IT Final - Chapters 5-10, 13 and 14
How do worms and viruses spread?
- From internet files - From downloaded software - From email attachments - From online ads - From IMs - From infected disks
Define a web server
A "web server" will serve a webpage to a client in response to a request for service. Responsible for locating and managing stored webpages
What are some examples of inefficiencies in the supply chain?
Parts shortages, underused plant capacity, excessive finished goods inventory or high transportation costs cause by inaccurate or untimely information Supply chain inefficiencies waste as much as 25% of a company's operating costs
What is social shopping?
Use of websites featuring user-created web pages to share knowledge about items of interest to other shoppers. Example: Pinterest, Kaboodle
What's the problem with passwords? How can this be fixed?
Users often forget them, share them, or choose passwords that are too easy. It can be fixed by using a token, which is something physical that the person keeps with them, that proves the identity of that person (i.e. a key card)
Explain what is meant by virtualization, green computing and multi-core processors?
Virtualization is the process of presenting a set of computing resources so they can all be accessed in ways that are not restricted by physical configuration (e.g. a server can be configured to run on different operating systems so it acts like different machines) Green Computing refers to the practices and technologies for designing technology to have a minimal impact on the environment Multi-core processors are integrated circuits to which two or more processor cores (units that read and execute program instructions) have been attached to enhance performance.
What is the challenge of Big Data?
Volumes are too great for a typical DBMS Can reveal more patterns, relationships and anomalies Requires new tools and technologies to manage and analyze
What are the main capital budgeting models used to evaluate IS projects?
- Payback period - Rate of return on investment - NPV - Internal rate of return
What components are seen in a network for a large company?
- hundreds of local area networks (LANs) linked to firm-wide corporate network - different powerful servers - mobile wireless LANs (wifi networks) - videoconferencing systems - telephone networks, wireless cell phones
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What are the four major themes in contemporary software platform evolution? [List]
1) Linux and open source software 2) Java, HTML and HTML5 3) Web services and service-oriented architecture 4) Software outsourcing and cloud services
What percentage of critical data in Fortune 1000 companies' databases is inaccurate or incomplete?
25% +
What is a bug and what is a patch?
A program code defect It's virtually impossible to remove all bugs from large amounts of code A patch is a small piece of software to repair the flaws without disturbing the rest of the original software
What is a protocol?
A set of rules and procedures governing the transmission of information between two points in a network
What is biometric authentication?
A system that reads a person's traits, such as their fingerprint, iris, or voice to grant access
What is project management?
Applying knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements within a specific budget and time constraints
What is an implication of behavioral targeting?
Behavioral targeting of millions of web users also leads to the invasion of personal privacy without user consent. Popular websites have hundreds of BEACONS on their home page which collect data about visitors' behavior and report that behavior to their databases
What is the best practice for data administration?
Centralizing data governance, standardizing organizational data, data quawlity maintenance and accessibility to data sets
What is the churn rate?
Churn rate measures the number of customers who stop using or purchasing products or services fora company. Used as an indicator of the growth or decline of a firm's customer base.
What is included in the UPSTREAM portion of the supply chain?
Company's suppliers, Supplier's supplier, and the processes for managing relationship with them
What is the free/freemium revenue model?
Firms offer basic services or content for free and charge a premium for advanced special feature Example: Spotify, Google Apps,
How can a company implement enterprise software?
First, the company must select the functions of the system they wish to use and then map their business processes to the predefined business processes in the software
What is deep-packet inspection?
Helps to solve the problem of internet slowing down due to too many users. It examines all files and sorts out low-priority material. Based on priority, it decides whether the low-priority requests can be made, or if they will be blocked from their destination
What is involved with establishing information requirements?
Identify who needs what information, where, when and how. Requirements analysis carefully defines the objectives of the new or modified system and develops a detailed description of the functions that the new system must perform
What is customization?
In e-commerce, changing a delivered product or service based on a user's preferences or prior behavior.
What is included in the actual cost of owning technology assets? (Total cost of ownership - TCO)
Includes original cost of acquiring and installing hardware and software, as well as ongoing administration costs for upgrades, maintenance, technical support, training and even utility and real estate costs for running and housing the technology
What is a test plan?
It includes all of the preparations for the series of tests being performed
What is a Gantt Chart?
It lists project activities and their corresponding start and completion dates. It visibly represents the timing and duration of different tasks within a project as well as their human resource requirements
What is a "runaway" project?
It's a project whose costs and time commitments far exceed the budgets. They also tend to fail to perform as the firm intended
Explain location-based services?
Location-based services include : 1) geosocial service 2)geoadvertising services 3) geoinformation services Need GPS enables map services available on smartphones in order to use location-based services
What is malware?
Malicious software, which includes viruses, worms, and trojan horses
What are Menu Costs?
Merchants' costs of changing prices.
What is a global supply chain?
More companies are entering international markets, outsourcing manufacturing operations, and obtaining supplies form other countries. Therefore their supply chains are extended across multiple countries and regions Global supply chains span greater geographic distances and time differences than domestic supply changes
What is Native Advertising?
Native advertising involves placing ads in social network news feeds or within traditional editorial content, such as a newspaper article Also referred to as organic advertising where contend and advertising are in close proximity or integrated together
What is a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)?
Network that spans a metropolitan area
What are wireless sensor networks (WSNs)?
Networks of hundreds of thousands of interconnected wireless devices. Used to monitor building security, detect hazardous substances in the air, monitor environmental changes, traffic or military activity. Devices have built in processing, storage and radio frequency sensors and antennas.
What is offshore outsourcing?
Outsourcing systems development work or maintenance of existing systems to external vendors in another country
What are cloud databases?
Relational database services provided over the internet. They appeal to start-ups (because of lowered costs) and smaller businesses, and include both private and public clouds
What is Web 2.0?
Second-generation web service with four defining features: interactivity, real-time user control, social participation (sharing) and user-generated content
What is Systems Design?
Shows how the system will fulfill its objectives. The design is the overall plan or model for the system that consists of all specifications that give the system its form and structure
What is a wide area network (WAN)?
Span broad geographical distances - entire regions, states, continents or globe (i.e. the Internet)
What is a data quality audit?
Structured survey of the accuracy and level of completeness of the data in an information system
What are data marts?
Subsets of data warehouse that typically focus on single subject or a line of business
What is a supply chain execution system?
Systems to manage the flow of products through distribution centers and warehouses to ensure that products are delivered to the right locations in the most efficient manner. Example: Warehouse Management System (WMS) that Haworth Incorporated uses. WMS- tracks and controls the flow of finished goods from distribution centers to its customers
What is Total quality management?
TQM makes achieving quality an end in itself and the responsibility of all people and functions within an organization
What is included in a relational DBMS table and explain each concept
Table = grid of columns and rows Rows (tuples) = Records for different entities Fields (columns) = Represents attribute for entity Key field = field used to uniquely identify each record Primary key = Field in table used for key fields Foreign key = Primary key used in second table as look-up field to identify records from original table
What is a Uniform Resource Locator (URL)?
Tells the browser software exactly where to look for the information on various web pages
What is Systems Analysis?
The analysis of a problem that a firm tries to solve with an information system. It consists of defining the problem, identifying its causes, specifying the solution, and identifying the information requirements that must be met by a system solution.
What is the phenomenon called the wisdom of crowds?
The belief that large numbers of people can make better decisions about a wide range of topics or products than a single person or even a small committee of experts
What is Linux?
The most well-known open source software. It was created by Linus Torvalds and is available in free versions dowloadable from the Internet or in low-cost commercial versions that include tools and support from vendors. It is a leading operating system for servers, mainframe computers, and supercomputers.
What is conversion?
The process of changing from the old system to the new system.
What is Disintermediation?
The removal of organizations or business process layers responsible for certain intermediary steps in a value chain. Eliminating intermediaries in the distribution channel can significantly lower purchase transaction costs (these intermediaries result in product being priced at 135 times original cost) Selling directly to consumers allows companies to raise profits while lowering prices
What is a sociotechnical design?
The social design plan explores different work-group structures, allocation of tasks, and job designs. The technical designs are then compared to the social solutions, and the solutions that meet the objectives that blends technical efficiency and human sensitivity to change is chosen
What is identity theft?
When an impostor obtains key pieces of personal information (SIN, driver's license, credit cards) to impersonate someone else
What is meant by "from the eyeball to conversations"
With the new world of social-mobile-local e-commerce there are now dual and related concepts of conversations and engagement. Marketing is now based on firms engaging in multiple online conversations with their customers (rather than just having an ad being seen by customers) This is referred to as conversational commerce
What % of Internet users disapprove of search engines and websites tracking their online behavior
68% (2/3)
What could happen if you try to link to the Internet without a firewall or antivirus software?
- Computer would likely be disabled within a few minutes - Cannot sell to customers - Cannot place orders with suppliers - Data could be stolen by hackers - Confidential data could be destroyed - Hard to recover
What are common kinds of computer crime?
- Confidentiality breach - Unauthorized access - Knowingly accessing a protected computer - Threatening to damage a computer - Theft of trade secrets - Using email for threats/harassment - Child pornography distribution or storage
A systems development project without proper management will most likely suffer what consequences?
- Costs exceeding budget - Unexpected time slippage - Technical performance less than expected - Failure to obtain anticipated benefits
What are examples of internet services?
- Email - chatting and instant messaging - newsgroups - Telnet (logging on to one computer system and doing work on another) - File transfer protocol (transferring files from computer to computer) - world wide web
What are the common types of threats against information systems?
- Client: unauthorized access, errors - Communication/transmissions: tapping, message alteration, theft or fraud, radiation - Corporate servers: hacking, malware, vandalism - Corporate systems: theft or copying of data, system failure
What is a database management system (DBMS)?
- Interfaces between applications and physical data files - separates logical and physical views of data - solves problems of traditional file environment (controls & eliminates redundancy and inconsistency; uncouples programs and data; enables organization to centrally manage data)
What are some of the limitations of financial models for picking a new IS project?
- Overlook social and organizational issues - May not consider costs of disruptions of a new system, such as training costs, productivity loss of managers time to oversee changes - Intangible benefits such as more timely decisions or enhances employee learning may also be overlooked
What are some of the activities involved in project mangement?
- Planning the work - Assessing the risk - Estimating resources required - Organizing work - Acquiring human and material resources - Assigning tasks - Directing activities - Controlling project execution - Reporting progress - Analyzing results
What are some of the complications with a new software that make companies not want to use it?
- The design doesn't capture essential business requirements - It does not improve organizational performance - Info is not provided quickly enough to be helpful - Info is in a format that can't be used - Wrong info may be given - Excessively complicated to use - Poor user interface (not user friendly) - Incomplete or erroneous data
What US laws protect from computer crime?
- Wiretap Act - Wire Fraud Act - Economic Espionage Act - Electronic Communictions Privacy Act - CAN-SPAM Act - Protect Act These cover crimes such as intercepting communications, illegally accessing systems, using email for threats, etc
What are the problems with the traditional file environment?
- files maintained separately by different departments - data redundancy (duplicate data in multiple files so the same data is stored in more than one place) - data inconsistency (same attribute has different values) - program-data dependence (coupling data stored in files and the programs required to update and maintain the files) - lack of flexibility (can only deliver routine scheduled reports after extensive programming) - poor security - lack of data sharing and availability
What is relational DBMS?
- represent data as two-dimensional tables - each table contains data on entity and attributes
What are the 6 e-commerce revenue models?
1) Advertising 2) sales 3) Subscription 4) Free/freemium, 5) Transaction fee 6) Affiliate
What are the two layers of TCP/IP?
1) Application layer - enables access to other layers and defines protocols for data exchange 2) Transport layer - responsible for providing application layer with communication and packet services 3) Internet layer - responsible for addressing, routing and packaging data packets 4) Network interface layer - places packets on and receives them from the network medium
What are the four kinds of structural organizational changes that are enabled by information technology? (List)
1) Automation 2) Rationalization 3) Business Process Redesign 4) Paradigm shifts
What are the 3 major e-commerce categories ?
1) Business-to-consumer (B2C) 2) Business-to-business (B2B) 2) Consumer-to-consumer (C2C)
What are the 3 elements of establishing an information policy?
1) Data administration - establishes policies and procedures to manage data 2) Data governance - managing availability, usability, integrity and security of data 3) Database administration - creating and maintaining a database
What are the 2 most important management challenges in building a successful e-commerce presence?
1) Developing a clear understanding of your business objectives 2) Knowing how to choose the right technology to achieve those objectives
What are the different ways of classifying Net marketplaces?
1) Those that sell direct goods Direct Goods - goods used in a production process (sheet steel for auto body production) 2) Those that sell indirect goods Indirect Goods - all other goods not directly involved in the production process (office supplies, repairs/maintenance)
What is required to design a database?
1) a physical and a conceptual (or logical) design 2) Normalization - streamlining complex groupings of data to minimize redundant data elements and awkward many-to-many relationships 3) Referential integrity - rules used to ensure relationships between tables remain consistent 4) An entity-relationship diagram (with keys for each entity) 5) A correct data model
What percentage of maintenance is devoted to debugging or correcting emergency problems? What percentage is for changes in data, files, reports, hardware or server issues? What percentage is for making user enhancements and improvements?
20% debugging and emergencies 20% changes in data/issues 60% user enhancements
Sometimes, when a systems development project fails, a company doesn't end up using the software as intended, or may not even use it at all. What percentage of software installed is never used? How much money does this waste?
37% of software installed is not used at all in the US It wastes $30 billion in the US alone
What is the difference between 3G and 4G networks?
3G = transmission speeds from 144 Kbps to 2Mbps; too slow for video 4G = much higher speeds of 100 Mbps for download and 50 Mbps upload, which enough capacity for watching HD videos on mobile devices
What % of online retailers now have m-commerce websites?
55%
What % of online B2B e-commerce is still based on proprietary systems for EDI?
80%
What is a hertz?
= one cycle of the medium (number of cycles per second that can be sent through the medium)
What is a firm's revenue model?
A description of how a firm will earn revenue, generate profits, and produce a return on investment
What is the transaction fee revenue model?
A company receives a fee for enabling or executing a transaction Example: eBay receives a small transaction fee from a seller if the seller is successful in selling an item
What is counterimplementation?
A deliberate strategy to thwart the implementation of an information system or innovation in the organization by a user or set of users because they are resistant to change, and they cause errors and disruption in normal business
What are keyloggers?
A form of spyware that records every key stroke made on a computer to steal serial numbers, launch internet attacks, gain access to email accounts, to obtain passwords, etc.
What is a service level agreement (SLA)?
A formal contract between customers and their service providers that defines the specific responsibilities of the service provider and the level of service expected by the customer. SLAs typically specify the nature and level of services provided, criteria for PM, and conditions for terminating the agreement, among others.
What is a post-implementation audit?
A formal review process conducted after a system has been placed in production to determine how well the system has met its original objectives
What is a byte?
A group of bits
What is a touch point?
A method of interaction with the customer (i.e. telephone, e-mail, customer service desk, Facebook, website) AKA contact point
What are evil twins?
A phishing technique that involves wireless networks pretending to offer trustworthy wifi in public places. It looks identical to a legitimate network. Hackers can then steal credit card or other personal information
What is a software package?
A prewritten commercially available set of software programs that elimintates the need for a firm to write its own software programs for certain functions, such as payroll processing or order handling
What is a sniffer?
A type of eavesdropping program that monitors information traveling over a network. They can help to identify potential network trouble spots (i.e. vulnerable to attacks) when used legitimately
What is an Internet Protocol (IP) Address?
A unique address or 32-bit nuber represented by four strings of numbers ranging form 0 to 255 separated by periods, assigned to each computer on the internet.
What is the advertising revenue model?
A website generate revenue by attracting a large audience of visitors who can then be exposed to advertisements This is the most widely used revenue model in e-commerce
What is the subscription revenue model?
A website offering content or services charges a subscription fee for access to some or all of its offerings on an ongoing basis Example: Netflix, eHarmony
What is TCP/IP and Connectivity?
A worldwide standard developed in the 1970's to support efforts to help scientists transmit data among different types of computers over long distances. Uses a suite of protocols, the main ones being TCP and IP. TCP = transmission control protocol which handles the movement of data between computers. IP = internet protocol which is responsible for delivering packets and disassembling and reassembling packets during transmission
What is data cleansing?
AKA data scrubbing - consists of activities for detecting and correcting data in a database that are incorrect, incomplete, improperly formatted or redundant
Chapter 9 notes
Achieving Operational Excellence and Customer Intimacy: Enterprise Applications
What is Business Intelligence Infrastructure?
An array of tools for obtaining information from separate systems and from big data
Define an application server
An "application server" receives a request for access to a system and handles all operations between the user and an organization's business system.
What is the Internet2?
An advanced networking consortium representing more than 500 U.S. Universities, private businesses and government agencies working to create a high-capacity, 100 Gbps network that is a test bed for leading-edge technologies.
What is an organizational impact analysis?
An analysis to determine how a proposed system will affect the organizational: - Structure - Attitudes - Decision making - Operations
What is a change agent?
An analyst who talks to all parties involved, including the end users. he ensures that all issues between the groups are mediated and ensures that the organization can adjust well to the new project
What is Java?
An operating system-independent, processor-independent, object-oriented programming language created by Sun Microsystems that is now a leader in interactive programming for the web. The Java platform is now used in mobile phones, smartphones, cars, and many more. It is designed to run on any computer or computing device.
What is a hybrid cloud strategy and why was this an essential part of Easy Jet's strategy?
An organization maintains part of its IT infrastructure itself and part using cloud computing services. Easy Jet was a low-cost airline, under pressure to keep these costs down. However, since competitors offered services like online seat selection, EasyJet had to find a way to do the same. Using cloud computing for part of its IT structure enabled EasyJet to expand and offer new services but it was at a much more afordable price
What is Analytical CRM?
Analytical CRM - Customer relationship management applications dealing with the analysis of customer data to provide information for improving business performance.
What is "In-memory" Computing?
Another way of facilitating big data analysis which relies primarily on a computer's main memory (RAM) for data storage. It can reduce hours/days of processing time to seconds but requires optimized hardware
What are the types of information obtainable from data mining and explain?
Associations - occurrences linked to a single event Sequences - events linked over time Classification - patterns that describe the group to which an item belongs by examining existing items that have already been classified & using rules Clustering - similar to classiciation but when no groups have been defined Forecasting - uses set of existing values to forecast what other values will be
What is identity management software?
Automates the process of keeping track of all of the users and their system privileges
What is Business process management?
BPM provides a variety of tools and methodologies to analyze existing processes, design new processes, and optimize those processes. It is never concluded because process improvement requires continual change
Why are information systems so vulnerable?
Because information is stored on a network and in different locations of servers. This means that there are countless ways of entry into the system Vulnerabilities can exist at each layer of a business, such as technical, organizational, and environmental
What are business process re-engineering projects likely to fail?
Because it involves changing a business process that is deeply rooted in other business processes, and has been around for years. People are resistant to change, especially if they had no say in the design of the new process. Poor implementation and management management practices will fail to address employees' concerns of change
What makes information system security so valuable?
Because systems tend to store extremely valuable information. - I.e. military targets, financial information, patient data, intangible assets Company's aren't only responsible for protecting their own information, but they can be liable if information about their customers, suppliers and business partners get out
When a corporation uses the Internet in their information system, why is it even more vulnerable?
Because virtually anyone can access the internet. And any abuses occur, they have a widespread impact
What is identity management?
Business processes and software tools for identifying the valid users of a system and controlling their access to resources
Explain what is meant by "Business Process Redesign" as an IT-enabled organizational change
Business processes are analyzed, simplified, and redesigned. Business process redesign reorganizes workflows, combines steps to cut waste and eliminates repetitive, paper-intensive tasks.
What is customer relationship management? (CRM)
CRM - Business and technology discipline that uses information systems to coordinate all of the business processes surrounding the firm's interactions with its customers in SALES, MARKETING and CUSTOMER SERVICE Captures and integrates customer data from all over the organization, consolidates the data, analyzes the data and then distributes the results to various systems and touch points across the enterprise
What are Wikis?
Collaborative websites on which visitors can add, delete or modify content, including the work of previous authors
What is the "Systems Development Process"? (Definition & List)
Collection of activities that go into producing an information solution to an organizational problem or opportunity 1) Systems Analysis 2) System Design 3) Programming 4) Testing 5) Conversion 6) Production and Maintenance
What is an Internet Service Provider (ISP)?
Commercial organization with a permanent connection to the Internet that sells temporary connections to retail subscribers
What is Hyptertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)?
Communications standard that transfers pages ont he web.
What are unified communications?
Communications systems that integrate voice, data, e-mail and conferencing
What is the sales revenue model?
Companies derive revenue by selling goods, information, or services to customers
What is Network Address Translation?
Conceals IP addresses of organization's host computer, so that outside hackers cannot find and use it to get into the system
What are configuration tables?
Configuration tables provided bu the software manufacturer allow the firm to tailor a particular aspect of the system to the way they do business Example: Use tables to select whether it wants to track revenue by product line, geographical unit, or distribution channel
What is a Domain Name System (DNS)?
Converts domain names to IP addresses.
What is cross-selling?
Cross-selling - Marketing complementary products to customers
What is another output of analytical CRM?
Customer lifetime value (CLTV) - Difference between revenues produced by a specific customer and the expenses for acquiring and servicing that customer minus the cost of promotional marketing over the lifetime of the customer relationship, expressed in today's dollars.
What is a digital certificate?
Data files used to establish the identity of users and electronic assets for protection of online transactions
What is an acceptable use policy?
Defines the acceptable uses of a firm's information resources and computing equipment, including computers, phones, and the Internet It also defines the consequences if the rules are not followed
Explain geoadvertising services?
Delivering ads to users based on their GPS location Example: Telling you where to ind the nearest Italian restuarant
What is the most important/complex supply chain planning functions?
Demand Planning - Determining how much product a business needs to make to satisfy all its customers' demands.
What is a local area network (LAN)?
Designed to connect personal computers and other digital devices within a half-mile or 500-metre radius
What is a risk assessment?
Determines the level of risk to the firm if a specific activity or process is not properly controlled
What is a feasibility study?
Determining whether the final solution to an IT problem is feasible, or achievable, from a financial, technical, and organizational standpoint. It determines whether the proposed system is expected to be a good investment
What does DevOps stand for and what does it mean?
DevOps builds on agile development principles. It stands for "development and operations" and emphasizes close collaboration between software developers and IT operationsl staff who will run the programs.
What are analytic platforms?
Developed by commercial database vendors, these are high-speed platforms that use both relational and non-relational tools optimized for large datasets
What is client/server computing?
Distributed computing model in which some of the processing power is located within small, inexpensive client computers and resides literally on desktops or laptops or in handheld devices. Has largely replaced centralized mainframe computing
What is voice over IP (VoIP)?
Ditigal voice communications technology that delivers voice information in digital form using packet switching, avoiding tolls charged by telephone networks. Calls that would usually be transmitted over public phone networks can be transmitted over the Internet
CHAPTER 10 NOTES
E-Commerce: Digital Markets, Digital Goods
When did e-commerce begin?
E-commerce began in 1995 when one of the first Internet portals, Netscape.com accepted the first ads from major corporations and popularized the idea that the web could be used as a new medium for advertising and sales.
What is e-commerce?
E-commerce refers to the use of the Internet and the web to transact business It is the process of buying and selling goods and services electronically involving transactions using the Internet, networks, and other digital technologies.
Although most purchases still take place through traditional channels, e-commerce continues to grow rapidly. How rapidly is e-commerce growing?
E-commerce revenues grew 15-10% per year until the recession of 2008-2009, when they slows measurably. However, in 2016 e-commerce revenues grew at an estimates 15 % annually
What is Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)?
EDI - The direct computer-to-computer exchange between two organizations of standard business transactions, such as orders, shipment instructions, or payments
What is an attribute?
Each characteristic, or quality, describing an entity
Explain C2C?
Electronic commerce involves consumers selling directly to consumers (i.e. eBay, Craiglist)
Explain B2C?
Electronic commerce involves retailing products and services to individual shoppers (i.e. Amazon, Walmart and iTunes)
Explain B2B?
Electronic commerce involves sales of goods and services among business (i.e. Elemica's website for buying and selling chemicals and energy is an example of B2B
How has emailing increased vulnerability?
Email can contain attachments that serve as malicious software or allow unauthorized access into corporate systems. Employees use email to transmit confidential information, trade secrets and financial data. All of which is prone to attack.
What is software outsourcing?
Enables a firm to contract custom software development or maintenance of existing legacy programs to outside firms, which often operate offshore in low wage areas of the world [e.g. UK communications regulator signed a deal to outsource application adn infrastruction to an Indian firm specializing in application development)
What is responsive web design?
Enables websites to change layouts automatically according to the visitor's screen resolution.
What is a Domain Name?
English-like name that corresponds to the unique 32-bit numeric IP address for each computer connected to the Internet.
What are other features provided by enterprise software?
Enterprise software also includes analytical tools to use data the system capture to evaluate overall organizational performance.
What is an information system audit?
Examination of the firm's overall security environment as well as controls governing individual information systems. The auditor traces the flow of a sample through the system
What are the phases in a timeline for development of an e-commerce presence for a start up company?
Example: Start up devoted to fashion for teens Phase 1: Planning - envision web presence, determine personnel Phase 2: Website development- acquire content, develop site design, arrange for hosting the site Phase 3: Web implementation - develop key words and metatags, focus on search engine optimization, identify potential sponsors Phase 4:
What are Exchanges?
Exchanges are independently owned third-party net marketplaces that connect thousands of suppliers and buyers for spot purchasing
What is Text Mining?
Extracting key elements from large unstructured data sets (sentiment analysis software - able to mine text comments in an e-mail message, blog, etc.)
What is Data Mining?
Finding hidden patterns, relationships in datasets (e.g. customer buying patterns). It infers rules to predict future behaviour
What is business continuity planning?
Focuses on how a company can restore business operations after disaster strikes. IDs critical business processes and determines actions plans for handling critical functions if systems go down
Outline several examples for and against the idea of net neutrality
For: - it is a basic human right (preserves our right to browse freely and communicate openly over the Internet) - Internet would be unrecognizable without net neutrality - no different than a bad cable TV service with limited number of channels, all bad picture and quality - too much control - could decide who is heard over the internet and who isn't (crucial for online social movements) Against: - gives government more control over internet (government would have the right to monitor broadband connections of companies) - disrupts growth and development (free market) - would not achieve intended effect (nothing provides the authority for saying that all Web services have to be treated the same)
What is a common example of a business process redesign?
Ford Motor Company's invoiceless processing, which reduced the head count in Ford's North American A/P organization by 75%
The internet digital marketplace has expanded sales of digital goods. What are digital goods?
Goods that can be delivered over a digital network. Example: Music, Movies, software newspapers, books In general, for digital goods the marginal cost of producing another unit is about 0 BUT the cost of producing the original first unit is relatively high
What is a field?
Group of characters as word(s) or number(s)
What is a file?
Group of records of the same type
What is a record?
Group of related files
What is a database?
Group of related files Serves many applications by centralizing data and controlling redundant data
What is component-based development?
Groups of objects are assembled to provide software components for common functions like graphical user interface or online ordering capability that can be combined to create large-scale business applications. It enables a system to be built by assembling and integrating existing software components.
Using the risk/reward profile, what are the classifications of various projects?
High risk high reward: Cautiously examine the project High risk low reward: avoid it Low risk low reward: a routine project Low risk high reward: identify it and develop it ASAP
Explain what is meant by "Automation" as an IT-enabled organizational change
IT assists employees with performing their tasks more efficiently and effectively (e.g. calculating paychecks, giving bank tellers instant access to customer records, etc.)
How can compapnies maximize benefits from enterprise software?
If the software does not support he way the organization does business, companies can rewrite some of the software to support the way their business processed work. However, extensive customization may degrade system performance and compromise the information and process integration (main benefit of system) Therefore, to maximize the benefit of the software system, companies must change the way they work to conform to the business processes defined by the software (rather than customizing the software to meet their needs)
Using mobile devices to access the internet is increasing. What % of e-commerce is made up of m-commerce?
In 2017, m-commerce constituted about 37% of all e-commerce
What are the many benefits of an effective CRM system?
Increased customer satisfaction, reduced direct-marketing costs, more effective marketing, and lower costs for customer acquisition and retention. CRM systems can also increase sales revenue by identifying the most profitable customers
Explain geoinformation services?
Information on local places and things based on the GPS position of the user Example: Waze app - telling you upcoming traffic
What is phishing?
Involves setting up fake websites or sending emails that look like those of legitimate businesses that ask for confidential data
What is an information systems plan?
It is a plan that supports the overall business plan in which new systems are incorporated into top-level planning. It serves as a road map for the direction of IS development, so that only projects helpful to the business are selected.
What is open source software?
It is a saoftware produced by a community of several hundred thousand programmers around the world. It is free and can be modified by users. Even the works derived from the original code must be free and the software can be redistributed by the user without additional licensing
What is a query language?
It is a software tool that provides immediate online answers to questions that are not predefined, such as "Who are the highest-performing sales reps?" for example
What is disaster recovery planning?
Making plans for the restoration of disrupted computing and communication services. The focus on technical issues involved in keeping a system up and running (back-ups, maintenance)
What are drive-by downloads?
Malware that comes with a downloaded file that a user intentionally or unintentionally requests
What is the relationship between databases and the web?
Many companies use the web to make some internal databases available to customers or partners. This is typically seen in configurations: - web servers - application servers - database servers (hosting DBMS)
Social e-commerce is based on the idea of the digital social graph. What is a social graph?
Map of all significant online social relationships, comparable to a social network describing offline relationships. Essentially, Facebook is a social graph
What market entry costs?
Market entry costs are the costs merchants must pay to bring their goods to market Universal standards help lower market entry costs
What is a marketspace?
Marketspace is a marketplace extended beyond traditional boundaries and removed from a temporal and geographic location.
What is Big Data?
Massive sets of unstructured/semi-structured data from web traffic, social media, sensors, etc.
What are information system controls?
Methods, policies, and organizational procedures that ensure the safety of an organization's assets, the accuracy and reliability of its records, and operational adherence to management standards
What is Micro-blogging? What is the blogosphere?
Microblogging is used in Twitter - type of blogging that features short posts of 140 characters or fewer The "blogosphere" is the totality of blog-related websites
Describe the evolving mobile platform
Mobile digital computing platforms (iPhone & Android smartphones, for example) have emerged as alternatives to PCs and larger computers. Tablet computers, iPads, digital e-book readers, etc, are being used by consumers and companies on a daily basis, as well as wearable technology
Describe how network economics, delining communication costs, and technology standards affect IT infrastructure
Network economics is the idea that the value or power of a network grows exponentially as a function of the number of network members (supply and demand). Returns to scale are increasing as more and more people join the network, thus expanding the IT infrastructure. Declining communication costs cause utilization of communication and computing facilities to increase exponentially as well, thus expanding IT infrastructure at a rapid rate. Technology standards are the specifications that establish the compatibility of products and the ability to communicate in a network. As technology standards are discovered and expanded, IT infrastructure expands as well.
Explain supply chain using Nike as an example
Nike sells running shoes: Secondary Suppliers: Thread suppliers - provide thread to shoe lace manufacturers Shoe lace manufacturer - manufactures and supplies shoe laces to running shoe manufacturer Primary Supplier: Contract running shoe manufacturers - manufacture and supplies running shoes to Nike Then: Nike -> Distributor -> Retailer ->Customer ** This illustration is very simplified in fact Nike has hundreds of primary and secondary suppliers and thousands of retailers/distributorsWh
What are T1 lines?
Offer guaranteed delivery at 1.54 Mbps (T3 lines are even faster at 45 Mbps)
What types of firms are currently considered the hottest business models in e-commerce?
On-Demand firms such as Uber
What are Hotspots?
One or more access points in public place to provide maximum wireless coverage for a specific area (weak security features)
What is meant by the "visual web"
Refers to websites such as Pinterest, where pictures replace text documents, where users search pictures and where pictures of products replace display ads for products
All of the applications described above support either the operational OR analytical aspects of customer CRM. What is Operational CRM?
Operational CRM - Customer-facing applications, such as sales force automation, call center and customer service support, and marketing automation.
What is the largest barrier to successful business process change?
Organizational culture
What is included in the DOWNSTREAM portion of the supply chain?
Organizations and processes for distributing and delivering products to the final customer
The more comprehensive CRM packages contain what modules?
Partner relationship management (PRM) and Employee relationship management (ERM)
What are Micropayment systems?
Payment for a very small sum of money, often less than $10 Example: Apples iTunes store
What are some of the issues with global supply chains?
Performance standards may very from region to region therefore the supply chain management may need to reflect foreign government regulations and cultural differences
What is an entity?
Person, place, thing on which we store information
What is Podcasting?
Podcasting is a method of publishing audio or video broadcasts through the Internet, allowing subscribing users to download audio or video files onto their PC, smartphones, etc.
What is a firewall?
Prevent unauthorized users from accessing private networks. It's a combination of hardware and software that controls the flow of traffic It acts like a gatekeeper and examines each user's credentials (name, IP address) before granting them access to a network
What is price discrimination?
Price discrimination is selling the same goods, or nearly the same goods, to different targeted groups at different prices.
What is price transparency?
Price transparency is the ease with which consumers can find out the variety of prices in a market. Information density helps makes price more transparent
What is a PERT chart?
Program Evaluation and Review Technique It graphically depicts project tasks and their interrelationships. it lists specific activities that make up a project and notes which activities must be completed before another starts. It is important because it shows how a delay in one activity can cause a delay in the whole project since other activities cannot begin. it also helps to find bottleneck situations.
What is prototyping?
Prototyping consists of building an experimental system rapidly and inexpensively for end users to evaluate. By interacting with the prototype, users can get a better idea of their information requirements.
What is Acceptance testing?
Provides the final certification that the system is ready to be used in a production setting. Systems tests are evaluated by users and reviwed by management and when all parties are satisfied that the new system meets their standards the system is formally accepted for installation.
What is a bandwidth?
Range of frequencies that can be accomodated on a particular telecommunications channel
Explain what is meant by "Rationalization" as an IT-enabled organizational change
Rationalization of procedures comes after automation. This is when standard procedures are streamlined and help to reduce bottlenecks and make systems even more effective.
What is RSS
Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary - pulls specified content from websites and feeds it automatically to users' computers
The Internet enables Long tail marketing. What is long tail marketing?
Refers to the ability of firms to profitably market goods to very small online audiences, largely because of the lower costs of reaching very small market segments (people who fall into the long tail ends of a Bell curve)
Who are some of the leading enterprise software vendors?
SAP, Oracle, IBM, Infor Global Solutions and Microsoft
Example of an SQL Query
SELECTPART.Part_Number, PART.Part_Name, SUPPLIER.Supplier_Number, SUPPLIER.Supplier_Name FROM PART, SUPPLIER WHERE PART.Supplier_Number = SUPPLIER.Supplier_Number AND Part_Number = 137 OR Part_Number = 150;
What is a just-in-time strategy?
Scheduling system for minimizing inventory by having components arrive exactly at the moment they are needed and finished goods shipped as soon as they leave the assembly line.
What are search costs?
Search costs- the time and money spent locating a suitable product and determining the best price for that product. Universal standards help to reduce search costs for the consumer
What is the difference between sequential supply chains and concurrent supply chains?
Sequential supply chains - information and materials flow sequentially from company to company Concurrent supply chains - information flows in many directions simultaneously among members of a supply chain network The internet has made it possible to move from sequential supply chains to concurrent supply chains
What is an Enterprise Software?
Set of integrated modules for applications such as sales & distribution, financial accounting, investment management, materials management, production planning, plant maintenance and human resources that allow data to be used by multiple functions and business processes
What are apps?
Small specialized software programs that are designed for mobile devices. They provide a streamlined non-browser pathway for users to perform a number of tasks, ranging from reading the newspaper to shopping, searching, playing games and buying.
What is a bit?
Smallest unit of data a computer can handle
What is a campus area network (CAN)?
Spans a smaller area such as a campus
What is an information policy?
Specification of the organization's rules for sharing, managing and standardizing data
What is XML?
Stands for "Extensible Markup Language" and is much more powerful than HTML. Where HTML is limited to describing how data should be presented in the form of webpages, XML can perform presentation, communication and storage of data. By tagging selected elements of the content of documents for their meanings, XML makes it possible for computers to manipulate and interpret their data automatically and perform operations on the data without human intervention.
What is HTML?
Stands for "Hypertext Markup Language" and is a page description language that specifies how text, graphics, video, and sound are placed on a webpage and for creating links to other webpages and objects. It was originally designed to create and link static documents composed largely of text, though it has evolved into a much more social and interactive environment.
What is a security policy?
Statements ranking information risks, identifying acceptable security goals, and identifying mechanisms to achieve these goals
What is streaming?
Streaming is a publishing method for music and video files that flows a continuous stream of content to a user's device without being stored locally on the device
What is a demand driven supply chain?
Supply chain management system that facilitates efficient customer response enabling the workings of the business to be driven more by customer demand.
What are the 2 ways supply chain software is classified
Supply chain software is classified as either: 1) software to help business plan their supply chain (supply chain planning) 2) software to help them execute the supply chain steps (supply chain execution)
What is a supply chain planning system?
Systems that enable a firm to generate demand forecasts for a product and to develop sourcing and manufacturing plans for that product.w
What is intellectual property?
Tangible and intangible products of the mind for which the creator claims a property right
What is meant by the term "Structured Methodologies"?
Techniques are step-by-step, with each step building on the previous one. Structured methodologies are top-down, progressing from the highest, most abstract level to the lowest level of detail. They are used to document, analyze, and design information systems.
What is Bluetooth?
The 802.15 wireless networking standard, useful for creating small personal area networks. It links up to eight devices within a 10-meter area using low-power, ratio-based communication
Describe consumerization of IT
The consumerization of IT is when information technology that first emerges in the consumer market spreads into business organizations. This includes mobile personal devices, business uses of software such as Facebook and Twitter, etc.
What is ergonomics?
The interaction of people and machines in the work environment. It considers the design of jobs, health issues, and the end-user interface. This must be addressed when implementing a new IS
What is personalization?
The ability of merchants to target marketing messages to specific individuals by adjusting the message for a person's name, interests, and past purchases.
What is authentication?
The ability to know that a person is who they claim to be (generally done using passwords and IDs)
What is the Bullwhip effect?
The bullwhip effect is a recurring problem in supply chain management. It is the distortion of information about the demand for a product as it passes from one entity to the next across the supply chain. The bullwhip effect can be tamed by reducing uncertainties about demand and supply when all members of the supply chain have accurate and up-to-date information
What is the role of the end user in systems design?
The end-user needs to have sufficient control over the design process to ensure that the system reflects their business priorities and information needs, not the biases of the technical staff.
What are the main reasons that information systems projects fail?
The firm incorrectly assessed their business value or They failed to manage the organizational change surrounding the introduction of the new technology (i.e. processes must change, culture must change, attitudes, etc.)
What is the Web 3.0?
The future of the internet. Key features are more tools for individuals to make sense out of trillions of pages on the Internet, or millions of apps available for smartphones, and even three-dimensional (3D) Webs where you can walk through pages in a 3D environment
What industry has been most affected by e-commerce and the Internet?
The marketing industry
What is Structured Query Language (SQL)?
The most prominent data manipulation language. It retrieves information needed from the database and is used by many database providers (such as MS Access)
What is HTML5?
The next evolution of HTML which solves the problem of strains on computer processing by making it possible to embed images, audio, video and other elements directly into a document without requiring processor-intensive add-ons
What is the systems life cycle?
The oldest method for building information systems. The life cycle methodology is a phased approach where you divide systems development into formal stages. This methodology maintains a formal division of labour between the end user and information systems specialists. It is still used for building large complex systems that require rigorous and formal requirements analysis and tight controls. But this can be timely, costly and inflexible.
What is a Request for Proposal (RFP)?
The package or software service evaluation process is often based on an RFP, which is a detailed list of questions submitted to software vendors.
What is information system security?
The policies, procedures, and technical measures used to prevent unauthorized access, alteration, theft, or physical damage to information systems
What are computer forensics?
The scientific collection, examination, authentication, preservation, and analysis of data held on or to be retrieved from a computer in such a way that the information can be used as evidence in a court of law
What is mobile commerce (or m-commerce)?
The use of wireless devices, such as smartphones or tablets to conduct both business-to-consumer and business-to-business e-commerce transactions over the Internet
Define a multitiered client/server architecture
The work of an entire network is balanced over several different levels of servers [Client --Internet --Web Server --Application Server --Data]
How has online marketing changes to account for the new e-commerce (social, mobile, local)
The workhouse of online marketing was the display ad. BUT it is increasingly being replaced by video ad which are far more effective
What is the Internet?
The world's most extensive network, linking millions of individual networks all over the world.
There are always several projects to choose from. How do companies choose which IT projects to move forward with?
There is a chain of command at companies that decide which projects to prioritize. 1) The corporate strategic planning group - they develop the firm's strategic plan and develop KPIs to evaluate performance. They choose IT projects that will improve one or several KPIs 2) The IS steering committee - composed of department heads from all over the company who review and approve plans for new systems. They look to coordinate new systems with current ones 3) Project management and team - made up of IT managers and department managers who oversee the specific projects to ensure they are brought to completion
How have smartphones made information systems more vulnerable?
They are so portable, and are therefore easy to lose or steal. They contain a lot of sensitive information on them.
What are non-relational (NoSQL) database systems?
They use a more flexible data model and are designed for managing systems with large amounts of data across many machines. They are more easily scaled and are useful for accelerating simple queries against large volumes of structured and unstructured data.
What is one way to ensure that end users are happy with the new system and they are helpful in the implementation phase?
To include them in the decision making. They should be consulted on the design since they will be the ones using it and they can decide what features they need. If they are involved, they are more likely to react positively to the new system
What's the average underestimates for private sector projects?
Time: projects generally run 33% over the scheduled implemented time frame Money: projects generally cost 66% more than originally budgeted
Why do large companies use enterprise systems?
To enforce standardized practices and data so that everyone does business the same way around the world Example: Coca-cola implemented a SAP enterprise system to standardize and coordinate important business processes in 200 countries
What are analytical tools?
Tools used for consolidating, analyzing, and providing access to vast amounts of data to help users make better business decisions
How costly are supply chain costs?
Total supply chain costs represent the majority of operating expenses for many businesses and in some industries approach 75% of the total operating budget
What is behavioral targeting?
Tracking the click-streams (history of clicking behavior) of individuals across multiple websites for the purpose of understanding their interests and intentions, and exposing them to advertisements which are uniquely suited to their interests.
What are transaction costs?
Transaction costs are the costs of participating in a market Ubiquity decreases transaction costs form a consumer point of view
What is a modem?
Translates digital signals into analog form (and viceee verseee)
What is Programming?
Translating system specifications that were prepared during the design stage into software program code.
What is peer-to-peer architecture?
Treats all processors equally and is used in small networks with 10 or fewer users
What is a Computer Network?
Two or more connected computers
What is another function of web services besides supporting internal and external integration of systems?
Web services can also be used as tools for building new information system applications or enhancing existing systems.
What are private industrial networks?
Web-enabled networks linking systems of multiple firms in an industry for the coordination of trans-organizational business processes AKA Private exchange Acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers
What is the affiliate revenue model?
Websites send visitors to other websites in return for a referral fee or percentage of the revenue from any resulting sales Example: Yelp, MyPoints, Bloggers (paid directly by manufacturers for speaking highly of products and providing links to sales channels)
What is an example of a paradigm shift that transformed the nature of the entire line of business?
When Amazon challenged the traditional physical bookstores with its online retail model.
What is a portfolio analysis?
When a firm looks at a list of all potential IS projects that they could take on, and the evaluate the risks and the benefits from them A portfolio should be balanced with several high and low risk projects with various benefits so as to lower the overall risk profile (i.e. diversify) of the company. When high risk projects are paired with low risk projects, the return for the company can be optimized
What is spoofing?
When a hacker tried to hide their identity by misrepresenting themselves, using a fake email address or posing as someone else.
What is click fraud?
When an individual fraudulently clicks an online ad without any intention of learning more about the advertiser or making a purchase. This results in the company having to pay the platform, since they usually pay a fee per click.
What is a unified threat management system?
When businesses use several different security management systems, such as firewalls, private networks, intrusion detection systems, and wed content filtering.
What is war driving?
When eavesdroppers drive by a building or park outside and try to intercept wireless traffic being transmitted through that building. Wireless technology was made in attempt to make our lives easier and to make transmission more efficient. However, it has opened people up to attacks if their transmissions are not encrypted or secure
What are external integration tools?
When the work of the implementation team of a project is linked to the users of the new system. This can involve users becoming part of the project team, taking on roles, and taking charge of installation and training. This demonstrates the implementation team's responsiveness to users
What is pharming?
When users are redirected to a bogus web page, even when the person typed in the right web page into the browser.
What is the small world theory?
You are only 6 links away form any other person on earth
What is Cost transparency?
Cost transparency is the ability of consumers to discover the actual costs merchants pay for products Information density helps make costs more transparent
What are the advantages of using the web for database access?
- ease of use of browser software - web interface requires few or no changes to the database - inexpensive
How does CASE increase productivity and quality?
- enforces a standard development methodology and design discipline - improves communication between users and technical experts - organizes and correlates design components and provides rapid access to them using a design repository - automates tedious and error-prone portions of analysis and design - automates code gneeration and testing and control rollout
What are the various ways to search for information on the web?
- search engines (Google) - Mobile search - semantic search (goal to build a search engine that can understand human language and behaviour) - social search (effort to provide fewer, more relevant and trustworthy search results based on a person's network of social contacts)
What is a data warehouse?
- stores current and historical data from many core operational transaction systems - consolidates and standardizes information for use across an enterprise, but data cannot be altered - provides analysis and reporting tools
How can TCO be reduced?
- switch to cloud services - greater centralization and standardization of hardware and software resources - minimize components
What are examples of physical transmission media?
- twisted pair wire (CAT5) = copper wire twisted in pairs for voice and data communications - coaxial cable = thickly insulated copper wire capable of high speed data transmission - fiber-optic cable = strands of clear glass fibre that transmit data as pulses of light - wireless transmission media - based on radio signals of various frequencies and includes both terrestrial and satellite microwave systems
What are some strategies to overcome user resistance?
- user participation in design - user education and training - manager policies and edicts - better incentives for those who cooperate - a more user-friendly interface
List and describe the components of IT infrastructure that firms need to manage
1) Computer Hardware Platforms - Dell, IBM, Oracle Sun, HP, Apple - mainframes, servers, PCs, tablets, smartphones 2) Operating System Platforms - Microsoft, Android, iOS, Linux, MacOSX - operating system to manage the resources and activities of the computer 3) Enterprise Software Applications - SAP, Oracle, IBM, Microsoft - user interface for database systems; linking firm's existing application systems 4) Networking/Telecommunications - Microsoft Windows Server, AT&T, Verizon - provide telecommunications/telephone services and data connectivity 5) Consultants and System Integrators - HP, IBM, Accenture - assist with implementation of new infrastructure 6) Data Management and Storage - Oracle, Apache, EMC, SQL Server - organizing and managing firm data so it can be efficiently used 7) Internet Platforms - Java, Cisco, Unix, Apache - support firm's website and hosting servers
What are the three networking and communication trends and explain?
1) Convergence - telephone networks and computer networks converging into single digital networks using Internet standards 2) Broadband - high-speed connections provided by telephone and cable TV companies running at 1 to 15 million bits per second 3) Broadband wireless - voice, data communication and other wireless services are increasingly being offered
What are the 3 main capabilities of a database management system and explain?
1) Data definition - specify structure of content of the database 2) Data dictionary - automated or manual file stores definitions of data elements and their characteristics 3) Querying and reporting - accessing and manipulating information in databases
What are the challenges of managing IT infrastructure and management solutions?
1) Dealing with platform and infrastructure change - as firms grow, they outgrow their infrastructure - if IT infrastructure is a fixed cost purchase, scalability is difficult (the ability to expand to a large number of users) - firms using mobile computing can better deal with this change but they will need new policies and procedures to manage these platforms 2) Management and Governance - who controls and manages the firm's IT infrastructure? - can be impacted by lack of competence, or the difficulty of giving departments and divisions the responsibilty over their own info - how is this managed? 3) Making Wise Infrastructure Investments - IT infrastructure is a major investment - the question of how much to spend (more = idle, less = inability to deliver services) is a difficult one
What are some of the challenges with enterprise application?
1) Enterprise applications involve complex pieces of software that are very expensive to purchase and implement and can take several years to implement 2)Enterprise applications also require fundamental changes to business processes to work with the software 3) Employees must accept new job functions and responsibilities 4) Enterprise applications introduce switching costs. Switching vendors (SAP, Oracle) can be very costly
What are the 4 major business processes that can be integrated?
1) Finance & Accounting - general ledger, AP, AR, fixed assets, cash management, cost-center accounting, financial reporting, credit management 2) Human Resources - time accounting, payroll, benefits, personnel planning, performance management, travel expense reporting 3) Manufacturing & Production - procurement, purchasing, shipping, production planning/scheduling, quality control, maintenance 4) Sales & Marketing - order processing, quotations, contracts, pricing, billing, commission management
List each of the eras in IT infrastructure evolution and describe its distinguishing characteristics
1) General Purpose Mainframe and Minicomputer Era (1959 to present) - introduction of IBM systems = widespread commercial use of computers - highly centralized computing under professional programmers and systems operators - introduction of minicomputers allowing more decentralized computing to meet specific needs 2) Personal Computer Era (1981 to Present) - PC in 1981 considered the beginning of this era - widely accepted and adopted by businesses - Wintel PC becomes the standard desktop computer - early 1990s saw the introduction of software tools (MS Word, spreadsheets, etc.) 3) Client/Server Era (1983 to Present) - laptop computers called "clients" are networked to powerful servers that provide a variety of services and capabilities - client uses server to process and store data - "server" = both software application and physical computer on which the network software runs - expansion to include "multitiered" client/server systems for a host of users 4) Enterprising Computing Era (1992 to Present) - took servers/software tools and integrated them into a large enterprise-wide structure - Internet becomes trusted communications environment - major characteristic of this era was linking all of these software/systems to each other to form a giant web 5) Cloud and Mobile Computing Era (2000 to Present) - access to shared pool of resources over the network (Internet) - clouds can be accessed on an as-needed basis from any connecting devise
What are some of the legislation pertaining to privacy in various industries?
1) Healthcare: HIPAA outlines medical security and privacy rules to govern the billing, administrative and payment functions 2) Financial services: Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires confidentiality of customer data on a secure server 3) Public companies: SOX requires accuracy and integrity of financial information and internal controls
What are the steps to BPM (Business Process Management)?
1) Identify processes for change - Determine which processes are the most important and how improving them will help business performance 2) Analyze existing processes - Identify redundant steps in current processes, bottlenecks, and other inefficiencies. 3) Design new processes - New process design needs to be justified by demonstrating how much it reduces time and cost or enhances customer service and value 4) Implement new process - Translate into a new set of procedures and work rules. May also need to implement new systems 5) Continuous Measurement - Ensure operating effectively and efficiencies are being achieved
What are the steps in prototyping?
1) Identify the user's basic requirements 2) Develop an initial prototype 3) Use the prototype 4) Revise and enhance the prototype
What are the components of a framework for security and control?
1) Information system controls 2) Risk assessment 3) Security policy 4) Disaster recovery planning 5) Auditing
What are the three different types of cloud computing services?
1) Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): - use processing, storage, networking and other services from cloud providers to run their full IT systems 2) Software as a service (SaaS): - use software hosted by a vendor over a network (generally charged a subscription fee) 3) Platform as a service (PaaS): - use infrastructure and programming tools to develop your own applications remotely
What are the 5 differences between cyber warfare and traditional warfare?
1) Most power = more vulnerable 2) The government cannot go it alone 3) The virtual attack surface is huge 4) Victims often don't know they are victims until it is too late 5) There is very little warning for a cyber attack, whereas traditional warfare generally gives the victim a lot of time to prepare. Cyber warfare is hard to recover from, since they might not know they were attacked until a while later
What are the major components in a simple network? Explain them
1) Network Operating Systems (NOS) - routes and manages communications on the network and coordinates network resources 2) Hubs - simple devices that connect network components, sending a packet of data to all other connected devices 3) Switches - more intelligent than a hub - can filter and forward data to a specified destination on a network 4) Routers - communication pocessor that routes packets of data through different networks, ensuring data sent gets to the correct address
What are some common social commerce features?
1) Newsfeed- stream of notifications form friends and advertisers 2) Timelines - stream of photos and events in the past that create a personal history 3)Social sign-on - websites allow users to sign into their sites through their social network pages (Facebook). This allows websites to receive valuable social profile information for marketing efforts 4) Collaborative shopping - consumers can share their shopping experiences with one another by viewing products, chatting, texting 5) Network notification - consumers share their approval (or disapproval) of products, services, or content - i.e. Facebook like button/ Twitter followers 6) Social search (recommendations) - consumers ask their friends for advice on purchases
What are the four main conversion strategies and explain them
1) Parallel strategy - both the old system and potential replacement run together until everyone is assured that the new one is working properly 2) Direct Cutover Strategy - replaces the old system entirely with the new one on an appointed day 3) Pilot Study Strategy - introduces the new system to a small area of the organization to see if it works smoothly 4) Phased approach strategy - introduces the new system in stages, either by functions or organizational units
What are the different types of internet business models?
1) Portal: Provides initial point of entry to the web page along with specialized content and other services - Example: Google, MSN, Yahoo, Bing 2)E-tailer: Online retail stores from the giant Amazon to tiny local stores that have websites where retail goods are sold. - Example: Amazon, Blue Nile 3) Content Provider: Creates revenue by providing digital content, such as news, music, photos or video , over the web. The customer may pay to access the content or revenue may be generated by selling advertising space - Example: iTunes.com, Games.com 4)Transaction Broker: Saves users money and time by processing online sales transactions and generating a fee each time a transaction occurs - Example: online investment broker to travel agent (Expedia, ETrade.com) 5) Market Creator: Provides a digital environment where buyers and seller can meet, search for products, display products, and establish prices for those products; can serve consumers or B2B e-commerce - Example: eBay, Elemica, Priceline.com 6) Service provider: Provides applications such as photo and video sharing and user-generated content as services; provides other services such as online data storage and backup - Example: Google Apps, Dropbox 7) Community Provider (Social networks): creates a digital online environment where people with similar interests can transact (buy and sell goods); share interests, photos, videos; communicate; and play out fantasies by adopting online personalities called avatars. - Examples: Facebook, Twitter
What is the level of project risk affected by? (3 things)
1) Project size - the larger the project (by dollars, staff needed, and time) the larger the risk. This is because they can be complex and difficult to control because of all the people involved 2) Project structure - when a project is highly structured, it has clear requirements that are easy to follow. Users know exactly what they want and what the system should do. Therefore, a highly structured project has much less risk than those with changing and fluid requirements 3) Experience with technology - if the team does not have the technical expertise, there is a higher risk that they will encounter problems or take more time to complete the project
What are the three different cloud computing models?
1) Public cloud - third-party service offers services to multiple customers, available publicly 2) Private Cloud - operated soley for a single organization and hosted either internally or externally 3) Hybrid cloud - combination of both that remains separate entities
What are the 7 components of a information systems plan?
1) Purpose of the plan - discusses the overview of the IS plan and the current KPIs at the firm and management's current strategies 2) The rationale - looks at the current situation at the firm, and how the environment is or must change 3) The state of current systems - looks at the current IT infrastructure and what difficulties it encounters and what it should look like in the future 4) New development to consider - what kind of projects will the firm consider, what their applications are and what kind of infrastructure they would need 5) Management strategy - regarding personnel training, potential reorganizations, milestones coming up, etc. 6) Implementation plan - discusses the potential challenges of implementation and sets out the needs for progress reports 7) Budget requirements - the required amount of savings a project must give, the maximum budget for a project, how it would be financed, etc.
What are new approaches for system building in the digital firm era and explain them
1) RAD (Rapid Application Development) = process of creating workable systems in a very short period of time with flexibility. It involves close teamwork and does not need to be sequential. 2) JAD (Joint Application Design) = technique used to accelerate the generation of information requirements and develop the initial systems design. It brings end users and information systems specialists together and speeds up the design phase. 3) Agile development = focusing on rapid delivery of working software by breaking a large project into series of small subprojects completed in shorter periods of time and receiving continuous feedback
What are the three basic operations of a relational DBMS?
1) SELECT - creates subset of data of all records that meet the stated criteria 2) JOIN - combines relational tables to provide user with more information than available in individual tables 3) PROJECT - creates subset of columns in table, creating tables with only information specified
CRM systems provide software and online tools for sales, customer service, and marketing. What are some of these capabilities?
1) Sales Force Automation: Modules in CRM systems that help sales staff increase productivity by focusing sales efforts on the most profitable customers 2) Customer service modules: Provide information and tools to increase the efficiency of call centers, help desks and customer support staff. 3) CRM systems support direct marketing campaigns by providing capabilities for capturing prospect and customer data, providong product and service information, qualifying leads, etc.
What are the 5 major variables of project management?
1) Scope - what work is or is not included in the project 2) Time - required to complete the project 3) Cost - the time needed x the cost of human resources required. Also includes the cost of hardware, software, and the workspace 4) Quality - indicator of how well the end result of the project satisfies the original objective of the project (improved organizational performance and decision making) 5) Risk - the potential problems that could threaten the project's success at the budgeted time and costs
What are the 2 methods of encryption?
1) Symmetric key encryption Sender and receiver create a single encryption key and they share it. Drawback is that they need to share it somehow, which leaves it vulnerable to interception 2) Public key encryption Uses 2 keys, one that is shared and one that is private. The public key cannot be used without the private key, which is used to decrypt the message
What are some of the unique features of e -commerce?
1) Ubiquity - Internet/web technology is available everywhere: at word, at home, and elsewhere by desktop and mobile devices. 2)Global reach - technology permits commercial transactions to cross cultural and national boundaries. (potential market size = worlds online population- 3 Billion) 3)Universal standards - their is one sett of technical standards (the internet) which allows disparate computer systems to communicate easily with each other 4) Richness - refers to the complexity and content of a message, e-commerce provides rich messages with text, audit and video simultaneously to a large number of people (before the web there was a trade off between richness and reach - this no longer exists with e-commerce) 5) Interactivity - e-commerce technologies are interactive meaning they allow for 2-way communication between merchant and customer and peer-to-peer communication. This allows online merchant to engage customer similar to face-to-face but on a massive, global scale 6) Information density - internet and web vastly increase information density which is the total amount and quality of information available to all market participants, consumers and merchants 7) Personalization/Customization - the technology allows personalized messages to be delivered to individuals and groups 8) Social Technology - the technology supports content generation and social networking which enables user content creation and distribution and supports social networks
What 2 levels can behavioral targeting take place?
1) at individual websites 2) from within apps and various advertising networks that track users across thousands of websites
Before new databases are put in place, a firm must...
1) identify and correct faulty data 2) establish better routines for editing data once database is in operation
What are 4 kinds of e-commerce presence (touch points) that a business can use to meet their customers?
1) websites - traditional, mobile, tablet 2) E-mail - internal lists, purchased lists 3) social media- Facebook, Twitter, blogs 4) Offline media - Print, TV & radio
What is the Competitive Forces Model for IT Infrastructure Investment?
A 6 force model that can be used to address the question of how much the firm should spend on IT infrastructure: 1) Market demand for firm's customer services, supplier services, and enterprise services - survey each group and determine if meeting their needs or if additional services are required 2) Firm's business strategy - five-year business strategy analysis to assess what new services will be required to achieve strategic goals 3) Firm's IT strategy, Infrastructure and Cost - five-year examination of how the IT strategy aligns with business plans 4) Information technology - is the firm behind or ahead of the curve for IT development and utilization? 5) Competitor firms' IT services - assess whether more investment is necessary to keep up with competitor's services 6) Competitor Firms' IT infrastructure investments - benchmark expenditures for IT against competition to determine appropriate level
What is an intrusion detection system?
A full-time monitoring tool placed at the most vulnerable points to detect and deter intruders. It generates an alarm if it find suspicious activity
What is packet switching?
A method of slicing digital messages into parcels called packets, sending the packets along different communication paths as they become available and then reassembling the packets once they arrive at their destinations. This is a more efficient use of a network's communications capacity
What is a supply chain?
A network of organizations and business processing for procuring raw materials, transforming these materials into intermediate and finished products and distributing the finished products to customers.
What's the relationship between a new information system and KPIs?
A new IS should focus on providing information that helps the firm meet their goals that are implied through KPIs (i.e. it should measure them)
What is IPv6?
A new addressing scheme for IP numbers. It will provide more than a quadrillion new addresses and is not compatible with current IPv5 addressing.
What is software-defined networking (SDN)?
A new networking approach in which many of these control functions are managed by one central program, which can run inexpensive commodity servers separate from the network devices themselves
Explain what is meant by "Paradigm Shift" as an IT-enabled organizational change
A paradigm shift means to rethink the nature of the business and the nature of the organization
What is a hacker?
A person who intends to gain unauthorized access to a computer system
What is a project? What's an information systems (IS) project?
A planned series of related activities for achieving a specific business objective. An IS project involves the development of new information systems, enhancement of existing systems, or the upgrade/replacement of the IT infrastructure
What is a computer virus?
A rogue software program that attaches itself to other software programs or files, typically without user knowledge or permission. Can cause programs to be destroyed, clog computer memory, damage to hard drives, or make programs run improperly Viruses can spread from one computer to another when humans send an email or copy an infected file
What are web services?
A set of loosely coupled software components that exchange information with each other using universal web communication standards and languages. They can exchange information between two different systems regardless of the operating systems or programming languages on which the systems are based
What are netmarketplaces?
A single digital marketplace based on Internet technology linking many buyers to many sellers Sometimes called "e-hubs"
What is a trojan horse?
A software program that appears to be benign, but then does something other than expected. The trojan horse itself is not a virus, since it does not replicate. But it is often a way for viruses to be introduced into a computer system
What is spyware?
A software that installs itself on computers to monitor user web-surfing activity and serve up advertising
What is data manipulation language?
A specialized language used to add, change, delete, and retrieve the data in the database. This language also contains commands that permit end users and programming specialists to extract data from the database to satisfy information requests and develop applications
What is six sigma?
A specific measure of quality, representing 3.4 defects per million opportunities
What is a native app?
A standalone application designed to run on a specific platform and device. It is installed directly on a mobile device and can connect to the Internet to download and upload data, operating on the data even when not connected to the Internet
What is cyberwarefare?
A state-sponsored activity designed to cripple and defeat another state by penetrating its computers to cause damage or disruption Generally targets military, power grids, financial systems, and communications networks
What is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) System?
A system that integrates businesses processes in manufacturing and production, finance an accounting, sales and marketing, and HR into a single software system. It is a suite of integrated software modules and a common central database
What is capital budgeting?
A technique used to measure the value of investing in a long-term capital investment project. They rely on the measures of cash in and outflows generated by the capital project
What is a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)?
A technology that operates over existing telephone lines to carry voice, data and video at transmission rates ranging from 385 Kbps all the way to 40 Mbps
What is a structure chart?
A top-down chart that shows each level of design, its relationship to other levels, and its place in the overall design structure
What is safety stock?
Additional inventory that manufacturers keep on hand to deal with uncertainties in the supply chain (i.e. late shipments, uncertain product demand) Safety stock acts as a buffer for the lack of flexibility in the supply chain. However, excessive inventory is expensive.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of prototyping?
Advantages: - most useful when there is some uncertainty about requirements or design solutions that users need - encourages intense end-user involvement throughout the systems development life cycle, therefore more likely to produce systems that fulfill user requirements Disadvantages: - rapid prototyping can gloss over essential steps in systems development
What is a web browser?
An easy-to-use software tool with a graphical user interface for displaying webpages and for accessing the web and other Internet resources [e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, etc]
What is a multicore processor?
An integrated circuit to which two or more processor cores have been attached for enhanced performance, reduced power consumption, and more efficient simultaneous processing of multiple tasks. It enables two or more processing engines with reduced power requirements and heat dissipation to perform tasks faster than a resource-hungry chip with a single processing core.
What is Hadoop?
An open source framework managed by Apache Software Foundation that enables distributed parallel processing of big data across inexpensive computers. It's key services are: - HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System) which takes care of data storage - MapReduce which breaks data into clusters for work - Hbase which is a noSQL database
Difference between digital and analog signal?
Analog - represented by continuous waveform passing through a communications medium Digital - discrete, binary waveform (not continuous)
What is computer crime?
Any violations of criminal law that involve a knowledge of computer technology for their perpetration, investigation, or prosecution
What is a partner relationship management (PRM)
Automation of the firm's relationships with its selling partners using customer data and analytical tools to improve coordination and customer sales
Summary of SCM
By implementing a networked and integrated supply chains management system, companies match supply to demand, reduce inventory levels, improve delivery service, speed product time to market and use assets more effectively
What does CASE stand for and what does it mean?
CASE = Computer-Aided Software Engineering - it provides software tools to automate the methodologies used in process reengineering in order to reduce the amount of repetitive work that needs to be done by the developer
What is object-oriented modeling based on?
Concepts of class and inheritance. Objects belonging to a certain class, or category of similar objects, have the features of that class. Classes of objects in turn can inherit all the structure and behaviours of a more general class and then add variables and behaviours unique to each object.
Describe cloud computing and list its major characteristics
Companies and individuals can perform all their computing work using a virtualized IT infrastructure in a remote location. Cloud computing allows for processing, storage, software and other services to be accessed online (primarily over the Internet). Characteristics: - on-demand service - access using multiple platforms - pooled resources - rapid elasticity (increase or decrease to meet user demand)
Why are digital markets more flexible and efficient?
Digital markets are more flexible and efficient because they operate with reduces search and transaction costs, lower menu costs, greater price discrimination and the ability to change price dynamically based on market conditions
What is Web Mining?
Discovery and analysis of useful patterns and information from the web (web content mining, web structure mining, web usage mining)
What is multidimensional data analysis? (OLAP)
Enables users to view the same data in different ways, using multiple dimensions (think of a rubix cube). It enables rapid, online answers to ad hoc queries
What are worms?
Independent computer programs that copy themselves from one computer to another over a network. They can operate on their own (unlike viruses) without attaching to another program or file. Worms rely less on human behaviour to spread, and spread more quickly. They destroy data and can even halt the operation of an information system
What is information asymmetry?
Information Asymmetry - Situation where the relative bargaining power of two parties in a transaction is determined by one party in the transaction possessing more information essential to the transaction than the other party. The internet reduce information asummetry Example: Before automobile retailing sites came on the web there was significant information asymmetry between auto dealers and customers
What is a supply chain management (SCM) system?
Information systems that automate the flow of information between a firm and its suppliers in order to optimize the planning, sourcing, manufacturing, and delivery of products and services
What kind of risk/benefit profile should information-intensive companies have? What about non-information-intensive companies?
Information-intensive firms: should have a few high-risk and high reward projects in order to stay up to date with new technologies Non-information-intensive firms: should focus on high-benefit and low risk projects (most desirable)
What is application proxy filtering?
It blocks certain packets from coming through the firewall because it detects a problem with it
What is a service-oriented architecture? (SOA)
It is a set of self-contained services that communicate with each other to create a working software application. Business tasks are accomplished by executing a series of these services. Software developers reuse these services in other combinations to assemble other applications as needed
What is a scoring model?
It is a tool used by firms to determine which projects to select. It selects projects based on several criteria. It assigns weights to various features of a system and then calculates the weighted total (i.e. a matrix) These are generally used to confirm a selection, and aren't generally the main reason to select a project (i.e. qualitative factors are considered in conjunction with the matrix)
Explain the emerging Internet-driven supply chain
It is like a digital logistics nervous system. It provides multi-directional communication among firms, networks of firms, and e-marketplaces so that entire networks of supply chain partners can immediately adjust inventories, orders and capacities
Describe Moore's Law and the Law of Mass Digital Storage
Moore's Law is the observation that the number of components per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled each year since their invention. The number of components (or transistors) is directly related to the number of instructions a processor can handle. A growth in transistors is also directly related to a decline in computing costs, though it is not sustainable forever. The Law of Mass Digital Storage is the observation that the amount of digital information is roughly doubling every year, however the cost of storing digital information is also falling at an exponential rate of 100% per year.
What are some examples of software firms that provide tools for BPM and what do they do?
Oracle, IBM, TIBCO - they help businesses identify and document processes requiring improvement, create models of improved processes, capture and enforce business rules for performing processes and integrate existing systems to support new or redesigned processes
What are some intangible benefits from an IS project?
Overall: Can't be immediately quantified, but has gains in the long run - Improved customers service - Improves asset utilization - Improved flexibility - More timely information - Enhanced employee goodwill - Improved decision making - Better corporate reputation
What are some tangible benefits from a new IS project?
Overall: Cost savings (can be quantified and assigned) - Lower operational cost - Reduced workforce - Lower vendor costs - Reduced facility costs - Reduced growth rate of expenses - Lower computer expenses
What are network service providers?
Own trunk lines (high-speed backbone networks) that they provide to consumers
With new flows of information made possibly by web based tools, supply chain management moved toward what model?
PULL-based model - supply chain driven by actual customer orders or purchases so that member of the supply chain produce and delivery only what customers have ordered. AKA- demand-driven or build-to-order model\
Earlier supply chain management systems were driven by what model?
PUSH-based model - supply chain driven by production master schedules based on forecasts or best guesses of demand for products, and products are pushed to customers.
What is a Virtual Private Network (VPN)?
Secure, encrypted, private network that runs over the Internet. Configured within a public network to take advantage of the economies of scale and management facilities of large networks.
CRM software vendors are enhancing their products to take advantage of social networking. What is social CRM?
Social CRM -Tools enabling a business to link customer conversations, data, and relationships from social networking sites to CRM processes.
What is social marketing
Social marketing is a part of conversational commerce. It involves all things social: listening, discussing, interacting, empathizing and engaging. The leading social commerce platforms are Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest In the past firms could tightly control their brand messaging but that is no longer true with social marketing. Consumer decisions are increasingly driven by the conversation, choices and opinions of their social network
Explain geosocial service?
Social networking based on the GPS location of users Example: can tell you where your friends are meeting
What are the key words for understanding the new e-commerce in 2017?
Social, Mobile, Local
What are mashups?
Software components that are mixed and matched to create a customized application in order to share information with others. The idea is to take different sources and produce new work that is greater than the sum of its parts (like a synergy)
What is employee relationship management (ERM)
Software dealing with employee issues that are closely related to CRM, such as setting objectives, employee performance management, performance-based compensation, and employee training.
Define IT infrastructure from both a technology and a services perspective
Technology: IT infrastructure consists of a set of physical devices and software applications that are required to operate the enterprise Services: IT infrastructure also includes a set of firmwide services budgeted by management and composed of human AND technical capabilities Examples of these things working together: - computing platforms used to provide computing services that connect employees, customers and suppliers in a coherent digital environment - Application software services that provide enter-rise-wide capabilities such as ERP or customer-relationship management
What is Testing?
Testing answers the question "Will the system produce the desired results under known conditions?" Exhaustive and thorough testing must be conducted to ascertain whether the system produces the right results.
What is System Testing?
Tests the functioning of the information system as a whole. It tries to determine whether discrete modules will function together as planned and whether discrepancies exist between the way the system actually works and the way it was conceived.
What is cybervandalism?
The intentional disruption, defacement, or destruction of a website or information system
How did better data management help the U.S. Posal Service Rebound?
The US postal service had a problem with outdated technology and disruptive technologies. To help rectify these problems, data management helped to: - redesign bar coding - implement intelligent mail scanning devices - implement hadoop (resource management system) - use optimization models
What is Dynamic Pricing?
The price of a product varies depending on the demand characteristic of the customer or the supply situation of the supplier Example: Amazon changes prices based on time of day, demand, and user's prior visits to their sites.
What is a Data Flow Diagram?
The primary tool for representing a system's component processes and the flow of data between them?
What is Search engine optimization?
The process of improving the quality and volume of web traffic to a website by employing a series of techniques that help a website achieve a higher ranking with the major search enjines when certain key words or phrases are used
What is change management?
The process of understanding, communicating, and documenting changes to a system so that negative effects from change can be avoided, or at least minimized. It looks at ensuring that employees are on board with the change and not resistant to it, as this can negatively impact the success of an otherwise promising project
Why is social graph an important concept to e-commerce?
The products and services you buy will influence the decisions of your friend and vice versa
Briefly explain the dot-com bubbly burst
The very rapid growth in e-commerce in the yearly years created a bubble in e-commerce stocks. Like all bubbles the dot-com bubbly burst in March 2001. A large number of e-commerce companies failed during this process. Yet for many other, such as Amazon, eBay, Expedia and Google the results have been more positive: soaring revenues, fine tuned business models that produce profits and rising stock prices.
What is a project management software tool?
There are many areas to keep track of with a new project, so a software can be used to keep track of all of these items. They help to: - Ordering tasks - Assigning resources - Establishing start and completion dates - tracking progress - Facilitating modifications Microsoft Project is very common for this. Generally these software are located in the cloud so that all team members have access to it at any time
What is the problem that merged companies may face in regard to IT?
They are required to merge 2+ information systems that may not work well together. it involves considerable organizational change and there are complex projects to manage. it can result in a "tangled hodgepodge" of systems that result in the benefits of the merger being unrealized
What are application controls? What are the 3 classifications?
They are unique to each computer application (i.e. payroll or sales processing), that ensure only authorized data are processed by that application. Classifications: 1) Input controls 2) Processing controls 3) Output controls
What are process specifications?
They describe the transformation occurring within the lowest level of the data flow diagrams. They express the logic for each process.
What are SQL injection attacks?
They take advantage of vulnerabilities in poorly coded web applications to introduce malicious program codes into a company's systems
How did the Intuit team make sure that leaders accepted their project and large budget?
They turned the project into several small "bites" (or deliverables) instead of having one giant project. This meant that leaders approved expenditures in small amounts at a time, and they could see the payoff immediately. Making a project into smaller pieces showed everyone that it was working well and should be continued
What is ransomware?
Tries to extort money from users by taking control of their computers or displaying annoying pop-up messages. You can get it by downloading an infected attachment, clicking an email link, or visiting the wrong website
What are cable internet connections?
Use digital cable coaxial lines to deliver high-speed internet access to homes and businesses
What are "Intelligent Agent Shopping Bots"?
Use intelligent agent software for searching the Interent for shopping information. They can help people interested in making a purchase filter and retrieve information about products of interest, evaluate competing products according to criteria the users have established, and negotiate with vendors for price and delivery terms
What is a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack?
Uses numerous computers to inundate and overwhelm the network from numerous launch points
What is object-oriented development?
Uses the object as the basic unit of systems analysis and design. An object combines data and the specific processes that operate on those data. Instead of passing data to procedures, programs send a message for an object to perform an operation that is already embedded in it.
Describe quantum computing
Uses the principles of quantum physics to represent data and perform operations on this data (e.g. boost computer processing power to find answers to problems that originally would've taken a lot longer)
What is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Uses tiny tags with microchips containing data about an item and location. Tag antennas transmit radio signals over short distances to special RFID readers. Common uses are automated toll collection, tracking goods in a supply chain, used as FOBS in apartments
What is crowdsourcing?
Using large Internet audiences for advice, market feedback, new ideas, and solutions to business problems. Related to the "wisdom of crowds" theory. Example: BMW launched crow sourcing project to enlist the aid of customers in designing tan urban vehicle
What is search engine marketing?
Using search engines as major advertising platforms and shopping tools (ads on the side of search engines, for example)
What is the user-designer communications gap?
When the users of the new software and the IT specialists designing it have different goals an interests. The users are looking for more ease of information gathering and analysis, while the designers are looking for efficient hardware and software usage. This can lead to an increased risk of failure because users are generally driven out of the decisions if the designers are not willing to work with the users. As such, there is a higher risk of rejection of the new system by the users once it is installed
What is a denial-of-service (DoS) attack?
When hackers flood a network server with thousands of false communications or requests for services to crash the network. The network cannot keep up with so many queries and cannot ID legitimate requests Such an attack does not destroy any files or data, but it generally causes a website or system to shut down, making it impossible for legitimate users to access the site
What is social engineering?
When intruders seeking system access trick employees into revealing their passwords by pretending to be legitimate members of the company in need of information
When is a system said to be in "production"?
When it is installed and conversion is complete. During this stage, the system will be reviewed by both users and technical specialists to determine how well it has met its original objectives and design whether any revisions are needed.
How can the ERP system integrate different business processes?
When new information is entered into the system by one process, the information is immediately made available to other business processes. Example: - If a sales representative places an order for a sale the system verified the customer's credit, schedule the shipment, identified the best shipping route, and reserves the necessary items form inventory. -- If inventory stock is insufficient, the system schedules the manufacturing of the product and orders the necessary materials. - General ledger and corporate cash level are automatically updated with the revenue and cost information form the order.
What is stateful inspection?
When the firewall monitors only active users to figure out what packets of data to let through the wall (i.e. only lets through what people need)
What is net neutrality?
the principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites