Question 1.ii
Three further considerations beyond financials include (1) stability and history of the SoAAS provider, as it will be very important that they stay in business and provide good service over the course of the contract to get the benefits; (2) the openness of the IT department to have primary IT functions controlled off-site, and how this would effect the relationship of this department with the rest of the company and (3) how confidential is the information to be stored and what are the back-up set ups of the service provider in case of catastrophe. If the information is highly confidential using a SoAAS where the data is physically far away may not be the right risk choice.
Question 1.iii
A bespoke development is where the different functions of the software are custom developed for the company. This is most appropriate when the particular processes of the company are highly unique and the company does not want to change them. It also depends on whether or not these highly unique processes provide the core profitability or differentiation of the company from others. If that is the case, the custom software is justified.
Question 3.i
The Iterative Model of software development was developed in order to be faster, require less upfront information, and offer greater flexibility than the Waterfall model. The requirement for less upfront information has been necessitated by the increasingly uncertain market conditions acting on organizations during project development. This results in a need to go forward while some aspects of the project are still fluid. One highly significant market condition is the current rapid pace of change for information technology. The primary characteristic of the iterative model is that the project is divided into small parts, where feedback from each phase influences the design of the next phase, or iteration.
The Spiral Model is similar to the Iterative Model in overall process, but there is more emphasis on risk analysis. That is because at the end of each iteration (called a spiral for this model), risks are identified and alternative solutions are proposed. At the end of each risk analysis phase, a prototype is produced. In the spiral model, the radius of the spiral is cost, while the angle of the spiral shows project progress.
An example of an iterative process is creating a tested version that meets a defined set of objectives. This is presented to the customer for inspection and acceptance. The feedback is incorporated and another version is produced that meets another additional defined group of objectives. This is again sent to the customer for inspection and acceptance. After incorporation of feedback, still another defined set of objectives is addressed. After multiple iterations, all objectives are addressed and the software is released to the customer.
Question 3.ii
The DeLone and McLean model is an attempt to define the characteristics of information systems that result in their success and how to measure them. Each characteristic functions as a dimension in the model. The six dimensions are information, system and service quality, intention to use, user satisfaction, and net benefits. System quality can be determined for an on-line shopping website by how easy and convenient the website is to use and how attractive the interface is to the customer. Information quality for the website can be determined by how well the system maintains and utilizes the information that has been input, as well as the correct selection of what information is stored from the point of view of the user. Service quality for a shopping website is determined by how well it accommodates the volume of shoppers, the time transactions and other actions take, and how reliable the system is in relation to stable information storage.
Question 3.iii
Organisational culture and its effect on the success of an IT system can be illustrated using a competing values framework. The four quadrants of this framework describe four different business models that have a relationship to each other across measurements of internal vs external forces in the horizontal direction and flexibility vs. control in the vertical direction. Thus, the upper left hand quadrant (flexible, internal) describes a human relations/collaborate business model, while the upper right hand quadrant (flexible, external) describes an open systems/create business model. The lower left hand quadrant (internal, control) describes an internal process/control model, while the lower right hand quadrant (external, control) describes a rational goal/compete model. It is anticipated that depending on the values most emphasized within a business along these variations, different IT systems will be perceived as more or less effective. For example, collaborate business models focus on producing things that last, while create business models focus on doing things first. Compete business models focus on doing things fast, while control business models focus on doing things right. The relative success of an IT system to these various models depends on how much of an overlap between what the system achieves most effectively and the business’ core values.
Question 4.i
A scoring system for deciding between different options of software involves the use of specific criteria that reflect the needs of the organization. The criteria are weighed according to the relative importance of the particular need. The different option are each scored according to the whether the option meets or does not meet the criteria, and then these scores are multiplied by the weight given to the particular criteria. The various scores for each option are added and the option with the highest score indicates which system that should be selected.
Question 4.ii
A cause and effect diagram is as shown below in Figure 1. For a problem = computer failure some of the cause trees would be filled out as follows. Equipment cause = hardware failure or network crash. Process cause = improper back up or virus protection. People cause = improper oversight or improperly trained staff. Materials cause = unstable software or erroneous training documents. Environment cause = defective cooling system or unrelenting work stress. Management cause = micro-controlling manager or absent manager.
Figure 1.
