Systems Analysis Midterm 1

Logical design is tied to a specific hardware and software platform.

False

Project planning involves defining clear, discrete activities and the work needed to complete each activity within a single project.

True

Proper and insightful project initiation and planning, including determining project scope and identifying project activities, can reduce the time needed to complete later project phases, including systems analysis.

True

The criteria used to evaluate projects will vary by organization

True

The main goal of systems analysis and design is to improve organizational systems, typically through applying software that can help employees accomplish key business tasks more easily and efficiently.

True

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

operation

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

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

Briefly define and compare Gantt and Network diagrams

A Gantt chart is a graphical representation of a project that shows each task activity as a horizontal bar whose length is proportional to its time for completion. A Network diagram is a graphical depiction of project task activities and their interrelationships. The distinguishing feature of a Network diagram is that the ordering of activities is shown by connecting an activity with its predecessor and successor activities. Gantt and Network diagrams have features that enable them to more easily demonstrate certain aspects of a project more so than the other. Gantt shows the duration of activities; a Network diagram shows the sequence dependencies between activities. Gantt shows the time overlap of activities; a Network diagram does not show time overlap but does show what activities could be done in parallel. Some forms of Gantt charts can show slack time available within an earliest start and latest finish duration; a Network diagram shows this by data within activity rectangles.

Discuss cloud computing and how it can benefit an organization

Cloud computing refers to a model of computing where firms and individuals access to a shared pool of computing resources (including computing capacity, data storage, software applications and services) over a network, often the Internet. Cloud computing benefits organizations in many ways. First, it allows an organization to rent or license hardware or software applications from third-party providers, thus minimizes IT investment, reduces complexity, and lowers the cost. The applications are run at remote sites, freeing the organization from maintaining the application and associated hardware. Second, the most key benefit of cloud computing is that users pay for the use of cloud-based services on either a per-use basis or month-to-month license. Third, it is scalable. An organization can easily expand or reduce the computing capacity with minimum time and cost. Fourth, the cloud service providers are typically more professional, and thus provide more secure computing services. Finally, using cloud-based service can enable an organization to concentrate on its own competence, without much effort on the IT operations.

Which of the following is NOT a project initiation activity? Establishing the project initiation team Establishing the project initiation plan Establishing a relationship with the customer Establishing management procedures Dividing the project into manageable tasks

Dividing the project into manageable tasks

Open-source software is developed by employees of a particular company.

False

Project planning is the first phase 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.

False

Projects identified by top management have a cross-functional focus

False

When comparing alternative methods for making information systems identification and selection decisions, top management's selection decisions often involve a small system size and have a cross-functional focus.

False

A boundary is the point of contact where a system meets its environment or where subsystems meet each other.

False A boundary is the line that marks the inside and outside of a system and sets it apart from its environment.

One of the primary benefits of using an enterprise resource planning system is the short time period required for implementation.

False Due to the complexity of the systems, they will often take a long time to implement.

Gantt charts show how tasks must be ordered and when an activity should begin and end.

False Gantt charts don't show how tasks should be ordered but simply show when they begin and end.

Team members are assessed as part of the conducting post-project reviews activity.

False Once you have closed down the project, final reviews of the project should be conducted with management and customers. The objective of these reviews is to determine the strengths and weaknesses of project deliverables, the processes used to create them, and the project management process. Team members assessment is a part of "Closing down the project", which is a parallel activity with "Conducting post-project reviews".

For many organizations, the most cost-effective way to manage payroll operations is through in-house development.

False Payroll, like many application domains, has had much software already developed. Often, it is more cost effective to find an existing application to use for payroll.

The systems development life cycle is a sequentially ordered set of phases.

False The SDLC is meant to be adapted for the needs of each organization, even though at first glance it appears to be sequential.

The objective of project identification and selection is to transform a vague system request document into a tangible project description.

False The primary deliverable, or end product, from the project identification and selection phase is a schedule of specific IS development projects.

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

Modularity

List and briefly describe the four major SDLC phases

The four phases are systems planning and selection, systems analysis, systems design, and systems implementation and operation. Systems planning and selection is the first phase of the SDLC, in which an organization's total information system needs are analyzed and arranged, and in which a potential information systems project is identified and an argument for continuing or not continuing with the project is presented. During systems analysis, the current system is studied and alternative replacement systems are proposed. During systems design, analysts convert the description of the proposed system into logical and then physical system specifications. During systems implementation and operation, the information system is coded, tested, and installed in the organization. During this phase the system is systematically repaired and improved.

Identify the most common criteria for choosing off-the-shelf software. Which criteria would be among the most important in your opinion?

The most common criteria are cost, functionality, vendor support, vendor viability, flexibility, documentation, response time, and ease of installation. Cost involves comparing the cost of developing the same system in-house to the cost of purchasing or licensing the software package. Functionality refers to the tasks the software can perform and the mandatory, essential, and desired system features. While vendor support identifies the amount of support the vendor can be expected to provide, vendor viability examines the vendor's marketplace strength. Flexibility refers to the flexibility of customizing the software. The documentation criterion examines issues relating to the user's manual, technical documentation, and cost of acquiring additional copies of the documentation. Response time questions the length of time it takes the software package to respond to the user's requests in an interactive session and how long it takes the software to complete running a job. The ease of installation criterion examines the difficulty of loading the software and making it operational. Although how you rank the importance of the criteria depends on your specific situation, vendor support and vendor viability are generally among the most important.

Describe the steps involved in making a Network diagram.

The steps involved in making a Network diagram are: (1) identify each activity to be completed in the project; (2) determine time estimates and calculate the expected completion time for each activity; (3) determine the sequence of the activities and precedence relationships among all activities; and (4) construct the Network diagram.

A systems development methodology is a standard process followed in an organization to conduct all the steps necessary to analyze, design, implement, and maintain information systems.

True

A systems development project may be undertaken to take advantage of business opportunities or to solve business problems.

True

When executing the baseline project plan, the project manager will initiate the execution of project activities, acquire and assign resources, orient and train new team members, keep the project on schedule, and assure the quality of project deliverables.

True

Establishing a relationship with a customer is a project initiation activity.

True As part of project initiation, the project manager will get to know the customer and the needs of his/her department.

Generally speaking, legal and contractual feasibility is a greater consideration if your organization has historically used an outside organization for specific systems or services that you now are considering handling yourself.

True Assessing legal and contractual feasibility requires that you gain an understanding of any potential legal and contractual ramifications due to the construction of the system.

If an activity's optimistic time is four days, its realistic time is 10 days, and its pessimistic time is 25 days, then its estimated time would be 11.5 days.

True The optimistic time refers to the minimum amount of time that is needed to complete an activity and the pessimistic time refers to the maximum. Because the expected completion time (ET) should be closer to the realistic time (r), the realistic time is typically weighted 4 times more than the optimistic (o) and pessimistic (p) times. Once you add these values together, that sum must be divided by 6 to determine the ET. ET=(o+4r+p6)/6 = (4+10*4+25)/6 = 69/6 = 11.5

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

a steering committee

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 costs, benefits, and risks suggest that the project is not as worthy as previously thought, they are:

adhering to the incremental commitment principle

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 describes ________.

enterprise resource planning (ERP)

The Baseline Project Plan does not:

include the database metadata

All of the following are benefits of enterprise solutions, EXCEPT: shifting from separate systems to a seamless, integrated system. immediate integration of new modules. shifting toward enterprise solutions means changing business processes. a single repository of data for all business processes. module flexibility.

shifting toward enterprise solutions means changing business processes.

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 (SaaS)