Systems Acquisition Flashcards
Where does systems planning get applied?
Across all the steps in the systems development life cycle
What are the important considerations in systems planning?
Making sure to investigate current systems
Take a broad view
Who is involved in systems planning?
Management - to provide support
Sponsor - commit to, and speak up for the project, encourage the importance of the system
Accountants - the user of the final and current systems, the consultant of the system, the auditor of the system
Steering Committee - ensures the new system is in line/consistent with the company’s IT strategy
Project Developer team - the project runs successfully from start to finish, consistent with KPIs, makes sure the budget is met, and that the objectives and user requirements are achieved
Systems analysts and programmers - study existing AIS and design the new one
What is an IT strategic plan?
A plan that uses an organisation’s STRATEGIC PLAN and IT RESOURCES to inform the development of IT architecture to link users, applications, and databases accordingly.
What role does the steering committee play in systems development?
They are not directly involved with the project but they can audit and scrutinise to ensure the project is consistent with the strategy of the organisation
How can you reduce the failure rate of implementation?
- Be clear about the PROBLEM you are solving
- Get the REQUIREMENTS right
- Get the RIGHT PEOPLE on board
- Get SIGN OFFS for project as a whole from top management and other appropriate departments
How are accountants able to contribute to systems delivery?
Providing technical expertise for financial reporting requirements
Specifying documentation standards for auditing purposes
Verifying control adequacy
What are the different strategies that can be taken to acquire IT applications?
- purchase a prewritten application
- customise a prewritten application
- Lease the application
- Lease the Application
- use open-source software
- outsource to an external vendor to develop and implement the system
- employ custom development - developing the system in house from scratch
When is the IT application acquisition strategy of ‘purchase a prewritten application’ not suitable?
These applications are usually standardised to be used across many industries so if the organisation has highly complicated and unique requirements it won’t be useful.
If the in-house IT team is strong and highly capable
What strategy should you take for IT application if you are moving to a new industry?
If you are moving to a different industry or business line then you need to develop a new system - don’t upgrade an existing one
Therefore, you can:
- outsource
- buy
- third-party vendor
What are the benefits of owning your own IT application system?
You have control over your data (protects confidentiality and privacy)
You are not dependent on a third-party for full access to your data and financial documents/statements
What is the process of vendor and software selection?
- Identify potential vendors
- Determine evaluation criteria
- Evaluate vendors and packages + Choose the vendor and package
- Negotiate a contract
- Establish service-level agreements
What is the process of systems selection?
- Prepare requests for proposal (like a quote but for the plans the vendors have to provide hardware and software)
- Evaluate vendor proposals
What does outsourcing the system mean?
Getting an outside company to handle all or part of an organisation’s data processing activities
MAINFRAME OUTSOURCING - outsourcers by equipment and hire the client’s employees. They then manage the client’s system.
PC OUTSOURCING - outsource a particular service or segment of its business
What is a canned software?
When a software product is sold on the open market and targets users with similar requirements
What is turnkey systems?
A package that combines software and hardware (usually used by SMEs)
What are Application Service Providers (ASPs)?
Host web-based software that is delivered to clients over the internet
What are the disadvantages of outsourcing systems?
Cannot control upgrades and updates to systems
Can be difficult to integrate purchased software into an existing company’s system
Outsourcing company can discontinue a product
Don’t have full control over data
Products may not meet the company’s needs directly
How do you evaluate different design alternatives?
Consider how well it meets the organisation’s needs, objectives, and whether it is economically feasible
What are the benefits of prototyping?
A cheap and revisable way to test and simplify a working model that works with core requirements first
Faster development time - short cut
Budget friendly - less expensive
Users may find that some of the requirements they suggested are not needed any more
Also useful when there is lots of uncertainty about what the final system will look like
Users can identify the problems/issues much faster
What is Joint Application Design?
Combined collective requirements and system design through a GROUP MEETING
What is Rapid Application Development?
JAD sessions to collect requirements
Use tools to quickly structure requirements and develop prototypes
Conduct user reviews via JADs
What is agile development?
A software development method that focuses on rapid development to meet immediate needs. It involves active input from the user.
