Information Systems A Managers Guide To Harnessing Technology Version 7.0 1st Edition John Gallaugher - Solutions

What do the acronyms ERP, CRM, SCM, and BI stand for? Briefly describe what each of these enterprise systems does.
List the advantages that APIs have brought to Expedia and its partners.
What is the difference between a compiled programming language and an interpreted programming language?
Operating system market share is notoriously difficult to calculate. Do some research on major OS markets (PCs, tablets, smartphones, or other products). Gather data and share with your class. Is your data inconsistent with classmates' data? Why do you suppose there are such discrepancies? Even if
Where in the "layer cake" analogy does the DBMS lie?
What are the security risks associated with connectivity, the Internet, and distributed processing?
Name one advantage and one disadvantage of scripting languages.
Which mobile OS has a larger global market share: Android or iOS? Which has returned more money to developers through its app store? Is this data what you'd expect? Why or why not?
Name two companies that have realized multimillion-dollar benefits as a result of installing enterprise systems.
In addition to computers, on what other technology has Java been deployed? Why do you suppose Java is particularly attractive for these kinds of applications?
Some ATM machines use Windows. Why would an ATM manufacturer choose to build its systems using Windows? Why might it want to avoid this? Are there other non-PC devices you've encountered that were running some form of Windows?
Name two companies that have suffered multimillion-dollar disasters as a result of failed enterprise system installations.
What's a JVM? Why do you need it?
What are embedded systems? When might firms want to install software on chips instead of on a hard drive? Why are embedded systems important for the Internet of Things?
How much does the average large company spend annually on ERP software?
What if a programmer wrote perfect Java code, but there was a bug on the JVM installed on a given computer? What might happen?
It's important to understand how technology impacts a firm's strategy and competitive environment. Consider the description of Otis elevator's use of embedded systems. Which parts of the value chain does this impact? How? Consider the "five forces": How does the system impact the firm's competitive
How do efficient enterprise systems help firms with respect to partnering with other organizations, as well as decisions around M&A?
Why would developers choose to write applications in Java? Why might they skip Java and choose another programming language?
Can you think of other firms that can or do leverage embedded systems? Provide examples and list the kinds of benefits these might offer firms and consumers.
Why isn't Java popular for desktop applications?
Research the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (or investigate if your nation has a similar law), and the implications of this legislation for software developers and website operators. Have firms been successfully sued when their software or websites could not be accessed by users with
Go to http://www.java.com. Click on "Do I have Java?" Is Java running on your computer? Which version?
Interested in building apps? Your author has written a video- based online text to learn to program in the Swift language while also learning app programming development. The first three chapters are free. If you have a Mac you can download Apple's Xcode software and get started. Visit
Firms that buy conventional enterprise software spend money buying software and hardware. What additional and ongoing expenses are required as part of the "care and feeding" of enterprise applications?
What is cloud computing? What kinds of services are described by this term? What are other names for this phenomenon?
What major trends, outlined in this section, are reshaping how we think about software? What industries and firms are potentially impacted by these changes? Why do managers, investors, and technology buyers care about these changes?
Describe how the shift to cloud computing may impact traditional computing hardware firms.
What are the options available to managers when seeking to meet the software needs of their companies?
Who developed Linux?
List the benefits to a firm from using virtualization.
What advantages does OSS offer TiVo? What alternatives to OSS might the firm consider, and why do you suppose the firm decided on OSS?
How big is the worldwide smartphone market? Do you use a smartphone? Which one, and why did you choose that product?
Make a brief list of commercial product categories that an individual or enterprise might use. Are there open source alternatives for these categories? Are well-known firms leveraging these OSS offerings? Which commercial firms do they compete with? Explore GitHub and do some additional research on
Consider the following two firms: a consulting startup and a defense contractor. Leverage what you know about SaaS and advise whether each might consider SaaS efforts for CRM or other enterprise functions? Why or why not?
Describe the impact of OSS on the IT market.
Identify and contrast the categories of cloud computing. Which typically requires the most support and maintenance, and why? Why would firms choose a platform that requires more support and maintenance?
In what ways can firms using SaaS products dramatically lower costs associated with their information systems?
Which firms are the leading providers of cloud computing services? How are clients using these efforts?
Which organizations might benefit from these trends? Which might be threatened? Why?
Describe the shift in skill sets required for IT workers that is likely to result from the widespread adoption of cloud computing.
What are the factors that must be considered when making the make, buy, or rent decision?
Who develops it today?
What is the average utilization rate for conventional data centers?
What's meant by the phrase, "Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow"? Provide evidence that the insight behind this phrase is an accurate one. How does this phrase relate to the Heartbleed bug?
How are smartphone cost trends and capabilities changing over time?
Why is open source so important for software development and IS professionals? How should programming students leverage resources available to improve learning, job prospects, and their credibility when job hunting?
Show your understanding of the commercial OSS market. How do Red Hat, Oracle, Oracle's Sun division, and IBM make money via open source?
Think of firms you've worked for, or firms you would like to work for. Do SaaS offerings make sense for these firms? Make a case for or against using certain categories of SaaS.
How do SaaS vendors earn their money?
List the circumstances where cloud computing works best and where it works poorly. When would each alternative make more sense-SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS? What sorts of firms would use a private cloud? A hybrid cloud? What sorts of issues should firms consider, and what sorts of expertise would be
What are marginal costs? Are there other industries that have cost economics similar to the software industry?
Why do certain entry barriers decrease as a result of cloud computing? What is the effect of lower entry barriers on new entrants, entrepreneurship, and venture capital? On existing competitors?
What are some security-related questions that must be asked when making the make, buy, or rent decision?
List the components of the LAMP stack. Which commercial products do these components compete with (investigate online, if necessary)?
List companies that have virtualization-enabled private clouds.
How has OSS benefited E*TRADE? Amazon? Motorola? Zimbra? What benefits were achieved in each of these examples?
Are smartphones the only products with app stores? What other app stores are available? Do they have the same dynamics at work as those described previously?
Are the OSS efforts you identified above provided by commercial firms, nonprofit organizations, or private individuals? Does this make a difference in your willingness to adopt a particular product? Why or why not? What other factors influence your adoption decision?
Visit Mozilla.org. Which open source products does this organization develop? Investigate how development of these efforts is financed. How does this organization differ from the ones mentioned above?
What factors would you consider when evaluating an SaaS vendor? Which firms are more appealing to you and why?
Discuss problems that may arise because SaaS solutions rely on Internet connections. Discuss the advantages of through-the-browser access.
Give examples of enterprise-focused SaaS vendors and their products. Visit the websites of the firms that offer these services. Which firms are listed as clients? Does there appear to be a particular type of firm that uses its services, or are client firms broadly represented?
Research cloud-based alternatives for backing up your hard drive. Which are among the best reviewed products or services? Why? Do you or would you use such a service? Why or why not?
Investigate the revenues and net income of major software players: Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Red Hat, and Salesforce.com. Which firms have higher revenues? Net income? Which have better margins? What do the trends in OSS, SaaS, and cloud computing suggest for these and similar firms?
What factors make the Columbia River region of the Pacific Northwest an ideal location for server farms?
What are some vendor-related questions that must be asked when making the make, buy, or rent decision?
Why did Microsoft's shift to cloud computing create an unexpected shock among stock analysts who cover the firm? What does this tell you about the importance of technology understanding among finance and investment professionals?
How might the rise of OSS, SaaS, and cloud computing impact hardware sales? How might it impact entrepreneurship and smaller businesses?
Can you think of "black swan" events that have caused computing services to become less reliable? Describe the events and their consequences for computing services. Suggest a method and vendor for helping firms overcome the sorts of events that you encountered.
Give examples of desktop-focused SaaS vendors and their products. If some of these are free, try them out and compare them to desktop alternatives you may have used. Be prepared to share your experiences with your class.
Evaluate trial versions of desktop SaaS offerings (offered by Adobe, Apple, Google, Microsoft, or others). Do you agree that the interfaces of Web-based versions are not as robust as desktop rivals? Are they good enough for you? For most users?
What is the Linux Foundation? Why is it necessary? Which firms are members, underwriting foundation efforts?
Download a popular, end-user version of an OSS tool that competes with a desktop application that you own, or that you've used. What do you think of the OSS offering compared to the commercial product? Will you continue to use the OSS product? Why or why not?
If you were developing a product or service today, would you go "mobile first," concentrating on an app as the customer interface rather than a web-based interface? Why or why not?
Describe how OSS provides a firm with scalability. What does this mean, and why does this appeal to a firm? What issues might a firm face if chosen systems aren't scalable?
Give an example of desktop virtualization.
Why do commercial firms contribute to open source consortia and foundations?
In what ways are apps superior to browser-based alternatives? In what ways is app development and maintenance more challenging than writing code for the browser?
List the reasons why Linux is installed on only a very small fraction of desktop computers. Are there particular categories of products or users who might see Linux as more appealing than conventional operating systems? Do you think Linux's share of the desktop market will increase? Why or why not?
List the cost-related benefits to users that accrue from using SaaS.
Why do cloud computing vendors build regional server farms instead of one mega site?
Why must factors be evaluated over the lifetime of a project, not at a single point in time?
How is Microsoft combating the threat of open source software and other free tools that compete with its commercial products?
List the benefits other than cost-related that accrue to users from using SaaS.
Why would a firm build a container-based data center?
Conduct additional research online. What is the dominant open source database software product? How has stewardship of the leading OSS database effort changed in recent years? Who oversees the effort today? What questions does this raise for the product's future? Investigate the current status of
List the benefits realized by vendors that offer SaaS services instead of conventional software.
List some of the risks associated with using OSS. Give examples of firms that might pass on OSS software, and explain why.
Why might cloud computing be greener than conventional computing alternatives? Research online and share examples suggesting that cloud firms could be less environmentally taxing than if a firm built and ran its own corporate data center.
Why would a firm use a loyalty card? What is the incentive for the firm? What is the incentive for consumers to opt in and use loyalty cards? What kinds of strategic assets can these systems create?
How might information systems impact mergers and acquisitions? What are the key issues to consider?
List the issues that need to be addressed in order to design, develop, deploy, and maintain data warehouses and data marts.
What are some of the tools used to convert data into information?
Name and define the terms that are supplanting discussions of decision support systems in the modern IS lexicon.
How are the terms artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning related?
Define the following terms: table, record, and field. Provide another name for each term along with your definition.
List the functions performed by Retail Link. What is its benefit to Walmart?
Make a list of the kind of data you might give up when using a cash register, a website, or a loyalty card, or when calling a firm's customer support line. How might firms leverage this data to better serve you and improve their performance?
Discuss the possible consequences of a company having multiple plants, each with a different information system using different part numbers and naming conventions for identical products.

Showing 600 - 700 of 1204

Information Systems A Managers Guide To Harnessing Technology Version 7.0 1st Edition John Gallaugher - Solutions

Step by Step Answers