Topic 1 System fundamentals

Question 1

Purpose of a new system (4)

Answer 1

Increased productivity

Increase quality of the outputs

minimise costs

reduce the flaws of the existing one

Question 2

Potential organisational issues of a new system (4)

Answer 2

Like of guiding organisational and business strategies

lack of stakeholder and end-user participation

lack of end user’s ownership of the system

lack of attention to required training

Question 3

What is a feasibility report

Answer 3

used to decide whether the proposed project should be pursued

Question 4

What criteria does the feasibility report use (5)

Answer 4

Technical

Economic - is the proposed system cost effective

Legal - Any conflict between proposed system and laws

Operational feasibility - Are the existing organisational practices and procedures sufficient to support the maintenance and operation of the new system

Schedule - how long will we wait for the new system

Question 5

Define change management

Answer 5

Involves various parameters and is a process of shifting individuals, teams, departments and organisations from the present state to a desired state

Question 6

What does a successful change management show

Answer 6

all stakeholders accept and embrace changes in their working environment

Question 7

Define legacy system

Answer 7

an old technology (hardware, computer system) that still play an important role in an organisation

Question 8

Why might a legacy system still be in use? (2)

Answer 8

Its data cannot be converted to newer formats, or its application cannot be upgraded

A legacy system play an important role to the organisation

Question 9

What is a business merger

Answer 9

combining of two or more business entities

Question 10

What is the main reason for a business merger

Answer 10

reduce cost

Question 11

Four key strategies for business integration (4)

Answer 11

keep both information systems and develop them to have the same functionality

Replace both information systems with a new one

Select the best part of information systems from each company and combine them

Select one company’s information system and drop the other

Question 12

Define software incompatibility

Answer 12

Situation where different software entities or systems cannot operate on the same computer, or on computers linked by a computer network

Question 13

What are the two types of system implementation

Answer 13

locally hosted system - installed on the client’s infrastructure

remote hosted system - hosted by company that provides service

Question 14

When is a locally hosted system most appropriate

Answer 14

companies that are large and have complex systems

Question 15

When is a remote hosted system most appropriate (2)

Answer 15

when there is no hardware equipment in place

company wants to outsource responsibilities for:
- maintenance
- support
- backup
- security

Question 16

Define SaaS (Software as a service)

Answer 16

Delivery method that allows software and data to be hosted and managed centrally on a remote data centre

Question 17

Explain SaaS (exclude definition) (2)

Answer 17

Users pay to access the services provided on a subscription basis

resides in cloud and need a web browser and internet connection to be accessed

Question 18

Advantages of SaaS (3)

Answer 18

less expensive because it has a low initial cost and requires few investments in instalments

provides a scalable solution, since a company only has to adjust its monthly SaaS subscription required

considered a safe solution because data reside in the cloud service of the provider

Question 19

Define a changeover

Answer 19

Process of putting the new system online and retiring the old one

Question 20

Why do organisations choose one implementation method in favour of another

Answer 20

trade-off between costs and risks