Question | Answer |
software controls the flow of data, provides data security, and manages network operations. | System |
When planning an information system, a company must consider how a new system will interface with older systems, which are called | legacy systems |
Systems analysts use a process called ____ to represent company operations and information needs | business process modeling |
A business ____ is an overview that describes a company’s overall functions, processes, organization, products, services, customers, suppliers, competitors, constraints, and future direction. | profile |
____ enabled computer-to-computer transfer of data between companies, usually over private telecommunications networks. | EDI |
User productivity systems ____. | include e-mail, voice mail, fax, video and Web conferencing, word processing, automated calendars, database management, spreadsheets, desktop publishing, presentation graphics, company intranets, and high-speed Internet access |
A ____, or requirements model, describes the information that a system must provide. | business model |
____ is a systems development technique that tests system concepts and provides an opportunity to examine input, output, and user interfaces before final decisions are made | Prototyping |
Structured analysis is a traditional systems development technique that uses a series of phases, called the ____, to plan, analyze, design, implement, and support an information system. | SDLC |
____ provides vital protection and maintenance services for system software and hardware, including enterprise computing systems, networks, transaction processing systems, and corporate IT infrastructure. | Systems support and security |
____ planning is the process of identifying long-term organizational goals, strategies, and resources. | Strategic |
During strategic planning, top managers ask a series of questions that is called a ____ analysis because it examines a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. | SWOT |
____ components can provide automated response to sales inquiries, Web-based order processing, and online inventory tracking. | Customer relationship management (CRM) |
If a problem arises that involves a mission-critical system, an IT ____ team would attempt to restore normal operations. | maintenance |
A feasibility study includes tests for ____ feasibility, which refers to the practical resources needed to develop, purchase, install, or operate the system. | technical |
When setting priorities for systems requests, the highest priority goes to projects that provide the ____. | greatest benefit, at the lowest cost, in the shortest period of time |
A systems analyst conducts a(n) ____ investigation to study the systems request and recommend specific action. | preliminary |
The primary method of obtaining information during the preliminary investigation is to ____. | conduct interviews |
In sequence, the interviewing process involves a series of steps: ____, conduct the interview, document the interview, and evaluate the interview. | determine the people to interview, establish objectives for the interview, develop interview questions, prepare for the interview |
A project manager’s planning _____. | includes identifying project tasks and estimating completion times and costs |
A project manager’s scheduling function _____. | involves staffing, which includes selecting the project team and assigning specific tasks to team members |
Project scheduling involves all of the following EXCEPT ____. | defining project constraints |
The first step in the creation of a PERT/CPM chart is to ____. | identify all the project tasks |
In addition to tasks, every project has ____, which are reference points used to monitor progress and manage the project. | milestones |
A ____ path includes all tasks that are vital to the project schedule. | critical |
A risk management plan includes a review of all of the following EXCEPT ____. | employees |
A risk ____ plan is a proactive effort to anticipate a risk and describe an action plan to deal with it. | response |
The ____ phase of the SDLC includes four main activities: requirements modeling, data and process modeling, object modeling, and consideration of development strategies. | systems analysis |
____ enable a systems analyst to identify a problem, evaluate the key elements, and develop a useful solution | Analytical skills |
RAD relies heavily on ____. | prototyping and
user involvement |
A(n) ____ is a UML technique that visually represents the interaction between users and an information system. | use case diagram |
____ is a typical example of a system requirement for the performance category. | The student records system must produce class lists within five hours after the end of registration |
In addition to direct costs, systems developers must identify and document indirect expenses that contribute to the ____. | TCO |
In an interview, ____ encourage spontaneous and unstructured responses | open-ended questions |
Supporters of neutral locations for interviews believe that it ____. | keeps interruptions to a minimum so people can concentrate fully |
When preparing a representative sample from a list of 200 customers who complained about errors in their statements, a ____ might select any 20 customers. | random sample |
refers to the combination of hardware, software, and
services that people use to manage, communicate, and share information. | Information technology (IT) |
is a
step-by-step process for developing
high-quality information systems. | Systems analysis and design |
combines
information technology, people, and
data to support business requirements. | information system |
who
plan, develop, and maintain information
systems. | systems analysts |
Traditionally, a company either developed its own information systems | in-house
applications |
purchased systems | software packages |
is one
that is vital to a company’s operations. An order processing system,
for example, is mission-critical because the company cannot | mission-critical system |
consists of basic facts that are the
system’s raw material. | data |
is data that has been transformed
into output that is valuable to users | Information |
consists of everything in the physical layer of the
information system. | Hardware |
predicted that the number of transistors on an integrated
circuit would double about every 24 months. | Moore’s Law |
refers to the programs that control the
hardware and produce the desired information or results. | Software |
manages the hardware components,
which can include a single workstation or a global network
with many thousands of clients. | System software |
consists of programs that support day-to-day business functions
and provide users with the information they require | Application software |
Examples of company-
wide applications | enterprise applications |
is a system, such as an inventory or payroll application, that can be adapted for use in
many different types of companies. | horizontal system |
is designed to meet the unique
requirements of a specific business or industry, such as a Web-based retailer, a medical
practice, or a video chain. | vertical system |
describe the tasks and business functions that users, managers, and IT staff
members perform to achieve specific results. | Processes |
For complex operations, however,
analysts apply computer-based modeling tools that
use a standard language called | business process modeling
notation |
newest kind of company | Internet-dependent firm |
enabled company-to-company traffic to migrate to the Internet, which
offered standard protocols, universal availability, and low communication costs. XML
is a flexible data description language that allows | extensible markup
language (XML) |
On an industry-wide scale, many B2B sites exist where
buyers, sellers, distributors, and manufacturers can offer products, submit specifications,
and transact business. | supply chain management (SCM) |
refers to information systems that support company-wide
operations and data management requirements. | Enterprise computing |
provide cost-effective support for users and managers throughout the company | enterprise resource planning (ERP) |
process data generated by
day-to-day business operations.
Examples of TP systems include
customer order processing,
accounts receivable, and
warranty claim processing. | Transaction processing (TP)
systems |
called expert systems because
they simulate human reasoning by combining a knowledge base
and inference rules that determine how the knowledge is applied. | Knowledge management systems |
provide job-related information
support to users at all levels of a company | Business support systems |
The newest development in data acquisition | radio frequency
identification (RFID) |
consists of a
large database that allows users
to find information by entering
keywords or questions in normal
English phrases | knowledge base |
include professional staff members such as systems analysts,
programmers, accountants, researchers, trainers, and human resource specialists | Knowledge workers |
describes data structures and design | data model |
describes the design and protocols
of telecommunications links | network model |
describes the logic that programmers
use to write code modules | process model |
CASE tools, to help
systems analysts develop and maintain
information systems | computer-aided software
engineering |
also called adaptive methods, which include the latest
trends in software development. | agile methods |
result of each phase is called a
deliverable, or end product, which flows
into the next phase. | waterfall
model |
reviews anticipated costs and benefits and recommends
a course of action based on operational, technical, economic, and time factors. | feasibility study |
logical
model of the new system. | systems analysis phase |
where you investigate
business processes and document what the new system must do to satisfy users. | first step is requirements modeling |
is to create a physical
model that will satisfy all documented requirements for the system | systems design phase |
which represents a series of iterations,
or revisions, based on user feedback | spiral model |
which is a formal way of asking for IT support | systems request |
experts predict that bar code technology will be overshadowed in the
future by | electronic product code (EPC) |
means that a proposed system will be used effectively after it has
been developed. | Operational feasibility |
refers to the technical resources needed to develop, purchase, install,
or operate the system. | Technical feasibility |
means that the projected benefits of the proposed system outweigh
the estimated costs usually considered the total cost of ownership (TCO), which includes
ongoing support and maintenance costs, as well as acquisition costs | Economic feasibility |
are benefits that can be measured in dollars. Tangible benefits result
from a decrease in expenses, an increase in revenues, or both. | Tangible benefits |
advantages that are difficult to measure in dollars but are
important to the company | Intangible benefits |
means that a project can be implemented in an acceptable time
frame. When assessing schedule feasibility, a systems analyst must consider the interaction
between time and costs. | Schedule feasibility |
Projects where no choice exists | nondiscretionary projects |
Projects where management has a choice in implementing
them | discretionary projects |
a requirement or condition that the system must satisfy or an
outcome that the system must achieve. | constraint |
means defining the specific boundaries, or extent, of the
project. | project scope |
Projects with very general scope definitions are at risk of expanding gradually,
without specific authorization | project creep |
a widely used tool for visualizing issues
that need attention. | Pareto chart |
includes identifying all project tasks and estimating the completion
time and cost of each. | Project planning |
involves the creation of a specific timetable, usually in the form
of charts that show tasks, task dependencies, and critical tasks that might delay
the project. | Project scheduling |
requires guiding, supervising, and coordinating the project
team’s workload. | Project monitoring |
includes regular progress reports to management, users, and the
project team itself. | Project reporting |
involves
breaking a project down into a series of smaller
tasks. | work breakdown structure (WBS) |
is a horizontal bar chart that represents
a set of tasks | Gantt chart |
bottom-up technique, because it analyzes a large, complex project as a series of
individual tasks. | PERT/CPM. |
You can identify task patterns by looking
carefully at the wording of the task statement. | then, when, or and are action
words that signal a sequence of events |
open-source software that is supported
by a large group of users and developers | Open Workbench |
includes a review of
the project’s scope, stakeholders, budget, schedule, and any other internal or
external factors that might affect the project | risk management plan |
lists each risk and assesses the likelihood
that it could affect the project. | Risk identification |
evaluates each risk by estimating
the probability that it will occur and the degree of impact | Qualitative risk analysis |
is to
understand the actual impact in terms of dollars,
time, project scope, or quality. | quantitative risk analysis |
is a proactive effort to
anticipate a risk and describe an action
plan to deal with it. | A risk
response plan |
adding more people to a
project actually might increase the time necessary to complete the project because of a
principle | Brooks’ Law |
When several tasks can start
at the same time | concurrent task |
two
or more concurrent tasks depend on a single prior task | predecessor task |
each concurrent
task | successor task |
involves fact-finding to describe the current system and identification of the requirements
for the new system | requirements modeling |
refers to system characteristics such as speed, volume,
capacity, availability, and reliability | Performance |
refers to hardware, software, and procedural
controls that safeguard and protect the system and its data from internal or
external threats. | Security |
The deliverable, or end product, of the systems analysis phase | system requirements
document |
enable you to identify a problem, evaluate the key elements,
and develop a useful solution | Analytical skills |
are especially valuable to a systems
analyst who must work with people at all organizational levels, balance conflicting needs
of users, and communicate effectively. | Interpersonal skills |
which is a user-oriented technique
for fact-finding and requirements modeling | joint application development (JAD) |
RAD provides a fast-track approach to a full spectrum of system development
tasks, including planning, design, construction, and implementation | rapid application development (RAD) |
represent a recent trend that
stresses intense interaction between system developers and users | agile methods |
combines elements of
the systems planning and systems analysis phases of the SDLC | requirements planning phase |
users interact with systems analysts and
develop models and prototypes that represent all system processes, outputs, and inputs | user design phase |
focuses on program and application development
tasks similar to the SDLC | construction phase |
resembles the final tasks in the SDLC implementation
phase, including data conversion, testing, changeover to the new system, and user training | cutover phase |
where team members prepare to lunge at each other to achieve their objectives. | Scrum |
is a topdown
representation of a
function or process. | functional decomposition
diagram (FDD) |
Working from a functional decomposition
diagram, analysts can create____to show how the system stores, processes,
and transforms data. | data flow diagrams
(DFDs |
is a widely used
method of visualizing and documenting software systems
design | Unified Modeling Language (UML) |
shows the timing of interactions between
objects as they occur | sequence diagram |
is a characteristic or feature that must be included
in an information system to satisfy business requirements and be acceptable to users | system requirement |
refers to a system’s ability to handle increased business volume and transactions
in the future | Scalability |
Microsoft has developed a method for measuring total costs and benefits | Rapid Economic Justification (REJ), |
is a model that asks the traditional fact-finding questions in a
systems development context | Zachman Framework for
Enterprise Architecture |
some people have more
influence or knowledge than appears on an organization
chart. | informal structure |
encourage spontaneous and
unstructured responses | Open-ended questions |
limit or restrict the response | Closed-ended questions |
are closed-ended
questions that ask the person to evaluate something by providing limited answers
to specific responses or on a numeric scale. | Range-of-response questions |
determine how various changes in the
work environment would affect employee productivity. | Hawthorne
Effect |
When studying an information system, you
should collect examples of actual documents | sampling |
would select every tenth customer for review | systematic
sample |
If you want to ensure that the sample
is balanced geographically to select five
customers from each of four zip codes | stratified sample |
selects any 20 customers | random sample |
includes word processing,
spreadsheet, database management, presentation graphics, and collaboration software
programs | Productivity software |
common tool for showing the distribution of questionnaire or sampling results
is a vertical bar chart | histogram |