Topic 1 System Fundamentals

Question 1

What are the stages of software life cycle

Answer 1

1) Planning and analysis

2) Design

3) Development

4) Evaluation

Question 2

Why might a new system be created? Name 4.

Answer 2

to minimize costs

To increase productivity or quality of system

To reduce errors or flaws of the existing system

Old system may no longer be suitable for its original purpose

Question 3

A computer system includes hardware, software, and the people working with it

True or False

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Potential organisational issues in planning a new system. Name 4.

Answer 4

lack of attention to organisational issues, such as organisation culture

lack of guiding business strategies

Lack of stakeholder or end-user participation

Lack of attention to required training

Question 5

What is a feasibility report

Answer 5

An evaluation of the potential of a project based on various various TELOS (technical, economical, legal, operational, schedule) criteria.

Question 6

What does the operational feasibility seek to answer

Answer 6

Whether the existing organisational practices are sufficient to support the maintenance and operation of the new system

Question 7

What does the schedule feasibility seek to answer

Answer 7

How long the end-users will have to wait for the new system

Question 8

Define change management

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Define legacy system

Answer 9

An old technology, hardware, or computer system

Often plays an important role in an organisation

Question 10

Why don’t organisations just upgrade legacy systems to modern ones?

Answer 10

The data present in legacy systems may be incompatible with newer formats

Its applications may not be able to be upgraded

Question 11

Define business merger

Answer 11

Combining of two or more business entities

Question 12

Four strategies for successful integration during business mergers and its implications

Answer 12

1) Keep both information systems, and develop them to have the same functionality (high maintenance cost)

2) Replace both systems with a new one (increased initial costs)

3) Select the best information systems from each company and combine them (hard for employees to work with info systems from a diff company)

4) Keep one information system and drop the other (policy problems)

Question 13

Define software incompatibility

Answer 13

Situation where different software entities or systems cannot operate satisfactorily on the same computer or on a network of computers.

Question 14

Locally hosted system vs remotely hosted system (When is which most appropriate)

Answer 14

Locally hosted systems are appropriate for larger and complex systems

Remotely hosted systems are appropriate where there is no necessary hardware equipment in place or when the organisation wants to outsource responsibilities for maintenance, support, backups, and security.

Question 15

Define SaaS (Software as a service)

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Features of SaaS. Name 2.

Answer 16

users pay a subscription fee for SaaS to access the services

SaaS solutions reside on cloud and therefore need a web browser and an internet connection to access it

Question 17

Advantages of SaaS. Name and explain the three

Answer 17

1) less expensive (low investment)

2)provides a scalable solution as company can adjust their monthly SaaS subscription based on need

3) Safe option as data and applications reside on cloud of the SaaS provider

Question 18

Disadvantages of Saas. Name and explain the two

Answer 18

Possibility of data loss if the SaaS provider goes out of business

performance using SaaS is slower than locally hosted systems because the system can be hosted in a distant data centre

Question 19

What is a changeover

Answer 19

A process of putting the new system online and retiring the old one

Question 20

Name the 4 types of changeovers

Answer 20

Parallel

Direct

Pilot

Phased

Question 21

Explain parallel changeover, 4 things

Answer 21

both systems work in parallel for a short period of time.

very popular because of the limited risk.

When the company is satisfied with the output of the new system, the old system can be terminated.

Running two different systems simultaneously means extra costs and workload

Question 22

Explain direct changeover, 4 things

Answer 22

very risky since the company plugs in the new system and unplugs the old one at the same time.

dangers associated with this method if the new system does not function as expected.

This method is preferred when the system is not critical.

all users need to be trained appropriately before the switch takes place

Question 23

Explain pilot changeover, 5 things

Answer 23

mostly used in large organizations that have multiple sites

new system is introduced in one of the sites and extended to other sites over time

risk of this method is low and the pilot sites can serve as models for the rest of the company.

first group that adopts the new system is called the pilot site or the pilot group.

After the system proves successful at the pilot site, it is implemented into the rest of the company using a changeover method (usually direct).

Question 24

Explain phased changeover, 4 things

Answer 24

company converts one module of the system at a time

different parts of the system are converted at different times

training period is extended

adoption of the new system takes longer

Question 25

Define data migration

Answer 25

Transfer of data between different formats, storage types and computer systems

Question 26

Name problems that may arise during data migration. Outline 3.

Answer 26

incapability of moving information due to incompatibility with the new system

Incomplete data transfer during data migration

Data can be misinterpreted due to incompatibilities (differences in how different countries structure data)

Question 27

Define functional testing

Answer 27

Confirms individual testing commands, perform and function correctly according to specifications

Question 28

Name and explain the 4 types of data testing

Answer 28

Normal - data that should be accepted

Data at the limits - data at the furthest range that is accepted

Extreme data -Data outside the normal limits

Abnormal data - illegal data

Question 29

Define Alpha testing

Answer 29

Testing that is done before a software product is made available to the general public - carried out by the company that develops the software

Question 30

Define beta testing

Answer 30

Done before the software product is made available to the general public (sometimes available to general public) , but includes users outside the company in the testing

Their feedback is valuable to fix errors that were missed

Question 31

Define dry-run testing

Answer 31

Testing conducted using pen and paper by the programmer

Programmer mentally runs the algorithm

Question 32

Define unit testing

Answer 32

Individual parts of the system are tested seperately

Question 33

Define integration testing

Answer 33

The entire system is tested at the same time to verify that all components can work together

Question 34

Define user acceptance testing

Answer 34

Tests if the system satisfies the customer needs

Carried out in user premises (eg: user office) before accepting transfer of ownership of system

Question 35

Define debugging

Answer 35

systematic process of finding and correcting the number of bugs in a computer program

Question 36

Define validation in relation to DATA INPUT

Answer 36

Process of evaluating whether data input follows appropriate specifications and is within reasonable limits

Question 37

Define verification in relation to DATA INPUT

Answer 37

Process of ensuring that the data input is the same as the original source data

Question 38

Define validation in relation to software testing

Answer 38

Process of ensuring that a product is being developed for its intended use and function

Question 39

Define verification in relation to software testing

Answer 39

Process of ensuring that a product meets identified specifications and is being built correctly

Question 40

What are two types of user documentation

Answer 40

Internal documentation

external documentation

Question 41

Define internal documentation

Answer 41

code comprehension features provided as part of the source code itself

Question 42

What does internal documentation include (3)

Answer 42

proper headers for each module

appropriate comments

useful and meaningful variable names

Question 43

Outline 2 things about external documentation

Answer 43

Typically written as a separate document from the program itself

end-user supporting documents, such as user guides