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Chapter 16
Quality Assurance and Implementation
Key Points and Objectives
1. Three quality assurance approaches through software engineering have been developed to
evaluate the quality of the information system’s design and analysis. They are:
A. Securing total quality assurance through designing systems and software with a top-down
and modular approach
B. Documenting software with appropriate tools
C. Testing, maintaining, and auditing software
3. Six Sigma is a top-down approach to quality that is a methodology, philosophy, and a culture.
4. For total quality management to become a reality with systems projects, the full organizational
support of management and early commitment to quality from the analyst and from the business
are necessary.
5. One of the strongest quality assurance actions the systems analysis team can take is routine
structured walkthroughs—ways to use peer reviewers to monitor the system’s programming and
overall development, point out problems, and allow the programmer or analyst responsible for
that portion to make suitable changes.
6. Top-down design allows the systems analyst to ascertain overall organizational objectives along
with ascertaining how they are best met in an overall system. Then, the analyst moves to dividing
that system into subsystems and their requirements. Finally, the modular programming concept is
useful for a top-down approach. Once the top-down design approach is taken, the whole system is
broken into logical, manageable sized modules or subprograms to use modular programming
techniques.
7. The recommended tool for designing a modular, top-down system is a structure chart—a diagram
consisting of rectangular boxes which represents the modules, and connecting arrows.
8. The Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) approach is to make individual SOA services that are
unassociated or only loosely coupled to one another.
9. Each service executes one action and can be used in other applications within the organization or
even in other organizations.
10. The burden of connecting services in a useful fashion, a process called orchestration. This can
even be accomplished by selecting services from a menu of services and monitoring them by
setting up an SOA dashboard.
A. Modular
B. Reusable
C. Work together with other modules (interoperability)
D. Able to be categorized and identified
E. Able to be monitored
F. Comply with industry-specific standards
12. One of the requirements for total quality assurance is preparation of an effective set of system
documentation which serves as a guideline for users, a communication tool, and a maintenance
reference as well as development reference. Procedure manuals and the FOLKLORE method can
be used for system design and documentation.
13. To choose a better design and documentation technique, systems analysts may refer to the
following guidelines. Choose a technique that:
14. For better systems quality, all the system’s newly written or modified application programs, as
well as new procedural manuals, new hardware, and all system interfaces, must be tested
thoroughly. The following testing process is recommended:
15. Implementation is the process of assuring that the information system is operational. Well-trained
users are involved in its operation.
17. The Client/Server model consists of clients requesting and the server fulfilling the request.
19. Cloud Computing is when organizations and individual users can use Web services, database
services, and application services over the Internet without having to invest in corporate or
personal hardware, software, or software tools.
20. A large collection of corporate users jointly bear the lowered cost and hope to improve their
ability to perform disaster recovery.
21. Many of the issues and challenges associated with implementing ERP systems can be mitigated
by ERP offerings that take advantage of cloud computing.
A. A network decomposition diagram provides an overview of the system and is drawn first.
B. A hub connectivity diagram illustrates how the major hubs are connected and is drawn
second.
C. A workstation connectivity diagram shows the details of connecting the workstations.
23. For implementation, analysts must consider who needs to be trained, who will train them,
objectives of training, methods of instruction to be used, sites, and materials.
A. Direct changeover
B. Parallel conversion
C. Phased or gradual conversion
D. Modular prototype conversion
E. Distributed conversion
25. Security considerations must be included when implementing a system. These include:
A. Physical security
B. Logical security
C. Behavioral security
26. Precautions used to protect the computer network from both internal and external Web security
threats include:
28. Disaster preparedness and recovery must be planned. There are seven elements to consider during
and after a disaster:
C. The need to determine data replication technologies that match the organization’s
timetable for getting systems up and running
D. Creating detailed relocation and transportation plans
E. Establishing multiple communication channels among employees and consultants who
are onsite
F. Providing recovery solutions that include an offsite location
G. Ensuring the physical and psychological well-being of employees and others present at
the work site when a disaster hits
29. The information system utility framework is a way to evaluate a new system based on utilities of:
A. Possession
B. Form
C. Place
D. Time
E. Actualization
F. Goal
30. Corporate websites should be evaluated. The following is a list of key things to learn about the
website visitors:
First of all, Merle is not ready to accept the concept of total quality management (TQM). He may not be
any help to the task force team; rather he will cause problems for them.
To bring Merle back to the work, the systems analysts should tell him the importance of users’
involvement for the development of an effective information system. Also, the systems analysts should
inform him that the users’ information needs are the single most important factor to decide the quality of
the information. Quality standards must be created and communicated through feedback to the systems
analysis team. Getting users involved in creating the quality standards will help avoid expensive mistakes
as well as unnecessary systems development.
To ease Portia’s concern, her case should be addressed on the spot at the next meeting. They may have to
go back and redefine the users’ needs, or redo the prototype. (Refer to Chapter 8 for more details.)
The main objective of the documentation techniques is to facilitate communication between systems
professionals and users, and among systems professional themselves. Thus, systems analysts should select
a tool which is easy to use and easy to understand.
Based upon the above rationale, using procedure manuals may be the best choice. It has English-language
components and may contain program codes and flowcharts.
And, to minimize problems with design and documentation tools, systems analysts need to follow these
guidelines:
To minimize the schedule problems, systems analysts should plan for some slack time when they set up
the time table: for example, one and a half weeks instead of one week. However, it should not be too
loose. Also, systems analysts should convince the team members on the importance of testing because it
requires more time, effort, and money to correct problems in later stages of the systems development life
cycle. And, if you don’t test the system carefully, the system may not be reliable. Undependable systems
may result in a low level of confidence on the systems people, too.
From the given information, you may identify one critical problem. That is, they are neglecting system
testing procedures, structured walkthrough first, then stub/program test, system test last. If they skip the
test of the accounting system, they might face a serious problem when they test the entire system—
making problems much harder to correct.
Laurie and Wade have jobs with vastly different job responsibilities. Users’ jobs, personalities,
backgrounds, and experience influence the kind of training needed. The problem in this case is that users
are not learning what they have to know for their jobs, resulting in dissatisfaction with the training,
complaints of frustration from some users, and boredom from others.
To address the problem, the users must be separated into at least two groups: managerial users and
operations users. If scheduling difficulties are due to lack of time for systems personnel, the problem can
be resolved by training only selected sets of users, who in turn train remaining users. It is worth noting
that scheduling difficulties may have been averted by using PERT.
The basic advice that trainers ignored regarding setting up training sessions is the failure to clearly
establish training objectives for each group.
The problem (refer to Consulting Opportunity 3.1) is that the orders are not easily placed to the European
plant, which is compounded whenever demand for the products increases dramatically.
One solution is to create an intranet that links the U.S. distributors with the European headquarters. Each
distribution center will have the flexibility to quickly place orders to the European headquarters and
receive shipment confirmation, as well as other information.
This solution provides great flexibility, because new distribution centers may be opened and there is
minimal software installation. It also allows the distributors to collaborate with one another through the
intranet, which may allow one distribution center to ship goods to another when a regional heat wave
drives up product demand.
Intranet European
Distribution
Centers Plant
Production Order
Control Processing
Information system utility is a good framework for evaluating the kinds of concerns that Mr. Schnieder
raised about the problem. This approach is a direct way to evaluate a new system based on the six utilities
of possession, form, place, time, actualization, and goal. It is a comprehensive and fruitful technique to
measure the success of the new system, and a guide in correcting the installed system or development of
future projects.
If a system is not evaluated systematically, it may be too late before problems are brought out into the
open, and the whole system may become a failure.
Customs: Most users gather their data on paper notes and key it in on Friday Evenings.
(Blandford)
Tales: The documentation isn’t the easiest to read. Whenever I need help I go to Roger. He can
show me faster than I could read it out of a book. (Taylor)
Sayings: “Lower case is the top case.” Entering data in upper case has created problems in the
past. (Rabin)
Art forms: See various drawing standards from the Documentation Overview page.
2. In two paragraphs, suggest a PC-based approach for capturing the elements of FOLKLORE so
that it is not necessary to use a paper-based log. Make sure that your suggested solution can
accommodate graphics as well as text.
An index could be constructed using keywords that the user would refer to when experiencing
problems. The software and database should also be designed so the user can scroll through the
FOLKLORE collection sequentially, reviewing each piece. This would be helpful for new
employees or those just learning the system. Another useful feature would be the ability to search
the text of all the documents for a few keywords.
This is an ideal application for groupware, allowing many people to input and access the
FOLKLORE elements. Each FOLKLORE type of element (such as art form, tale, custom, or
saying) would have its own screen for entering information using a template approach. Each
template would be selected from a toolbar on the top of the screen. The display screens and
reports would find all elements, regardless of the type of element.
3. Design input and output screens for FOLKLORE that facilitate easy entry, and provide prompting
so that recall of FOLKLORE elements is immediate.
A sample screen for selecting FOLKLORE elements that will later be displayed (not using any
GUI elements) is illustrated below. Students may create a variety of screens, for viewing different
FOLKLORE INQUIRY
FIRST KEYWORD
SECOND
KEYWORD
THIRD KEYWORD
Display FOLKLORE elements with keywords displaying in a different color. The text contains
hypertext links for other keywords that may be selected to branch to additional display screens.
A. Latest versions of Web software to be installed on the Shiroma computers in the Training
Unit. The Training Unit would be able to keep their Shiroma computers and this would
help to promote the “peaceful co-existence” between the groups that is important to
Snowden. If the data is to reside on the mainframe, provide server-side methods to
exchange data with the mainframe
B. The Comtex computers in the Training Unit would be connected to the existing Systems
Management department network as well as the Web servers companywide.
C. A support person would be assigned to answer questions and resolve problems about the
Comtex computers for the Training Unit.
i. How to use the Web software, including the forms, various options available, and
so on.
ii. A “How to use the Global Engineering Management System (GEMS)” training
manual that would be developed for all projects.
iii. How to use the intranet services.
One approach to developing the training is to have the Training Unit help to plan their
instruction. This would help to smooth the transition.
Another consideration is the personality of the trainer. Because the makeup of the Training Unit
consists of people who are fairly artistic, training should be more relaxed, sprinkled with humor,
and perhaps more unconventional.
A. The information stored in the manual files currently in use by the Training Unit needs to
be entered into the new system.
2. In two paragraphs, discuss what conversion approach is appropriate for adopting a new
automated project tracking system for the Training group.
A. The add and modify projects portions of the system should be implemented first,
resulting in a base of project information. This would give the users continued experience
with the GEMS system. Key inquiry programs should be implemented.
B. Report systems should be implemented next, providing a link with the current manual
system and an assurance that the information the users are familiar with will continue to
be provided.
C. The rest of the inquiry and delete programs would be implemented last.
3. Create a bulleted list of the measures you would take to secure and backup the new project
tracking system you are proposing for the Training group.
A suggested list is (students may have many more items, and these may change with time):
Web encryption must be used when entering or viewing all corporate data
Firewalls must be in place.
Behavioral security must be part of training of consultants and new employees.
They are securing total quality assurance through designing systems and software with a top-
down and modular approach; documenting software with appropriate tools; and testing,
maintaining, and auditing software.
2. Who or what is the most important factor in establishing and evaluating the quality of
information systems or decision support systems? Why?
The most important factor in establishing and evaluating the quality of information systems is
systems users and management, because they are actual users of the system and are most familiar
with their problems and information needs.
3. Define the total quality management (TQM) approach as it applies to the analysis and design of
information systems.
TQM for analysis and design of an information system conceives quality as an evolutionary
process toward development of a perfect information system throughout the systems development
life cycle rather than correcting immediate problems.
Six Sigma is a top-down approach to quality that is a methodology, philosophy, and a culture.
An IS quality circle is a group to identify both current problems and possible problems residing in
information systems and to correct them through group discussion and individual suggestions for
defect-free information systems.
6. Define what is meant by doing a structured walkthrough. Who should be involved? When should
structured walkthroughs be done?
Structured walkthroughs are a way to use peer reviewers to monitor the system’s programming
and overall development, point out problems, and allow the programmer or analyst responsible
for that portion to make suitable changes. Structured walkthroughs involve at least four people,
including the person responsible for the part of the system being reviewed; a walkthrough
coordinator; a programmer or analyst peer; and a person to take notes about suggestions.
Structured walkthroughs are very useful to obtain valuable feedback from a fresh perspective.
necessary subsystems.
C. Prevents systems analysts from getting so mired in detail that they lose sight of what the
system is supposed to do.
Modular development is a way of programming for a top-down design approach. In the modular
development concept, the whole system is broken into several logical, manageable portions.
The service-oriented approach is to make individual services that are unassociated or only loosely
coupled to one another. Each service executes one action and can be used in other applications
within the organization or even in other organizations.
12. Give two reasons that support the necessity of well-developed systems and software
documentation.
13. In what four categories does the FOLKLORE documentation method collect information?
The FOLKLORE documentation method collects information in the categories of customs, tales,
sayings, and art forms.
14. List six guidelines for choosing a design and documentation technique.
Systems analysts may use the following six guidelines for choosing a design and documentation
technique. Choose a technique that:
The original author of each program has primary responsibility for its testing.
16. What is the difference between test data and live data?
Live data are data that have been successfully processed through the existing system. Test data
are data to check various logic of the system before implementation.
The four approaches to implementation are: (a) shifting more computer power to users via an
information center or distributed processing, (b) training users, (c) converting the old system, and
(d) evaluating the new system.
Defined in a broad sense, a distributed system includes work stations that can communicate with
one another and with data processors. The distributed system may have different hierarchical
architectural configurations of data processors that communicate with one another and that have
differing data-storage capabilities.
The client/server model uses a server computer to store the data and a smaller client computer to
interact with the system and control the user interface. Applications are written as two separate
software components.
A “client” is a networked computer or machine, the point of entry to the system. It may be used
by many users.
Distributed computing is when the processing functions are delegated either to clients (the users)
or to servers, depending on which machines are most suitable for executing the work.
The advantages of a client/server system are greater computer power and greater opportunity to
customize applications.
The disadvantages of a client/server system are greater expense and applications must be written
as two separate software components running on separate machines.
25. What are the benefits of implementing systems and software using cloud computing?
The benefits of implementing systems and software using cloud computing are the ability to grow
and adapt to changing business needs, organizations do not need to keep IT staff to scale up or
down even when a contract or company budget changes upward or downward, less up-front
capital expenditures on IT infrastructure, underutilized systems are used more efficiently and
widely, and improved disaster recovery.
The term Software as a Service (SaaS) means systems that are low cost and easy to upgrade, offer
a reduction in data storage costs, provide a greener IT footprint, and be less cumbersome than
traditional ERP implementations.
27. Explain why ERP served with a cloud platform might be more affordable to small and medium
businesses than traditional ERP installations.
ERP served with a cloud platform might be more affordable to small and medium businesses than
traditional ERP installations because of lower cost and ease of upgrading, elimination of
unpredictable costs of on-premises ERP systems, elimination of piecemeal solutions to IT
business problems, and variable level of service.
28. Who should be trained to use the new or modified information system?
All people who will have secondary or primary use of the system must be trained.
29. List the five possible sources of training for users of information systems.
Possible sources of training for users of information systems include: (a) vendors, (b) systems
analysts, (c) external paid trainers, (d) in-house trainers, and (e) other system users.
30. List the five conversion strategies for converting old information systems to new ones.
A. Direct changeover
B. Parallel conversion
C. Phased conversion
D. Modular prototype
E. Distributed conversion
31. List the nine organizational metaphors and the hypothesized success of each type of system given
their presence.
The nine types of organizational metaphors along with the hypothesized success of each are:
A. Zoo: success is at best likely with traditional MIS systems and decision support systems.
B. Jungle: success is at best likely with decision support systems, cooperative systems,
competitive systems, and executive information systems.
C. War: success is likely with competitive systems.
D. Journey: success is likely with cooperative systems.
E. Machine: success is likely with traditional MIS systems and expert systems/artificial
intelligence.
F. Society: success is likely with traditional MIS systems and decision support systems.
G. Family: success is likely with traditional MIS systems and decision support systems.
H. Organism: success is likely with decision support systems, expert systems/artificial
intelligence, cooperative systems, competitive systems, and executive information
systems.
I. Game: success is likely with expert systems/artificial intelligence, cooperative systems,
competitive systems, and executive information systems.
32. Define the terms “physical,” “logical,” and “behavioral security,” and give an example of each
one that illustrates the differences among them.
Behavioral security is building procedures to prevent persons from misusing computer hardware
and software.
Example: A log of unsuccessful attempts to sign on to the computer.
Encryption software are programs that protect commercial transactions on the Web.
A firewall or firewall system provides a barrier between an internal network and external
network, such as the Internet.
35. List five of the several measures an analyst can take to improve the security, privacy, and
confidentiality of data, systems, networks, individuals, and organizations that use ecommerce
Web applications.
Some of the measures an analyst can take to improve the security, privacy, and confidentiality of
the data, systems, networks, individuals, and organizations that use ecommerce Web applications
are:
36. List five guidelines for designing a corporate privacy policy for ecommerce applications.
37. Briefly give the differences between disaster preparedness and disaster recovery.
Disaster preparedness includes what a company should do if it encounters a crisis and disaster
recovery is how a business can continue in the aftermath of a disaster.
38. List and describe the utilities of information systems that can be used to evaluate the information
system.
Possession utility answers the question of who should receive output. Form utility answers the
question of what kind of output is distributed to the decision maker. Place utility answers the
question of where information is distributed. Time utility answers the question of when
information is delivered. Actualization utility involves how the information is introduced and
used by the decision maker. Goal utility answers the why of information systems by asking
whether the output has value in helping the organization achieve its objectives.
39. What are seven essential items that the analyst should include in performing a website traffic
analysis?
The seven items that the analyst should include in performing a website traffic analysis are:
Problems
1. One of your systems analysis team members has been discouraging user input on quality
standards, arguing that because you are the experts, you are really the only ones who know what
constitutes a quality system. In a paragraph, explain to your team member why getting user input
is critical to system quality. Use an example.
The quality assurance or quality control in a company is not a job of a certain individual
regardless of the types of operation—either service, manufacturing, or information system. Even
though a manager has a great idea for a new product design, it’s useless without floor workers’
cooperation. This is true for the development and implementation of information systems. Even
though the systems department developed and installed a fantastic information system, it is
useless if people don’t use it or if they fail to provide correct data.
By the same token, users’ great ideas to improve productivity and quality level become a
nightmare without a sincere attitude and the capability of the system people. In other words, the
development and implementation of a quality information system becomes possible only with the
cooperation between users and the system people.
2. Write a detailed table of contents for a procedure manual that explains to users how to log onto
your school’s computer network, as well as the school’s network policies (who is an authorized
user, and so on). Make sure that the manual is written with the user in mind.
a. Cover
b. Preface
c. Table of contents
d. What is the computer lab for?
e. How to use computers
f. USER-ID/PASSWORD
g. Software check-out procedures
h. Software return policy
i. Software damage charging policy
j. Glossary
k. Index
3. Your systems analysis team is close to completing a system for Meecham Feeds. Roger is quite
confident that the programs that he has written for Meecham’s inventory system will perform as
necessary, because they are similar to programs he has done before. Your team has been very
busy and would ideally like to begin full systems testing as soon as possible.
a. Skip desk checking of the programs (because similar programs were checked in other
installations; Roger has agreed).
b. Do link testing with large amounts of data to prove that the system will work.
c. Do full systems testing with large amounts of live data to show that the system is
working.
Respond to each of the three steps in their proposed test schedule. Use a paragraph to explain
your response.
Desk checking or structured walkthroughs are usually performed to detect possible logic errors.
Skipping of desk checking may result in serious logic errors during the testing stage. Errors
detected during the testing stage are usually much harder to correct than those detected during
desk checking.
Testing a system with a large amount of data without a program test or stub test is very risky and
ineffective because the development team should go back to individual program tests in case
there are logic errors or problems in any program.
Before they test the system with live data, they’d better test the system with test data because it is
difficult to check all routines in the system with live data.
Testing a system with test data before testing with live data is usually faster and more effective
because test data is prepared to check all possible situations including error routines. Thus, the
system needs to be tested with test data before tested with live data.
The amount of live data is another concern. A large volume is not necessarily more effective.
Rather, it may result in a waste of time and effort in case data is not appropriate. The amount of
data to test a system is irrelevant as long as it is appropriate for checking all possible situations.
4. Propose a revised testing plan for Meecham Feeds (Problem 6). Break down your plan into a
sequence of detailed steps.
To test the system effectively, systems analysts should follow these guidelines:
5. Draw a local area network or some other configuration of distributed processing using the
client/server approach to solve some of the data sharing problems that Bakerloo Brothers
construction company is having. It wants to be able to allow teams of architects to work on
blueprints at headquarters, let the construction supervisor enter last-minute changes to plans
under construction from the field, and permit clients to view plans from almost anywhere.
Currently, the company has a LAN for the architects who are in one city (Philadelphia) that lets
them share some drawing tools and any updates that team members make with architects in other
cities (New York, Terre Haute, Milwaukee, Lincoln, and Vancouver). The supervisor uses a
notebook computer, cannot make any changes, and is not connected to a database. Clients view
plans on displays, but sales representatives are not able to enter modifications to show them what
would happen if a wall were moved or a roof line altered. (Hint: list the problems that the
company is encountering, analyze the symptoms, think of a solution, and then start drawing.)
More than one network may be necessary, and not all problems will be amenable to a systems
solution.
6. Create a disaster recovery plan for one of the networks you recommended to Bakerloo Brothers
in Problem 5.
The disaster plan will vary from student to student. It should contain the following elements:
Identify who should make pivotal decisions and the teams responsible for
managing a crisis
Eliminate single points of failure by having redundant data
Determine data replication technologies for getting systems up and running
Decide where employees should go to
Have a method for communication
Have supplies of food, water, an emergency kit
7. Cramtrack, the regional commuter train system, is trying to train users of its newly installed
computer system. For the users to get the proper training, the systems analysts involved with the
project sent a memo to the heads of the four departments that include both primary and
secondary users. The memo said in part, “Only people who feel as if they require training need to
make reservations for offsite training; all others should learn the system as they work with it on
the job.” Only 3 of a possible 42 users signed up. The analysts were satisfied that the memo
effectively screened people who needed training from those who did not.
a. In a paragraph, explain how the systems analysts got off the track in their approach to
training.
b. Outline the steps you would take to ensure that the right people at Cramtrack are trained.
c. Suggest in a paragraph how the Web might be used to assist in training for Cramtrack.
a. Systems analysts have the responsibility for determining who needs to be trained. As a
general rule, anyone whose work is affected by the new information system should be
trained.
b. To ensure that the right people are trained at Cramtrack, first, determine who would be
affected by the new system. Separate these people into different groups based on their
background, level of skills, and job requirements. Work out a plan as to what to train,
where to train, and who should train the different user groups.
c. The Web might be used to train more technical people by using video clips demonstrating
how to use the new system, as well as by using slides that have voice narration explaining
the system. The Web might also be used to stream video content or to use podcasts.
Sales
Foreman Representative
Architects
(Philadelphia)
8. A beautiful, full-color brochure arrived on Bill Cornwell’s desk describing the Benny Company’s
offsite training program and facilities in glowing terms; it showed happy users at PCs and
professional-looking trainers leaning over them with concerned looks. Bill ran excitedly into
Roseann’s office and told her, “We’ve got to use these people. This place looks terrific!” Roseann
was not persuaded by the brochure, but didn’t know what to say in defense of the onsite training
for users that she had already authorized.
a. In a few sentences, help Roseann argue the usefulness of onsite training with in-house
trainers in contrast to offsite training with externally hired trainers.
b. If Bill does decide on Benny Company training, what should he do to verify that this
company is indeed the right place to train the company’s information system users? Make
a list of actions he should take.
Users are in the organization context within which they must eventually exist.
Trainers are familiar with the skills and learning preferences of the employees to be
trained.
Users see the equipment placed as it will be when it is fully operational.
b. To make sure that Benny Company is the right place to train the company’s information
system users, the following actions should be taken:
Schedule is right
9. “Just a little longer…I want to be sure this is working correctly before I change over,” says Buffy,
the owner of three bathroom accessories boutiques called Tub ’n Stuff. Her accountant, who
helped her set up a new accounting information system, is desperately trying to persuade Buffy to
change over completely to the new system. Buffy has insisted on running the old and new systems
in parallel for an entire year.
a. Briefly describe the general problems involved in using a parallel conversion strategy for
implementing a new information system.
b. In a paragraph, try to convince the owner of Tub ’n Stuff that a year of running a system
in parallel is long enough. Suggest a way to end Tub ’n Stuff’s dual systems that will
provide enough reassurance to Buffy. (Assume the new system is reliable.)
a. Some of the general problems that can be encountered with a parallel conversion strategy
for implementing a new information system are:
b. Running the system in parallel for a year has been very expensive. To be fully assured
that the new system is running well and is reliable enough, a post-implementation test can
be conducted. If the system passes the evaluation test, it should be safe enough to stop
using the old system.
10. Draft a plan to perform Web traffic analysis for the ecommerce application developed for
Marathon Vitamin Shops. (See Consulting Opportunities 1.1, 13.2, and 14.5 for more information
about the organization, their products, and their goals.) Your plan should take the form of a
written report to the owner of the chain, Bill Berry. Be sure to indicate what statistics you will
monitor and why they are important for Marathon Vitamin Shops to know.
The plan to monitor Web traffic analysis for Marathon Vitamin Shops should include the
following key points:
A. Marathon should know how often the website is visited by using a counter that provides
the number of hits by day and hour. This will tell when the site may be maintained as
well as when to start new promotions.
B. Learn details about specific pages on the site, including which topics are the most useful,
which product pages were visited the most, and so on. If pages are not visited very often,
the links to the page should be investigated or the products should be promoted more
often.
C. Learn visitor demographics to determine if users are from an area that has a store and
they are familiar with the company or if they are buying solely from the website.
D. Discover if visitors can properly fill out the order forms on Marathon’s site. If they go to
the order form page but do not submit an order, the form should be analyzed for usability.
Things to check for are required fields (such as state or zip code) for international
customer, or being asked for a credit card number before getting the total for the order
including shipping and handling.
E. Find out who is referring website visitors to Marathon’s website. This would be useful for
advertising.
F. Determine what browsers visitors are using would help with the design of the site,
especially if the site is using features that only the newest browsers support.
G. Find out if Marathon’s website visitors are interested in advertising. This could increase
traffic as well as increase the visibility of the website in search engine results that rate a
site by the number of sites that have links to it.
11. Ayman’s Office Supplies Company recently had a new information system installed to help its
managers with inventory. In speaking with the managers, you notice that they seemed disgruntled
with the system output, which is a series of displays that show current inventory, customer and
supplier addresses, and so on. All screens need to be accessed through several special commands
and the use of a password. The managers had several opinions about the system but had no
systematic way to evaluate it.
a. Devise a checklist or form that helps Ayman’s managers evaluate the utilities of an
information system.
b. Suggest a second way to evaluate the information system.
a. A suitable checklist to use in this situation would be the use of information system utility
approach.
3) Place Utility: Are screen outputs accessible to the managers? Is the computer
located at a convenient place?
4) Possession Utility: Are managers able to receive information? Are the passwords
keeping the authorized personnel only to access the information? Do managers
have problems with accessing the information using passwords?
5) Implementation Utility: Was implementation easy? Did all users get involved
with design of output? Was the trial period successful?
7) Goal Utility: Did the system fulfill user requirements? Are all the objectives of
the system met?
b. Another approach that can be used is the user involvement approach. It provides a
checklist of dysfunctional behavior by various organizational members and provides an
insight for future projects.
Group Projects
1. Nicholas Ventola is the General Manager for the world-famous Le Corked restaurant. His
information system was developed over time and, as it exists now, it consists of two computer
systems that do not communicate with one another. One system handles reservations and
maintains a database of customers’ preferences (likes, dislikes, food allergies), birthdates and
anniversaries, and other information. The other system assigns each party to a table on a given
night. In your group use a top-down approach to identify the modules that would be necessary to
accomplish everything Nicholas wants to do using only one computer system, from making
reservations to ordering food. From your own experience, determine what systems are necessary
to operate a fine dining establishment, then describe the modules and how and when you would
use them.
Second level: Customer Reservation and Information subsystem and Table Reservation
subsystem
Next level: Add New Customer, Make Customer Reservation, Assign Customer to Table, Order
Customer Food. You might want to add a Customer Survey module to get feedback on how well
the restaurant is doing.
2. Divide your group into two subgroups. One subgroup should interview the members of the other
subgroup about their experiences encountered in registering for a class. Questions should be
designed to elicit information on customs, tales, sayings, and art forms that will help document
the registration process at your school.
You might suggest that students take a walk or even an arranged tour through the registration area
or building. They should take notes on the art forms.
3. Reunite your group to develop a Web page for a short excerpt for a FOLKLORE manual that
documents the process of registering for a class, one based on the FOLKLORE passed on in the
interviews in Project 1. Remember to include examples of customs, tales, sayings, and art forms.
Results will vary depending on the teams and their registration experiences.
a. Computers are located in several rooms, not all in the same proximity, rather than the
same room. The star network makes cabling them easier than a ring network.
b. The star network allows the data files to be located on the central node, the host
computer. All updating and inquiries are processed using one set of files that may be
locked in a secure area. Backup becomes an easy task, using removable hard disks or
streamer tape.
2. Describe procedures that should be designed to create automatic backup files. In a paragraph, be
sure to consider the pros and cons of these procedures.
a. All transactions entering the system from online screens will be placed on log (or journal)
transaction files. These are located on a smaller, second hard disk within the server
computer. If there is a head crash or other problem on the main hard disk, the backup files
would still exist. The format of the log files is:
System System Computer ID User ID Screen data. The format of this portion of the
Date Time log record varies from screen to screen.
b. All database files are copied to tape every night. These are removed to one of the other
campus locations and stored in a vault.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
i. Programs must be written to restore database records in a batch mode from the
log files
ii. Streamer tape units may be initially expensive
3. List security measures that should be taken to prevent unauthorized persons from using the
computer system.
b. User IDs and passwords are used to access menus and programs. Coded user IDs restrict
access to update and inquiry functions.
4. Outline a disaster recovery plan for the new computer system you have created for CPU. In
particular focus on the teams that will be responsible for managing a crisis.
5. Explain in a paragraph why a phased conversion would be used to install the computer system.
A phased conversion is the best method because the system has several major subsystems.
Hardware records and programs must be installed first because software records reference them.
The phased conversion provides data entry personnel time to update records with additional data
elements not stored in the old system.