Study an information systems department with which you are familiar or to which you have access. How does this department organize for maintenance? Has this department adopted one of the three approaches outlined in Table 14-2 or does it use some other approach? Talk with a senior manager in this department to discover how well this maintenance organization structure works.

Table 14-2

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Type Separate Combined Functional Advantages Formal transfer of systems between groups improves the system and documentation quality Maintenance group knows or has access to all assumptions and decisions behind the system's original design Personnel have a vested interest in effectively maintaining the system and have a better understanding of functional requirements Disadvantages All things cannot be documented, so the maintenance group may not know critical information about the system Documentation and testing thoroughness may suffer due to a lack of a formal transfer of responsibility Personnel may have limited job mobility and lack access to adequate human and technical resources