evolving from being a tool to being a teammate, while data shifts from passive asset to automated pipeline.
What challenges does the field face? Urgent issues include data security and the integration of increasingly complex systems in and beyond organizational borders.
What are some promising career paths in BIS? Key jobs include business intelligence analyst and IT project manager.
Which ethical challenges are most urgent in BIS? Fairness, privacy, and accountability top the list.
How can I stay up to date on BIS news and research? Access the latest standards, SME insights, and industry trends.

Learn more about the field at the IEEE International Conference on e-Business Engineering (ICEBE)