Quiz #13: Choices in Systems Acquisition

Show all answers     Hide all answers

Completion

1. ASP stands for ____________. Answer Application Service Provider
2. SLA stands for ____________. Answer Service Level Agreement
3. ERP stands for ____________. Answer Enterprise Resource Planning
4. RFI stands for ____________. Answer Request for Information
5. RFP stands for ____________. Answer Request for Proposal
6. UCITA stands for ____________. Answer Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act

Short answer

7. Describe what the term benchmarking means. Answer Benchmarking is comparing one system's performance with another, using a set of non-system-specific criteria. Benchmarking tests should be run under a range of typical usage conditions, including extreme system load.
8. Describe three advantages of outsourcing IT functions. Answer Here are seven:
   • Fixed IS costs make better financial planning possible for the duration of the outsourcing contract
   • Volume discounts negotiated by the vendor may result in lower software costs
   • Organization's staff is able to concentrate on core business
   • Reduced staff and fixed IT-related costs - fixed costs for vendor are spread over multiple clients so per-client cost is lower
   • Higher experience level of vendor's employees can result in shorter implementation cycles
   • Access to vendor expertise, consulting
   • Improved handling of security due to experience of vendor
9. Describe three risks of outsourcing IT functions. Answer Here are four risks:
   • loss of control (especially risky in fast-changing areas, since contract may not support evolving needs)
   • loss of experienced employees (frequently IS employees are transferred to outsourcing vendor)
   • possible loss of competitive advantage
   • cost may be higher than expected, even higher than in-house
10. Describe three advantages of purchasing ready-made software. Answer Here are four advantages:
    • immediately available (though installation of enterprise software packages can take months)
    • generally high quality (business imperative for vendor)
    • usually a lower price (development cost spread over multiple customers)
    • support should be readily available
11. Describe what an ASP is. Answer An ASPs provides a form of software rental. The software is installed on the ASP's system(s) and the client accesses the application over the Internet. The client's data files may be stored on the ASP's systems or on the client's computers.