Despite the potential usefulness of some unprocessed data, most end users need
financial totals, summary statistics, or exception values—i.e., processed data—for
decision-making purposes. Figure 1-3 illustrates a model for this—a three stage process
in which (1) raw and/or stored data serve as the primary inputs, (2) processing tasks
process the data, and (3) meaningful information is the primary output. Modern AISs, of