SOLUTION BIS MAY Microsoft Access Microsoft Visual Fox Pro ADABAS DB2

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1 SOLUTION 1 1. (a) ORACLE Supra DB2 Paradox Informix Q & A Microsoft Access Rbase Microsoft Visual Fox Pro ADABAS (b) Microsoft Competitor SQL Oracle Access Sybase Visual Fox Prox Informix DB2 (c ) Lack of: Scalability Speed Flexibility SOLUTION 2 2. (a) i. It suits large companies that require large solutions ii. It is scalable and has excellent performance iii. Flexible as more tools can be added iv. It is used extensively for web search enquiries. (b) The important features of databases include: Creation/deletion of records Management of records Development of Corporate Database System Use for web search enquiries Retrieval of records (c ) Storage of records Manipulation of records Retrieval of records Management of records High implementation cost High administrative and maintenance cost High expertise required Page 1 of 6

2 SOLUTION 3 (a) Applicant Qualification i) An applicant may possess one or more qualifications ii) A qualification is required of an applicant Applicant Course i) An applicant applies for a single course ii) A course may be offered to one or more applicants Course Facility i) A course belongs to a faculty ii) A faculty may consist of one or more courses Faculty Programme i) A faculty offers one or more programmes ii) A programme belongs to a specific faculty Course Lecturer i) A course may be handled by one or more lecturers ii) A lecturer may teach on one or more courses Lecturer student i) A lecturer may teach one or more students ii) A student may be taught by one or more lecturers Student hall of Residence i) A student is assigned to a hall of residence ii) A hall of residence may accommodate one or more students (b) A database schema describes the objects that are represented in the database, and the relationship among them. The schema is the physical model (blueprint) for the database. It represents the technical implementation of the logical data model. The schema may be organised as a hierarchical (or tree), network, relational or object-oriented model. SOLUTION 4 a) A milestone slip chart is usually included in the project progress report and compares planned and actual progress towards project milestone. Where actual progress is slower than planned progress, a slippage is said to have occurred. b) When a project has slipped behind schedule, there are options open to the project manager including: - doing nothing; - adding resources; Page 2 of 6

3 - introducing novel ideas; - re-planning - re-scheduling - introducing incentives; - altering the specifications c) A project post implementation audit is a formal review of a project that examines the lessons that may be learnt and used for the benefit of future projects. The audit considers two key issues. i) Did the end result meet the client s expectation? In particular: - the actual design and construction of the end product; - was the project achieved on time? - Was the project completed within budget? ii) Was the management of the project successful? This review covers: Problems that might occur on future projects with similar characters; and The performance of the team individually and as a group. SOLUTION 5 Systems Development Life Cycle Each stage comes with a product and there is the possibility of looping or recycle back to any previous stage. The system approach to problem solving uses a system orientation to define problems and opportunities and develop solutions. Studying a problem and formulating a solution involves the following interrelated activities. 1. Problem Definition: Recognize and define a problem or opportunity using system thinking. 2. Feasibility Study: (a) Develop and evaluate alternative system solutions (b) Select the system solution that best merits your requirement. The stages of the systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) 3. Investigation 4. Analysis 5. Design 6. Implementation 7. Evaluation and Maintenance Page 3 of 6

4 Define problem and select best alternative (1) (2) Problem Definition Feasibility Study Understand Business Problem whether a System. Determine how to address (3) Investigation business opportunities and... Investigate. Conduct a feasibility study to determine Feasibility Study product or improved systems is a feasible solution (4). Analyse the information needs of System Analysis Analysis employee, customers and other stake- holders. Functional Requirements. Develop the functional requirements (5). Develop specification for the hardware, software, people, network Design System Design and data resources and information production that will satisfy the System Specification functional requirements. Implementation. Acquire or develop hardware (6) System Implementation software Operational System. Test the system and train people to operate and use it. Convert to the new system Implement IS System Structure (7) Systems Maintenance. Use a post implementation review Maintenance and process to monitor, evaluate and Evaluation Improved System modify the system as needed Page 4 of 6

5 SOLUTION 6 (a) Benefits: Workforce productivity: Intranets can also help users to locate and view information faster and use applications relevant to their roles and responsibilities. web browser interface, users can access data held in any database the organisation wants to make available, anytime and subject to security provisions. Perform their jobs faster, more accurately, and with confidence that they have the right information. Time: Intranets allow organisations to distribute information to employees on an as-needed basis Communication: Intranets can serve as powerful tools for communication within an organisation, vertically and horizontally. Web publishing allows cumbersome corporate knowledge to be maintained and easily accessed throughout the company using hypermedia and Web technologies. Business operations and management: Intranets are also being used as a platform for developing and deploying applications to support business operations and decisions across the internetworked enterprise. Promote common corporate culture: Enhance collaboration Cost-effective; Users can view information and data via web-browser rather than maintaining physical documents such as procedure manuals, internal phone list and requisition forms. (b) i. Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or ecommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks ii. Uses electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems SOLUTION 7 (a) i. New Entrants to Market Existing rivalry in industry Substitute products and Services Bargaining powers of suppliers Page 5 of 6

6 Bargaining powers of customers SOLUTION BIS MAY 2013 Strategies (1) Lower cost Leadership (2) Product differentiation (3) Focus on Market Niche (4) Strengthening Customer and supplier intimacy ii. Five basic competitive strategies to counter the threats of competitive forces Cost Leadership Strategy Become low-cost producer of products of services and goods. It helps its suppliers or customers reduce their cost or increase the cost of the competitors. Differentiation Develop strategy to differentiate a firm s product Innovation Find new ways of doing business. Development of unique products, entry into market place or niche markets. Changes to production, or distribution so different from the norm. Growth Expanding the capacity of the business to produce goods and services, expanding into global market. Integrating into related products and services. Alliance Establish business linkages and alliance partnerships with customers, suppliers, other companies and mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures (b) Corrective Maintenance carried out in response to a problem. Its objective is to ensure that systems remain operational. It is an expensive process and the design and implementation process of any system should try to minimise the need for corrective maintenance. Perfective Maintenance carried out in order to perfect the software or to improve software so that the processing inefficiencies will be eliminated and performance enhanced. It often consists of making enhancements requested by users to improve or extend the facilities available as well as improve efficiency or effectiveness. Adaptive Maintenance - required to take account of anticipated changes in the processing environment, e.g. user information needs may change, organisational structure may be altered or legislative changes may impose new obligations on the software. Preventative Maintenance carried out in advance of a problem occurring in order to reduce the risk of that problem. In theory, more preventive maintenance means less corrective maintenance. Page 6 of 6