BIS261 Unit 1 Quizzes

The objective of the project planning process is the development of:

A Baseline Project Plan and Project Scope Statement

Which of the following is a true statement regarding a data store?

A data store has a noun-phrase label

A software solution involving both in-house and purchased software is called:

A hybrid solution

Which of the ofllowing is a true statement regarding data flows?

A join in a data flow means that exactly the same data come from any of two or more different processes, data stores, or sources/sinks to a common location

An online or hard-copy repository for all project correspondence, inputs, outputs, deliverable, procedures, and standards that is used for performing project audits, orientation of new team members, communicating with management and customers, identifying future projects, and performing post project reviews is called:

A project workbook

An online or hard-copy repository for all project correspondence, inputs, outputs, deliverables, procedures, and standards that is used for performing protect audits, orientation of new team members, communicating with management and customers, identifying future projects, and performing post project reviews is called:

A project workbook

The primary deliverable from the project identification and selection phase is:

A schedule of specific IS development projects

A critical path refers to:

A sequence of task activities whose order and duration directly affect the completion date of a project

Potential development projects with a cross-functional focus are often identified by:

A steering committee

The part of a decision table that lists the actions that result for a given set of conditions is called:

Action stubs

The part of a decision table that lists the actions that result for a given set of conditions is called:

Action subs

If the project team and organizational officials reassess the project after each subsequent SDLC phase to determine if the business conditions have changed or if a more detailed understanding of a system's cost, benefits, and risks suggest that the project is not as worthy as previously thought, they are:

Adhering to the incremental commitment principle

Current approaches to systems development that focus on adaptive methodologies, people instead of roles, and an overall self-adaptive development process best defines:

Agile Methodologies

The term that refers to systems development projects bogged down in an abundance of analysis work is:

Analysis paralysis

Your primary responsibility as a systems analyst concerns:

Application software development

The conservation of inputs and outputs is called:

Balancing

A major outcome and deliverable from project initiation and planning that reflects the best estimate of the project's scope, benefits, costs, risks, and resource requirements defines the:

Baseline Project Plan

A major outcome and deliverable from the project initiation and planning phase that contains an estimate of the project's scope, benefits, costs, risks, and resource requirements best defines:

Baseline Project Plan

If two processes are connected by a data flow, they are said to:

Be coupled to each other

As a rule of thumb estimate, what percentage of the entire development effort should be devoted to the project initiation and planning process?

Between 10-20%

The line that marks the inside and outside of the system and sets off the system from its environment is known as a(n):

Boundary

All of the following might attend a structured walkthrough meeting EXCEPT:

CEO Might attend: presenter, maintenance oracle, standards bearer, & user

Drawback to prototyping include:

Checks in the SDLC are bypassed so that some more subtle, but still important, system requirements might be forgotten

Rating a response or idea on some scale, say from strongly agree to strongly disagree, would be classified as a(n):

Closed-ended question

Ensuring that all contractual terms of the project have been met is done during:

Closing the customer contract

The provision of computing resources over the Internet so that customers do not need to invest in infrastructure is called:

Cloud computing

The extent to which a system or subsystem performs a single function defines:

Cohesion

The responsibility for keeping all team members informed of the project status best describes:

Communicating the project status

Open-source software is developed by:

Communities of interest people

An irreducible part, or an aggregation of parts within a system, is called a(n):

Component

Managing conflict within a project team to ensure that conflict is not too high or too low best defines which of the following project manager activities?

Conflict Management

The diagram that shows the scope of the system, indicating what elements are inside and outside the system, is called a:

Context diagram

Which of the following would be classified as a tangible cost?

Cost of hardware

The extent to which subsystems depend on each other is called:

Coupling

The extent to which subsystems depend on each other refers to:

Coupling

A scheduling technique where the order and duration of the sequence of activities directly affect the completion date of a project refers to:

Critical path scheduling

The extent to which information contained on one level of a set of nested data-flow diagrams is also included on other levels refers to:

DFD consistency

Data in motion, moving from one place in a system to another, best describes a:

Data flow

Data at rest, which may take the form of many different physical representations, best describes a:

Data store

Techniques used for modeling system logic include:

Decision tables

The act of going from a single system to several component processes refers to:

Decomopsition

The act of going from a single system to several component processes refers to:

Decomposition

The process of breaking the description of a system down into its smaller components best defines:

Decomposition

A written work procedure:

Describes how a particular job or task is performed

When an organization invests in carefully designing assets for reuse, choosing assets for domain or product line, they are said to be engaged in:

Designed reuse

During which of the following project planning activities do you use the information regarding tasks and resource availability to assign time estimates to each activity in the work breakdown structure?

Developing a preliminary schedule

Which of the following alternative methods for making information systems identification and selection decisions has as its focus integration with existing systems?

Development group

Technologies that enable the breaking of long-held business rules that inhibit organizations from making radical business changes best defines:

Disruptive technologies

Which of the following is NOT a project initiation activity?

Dividing the project into manageable tasks

Which of the following would be classified as an intangible cost?

Employee morale

The purpose of requirements structuring is to:

Enable the large amount of information gathered during requirements determination to be organized

The purpose of requirements structuring is to:

Enable the large amount of information gathered during the requirements determination to be organized

A system that integrates individual traditional business functions into a series of modules so that a single transaction occurs seamlessly within a single information system rather than several separate systems best descries:

Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

Which of the following project management activities is associated with project initiation?

Establishing a relationship with the customer

Which of the following is NOT a project planning activity?

Establishing management procedures

Defining the necessary activities required to organize the initiation team while they are working to define the scope of the project is the focus of which of the following activities?

Establishing the project initiation plan

Which of the following is a project planning activity?

Estimating resources and creating a resource plan

When an organization encourages and supports use with limited resources, infrastructure, and policies to make reuse easier, they are said to be engaged in:

Facilitated reuse

A(n) ______ is conducted before the second phase of the SDLC to determine the economic and organizational impact of the system.

Feasibility Study

One type of cloud computing service that allows companies to order server capacity and storage on demand is called:

Hardware as a service

A black hole is a process that:

Has only inputs

A miracle process is one that:

Has only outputs

Research has found that projects identified by individual departments or business units most often:

Have a narrow, tactical focus

Research has found that projects identified by top management more often:

Have a strategic, organizational focus

Besides response time, another measure of time would be:

How long it takes software to complete a running job

One possible source of software which involves in-house development with purchased solutions is called a(n):

Hybrid solution

The process of developing and maintaining an information system best describes:

Information Systems Analysis and Design

During _____, the new system becomes part of the daily activities of the organization.

Installation

A cost associated with an information system that cannot be easily measured in terms of dollars or with certainty refers to a(n):

Intangible cost

A system is separated from other systems by a(n):

Interface

An aggregation of parts is also called a(n):

Interface

The point of contact where a system meets its environment or other subsystems is called a(n):

Interface

The point of contact where a system meets its environment or where subsystems meet each other best describes:

Interfaces

Dependence of one part of the system on one or more other system parts best describes:

Interrelated Components

Which of the following is an advantage of closed-ended questions?

Interviews based on closed-ended questions do not necessarily require a large time commitment, so more topics can be covered

Techniques developed to keep the analysis effort minimal, yet still effective include:

JAD

Which of the following system requirement determination techniques can be applied to discovering and understanding key business processes?

JAD

A structured process in which users, managers, and analysts work together for several days in a series of intensive meetings to specify or review system requirements is called:

Joint Application Design (JAD)

Which of the following is a disadvantage of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems?

Lack of in-house expertise

Influencing the activities of others toward the attainment of a common goal through the use of intelligence, personality, and abilities refers to which of the following project manager activities?

Leadership

A DFD that is a result of three nested decompositions of a series of subprocesses from a process on a level-0 diagram describes a:

Level-3 diagram

Tangible benefits would include:

Lower transaction costs

With managed reuse, the development, sharing, and adoption of reusable assets is:

Mandated

A sequence of step-by-step approaches that help develop the information system best describes:

Methodologies

Data-flow diagrams allow you to:

Model how data flow through an information system

A direct result of decomposition is:

Modularity

_____ results in smaller and less complex systems that are easier to understand than larger, complicated systems.

Modularity

Which of the following occurs during project execution?

Monitoring project progress against the baseline project plan

Which of the following is NOT a true statement regarding project planning?

Monitoring project progress against the baseline project plan is the first project planning activity

Reuse typically refers to using previously written:

Objects and components

A cost associated with project start-up refers to a(n):

One-time cost

Questions in interviews and on questionnaires that have no pre-specified answers are:

Open-ended questions

During _____, programmers make the changes that users ask for and modify the system to reflect changing business conditions.

Operation

The practice of turning over responsibility of some or all of an organization's information systems applications and operations to an outside firm is referred to as:

Outsourcing

A systems development approach that originated in northern Europe, in which users and the improvement of their work lives are the central focus, best defines:

Participatory Design (PD)

Which of the following is NOT a function of decomposition?

Permit different parts of the systems to be built at the same time by the same person Is a function: - allow attention to be concentrated on the part of the system pertinent to a particular audience, without confusing people with details irrelevant to their interests - facilitate the focusing of attention on one area (subsystem) at a time without interference from other parts - break a system into smaller, more manageable and understandable subsystems - build different parts of the system at independent times and have the help of different analysts

The extent to which the project is viewed as improving profits, customer service, etc., and the duration of these benefits best defines which of the following evaluation criteria?

Potential benefits

One advantage fo open-ended questions in an interview is:

Previously unknown information can result

The lowest level of DFDs are:

Primitive data-flow diagrams

The lowest level of decomposiiton for a data-flow diagram is called the:

Primitive diagram

The work or actions performed on data so that they are transformed, stored, or distributed defines:

Process

Graphically representing the processes that capture, manipulate, store, and distribute data between a system and its environment and among components within a system refers to:

Process modeling

A technique that uses optimistic, pessimistic, and realistic time to calculate the expected time for a particular task best defines:

Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT)

A planned undertaking of related activities to reach an objective that has a beginning and an end best defines:

Project

The final phase of the project management process that focuses on bringing a project to an end is called:

Project closedown

The third phase of the project management process in which the plans created in the prior phases are put into action is:

Project execution

The phase of the project management process in which activities are performed to asses the size, scope, and complexity of the project and to establish procedures to support later project activities best defines:

Project initiation

The phrase of the project management process in which activities are performed to assess the size, scope, and complexity of the project and to establish procedures to support later project activities best defines:

Project initiation

A controlled process of initiating, planning, executing, and closing down a project best defines:

Project management

An individual with a diverse set of skills-management, leadership, technical, conflict management, and customer relationship-who is responsible for initiating, planning, executing, and closing down a project best defines:

Project manager

Arguably, the most instrumental person to the successful completion of any project is the:

Project manager

Building a scaled-down version of the desired system best describes:

Prototyping

Money can be made from open source software by:

Providing maintenance and other services

Which of the following is not a way of validating purchased software information?

Purchasing the software first and then testing

The overall goal or function of a system best defines:

Purpose

Packaged software producers create software such as:

R/3

A systems development methodology created to radically decrease the time needed to design and implement information systems best describes:

Rapid Application Development

An information system interacts with its environment by:

Receiving data

A cost resulting from the ongoing evolution and sue of a system best defines a(n):

Recurring cost

A centralized database that contains all diagrams, forms and report definitions, data structure, data definitions, process flows and logic, and definitions of other organizational and system components best describes a(n):

Repository

The document sent to vendors asking them to propose hardware and software that will meet the requirements of your new system is called a:

Request for proposal (RFP)

Analysts gathering information from as many sources as possible about what the new system should do is indicative of:

Requirements determination

Which of the following is a subphase of analysis?

Requirements determination

Any person, group of people, piece of equipment, or materiel used in accomplishing an activity is referred to as a(n):

Resource

The part of a decision table that links conditions to actions is the section that contains the:

Rules

Which of the following is NOT a system characteristic?

Scope Is a system characteristic: components, interrelated components, boundary, purpose, environment, interfaces, constraints, input, & output

All of the following are benefits of enterprise solutions, EXCEPT:

Shifting toward enterprise solutions means changing business processes

The amount of time that an activity can be delayed without delaying the project refers to:

Slack time

One type of cloud computing service that allows companies to run application on servers maintained by a service provider is called:

Software as a service

One type of cloud computing service that allows companies to run applications on servers maintained by a service provider is called:

Software as a service

In addition to operating systems, e-mail, databases and Web browsers, open source software also includes:

Software components and objects

Which of the following describes the internal staffing requirements when software components are acquired from packaged software producers?

Some information systems (IS) and user staff to define requirements to evaluate packages are needed

The origin and/or destination of data, sometimes referred to as external entities defines:

Source

Making assets available for others involves:

Storage

The extent to which the project is viewed as helping the organization achieve its strategic objectives and long-term goals describes:

Strategic alignment

A peer-group review of any product created during the systems development process is called a:

Structured walkthrough

A group of interrelated procedures used for a business function, with an identifiable boundary, working together for some purpose, best defines:

System

A system's capacity can be viewed as a(n):

System constraint

In which SDLC phase will the analyst study the organization's current procedures and the information systems used to perform tasks?

Systems Analysis

The organizational role most responsible for the analysis and design of information systems best describes a:

Systems Analyst

Which of the following allows hardware and software form different vendors to work together in an application?

Systems Integration

Organizations use a standard set of steps to develop and support their information systems, which is called the

Systems development Methodology

Today, systems development focuses on:

Systems integration

The ability to see organizations as systems is called:

Systems thinking

A benefit derived from the creation of an information system that can be measured in dollars and with certainty is a(n):

Tangible benefit

A savings of $5,000 resulting from data entry error reductions would most likely be classified as a(n):

Tangible benefit

Cost reduction and avoidance, error reduction, and increased flexibility are examples of:

Tangible benefits

To gain an understanding of the organization's ability to construct the proposed system is the goal of:

Technical feasibility

The particular processes that an analysts will follow to help ensure that his work is complete, well done, and understood by project team members best defines:

Techniques

Slack time is equal to:

The difference between the optimistic time and pessimistic times for an activity

Pessimistic time refers to:

The maximum period of time for an activity to be completed

Optimistic time refers to:

The minimum period of time for an activity to be completed

Realistic time refers to:

The planner's "best guess" of the amount of time the activity actually will require for the completion

The environment of a state university would NOT include:

The president's office Would include: prospective students, a foundation, the news media, & the legislature

Which of the following is true regarding the context diagram?

The process symbol is labeled "0"

The analysis of documents can help you identify:

The reason why current systems are designed the way they are

Assuming anything is possible and eliminating the infeasible best describes:

The relaxing of constraints characteristic a systems analyst needs during requirements determination

An organization should acquire software from in-house developers when:

The resources and staff are available and the system must be built from scratch

Which of the following are organizational components that a systems analyst needs to understand?

The sequence and other dependencies among different data-handling activities

The concept of comparing present cash outlays to future expected returns best defines:

Time value of money

Computer programs that make it easy to use specific techniques are best defined as:

Tools

Which of the following possible project sources most often reflects the broader needs of the organization?

Top management

Software that cannot be modified to meet the particular needs of an organization is called a(n):

Turnkey system

Analyzing an organization's activities to determine where value is added to products and/or services and the costs incurred best describes:

Value chain analysis

The process of dividing the project into manageable tasks and logically ordering them to ensure a smooth evolution between tasks defines:

Work breakdown structure

The reframing characteristic of a good systems analyst is represented by which of the following statements?

You must challenge yourself to look at the organization in new ways

The impertinence characteristic of a good systems analyst is represented by which of the following statements?

You should question everything

The impartiality characteristic of a good systems analyst is represented by which of the following statements?

Your role is to find the best solution to a business problem or opportunity