Lesson 1.2 Foundations for Systems Development

Question 1

What are the six different sources of software?

Answer 1

(1) information technology services firms، (2) packaged software providers، (3) vendors of enterprise solutions software، (4) cloud computing، (5) open-source software، and (6) the organization itself when it develops software in-house.

Question 2

When and where was the first administrative information system developed?

Answer 2

Despite some debate about when and where the first administrative information system was developed، it is generally agreed that the first such system in the United Kingdom was developed at J. Lyons & Sons (time not specified). In the United States، the first administrative information system was the General Electric (GE) payroll system، which was developed in 1954.

Question 3

Why would a company want to outsource its informations systems?

Answer 3

Outsourcing may be cost effective. If a company specializes in running payroll for other companies، it can leverage the economies of scale it achieves from running one stable computer application for many organizations into low prices. Another reason may be to overcome operating problems the organization faces in its information systems unit. Another reason for total outsourcing is that an organization’s management may feel its core mission does not involve managing an information systems unit and that it might achieve more effective computing by turning over all of its operations to a more experienced، computer-oriented company.

Question 4

What are the six major production catagories that organization that produces software fit into?

Answer 4

(1) information technology services firms، (2) packaged software providers، (3) vendors of enterprise solutions software، (4) cloud computing، (5) opensource software، and (6) in-house development

Question 5

What are Information Technology Services Firms?

Answer 5

If a company needs an information system but does not have the expertise or the personnel to develop the system in-house and a suitable off-the-shelf system is not available، the company will likely consult an information technology (IT) services firm. IT services firms help companies develop custom information systems for internal use; they develop، host، and run applications for customers، or they provide other services.

Question 6

What do the following websites/firms specialize in? Accenture، Capgemini، Sogenti، Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)، IBM، HP

Answer 6

IT Services

Question 7

What do the following websites/firms specialize in? Microsoft، Intuit، Oracle، Symantec، Adobe

Answer 7

Packaged Software Providers

Question 8

What do the following websites/firms specialize in? Oracle، SAP AG

Answer 8

Enterprise Software Solutions

Question 9

What do the following websites/firms specialize in? Amazon.com، Google، Microsoft، Salesforce.com

Answer 9

Cloud Computing

Question 10

What do the following websites/firms specialize in? SourceForge.net

Answer 10

Open Source

Question 11

What percentage of a turnkey system can be used by a company on average?

Answer 11

A reasonable estimate is that off-the-shelf software can at best meet 70 percent of an organization’s needs. Thus، even in the best case، 30 percent of the software systems used don’t perfectly match the organization’s specifications

Question 12

What is the benefit of using an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system?

Answer 12

The benefits of the enterprise solutions approach include a single repository of data for all aspects of a business process and the flexibility of the modules. A single repository ensures more consistent and accurate data، as well as less maintenance.

Question 13

What are the drawbacks of using an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system?

Answer 13

The systems are complex، so implementation can take a long time to complete. Organizations typically do not have the necessary expertise in-house to implement the systems، so they must rely on consultants or employees of the software vendor، which can be expensive. In some cases، organizations must change how they do business in order to benefit from a shift toward enterprise solutions

Question 14

What does the ERP systems market look like today?

Answer 14

Together، SAP and Oracle control about 42 percent of the ERP market. As the higher end of the market has become saturated with ERP systems، most ERP vendors are looking to medium and small businesses for growth.

Question 15

What are the 3 main benefits of cloud computing?

Answer 15

1) freeing internal IT staff، (2) gaining access to applications faster than via internal development، and (3) achieving lower-cost access to corporate-quality applications.

Question 16

What are the main drawbacks of cloud computing?

Answer 16

The primary concern is reliability، but other concerns include security and compliance with government regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley.

Question 17

How do people/companies make money off of open source software?

Answer 17

(1) providing maintenance and other services، or (2) providing one version of the software for free and selling a more fully featured version.

Question 18

When determining wheather or not to buy packaged software or develop it in house، what are the most common questions you should compare and contrast? In addition، which two are most important to consider?

Answer 18

Cost، Functionality، Vendor support، Viability of vendor، Flexibility، Documentation، Response time، Ease of installation Vendor support and vendor viability

Question 19

What are the two main development technologies reuse can be applied to?

Answer 19

Although it can conceivably apply to many different aspects of software، typically it is most commonly applied to two different development technologies: object-oriented and component-based development.

Question 20

What are the 3 steps of software reuse? Explain them.

Answer 20

Software reuse has three basic steps: abstraction، storage، and recontextualization. Abstraction involves the design of a reusable piece of software، starting from existing software assets or from scratch. Storage involves making software assets available for others to use. Although it sounds like a simple problem، storage can actually be very challenging. The problem is not simply putting software assets on a shelf; the problem is correctly labeling and cataloging assets so that others can find the ones they want to use. Once an asset has been found، recontextualization—or making the reusable asset understandable to developers who want to use it in their systems—becomes important.

Question 21

What is ad hoc reuse?

Answer 21

With this approach، individuals are free to find or develop reusable assets on their own، but few، if any، organizational rewards are offered for reusing assets. Storage is not an issue، because individuals keep track of and distribute their own software assets. For such an ad hoc، individually driven approach، it is difficult to measure any potential benefits to the company.

Question 22

what is facilitated reuse?

Answer 22

With this approach، developers are not required to practice reuse، but they are encouraged to do so. The organization makes available some tools and techniques that enable the development and sharing of reusable assets، and one or more employees may be assigned the role of evangelist to publicize and promote the program. Little is done to track the quality and use of reusable assets; however، the overall corporate investment is small.

Question 23

What is managed reuse?

Answer 23

A more structured، and more expensive، mode of managing software reuse. With managed reuse، the development، sharing، and adoption of reusable assets is mandated. The organization establishes processes and policies for ensuring that reuse is practiced and that the results are measured. The organization also establishes policies and procedures for ensuring the quality of its reusable assets.

Question 24

What is designed reuse?

Answer 24

The most expensive and extensive approach to reuse is designed reuse. In addition to mandating reuse and measuring its effectiveness، the designed reuse approach takes the extra step of mandating that assets be designed for reuse as
they are being designed for specific applications.