Deck 14: Acquiring Information Systems and Applications

Question 1

The IT infrastructure delineates the way an organization's information resources should be used to accomplish its mission.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The SDLC encourages changes to user requirements once they have been established.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Insourcing application development is usually less time consuming and less expensive than buying or leasing.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

IT architecture focuses only on the technical aspects of information resources.

Question 5

Open-source applications are basically the same as a proprietary application except for licensing, payment, and support.

Question 6

Costs are harder to quantify than benefits.

Question 7

In a direct conversion, the new system is turned on, and the old system is turned off at a later time.

Question 8

The return on investment (ROI)method of cost-benefit analysis measures the effectiveness of management in generating profits with its available assets.

Question 9

Systems maintenance includes debugging and updating a system.

Question 10

The IS operational plan is a set of projects that will be executed by the IS department and by functional area managers.

Question 11

Technical feasibility determines if the project is an acceptable financial risk and if the organization can afford the expense and time needed to complete the project.

Question 12

Pilot conversion is the process in which the new system is introduced in one part of the organization.

Question 13

Software rental is a method of delivering software in which a vendor hosts the applications and customers use them over a network, typically the Internet.

Question 14

Systems analysis describes how a system will solve the business problem, and systems design describes what the system must do to accomplish the task.

Question 15

Organizations typically move slowly to acquire new information technologies due to the risks involved.

Question 16

Adding functions after a project has been initiated is called scope creep.

Question 17

The earlier in the development process that errors are detected, the less expensive they are to correct.

Question 18

The application portfolio in an organization is a set of recommended applications resulting from the planning and justification process in application development.

Question 19

The SDLC is relatively inflexible.

Question 20

The buy option is particularly attractive if the software vendor allows the company to modify the package to meet its needs.

Question 21

Maintenance ends when the new system is implemented and has run long enough for a systems audit.

Question 22

Which of the following statements about determining the costs and benefits of IT investments is false?

A)Some costs are fixed.
B)Costs do not end when the system is installed.
C)Many IT projects end up being over budget.
D)Benefits are hard to quantify because implementing new technology could be used for multiple purposes.
E)Benefits are hard to quantify because they are tangible.

Question 23

The most difficult task in evaluating a vendor and a software package is to determine the vendor's financial health and "staying power."

Question 24

A key principle of the scrum approach for agile development is that users cannot change their minds during a project.

Question 25

With agile development, a company develops only what it needs right now to be successful.

Question 26

A request for proposal (RFP)is sent to potential customers.

Question 27

Travis just started to work in the IS department for a mid-size firm. One of the first things he was asked to do was read the IS operational plan. Which of the following is Travis not likely to see in this IS operational plan?

A)The mission of the IS function
B)The organizational mission
C)The IT architecture
D)The application portfolio
E)The IS function's estimate of its goals

Question 28

A company's IT architecture includes all of the following except:

A)Hardware and software
B)Networks
C)Database management systems
D)The members of the IT staff
E)How IT decisions will be made

Question 29

A service-level agreement (SLA)outlines how work is divided between the company and its vendors.

Question 30

Which of the following is not an advantage of the buy option for acquiring IS applications?

A)Few types of off-the-shelf software are available, thus limiting confusion.
B)The software can be tried out.
C)The buy option saves time.
D)The company will know what it is getting.
E)All of the above

Question 31

Which of the following is not a part of the typical IS operational plan?

A)The mission of the IS function
B)The organizational mission
C)The IT architecture
D)The application portfolio
E)The IS function's estimate of its goals

Question 32

A company's IT application portfolio is ____________.

A)A list of existing application the company owns.
B)A list of applications that need to be updated.
C)A list of applications that need to be removed.
D)A list of applications that need to be replaced.
E)A list of application to be added or modified.

Question 33

Evaluating the benefits of IT projects is more complex than evaluating their costs for all of the following reasons except:

A)Benefits are harder than costs to quantify.
B)Benefits tend to be more tangible than costs.
C)IT can be used for several different purposes.
D)The probability of obtaining a return from an IT investment is based on the probability of implementation success.
E)The proposed system may be "cutting edge."

Question 34

Outsourcing is the use of outside contractors or external organizations to acquire IT services.

Question 35

Joint application design is used to collect user requirements.

Question 36

Which of the following are disadvantages of the buy option for acquiring IS applications?

A)The software may not exactly meet the company's needs.
B)The software may be impossible to modify.
C)The company will not have control over software improvements.
D)The software may not integrate with existing systems.
E)All of the above

Question 37

Object-oriented development focuses on properties and operations.

Question 38

Travis just started to work in the IS department for a mid-size firm. One of the first things he was asked to do was read the IS operational plan. His supervisor also gave him a copy of the company's IT application portfolio. This will be a list of ___________________

A)existing applications the company owns
B)applications that need to be removed.
C)applications that need to be updated
D)applications to be added or modified
E)applications that need to be replaced.

Question 39

Prototyping allows the users to clarify their information requirements as they use the prototype.

Question 40

Refer to IT's About Business 14.4 - Avon Writes Off $125 Million on Failed Software Implementation: The failure of Avon's system is an example of how usability has become a critical issue in the marketplace.

Question 41

Which of the following systems acquisition methods requires staff to systematically go through every step in the development process and has a lower probability of missing important user requirements?

A)Systems development life cycle
B)Prototyping
C)End-user development
D)External acquisition
E)Object-oriented development

Question 42

Anna works in the sales organization of a mid-size company. The company decided to purchase Sales SME that is offered as a SaaS. What would you expect to see in a SLA with the vendors?

A)Price of the software
B)Upgrade prices for the software
C)Whether the software can be changed by Anna's company
D)Availability guarantees
E)Bug reporting process

Question 43

Which of the following is not a part of systems analysis?

A)Defining the business problem
B)Identifying the causes of, and solutions to, the business problem
C)Identifying the information requirements that the solution must satisfy
D)Identifying the technical specifications of the solution
E)Gathering information about the existing system

Question 44

Which of the following systems acquisition methods can result in a company's acquiring software that is controlled by another company, may be difficult to enhance or modify, and may not support the desired business processes?

A)Systems development life cycle
B)Prototyping
C)End-user development
D)Buy option
E)Component-based development

Question 45

_____ is a method of delivering software in which a vendor hosts the applications and customers access these applications over the Internet.

A)Software-as-a-Service
B)Prototyping
C)Leasing the application
D)Service-oriented architecture
E)The buy option

Question 46

Refer to IT's About Business 14.1 - A Disastrous Development Project: Marin County filed a complaint that Deloitte, the consulting firm they selected to lead their project, charging a number of things. Which among the following was not one of them?

A)Deloitte was using project to train new consultants.
B)Deloitte intentionally failed to disclose its lack of needed technical expertise for the project.
C)Deloitte conducted inadequate testing during project.
D)Deloitte was charged with all of the above.

Question 47

_____ feasibility concerns a firm's policies and politics, power structures, and business relationships.

A)Technical
B)Economic
C)Organizational
D)Behavioral
E)Time

Question 48

Which of the following systems acquisition methods saves the company's time, enables the company to select software that has been used for similar problems in other organizations, and allows the company to try out the software?

A)Systems development life cycle
B)Prototyping
C)End-user development
D)Buy option
E)Object-oriented development

Question 49

Jennifer is the owner of a start-up boutique that specializes in hard-to-find dress sizes for women. She has been keeping her financial books by using Excel and by hand. She researched available accounting packages for a business like hers and has decided on Boutique Accounting. Boutique Accounting is offered from a SaaS vendor. Which of the following is true?

A)Jennifer needs to buy hardware that the software can run on
B)Jennifer will purchase the software.
C)Jennifer will need to hire someone to maintain the software for her.
D)Jennifer needs network access to the vendor's location.

Question 50

_____ feasibility addresses the human issues of an information systems project.

A)Technical
B)Economic
C)Organizational
D)Behavioral
E)Time

Question 51

When users ask for added functionality during a systems development project, this is called ______________.

A)User-defined software.
B)Scope creep.
C)Bloatware.
D)An out-of-control project.
E)A runaway project.

Question 52

_____ feasibility determines if the project is an acceptable financial risk and if the organization can afford the expense and time needed to complete the project.

A)Technical
B)Economic
C)Organizational
D)Behavioral
E)Time

Question 53

Place the stages of the systems development life cycle in order:

A)Investigation - analysis - design - programming/testing - implementation - operation/maintenance
B)Investigation - design - analysis - programming/testing - implementation - operation/maintenance
C)Analysis - design - investigation - operation/maintenance - programming/testing - implementation
D)Investigation - analysis - design - programming/testing - operation/maintenance - implementation
E)Investigation - implementation - analysis - programming/testing - design - operation/maintenance

Question 54

The _____ that changes are made in the systems development life cycle, the _____ expensive these changes become.

A)sooner, less
B)later, less
C)more frequently, more
D)more extensively, more
E)sooner, more

Question 55

Systems design answers the question, _____.

A)How will the information system resolve the business problem?
B)How much will the information system cost?
C)What is the problem the information system must address?
D)Who will benefit from use of the information system being developed?
E)What is the effective operational life of the system?

Question 56

Which of the following systems acquisition methods is time consuming, costly, and may produce excessive documentation?

A)Systems development life cycle
B)Prototyping
C)End-user development
D)External acquisition
E)Object-oriented development

Question 57

The deliverable of the systems design stage is:

A)User requirements.
B)Technical system specifications.
C)The prototype.
D)The source code.
E)A working application.

Question 58

Refer to IT's About Business 14.2 - General Motors Insources its Information Technology Function: When General Motor's new CIO started in February 2012, what percent of the company's Information Technology work was outsourced?

A)100 percent
B) 90 percent
C) 75 percent
D) 25 percent

Question 59

In the traditional systems development life cycle, users:

A)Are important and ongoing members of the development team throughout the life of the project.
B)Are important only in the testing phases of the project.
C)Have no input.
D)Are important only in the maintenance phase of the project.
E)Provide information requirements.

Question 60

Which of the following statements is false?

A)Companies that use Software-as-a-Service are running applications on the vendor's hardware.
B)Application service providers are similar to Software-as-a-Service providers.
C)Companies that purchase open-source software cannot modify it.
D)Outsourcing refers to acquiring IT applications from outside contractors.
E)Insourcing refers to building IT applications in-house.

Question 61

The _____ approach to systems development is a group-based tool for collecting user requirements.

A)Integrated computer-assisted software engineering
B)Joint application design
C)Rapid application development
D)Prototyping
E)Systems development life cycle

Question 62

As systems age, maintenance costs _____.

A)Decrease
B)Increase
C)Remain the same
D)Are negligible
E)Are not considered

Question 63

Jennifer is the owner of a start-up boutique that specializes in hard-to-find dress sizes for women. She has been keeping her financial books by using Excel and by hand. She thinks it's time to buy an accounting package. What question does she need to answer first?

A)How will the accounting package resolve my business problem?
B)How much will the accounting package cost?
C)What is the problem the accounting package must address?
D)Who will benefit from the use of the accounting package?
E)What is the effective operational life of the accounting package?

Question 64

Agile development __________________.

A)Takes a long time.
B)Requires little user input.
C)Delivers functionality in rapid interactions.
D)Focuses on all required functionality at each step of the way.
E)Uses the scrum approach to design the system.

Question 65

Anna works in the sales organization of a mid-size company. The company has decided to replace its existing sales support system. Anna is working with the analysts in IS to understand the human issues of proposed software applications. This is called ________________ feasibility.

A)technical
B)economic
C)organizational
D)behavioral
E)time

Question 66

In the _____ stage of the systems development life cycle, the design specifications are translated into computer code.

A)Systems analysis
B)Programming
C)Systems design
D)Prototyping
E)Feasibility study

Question 67

When systems are created rapidly, without a formal development methodology:

A)End users can take over the work of MIS analysts.
B)The organization quickly outgrows the new system.
C)Hardware, software, and quality standards are less important.
D)Testing and documentation may be inadequate.
E)The organization saves money.

Question 68

________ conversion is the riskiest type of conversion process.

A)Parallel
B)Direct
C)Pilot
D)Phased
E)They all have equal risk.

Question 69

Anna works in the sales organization of a mid-size company. The company has decided to replace its existing sales support system. Of the seven sales offices, only Anna's is going to run it at first. What type of implementation is her company using?

A)Direct
B)Pilot
C)Phased
D)Parallel

Question 70

Jennifer is the owner of a start-up boutique that specializes in hard-to-find dress sizes for women. She has been keeping her financial books by using Excel and by hand. She researched available accounting packages for a business like hers and has decided on Boutique Accounting. What is the best way for Jennifer to implement Boutique Accounting?

A)Pilot
B)Piecemeal
C)Direct
D)Parallel

Question 71

As an MIS analyst, you have decided to use a prototyping methodology for a small, Web-based design project. What is the order of steps that you will follow in the project?

A)Develop the prototype; use the prototype; revise and enhance the prototype.
B)Identify user requirements; develop the prototype; use the prototype; revise and enhance the prototype.
C)Develop the prototype; identify user requirements; use the prototype; revise and enhance the prototype.
D)Identify user requirements; develop solutions; select the best prototype; implement the prototype.
E)Identify user requirements; develop the prototype; revise and enhance the prototype.

Question 72

_____ is a software development methodology that delivers functionality in rapid iterations, usually measured in weeks.

A)Agile development
B)Prototyping
C)The systems development life cycle
D)Joint application development
E)Component-based development

Question 73

A firm implements a new information system in one of its plants, assesses the new system's performance, and then implements the new system in its other plants. This is an example of __________ conversion.

A)Phased
B)Direct
C)Parallel
D)Pilot
E)Timely

Question 74

Which of the following systems acquisition methods helps clarify user requirements, promotes genuine user participation, and may produce part of the final system?

A)Systems development life cycle
B)Prototyping
C)End-user development
D)External acquisition
E)Component-based development

Question 75

Which of the following statements about scope creep is true?

A)Scope creep is relatively cheap, regardless of when it occurs in a project.
B)Because scope creep is relatively cheap, successful project managers allow it.
C)Because scope creep is expensive, successful project managers will not allow it.
D)Because scope creep is expensive, successful project managers limit it.
E)Scope creep means that user requirements are being successfully taken care of.

Question 76

Which of the following is not an advantage of the joint application design approach to systems development?

A)It involves fewer users in the development process.
B)It saves time.
C)It results in greater user acceptance of the new system.
D)It can produce a higher-quality system.
E)It provides for greater user participation in the definition of the requirements.

Question 77

Anna works in the sales organization of a mid-size company. The company is evaluating whether it should replace its existing sales support system. At what stage of the SDLC should Anna expect to participate?

A)Systems analysis
B)Programming
C)Systems design
D)Prototyping
E)Feasibility study

Question 78

A firm shuts down its old COBOL legacy system and immediately starts up its new PeopleSoft ERP system. This process is called __________ conversion.

A)Phased
B)Direct
C)Parallel
D)Pilot
E)Timely

Question 79

Which of the following systems acquisition methods may encourage inadequate problem analysis, is not practical with large numbers of users, and may result in a company's purchasing a lower-quality system?

A)Systems development life cycle
B)Prototyping
C)End-user development
D)External acquisition
E)Component-based development

Question 80

Jennifer is the owner of a start-up boutique that specializes in hard-to-find dress sizes for women. She has been keeping her financial books by using Excel and by hand. She thinks it's time to buy an accounting package. She makes a list of the features she thinks she will need from an accounting package. This document could be considered her _____________.

A)shopping list.
B)user requirements.
C)the design she wants from the system.
D)economic feasibility