,SolutionManualfor Dennis,Wixom,RothSystemsAnalysisandDesign,8th
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Edition
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Chapter1:TheSystemsAnalystand m m m
InformationSystemsDevelopment
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Answer to Your Turn 1-1: Being an Analyst
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Student answers will vary, depending on their preferences regarding being a: 1)
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systems analyst, 2) business analyst, 3) requirements analyst, 4) infrastructure
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analyst, or 5) change management analyst. Verify that the student has correctly
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associated the skills needed with the type of analyst for which they aspire and that
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the student has created a plan to acquire those skills. The roles and the names used
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to describe them may vary from organization to organization.
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Answer to Your Turn 1-2: Implementing a Satellite Data Network
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While answers may vary, answers might include the following:
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1. A cost-benefit analysis, along with other financial processes (ROI, etc.) would
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certainly reveal that a just-in-time (JIT) inventory can reduce inventory costs
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and increase revenue. A standard communication line, encrypted or not, would
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not be able to handle the high bandwidth needed for data, voice and video
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transmissions.
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2. A competitor would be able to narrow the gap by adopting the JIT type of
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inventory management. Voice and video are not necessary to keep the
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inventory up to date on a timely basis, data transmissions alone would work
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well. m
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, Answer to Your Turn 1-3: Too Much Paper, Part 1
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System Request
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Element Description
Sponsor Document Manager. m
Business Need m Increase efficiency in storing, updating, and retrieving
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minformation on employee injury claims. m m m m
Business Requirements m Automated system which allows for electronic m m m m m
msubmission of reports via a secure web site. m m m m m m m
Business Value m Reduce response time for employee inquiries, increase
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meffectiveness of storing, updating, and retrieving m m m m m
memployee injury claims. Reduce storage costs of paper
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files.
Special Issues m Must have someone who understands how to create and
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mmaintain a secure web site. Must have resources to
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mmigrate paper files to data storage. Must work within
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HIPAA guidelines to ensure that medical documents
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mare treated according to regulations.
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Answer to Your Turn 1-4: Too Much Paper, Part 2
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1. Issues arising from digital signatures and electronic documents typically focus
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on establishing validity for signatures and originators. As these issues can be
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overcome using certificates and encryption, they don‘t necessarily affect the
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project feasibility. However, they do need to be addressed.
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2. Answers will vary. The project champion, organizational management, and
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perhaps most importantly a subset of the stakeholders must believe in and
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show support for the project. One solution would be to plan and provide for
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sufficient training that demonstrates how their jobs might be easier to
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accomplish with the automated system.
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Answer to Concepts in Action 1-A: An Array of IT Failures
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Qantas provides for an ―ice-breaker‖ discussion topic for the first class. Perhaps
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group the students and have them discuss this company and then provide for class
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discussion about the importance of IT project success.
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Answer to Concepts in Action 1-B: BPI on the Farm
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Efficiency gains are mentioned in this Concept in Action. What are the drawbacks to
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this scenario? Is it as easy as it seems? Issues such as Wi-Fi coverage on a farm,
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perhaps even cellular coverage can come into play as can weather, dust, and other
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issues inherent with a farming enterprise.
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1-3
, Answer to Concepts in Action 1-C: Interview with Don Hallacy, President,
Technology Services, Sprint Corporation
This is an opportune time to identify the responsibilities of the differing roles that an
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analyst serves.
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Answer to Concepts in Action 1-D: Intangible Value at Carlson Hospitality
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Carlson Hospitality can use the information from the survey to determine whether
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the one-point increase in market share revenue ($20 million per point) will offset
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costs associated with increasing the level of services to high-quality customers
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which would result in a 10% increase in customer satisfaction.
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Answer to Concepts in Action 1-E: Return on Investment
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1. One method for determining a return on investment is to complete a Cost-
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Benefit Analysis using the Present Value Method. Many of the costs for server
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virtualization are associated with the initial construction: physical manipulation
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of the servers and software licensing. The ongoing costs of labor in updating
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and accessing tables would be relatively small. Using this type of analysis
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would allow the project sponsors to show how the benefits of the virtualization
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would be realized on a long term basis.
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2. Implementing a major change to a system should certainly include a systems
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analyst. Systems analysts typically have a broad view of the system, and would
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be able to ascertain how virtualizing the servers will affect the whole system.
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Answers to End of Chapter Questions m m m m m
1. List and describe the six general skills all project team members should have.
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[1] Technical skills (knowledge of how to employ technology in development
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msystem solutions). [2] Business skills (knowledge of how to apply IT to business
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mproblems to achieve a valuable solution). [3] Analytical skills (ability to solve
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mcomplex problems). m
[4] Interpersonal skills (oral and written communication skills with both technical
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mand non-technical audiences). [5] Management skills (ability to manage others and
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mcope with an uncertain environment). [6] Ethical skills (ability to deal with others
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mhonestly and ethically). m m
2. What are the major roles on a project team?
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