Page 4 of 9
SECTION B: Short Answer Questions. (6 x 5 marks = 30 marks)
There are SIX (6) short answers questions in this section. Each question ca
ies 5 marks. Answer
All questions.
B1) Based on the following mini-case description, identify the key stakeholders and then categorise
them in terms of their influence and interest in the development of the electronic purchasing
system. (5 marks)
Mini-case description
A reputed IT company was recently contracted to build a web-based procurement system for the
Australian Defence Force (ADF). The project involves undertaking a rigorous systems analysis
investigation of the procurement process followed by the ADF. The goal is to design a web-based
system that will be used by both civilian staff involved in ADF procurement process as well as the
many army officers who place orders for procurement. The development of the system is sponsored
y the army general who heads the logistics division of the ADF. He will need to read many of the
high level reports generated by the system. The system will also require inputs from many lower
anking non-officer army personnel. The IT company also wants to consider the group of mid-level
managers (Captains and Majors) who they believe will be more actively involved in daily operations
once the new IT system is deployed. These managers, although involved in managing the
procurement process, do not know the exact details of how the process works at the lowest levels.
Page 5 of 9
B2) The key to successfully developing information systems is understanding the requirements of
the system. For any two common fact finding techniques (NOT interviews), name each
technique, and
iefly describe one key advantage and one key disadvantage for each
technique. (5 marks)
Common Fact Finding Technique 1 (QUESTIONNAIRE): (1 mark)
It is suited to gathering limited and specific information from a large number of
stakeholders via a series of question with either a choice of answers or open ended
questions. (1 mark)
Advantages: (1 mark)
a) A quick way of getting information when people are widely dispersed
) Can be answered quickly
c) Relatively inexpensive for a large no of participants
Disadvantages: (1 mark)
a) Not well suited easily gather detailed information - Open-ended questions encourage
discussion and elaboration, but stakeholders will often not complete them
) Response rate could be low if not mandatory
c) Tends to be inflexible and does not allow for clarification easily (if anonymous) because
cannot observe body language
Common Fact Finding Technique 2 (OBSERVE BUSINESS PROCESSES): (1 mark)
It varies from office walkthrough to performing actual tasks. It is not necessary to observe
all processes at same level of detail. It however may make users nervous, so use common
sense. (1 mark)
Advantages: (1 mark)
a) You get to see the employees in actions and observe what actually happens, which may
e very different from documented procedures, or what managers think are happening
Disadvantage (1 mark)
a) You may not get to see what the employees actually do - Hawthorne effect: also refe
ed
to as the observer effect refers to a pheonomenon whereby workers improve or modify an
aspect of their behaviour, or stop working in response to the fact that they are being watched.
B3) What is acceptance testing? Discuss the three key characteristics of acceptance testing.
XXXXXXXXXXmarks)
Acceptance testing is a type of formal testing of a software system which aims at
determining whether or not the system satisfies the acceptance criteria set during systems
analysis. This type of testing enables the client (who have sponsored the system) to
determine whether or not to accept the system developed by the project team. (2 marks)
Key characteristics (3 marks)
a) Acceptance testing is always done by the client of the representatives of the client.
) This type of testing can be done in 2 stages: Alpha testing (clients test the system using
made-up data), and Beta testing (Clients test the system using real data and involving real
users in the target environment).
c) Acceptance testing represents the last stage of testing prior to handing over to deployment
team.
Page 6 of 9
B4) What are the five major concerns that an organisation should consider before making a decision
to acquire a package software to meet business requirements? Discuss. (5 marks)
There are five major concerns. These are described below:
a) Very rare to find a package that can do everything well that a user wants (1 mark)
) Often need to develop specialised package additions (called customisations) because the
multi-purpose packages do not handle certain functions well (1 mark)
c) Conversion and integration (Middleware) costs can sometimes be so significant as to
ender the project infeasible (1 mark)
d) Some vendors refuse to support packages which have been customised by the users .. and
most packages need some customization (1 mark)
e) Customisation can be so extensive that it would have been cheaper to develop the system
in-house (1 mark)
Page 7 of 9
B5) What are the three key differences between adaptive maintenance and preventive maintenance?
Discuss. (5 marks)
No. Adaptive maintenance Preventive maintenance
1 It is concerned with the change in the
software that takes place to make the
software respond to new environment
The term “environment” refers to the
conditions and the influences which act
(from outside) on the system e.g.
changes in business rules, changes in
operating systems on which the
software will operate, changes in
government policies like tax laws. (1.5
mark)
It seeks to identify and fix any potential
problems noted, while fixing other
e
ors. In other words, this type of
maintenance finds defects or potential
problems in software while co
ecting
other defects, before they cause any
damage. (1.5 mark)
2 Accounts for about 25% of all the
maintenance activities (1 mark)
Accounts for only 5% of all the
maintenance activities (1 mark)
3 This type of software maintenance is
eactive in nature (1 mark)
In contrast, this type of software
maintenance is proactive in nature (1
mark)
B6) What is meant by pilot deployment? Is it suitable for all organisations? Discuss. (5 marks)
A pilot deployment refers to the process of software installation when an organisation
selects a small group of people or business unit to test the new software product first before
olling out the product to the entire organisation. This means, only a part of an organisation
(Single location) tries out the new system. Therefore, the pilot deployment means the new
system must prove itself at the test site. (3 marks)
Pilot deployment is not suitable for all organisations. It is more suitable for those
organisations only when they are willing to tolerate different locations (business unit) using
different systems for a certain length of time. (2 marks)
Page 4 of 9
SECTION B: Short Answer Questions. (6 x 5 marks = 30 marks)
There are SIX (6) short answers questions in this section. Each question ca
ies 5 marks. Answer
All questions.
B1) Based on the following mini-case description, identify the key stakeholders and then categorise
them in terms of their influence and interest in the development of the electronic purchasing
system. (5 marks)
Mini-case description
A reputed IT company was recently contracted to build a web-based procurement system for the
Australian Defence Force (ADF). The project involves undertaking a rigorous systems analysis
investigation of the procurement process followed by the ADF. The goal is to design a web-based
system that will be used by both civilian staff involved in ADF procurement process as well as the
many army officers who place orders for procurement. The development of the system is sponsored
y the army general who heads the logistics division of the ADF. He will need to read many of the
high level reports generated by the system. The system will also require inputs from many lower
anking non-officer army personnel. The IT company also wants to consider the group of mid-level
managers (Captains and Majors) who they believe will be more actively involved in daily operations
once the new IT system is deployed. These managers, although involved in managing the
procurement process, do not know the exact details of how the process works at the lowest levels.
Page 5 of 9
B2) The key to successfully developing information systems is understanding the requirements of
the system. For any two common fact finding techniques (NOT interviews), name each
technique, and
iefly describe one key advantage and one key disadvantage for each
technique. (5 marks)
Common Fact Finding Technique 1 (QUESTIONNAIRE): (1 mark)
It is suited to gathering limited and specific information from a large number of
stakeholders via a series of question with either a choice of answers or open ended
questions. (1 mark)
Advantages: (1 mark)
a) A quick way of getting information when people are widely dispersed
) Can be answered quickly
c) Relatively inexpensive for a large no of participants
Disadvantages: (1 mark)
a) Not well suited easily gather detailed information - Open-ended questions encourage
discussion and elaboration, but stakeholders will often not complete them
) Response rate could be low if not mandatory
c) Tends to be inflexible and does not allow for clarification easily (if anonymous) because
cannot observe body language
Common Fact Finding Technique 2 (OBSERVE BUSINESS PROCESSES): (1 mark)
It varies from office walkthrough to performing actual tasks. It is not necessary to observe
all processes at same level of detail. It however may make users nervous, so use common
sense. (1 mark)
Advantages: (1 mark)
a) You get to see the employees in actions and observe what actually happens, which may
e very different from documented procedures, or what managers think are happening
Disadvantage (1 mark)
a) You may not get to see what the employees actually do - Hawthorne effect: also refe
ed
to as the observer effect refers to a pheonomenon whereby workers improve or modify an
aspect of their behaviour, or stop working in response to the fact that they are being watched.
B3) What is acceptance testing? Discuss the three key characteristics of acceptance testing.
XXXXXXXXXXmarks)
Acceptance testing is a type of formal testing of a software system which aims at
determining whether or not the system satisfies the acceptance criteria set during systems
analysis