Getting Started

Lesson 5 - The 2 Categories of Information Systems

Deon Slabbert

12 Nov 2025 — 1 min read

In this short post, I want to mention the two major categories of Information Systems,
namely Transactional Information Systems, and Analytical Information Systems.
Sometimes, the boundaries between these types can be blurred.

Transactional Information System

Transactional systems are all about getting data into the database by capturing the transactions of day-to-day operations of the organization.
We call this type of information system a Transaction Processing System, or TPS for short.
Another term often used is OLTP, which is short for Online Transactional Processing.

Analytical Information Systems

Analytical Information Systems is a part of a distinct area of IT called Data Analytics.

These types of systems are about getting data from the database in the form of reporting to middle management,
senior management, and company executives where it is used for decision-making purposes at these various levels.
We call these systems Management Information Systems (MIS) for middle management,
Decision Support Systems (DSS) for senior management, and Executive Information Systems (EIS) for executives, respectively.
Another term for these analytical systems is OLAP, which is short for Online Analytical Processing.

In this series, I will teach you how to build OLTP Systems as they come first.
OLAP systems cannot exist without OLTP systems as OLAP systems need the data produced by OLTP systems to do their analytics.

It's a live and let live thing...

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