WEEK 1

Question 1 : Describe what a computer-based information system is?

A computer-based information system (CBIS) is an information system that uses computer
technology to perform some or all of its intended tasks. Although not all information systems
are computerized, today most are. For this reason the term information system is typically
used synonymously with computer-based information system. The basic components of
computer-based information system are hardware, software, database, network and
procedures. The first four are called information technology components.
Question 2: Describe the components of computer-based information systems.
Component of computer - based information systems are:
1.
Hardware: Consist of devices such as the processor, monitor, keyboard and printer.
These devices accept, process and display data and information.
2.

Software: Program or collection of programs that enable the hardware to process data.

3.

Databasse: Collection of related files or table containing data.

4.
Network: Connecting system (wireline or wireless) that permits different computers to
share resources.
5.
Procedures: Instructions for combining the above component in order to process
information and generate the desired output.
6.
People: Are those individuals who use the hardware and software, interface with it, or
utilizeis output.
WEEK 2
Question 1: Discuss the pressures that characterize the modern global business
environment
The pressures that characterize the morden global bussiness enviroment include market ,
technologies and societal/political/legal.

Market Pressures.

Changing nature of the workforce and customers. Allowing more

freedom for employees work from home, out from office and in some
instances may be directly related to job ceasing to exist.

Technologies
Pressures.

Included technological innovation and obsolescense as well as

information overload.

Factor such as social responsibility, compliance with goverment

Societal/political/legal.
regulations and ethical issues all contribute to social factors in the
Pressures.
morden global bussiness enviroment.
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The globalisation phenomenon has introduced a new paradigm into business locally and
globally. Corporations have more power to wield over politics, economics, society, culture,
people and the environment. Moreover, the advent of the internet era has increased the power
of communications and technologies throughout the world, even in the most remote areas.
Consequently, this new medium of transferring information has become another factor in
influencing people's opinions globally.
FM LECTURER: There is another factor that generated Market and Societal/Political/Legal
pressures respectively, what are they?

Question 2: Identify the organizational responses to business pressures.

Organizational responses to the business pressures by compete in a challenging enviroment.
To remain competitive they will react rapidly to problems and opportunities that arise from
extreamly dynamic conditions. With the pressures confronting modern organizations and
strategies that organizations employ to respond to these pressures.
FM LECTURER: There are four (4) types of organizational responses to the various
pressures, what are they?
The organization had response to the business pressure by implementing:
1. Strategic system - strategic system provide organizations with advantage that enable them
to increasetheir market share and profit, to better negotiate with suppliers and to prevent
competitors from entering their markets.
2. Customer focus - Organizational attempts to provide superb customer service can make the
difference between attracting and keeping customers and losing them to competitors.
3. Make-to-order and mass customization - make-to-order is a startegy of producing
customized (made to individual specifications) products and services. In mass customization,
it produces a large quantity of items, but it customizes them to fit the needs and preferences
of individual customers.
4. E-Business and E-Commerce - Is a electronic business.E-commerce is a electronic
commerce describe the process of buying, selling, transferring or exchanging products,
services or information via computer networks. E-business is a somewhat broader concept. In
addition to the buying and selling of goods and services, servicing customers, collaborating
with business partners and performing electronic transaction within the organization.
Types of organizational responses to the various pressures
Strategic Systems: provide advantages that enable organizations
to increase market share and/or profits, to better negotiate with
suppliers, or prevent competitors from entering their markets.
Customer Focus: the difference between attracting and keeping
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customers by providing superb customer service to losing them to

competitors.
Make-to-Order: a strategy of producing customized products and
services.
Mass customization: producing a large quantity of items, but
customizing them to fit the desire of each customer.
E-business and E-commerce: Buying and selling products and
services electronically. E-business is a broader concept than ecommerce.
WEEK 3
Question 1: Describe the fundamental tenets of ethics.
Responsibility- means that you accept the consequences of your decisions and actions.
Accountability- means a determination of who is responsible for actions that were taken.
Liability- is a legal concept meaning that individuals have the right to recover the damages
done to them by other individuals, organizations, or systems.

There are (3) practice.

Responsibility - We accept the consequences of our decisions and actions has been made.
Accountability - Our responsibility on actions that were taken before and after.
Liability - Are a legal concept enables individuals to recover the damages done by other
individuals, organizations, or systems
Question 2: Define ethics and describe the four categories of ethical issues related to
information technology.
Ethics is the discipline and practice of applying value to human behavior, resulting in
meaningful conduct.
Four categories of ethical issues related to information technology:1.Privacy issues - Hacking and cracking to the information such as email and
documentation.
2.Accuracy - Accuracy of information stored.
3.Property - Physical, Interlactual and Data property.
4.Accessibility - Access to the computing technology and access data.

Ethics is refers to the principles of right and wrong that individuals use to make choices that
guide their behavior. Deciding what is right or wrong is not always easy and clear cut. There
is 4 categories of ethical issues related to information technology. These issue are:
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1. Privacy issue involve collecting, storing and disseminating information about individuals.
2. Accuracy issue involve the authenticity, fidelity and accuracy of information that is
collected and processed.
3. Property issues involve the ownership and value of information
4. Accessibility issues revolve around who should have access to information and whether a
fee should be paid for this access.
WEEK 4
Q1: Describe the factors that contribute to the increasing vulnerability of information
resources.
There 5 key factor are contributing to the increasing vulnerability of information resources.
1.

Today's interconnected ,interdependent,wirlessly,networked business environment.

2.

Smaller,faster,cheaper computers and storage devices.

3.

Decreasing skills necessary to be a computer hacker.

4.

International organizes crime taking over cybercrime.

5.

Lack of management support.

Q2: Discuss the Unintentional and Deliberate threats to Information Systems.

1.
Unintentional threats are acts performed without malicious intent that nevertheless
represent a serious threat to information security. A major category of unintentional threats is
human error causes include inexperience, improper training and incorrect assumptions.
2.

There are many types of deliberate threats to information systems such as:
a.

Espionage or trespass.

b.

Information extortion.

c.

Sabotage or vandalism.

d.

Theft of equipment or information

e.

Identity theft.

f.

Compromises to intellectual property.

g.

Software attacks.
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h.

Alien software.

i.

Supervisory control and data acquisition ( SCADA ) attacks.

j.

Cyberterrorism and cyberwarfare.

Espionage or trespass
Espionage or trespass occurs when an unauthorized individual attempts to gain illegal access
to organizational information. when we discuss trespass, it is important that we distinguish
between competitive intelligence and industrial espionage. competitive intelligence consists
of legal information-gathering techniques, such as studying a company's website and press
releases, attending trade shows, and so on. in contrast, industrial espionage crosses the legal
boundary.
In addition to the many complex attacks, there are much simpler methods of obtaining
valuable information. Because sensitive data is often not sufficiently protected, it can often be
obtained visually, audibly or electronically.
Sabotage
Sabotage refers to the malicious manipulation or damaging of objects with the aim of
inflicting damage on the victim. Computer centers or communications links owned by an
official body or company make particularly attractive targets, as a major effect can be
achieved here with only slender means.
External aggressors and especially insiders can selectively manipulate the complex
infrastructure of a computer center through targeted attacks on important components, so as
to induce equipment failures. Particularly at risk here are building-related or communications
infrastructure that is inadequately protected and central supply points which are not
monitored by organizational or technical means and are easy for outsiders to access
unobserved.
Extortion
Extortion, out wresting, or exaction is a criminal offense, which occurs, when a
person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or
institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically
called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime groups. The actual
obtainment of money or property is not required to commit the offense. Making
a threat of violence or a lawsuit which refers to a requirement of a payment of money or
property to halt future violence or lawsuit is sufficient to commit the offense. Exaction refers
not only to extortion or the unlawful demanding and obtaining of something through force,
additionally, exact in its formal definition means the infliction of something such as pain and
suffering or to make somebody endure something unpleasant.
Q3: Identify the single most important security control for organizations. (belum jwp)

Security controls are safeguards to avoid, counteract or minimize security

risks relating to property.To have a good security controls, security incident must be
considered before choose and provide a right security control:
a.
Before the event, preventive controls are intended to prevent an incident from
occurring e.g. by locking out unauthorized intruders;
b.
During the event, detective controls are intended to identify and characterize an
incident in progress e.g. by sounding the intruder alarm and alerting the security guards or
police;
c.
After the event, corrective controls are intended to limit the extent of any damage
caused by the incident e.g. by recovering the organization to normal working status as
efficiently as possible.
Security controls can also be categorized according to their nature, such as:
a.

Physical controls (fences, doors, locks and fire extinguishers)

b.
Procedural controls ( incident response processes, management oversight, security
awareness and training)
c.
Technical controls ( user authentication (login) and logical access controls, antivirus
software, firewalls)
d.

Legal and regulatory or compliance controls ( privacy laws, policies and clauses)

WEEK 5
Q1: Describe the major difficulties involved in managing data.
Describe the major difficulties involved in managing data.
1.
The amount of data increase exponentially with time. Much historical data-data
that include time as a variable must be kept for a long time, and new data are added
rapidly.For example, to support millions of customers, large retailers such as Walmart have to
manage petabytes of data.
2.
Data are also scattered throughout organization and are collected by many
individual using different methods and devices. The data are frequently stored in numerous
servers and locations and in different computing systems, database, formats, and human and
computer languages.
3.

Data are obtained from multiple sources.

a.

Internal sources-(for example- corporate database and company

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documents.

b.

Personal sources-(for exxample- personal thought, opinions, and

experience.

c.
External sources-(for example- commercial data bases, goverment reports,
and corporate websites.
4.
Data also are downdoad from the web, in the form of clickstream. Clickstream
data are produced by visitors and customers when they visit a website and click on
hyperlinks. The data provide a trail of the users activities in the websites, including user
behavior and browsing patters.
5.
Data degrade over time. For example- customers move to new addresses or change
their names, companies go out of business or are bought, new products are developed,
employees are hired or fired, companies expand into new countries, and son on.
6.
Data are also subject to data rot. A term that refers primarily to problems with the
media on which the data are stored. Over time, temperature, humidity, and exposure to light
can cause physical problems with storage media and thus make it difficult to access the data.
7.
The data security, quality, and integrity are critical. They are easily jeopardized.
in addition, legal requirement relating to data differ among countries as well as industries,
and they change frequently.

Q2: Explain the two types of knowledge and provide examples of each type.
Explain the two types of knowledge and provide examples of each type.
1.
Explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge deals with more objective,rational and
technical knowledge. Explicit knowledge can be recorded digitally in documents, records,
patents and other intellectual property artifacts. Explicit knowledge is representational and
can live and be manipulated within the digital domain. Converting data-to-information, and
information-to-knowledge describes a value continuum of explicit knowledge. The tools and
business processes of KM are intended to enhance this continuum of value.
2.
Tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is the cumulative store of subjective or
experiential learning.Tacit knowledge is made up of best practices, experience, wisdom and
unrecordable intellectual property that lives within individuals and teams. Since tacit
knowledge exists within minds, it cannot be reduced to the digital domain as a material asset,
or be manipulated directly. However, it expresses in the social realm as the response ability of
individuals (productivity, innovation and initiative), and teamwork (communication,
coordination and collaboration).
WEEK 6
Q1. Describe the differences between Internet, Intranet, Extranet and the World Wide
Web...
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INTRANET,INTERNET,EXTRANET AND WORLD WIDE
WEB :
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1.

Internet.
a.
Is a global WAN that connects approximately 1 million organizational
computer networks.
b.
Connected to one another by data communication lines of different speeds.
c.
Enables people to access data in the organizations and to communicate and
exchange
information seamlessly around the world.

2.

Intranet.
a.
Network that uses internet protocol so that users can take advantage of
familiar applications and work habits.
b.
Support discovery, communication and collaboration inside an organization.

3.

Extranet.
a.
Connect parts of the intranet of different organizations.
b.
Enables business partners to communicate securely over the internet using
virtual private networks.

4.

World wide web.

a.
The internet functions as a transport mechanism whereas the world wide web
is an application that uses those transport functions.
b.
System that accepted standards for storing,retrieving and displaying
information via a
client/server architechure.

Q2. Discuss the six (6) major categories of network applications.

6 major categories of network applications :
1.
view

Discovery.
a.
Involve browsing and information retrieval and provides users the ability to
information in database,dowload it or process it.
b.
Discovery tools include search engine,directories and portals.

2.

Networks.
a.
Provide fast,inexpensive communication via email,call centers and voice
communication.
b.
Communication tools provide business users with a seamless interface among
team member.

3.

Collaboration.
a.
Refer to mutual efforts by two or more entities (individual,groups or
companies) who work
in accomplish task.
b.
Enables business user to collabrate with collegues,business partner and
customer.

4.

E-learning.
a.
Refers to learning supported by the web.
b.
Provides tools for business users to enable their lifelong learning.

5.

Virtual universities.
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a.
Are online universities in which students take classes from home or at an offsite location via the internet.
b.
Virtual universities make it possible for students to obtain degrees while
working full time,thus increasing their value to their firms
6.

Telecommuting.
a.
Process where knowledge workers are able to work anywhere and anytime.
b.
Provides flexibility for employees with many benefits and some drawbacks.

WEEK 7
Q 1: Describe three (3) major business models for business-to-bisoness (B2B) applications.
1.

Sell-side Marketplaces.
a.
Model in which organization attempt to sell their products or services to other
organizations electronically from their own private e-marketplace website and/or from
a third-party website.
b.
The key mechanisms in the sell-side model are electronic catalogs that can be
customized for each large buyer and forward auctions.

2.

Buy-side Marketplaces.
a.
Organizations attempt to buy needed products or services from other
organizations electronically.
b.
A major method of buying goods and services in the buy-side model is the
reverse auction.

3.

Electronic exchanges.
a.
Private exchanges have one buyer and many sellers. Independently owned by
a third party and connect many sellers and many sellers
b.
Some electronic exchanges deal in direct materials and others in indirect
materials. Direct materials are inputs to the manufacturing process, such as safety
glass used in automobile wind shields and windows. Indirect materials are items, such
as office suppliers, that are needed for maintenance, repairs and operations.
c.
There are three basic types of public exchanges vertical, horizontal and
functional. All three types offer diversified support services, ranging from payment to
logistics.

Q2: Discuss five (5) major legal and ethical issues of E-commerce.

1.
Fraud on the internet.E xample, stock promoters falsely spread positive rumors
about the prospect of the companies they touted in order to boost the stock price.Auction also
are especially conducive to fraud,by both sellers and buyers.Other types of fraud include
selling bogus investment and setting up phantom business opportunities.
2.
Domain Names. Domain names are assigned by central nonprofits organizations that
check for conflict and possible infringement of trademark. Domain name is considered to be
legal when the person or business who owns the name has operated a legitimate business
under that name for some period of time.
3.
Cybersquatting.
Refer to the practice of registering or using domain names for
the purpose of profitting from the goodwill or the trademark that belongs to someone else.
4.
Taxes and other Fees. Federal,state and local authorities are scrambling to create
some type of taxation policy for e business.This problem particularly complex for interstate
and international e commerce.
5.
Copyright. Copying material from website without permission is a violation of
copyright laws.Protecting intellectual property rights in e-commerce is extremely difficult
because it involves hundreds or million of people who have access to billion of web pages.

WEEK 8
Q1: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Wireless Media.
Advantages of wireless media:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Implementation cost is cheaper than wired network.

Ideal for the non-reachable places such as across river or mountain or rural area.
Flexible if there is ad-hoc situation when additional workstation was required.
Ideal for temporary network setups.

Disadvantages of wireless media:

1.
More complex to configure than wired network.
2.
Less secure because hacker's laptop can act as Access Point. If you connected to their
laptop, they'll read all your information(username, password).
3.
Lower speed compared to wired network. (of course!)
4.
Affected by surrounding. Example: walls (blocking), microwave oven (interference),
far distance (attenuation).
Q2: Describe five (5) major drivers of mobile computing
Five major drivers of mobile computing :
1.
Widespread Availability of Mobile Devices. According to Romow.com (2008), 50
percent of the world population will use mobile phones in 2008. It is estimated that within a
10

few years, about 70 percent of cell phones will have Internet access (smart-phones). Thus, a
potential mass market is available for conducting discovery, communication, collaboration,
(e.g.,see Global Mobile, a special report, Computer World, May 14,2007), and mcommerce. Cell phones are spreading quickly even in developing countries.
2.
No Need for a PC. Todays PDAs and some cell phones have as much processing
power as personal computers did just a few years ago, and possess the range of software
available to PC users. This suggests that the smart phone-not the PC-may soon become the
foremost tool that connects people to the Internet.
3.
Improvement of Bandwidth. To properly conduct m-commerce, it is necessary to
have sufficient bandwidth for transmitting text; however, bandwidth is also required for
voice, video, and multimedia. The 3G (third-generation) and 3.5G technologies (described in
Chapter 4) provide the necessary band width.
4.
The Handset Culture. Another driver of m-commerce is the widespread use of cell
phones, which is a social phenomenon, especially among the 15-to-25-year-old age group.
These users will constitute a major force of online buyers once they begin to make and spend
larger amounts of money. The use of SMS has been spreading like wildfire in several
European and Asian countries.
5.
Declining Prices and Increased Functionalities. The price of wireless devices is
declining, and the per-minute pricing of mobile services declined by 50 percent in recent
years. At the same time, functionalities are increasing. Also, a flat fee (e.g., monthly)
encourages
more
use
of
mobile
devices.
WEEK 9
Q1: Describe Web 2.0 to someone who has not taken a course in information systems.
Web 2.0 (or Web 2) is the popular term for advanced Internet technology and
applications including blogs, wiki, RSS, nescasting, crowdsourcing and sosial boomarking.
The two major components of Web 2.0 are the technological advances enabled by Ajax and
other new applications such as RSS and Eclipse and the user empowerment that they support.
Web 2.0 application use some or all of the technologies you have just seen. A Web 2.0 site
may allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as
creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where
people are limited to the passive viewing of content.
a.
A Blog (short for weblog) is a personal online journal that is frequently
updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs are defined by their
format: a series of entries posted to a single page in reverse-chronological order.Blogs
generally represent the personality of the author or reflect the purpose of the
website that hosts the blog. Topics sometimes include brief philosophical musings,
commentary on Internet and other social issues, and links to other sites the author
favors, especially those that support a point being made on a post. The author of a
blog is often referred to as a blogger. Many blogs syndicate their content to
subscribers using RSS, a popular content distribution tool.

11

b.
A Wiki (sometimes spelled "Wiki") is a server program that allows users to
collaborate in forming the content of a Web site. With a wiki, any user can edit the site
content, including other users' contributions, using a regular Web browser. Basically, a
wiki Web site operates on a principle of collaborative trust.
c.
Netcasting including podcasting and videocasting, is the distribution of digital
media, primarily audio files(podcasting) and video files (videocasting), via
syndication feeds for playback on digital media players and personal computers.
d.
Crowdsourcing involves taking a job traditionally performed by an employee
or a consultant and outsoucing it to on underfined group of people in the form of an
open call. The benefits of crowdsoucing is finding large numbers of workers to
complete projects quikly, attracting niche expertise, saving money, and better use of
in-house resouces.
Q2: Explain how an organization can best employ Web 2.0 technologies and applications to
benefit their business processes.
Web 2.0 technologies and applications to beneft business process by
a.
Weblog. Weblog is a personal website,open to the public,in which the site
creator expresses feelings or opinion with a series of chronological entries.Some
companies listen to the blogosphere for marketing purposes.
b.
Wiki.Wiki is a website on which anyone can post material and make changes
to already posted material.Wiki foster easy collaboration and they harness the
collective intelligence of internet users.
c.
Netcasting. Netcasting is the disribution of digital media, such as audio files
and video files.Educational instituitions use netcast for providing students with
access to lectures,lab demonstrations and sport events.
d.
Printing on demand . Printing on demand is customized printing
performed in small batches.For example,Create space provides end to end servcice
where authors submit their manuscript and the online publisher edits,format and sells
the work.
e.
Crowdsourcingb .Crowdsourcing is the process of taking job traditionally
performed by an employee or a consultant and outsourcing it to an undefined group
of people in the form of an open call.

WEEK 10
Q1: Explain how an organization can best employ Web 2.0 technologies and applications to
benefit their business processes.
Web 2.0 technologies and applications to beneft business process by
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a.
Weblog. Weblog is a personal website,open to the public,in which the site creator
expresses feelings or opinion with a series of chronological entries.Some companies listen to
the blogosphere for marketing purposes.
b.
Wiki.Wiki is a website on which anyone can post material and make changes to
already posted material.Wiki foster easy collaboration and they harness the collective
intelligence of internet users.
c.
Netcasting. Netcasting is the disribution of digital media, such as audio files and
video files.Educational instituitions use netcast for providing students with access to
lectures,lab demonstrations and sport events.
d.
Printing on demand . Printing on demand is customized printing performed in
small batches.For example,Create space provides end to end servcice where authors submit
their manuscript and the online publisher edits,format and sells the work.
e.
Crowdsourcingb .Crowdsourcing is the process of taking job traditionally performed
by an employee or a consultant and outsourcing it to an undefined group of people in the
form of an open call.

Q2: Describe what a functional area information system is and list its major characteristics.

The functional area information systems (FAISs) provide information mainly to lower and
middle level managers in the functional areas. They use the information to help them plan,
organize, and control operations. The information is provided in a variety of reports. Also
provides supports for the various funtional areas in an organizational by increasing each area
internal efficiency and effectiveness.
The major characteristics;a.

They use this information to help them plan, organize, and control operations.

b.
The information is provided in a variety of reports (routine, ad hoc and exception) and
provide information to managers regardless of their functional areas.
c.
Routine reports are produced at scheduled intervals. Ad-hoc reports also can include
requests for drill-down reports, key-indicator reports and comparative reports. And exception
reports include information that falls outside certain threshold standards.

Q3: Define Enterprise Resource Planning Systems and describe its functionalities.
Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP) is a system thats adopts a business process view of the
over all organization to integrate the planning,management and use of all of an organization's
resources,employing a common software platform and database.
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Their functions help integrate management, staff, and equipment, combining all aspects of
your business into one system in order to facilitate every element of the manufacturing
process.
Typical ERP system modules include features and functions for accounting, human resources
(HR), manufacturing management, customer relationship management (CRM), and other
business functions.
ERP systems with manufacturing management functionality also include features and
functions for inventory, purchasing, and quality and sales management. ERP software is often
configured with specialized features and functions for a particular industry or type of
manufacturing. For example you can compare ERP systems for discrete manufacturing,
process manufacturing, engineer-to-order (ETO) manufacturing, distribution, fashion and
apparel.
WEEK 11
Q1: Explain what customer relationship management is.
Customer relationship management is most commonly used to describe a business-customer
relationship, CRM systems are used in the same way to manage business contacts, clients,
contract wins and sales leads.
Customer relationship management solutions provide you with the customer business data to
help you provide services or products that your customers want, provide better customer
service, cross-sell and up sell more effectively, close deals, retain current customers and
understand who the customer is.
It entails all aspects of interaction that a company has with its customer, whether it is sales or
service-related. CRM is often thought of as a business strategy that enables businesses to
understand the customer, retain customers through better customer experience,attract new
customer,win new clients and contracts, increase profitably and decrease customer
management costs.
Q2: Discuss what supply chain is and identify its segments.
A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources
involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities
transform natural resources, raw materials, and components into a finished product that is
delivered to the end customer. In sophisticated supply chain systems, used products may reenter the supply chain at any point where residual value is recyclable.
In addition, they must deal with demands from internal and external sources. Many of which
create distracting and sometimes conflicting noises--with regards to service and costs. The
noise can be situational or repetitive; it may be on topics that have nominal profit benefit. It
can even become a cacophony. But no matter the source or cause, the static distracts and
interferes with the supply chain organization and its performance with important issues and
requirements, both strategic and tactical. The scope, complexity, competition and noise are
ongoing. This continuous test of agility is compounded by limited resources.
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Sectoring supply chains is a superior best practice. The benefits go beyond supply chain
performance and very positively impact the company in important ways. It has bothmaster
plan and operations importance and impact. Supply chain segmenting can be used by all
companies, regardless of size, industry, market or type.
Q3: Describe three (3) major types of extranets.

Three (3) Major Types of Extranets:

1.
Virtual Private Network (VPN). Is a network that uses public networks and their
protocols to send sensitive data to partners, customers, suppliers, and employees by using
system called tunneling. Tunnels are private passage ways through the public internet that
provide secure transmission from one extranet partner to another.
2.
Private Network Extranet. Is a private, leased-line connection bet. Two companies
that physically connects their intranets to one another. The single advantage of this is
Security. The single largest drawback is Cost.
3.
Public Network Extranet. Exists when an organization allows the public to access
its intranet from any public network. Security is an issue in this configuration, because a
public network does not provide any security protection.
WEEK 12
Q1 Describe three major types of Information system reports.
1. Office Information Systems. An office information system, or OIS (pronounced oh-eyeess), is an information system that uses hardware, software and networks to enhance work
flow and facilitate communications among employees. Win an office information system,
also described as office automation; employees perform tasks electronically using computers
and other electronic devices, instead of manually. With an office information system, for
example, a registration department might post the class schedule on the Internet and e-mail
students when the schedule is updated. In a manual system, the registration department
would photocopy the schedule and mail it to each students house.

2. Transaction Processing Systems. A transaction processing system (TPS) is an

information system that captures and processes data generated during an organizations dayto-day transactions. A transaction is a business activity such as a deposit, payment, order or
reservation.
3. Management Information Systems. While computers were ideal for routine transaction
processing, managers soon realized that the computers capability of performing rapid
calculations and data comparisons could produce meaningful information for
management. Management information systems thus evolved out of transaction processing
systems. A management information system, or MIS (pronounced em-eye-ess), is an
information system that generates accurate, timely and organized information so managers
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and other users can make decisions, solve problems, supervise activities, and track
progress. Because it generates reports on a regular basis, a management information system
sometimes is called a management reporting system (MRS).

Q2 Discuss what EDI is. Identify its benefits and limitations.

EDI is Electronic data interchange (EDI) is a communication standard that enables business
partners to exchange routine documents, such as purchasing orders, electronically. It formats
these documents according to agreed-upon standards, and it reduces costs, delays, and error
inherent in a manual document-delivery system.
The benefits of EDI are:
1.
Minimizes data entry errors because each entry is checked by computer.
2.
The length of the message is shorter
3.
The messages are secured
4.
Reduces cycle time
5.
Increase productivity
6.
Enhances customer service
7.
Minimises paper usage and storage.
The limitations of EDI are:
1.
A significant initial investment
2.
High and ongoing operating costs, due to the use of expensive and private VANs
3.
Traditional EDI is inflexible (thus difficult to make changes)
4.
Long start-up period
5.
Business process need to be restructured to fit EDI requirements
6.
EDI standards are in use, thus several standards are in use to communicate with
different business partners.

Q3 Differentiate between the push model and the pull model.

Differentiate between push models and pull models
1.
The difference between a push and a pull system is how the units of work are
assigned to the person who will be carrying out that unit of work. The concept of push and
pull aren't unique to software development - the idea originates from logistics and supply
chain management.
2.
In a push system, a some kind of task is created and then assigned to a developer. A
task could be anything from the implementation of a requirement (or a component needed to
realize a requirement) to a bug fix to a document to write. Someone, usually some kind of
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manager or team leader, takes the units of work that need to be done and then allocate them to
the members of the team to complete. Simply, work is pushed onto the people who will be
doing it.
3.
In a pull system, the tasks that must be done are stored in a queue, often a priority
queue of sorts. An example might be Scrum's product and sprint backlogs, which contain user
stories that are to be done. A developer who is currently not working on anything will go to
the queue and take off the highest priority story that they are able to do and work on it. The
people who are doing the work pull the work out of a list and do it.
4.
The concept of push and pull aren't related to iterative/incremental versus sequential
development. A team using iterative/incremental/agile techniques could use a push system,
while a team using sequential development could use a pull system. However, typically, the
agile methods (XP, Scrum) favor self-organizing teams and therefore pull systems.

WEEK 13
Q1 Describe mashups and discuss their business value.
Mashup. Mashup is a lightweight web application created by transforming, merging, and
mixingcapabilities or information from existing data sources to deliver useful new
functionality or dashboard-like aggregations.
Business value. Mashups enable rapid application assembly and prototyping, with ever
increasing scalability, policy security, and access control, reducing cost and development time
to hours vs. months. Non-technical users can easily assemble and remix data mashups from
internal and external sources themselves, allowing IT to focus on strategic business
applications. Enterprise, departmental, and personal data can be transformed into fresh,
relevant, mashup feeds and services for new markets and new customers, improving return on
investment.

Q2 Identify four (4) major threats to wireless networks.

Identify four (4) major threats to wireless networks.
1.
Rogue access points. Is an unauthorized access point to a wireless network.The
rogue could be someone in your organization who, although meaning no harm,sets up an
access point without informing IT department. In more serious cases the rogue is an "evil
twin" someone who wishes to access a wireless network for malicious purposes.
2.
War driving. Is the act of locating WLANs whle driving (or walking ) around a city
or elsewhere.To war drive or walk, you simply need a WiFi detector a wirelessly enabled
computer. If a WLAN has a range that extends beyondthe building in which it is located, then
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an unauthorized user might be able to intrude into networks. The intruder then can obtain a
free internet connection and possibly gain access to important data and other resources.
3.
Eavesdropping. Refers to efforts by unauthorized users to access data travelling over
wireless networks.
4.
RF jamming. A person or device ,whether intentionally or unintentionally ,interferes
with your wireless network transmissions.

WEEK 14
Q1 Describe four (4) types of wireless trasmission media.
1.
Infrared (IR).Is a wireless transmission media that sends signals using infrared light
waves. Infrared transmission requires a line of sight transmission, that is the sender and
receiver must be aligned so that nothing obstructs the path of infrared light wave.
2.
Communication Satelite.This is a space station that receive microwave signals from
an earth-based station, amplifies the signals, and broadcasts the signal back over a wide area
to any number of earth-based station. A transmission from the earth to a satellite is called an
uplink; a transmission from a satellite to an earth station is called a downlink.
Communication satellites are used in application such as air navigation, television and radio
broadcast , videoconferencing and paging.
3.
Microwaves.These are radio waves that provides a high-speed signal transmission;
from one microwave station to another; which are normally located on the top of buildings,
towers or mountain . Microwave signals must be transmitted in as straight line with o
obstructions between microwave antennas.

4.
Bluetooth. This is an open wireles protocol for exchanging data over short distances
(using short radio waves) from fixed and mobile devices. It can connect several devices,
overcoming problems of synchronization.
Q2 Describe four (4) types of electronic payments.
1.
Electronic Cash.-Electronic cash is a new concept in online payment system because
it combines computerized convenience with security and privacy that improve on paper cash.
Primary advantage is with purchase of items less than $10.
a.

Credit card transaction fees make small purchases unprofitable.

b.

Micropayments -Payments for items costing less than $1.

2.
Electronic Wallets. Stores credit card, electronic cash, owner identification and
address information and provides this information at e-commerce site. Makes shopping easier
and more efficient. Eliminates need to repeatedly enter identifying information into forms to
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purchase and-works in many different stores to speed checkout. Example Amazon.com

one.One of the first online merchants to eliminate repeat form-filling for purchases.

3.
Smart Cards.
Plastic card containing an embedded microchip.Store over 100
times more information than a magnetic-stripped plastic card.Contains user information such
as financial facts, account information, credit card numbers, health insurance, etc.Smart card
information is encrypted.Available for over 10 years.
4.
Credit Cards. Credit card provides a card holder credit to make purchase up to
amount fixed by a card issuer. B2C business, it continues to be the most used form of
payment system given its high convenience.Entities that involve in the credit card payment
system include Card holder, Merchant (seller), Card Issuer (Your bank), Acquirer (merchants
financial institution),Card Association (Visa, Master Card etc) and third party processor.

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