Which statement best describes the issue of distributed data processing (DDP)?

a. The centralized and DDP approaches are mutually exclusive; an organization must choose one approach or the other.

b. The philosophy and objective of the organization's management will determine the extent of DDP in the firm.

c. In a minimum DDP arrangement, only data input and output are distributed, leaving the tasks of data control, data conversion, database management, and data processing to be centrally managed.

d. The greatest disadvantage of a totally distributed environment is that the distributed IPU locations are unable to communicate and coordinate their activities.

e. Although hardware (such as computers, database storage, and input/output terminals) can be effectively distributed, the systems development and maintenance tasks must remain centralized for better control and efficiency.