Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
WEB EXERCISES
1.
Use the Internet to find two different systems development
projects that failed to meet cost or performance objectives.
Summarize the problems and what should have been done.
You might be asked to develop a report or send an e-mail
message to your instructor about what you found.
2.
Using the Web, search for information on hardware and
software virtualization. Write a report on what you found.
Under what conditions would you use virtualization?
CAREER EXERCISES
1.
Describe what type of information system you would need
in your chosen job. Your description should include logical
and physical design. What specific steps would you include
to be able to recover from a natural or man-made disaster,
such as a hurricane or terrorist attack?
2.
Explore two Internet career sites, such as
www.monster.com
.
Using the principles of systems review, evaluate both sites
and then describe what you would change and what you
would retain for each career Internet site, assuming they
were both about to undergo the systems development pro-
cess for major improvements.
CASE STUDIES
Case One
dictable, with periodic snow and wind storms and tempera-
tures diving as low as -27 degrees Celsius (-17 F).
This challenging project would require more human
resources than Chevallier had. He pulled in an outside com-
pany, Connections Canada Inc. (CCI), to assist with the project.
The team decided that the upgrade would need to take place
at all locations simultaneously over a six-hour period while
the stores were closed, which meant working through the
night. In order for the upgrade to go flawlessly, the team
would need to invest in practice, training, and preparation.
Unfortunately they had only four months to prepare.
They decided to create a virtual store, or staging facility,
at CCI that mimicked the real Rogers' mall stores. The com-
ponents of the new system were set up in the virtual store
including all software and hardware: routers, computers,
cash-registers, and PIN readers. The intention was to create
and configure a system for each store using the staging facil-
ity and then ship the preconfigured components of the system
to each store—a kind of “store-in-a-box.”
Experts from different fields including information sys-
tems, human resources, operations, finance, supply chain,
real estate, marketing, inventory management, and internal
communications assisted in configuring the system to meet
all organizational needs. The finance expert set up the bank-
ing environment for each store. The supply chain expert mod-
ified the supply-chain elements of the new system. In other
words, each expert worked on his or her area of specialty. The
Rogers Communications is one of Canada's largest telecom
companies. It offers home phone services, wireless phone
services, Internet service, and cable TV service. Rogers pro-
vides small shops in 93 malls across Canada to service its
customers. The stores sell a wide variety of phones and other
telecom devices and services.
Until recently, Rogers outsourced the information tech-
nology services for its mall stores to a third-party company.
Francois Chevallier, vice president of retail systems for
Rogers Retail, thought that Rogers could improve its systems
and business practices if it took control of its own systems.
“When you have different stores with different systems and
management structures, the experience cannot be consis-
tent. Our goal was to achieve that consistency and raise the
bar,” says Chevallier.
Chevallier proposed a massive upgrade of Rogers' retail
systems that would provide consistency in business practices
and customer experience and connect all data in a unified
system accessible from headquarters. The project faced two
big challenges. First, to avoid any interruption to service, sys-
tems in all 93 stores should be upgraded simultaneously
when stores were closed, which is tricky when dealing with
stores across four time zones. Second, the upgrade would
take place in the middle of winter when weather was unpre-
