The Thirteenth Edition includes significant changes to the Twelfth Edition's content that update and improve its coverage, many of them suggested by an extensive faculty review process. Highlights of key changes for this edition include:

• New Real World Cases that provide current, relevant, and in-depth examples of IS theory applications. A new layout gives this feature of the text a fresh, more exciting design, and the addition of the Real World Activities helps engage students in exploration of real-life IS management.
  
  
• The infusion of international real world examples, identified by the Globe icon, that illustrate important chapter concepts from a global perspective.
  
  
• Chapter 1: Foundations of Information Systems in Business provides an introduction to the fundamental roles of information systems in business and an overview of the managerial challenges of IT in Section I. The more conceptual material on the components of information systems is subsequently covered in Section II.
  
  
• Chapter 2: Competing with Information Technology's introductory coverage of competitive advantage issues has been further simplified at the urging of reviewers by removing several topics previously covered.
  
  
• Chapters 3 & 4: Hardware and Software have moved to the beginning of the text to help refresh students' knowledge about important foundational IT concepts and computing history, while providing the building blocks for later technological discussions. The Software chapter has been strengthened with new material on business application software, application service providers, XML and Java, and Web services, weblogs, and open source development.
  
  
• Chapter 5: Data Resource Management has been restructured to improve its sequence of topics and enhanced with the addition of material on database software and traditional file processing to contrast it with the modern database management approach.
  
  
• Chapter 6: Telecommunications and Networks now includes discussions of technologies such as Bluetooth and VoIP. Significant discussion of the difference between analog and digital technologies, as well as treatment of the last mile problem have also been added.
  
  
• Chapter 7: Electronic Business Systems has been reorganized into Enterprise Business Systems and Functional Business Systems sections.
  
  
• Chapter 12: Enterprise and Global Management of Information Technology's Section I content has been revised to focus primarily on the management of information technology by expanding coverage of topics on the key management processes and challenges involved, and by moving some of the conceptual material on the impact of IT on managers and organizations to other chapters. A new, extensive discussion on outsourcing and offshoring is also included.