Name the various costs associated with managing information within a business.
Production Distribution Security Storage Retrieval of information
Three roles associated with a systems analyst
Consultant
Supporting expert
Agent of change
What is CASE?
Computer-Aided Software Engineering
CASE is productivity tools created explicitly to improve routine work through the use of automated support
Object-oriented analysis and design
An approach intended to facilitate the development of systems that must change rapidly in response to dynamic business environments
Four characteristics of systems
- interrelated
- interdependent
- process inputs from their environment, i.e., change or transform inputs into outputs
- all systems are contained by boundaries separating them from their environment
- feedback is a form of system control
What is ERP?
Enterprise Resource Planning
An ERP system is an information system which integrates business functions on various levels across different departments
Name two well-known ERP packages
SAP
Oracle
What are the three levels of management in an organisation?
- Strategic management
- Managerial planning and control
- Operational control
Name 4 general considerations when regarding project selection
The backing of management is essential
Timing of the project; capability of making time for the project
Possibility of improving attainment of strategic organisational goals
Practicality in terms of resources and capabilities ; make sure the project falls within your field of expertise
Worthiness of the project; it needs to be worthwhile
Explain the 3 types of feasibility
- Technical feasibility
- considering whether it is possible to develop the new system given the current technical resources - Economic feasibility
- considering time and cost involved - Operational feasibility
- considering human resources available and whether the system will operation and be usable once put into service
Advantages of buying computer hardware (as opposed to using cloud services)
- full control over hardware and software
- often cheaper in the long run
- provides tax advantages through depreciation
Disadvantages of buying computer hardware (as opposed to using cloud services)
- initial cost is high
- risk of obsolescence
- risk of being stuck if choice was wrong
- full responsibility for operation and maintenance
Advantages of using cloud services (as opposed to buying computer hardware)
- maintenance and upgrades performed by provider
- ability to change software and hardware rapidly
- scalable (can grow quickly)
- consistent over multiple platforms
- no capital tied up
Disadvantages of using cloud services (as opposed to buying computer hardware)
- company doesn’t control its own data
- data security is at risk
- reliability risks of the Internet platform
- proprietary APIs and software may make switching providers difficult
Name 4 kinds of prototypes used
- patched-up prototype
- non-operational prototype
- first-of-a-series prototype
- selected features prototype
In Agile Modelling, what are the four values which create an environment in which both developers and businesses can be adequately served?
- communication
- simplicity
- feedback
- courage
What does a use case model describe of a system?
It describes what the system does without describing how it is done
What does UML stand for?
Unified Modelling Language
Describe a class
Defines the set of shared attributes and behaviours of objects
Describe an object
Any person, thing, event, that is relevant to the system being analysed, i.e., an instant of a class
Describe the concept of ‘inheritance’
The derived class (child) is created from the base class (parent) The child class inherits all the attributes and behaviours that the parent has, but can also include additional attributes and behaviours e.g, 'truck' is inherited from the base class 'vehicles'
The three main components of UML
things
relationships
diagrams
Give three examples of behavioural diagrams used in UML
Use case diagrams
Activity diagrams
Sequence and combination diagrams
Name three things that a use case always provides
An actor initiates some event
The event then triggers a use case
The use case performs the actions that are triggered by the event
