Midterm CSIS120 Vjezba

8/16/2019 Midterm CSIS120 Vjezba

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Sarajevo School of Science and Technology

CSIS120

SECTION A – ANSWER ALL OF THE FOLLOWING QUESITONS (10 x 5marks)

Q2. What are the two basic types of software? Describe the role of

each

The two basic types of software are! operating syste"s #or syste" software$ and applicationsoftware

Syste"s software is the basic set of progra"s that provides a platfor" which connects all of

the hardware co"ponents% enables the" to operate in coordination and provides a platfor" for

applicational &pgrades while also coordinating the f&nctions of other progra"s This set of

progra"s is "ost co""only divided into a$ 'perating Syste"s #'S$% b$ (tility progra"s% c$

)iddleware There are open*so&rce and closed*so&rce operating syste"s +in&, is the "ost

fa"o&s open*so&rce operating syste"% Windows and )-C 'S are the "ost pop&lar closed*

so&rce prod&cts

-pplication software is the gro&p of softwares that are &sed for e,ec&ting tas.s re/&ired bythe &ser -pplication software #or apps$ is very versatile and provides a sol&tion to a variety of

&ser*generated tas.s These range fro" basic "athe"atics to co"ple, D design rendering

and ga"ing The application software &s&ally is stored in the secondary "e"ory of the

co"p&ter b&t can also r&n fro" optical "edia and e,ternal drives

-pplication software is divided into c&sto" #proprietary software$ and off*the*shelf software

Q. '&tline and briefly e,plain the two*phase process for e,ec&ting

ma!"#$%&'%%' #$s*!r#+$s

,ec&ting "achine*level instr&ctions consists of 2 phases! instr&ction and e,ec&tion D&ring

the first phase #instr&ction$ the co"p&ter #processor 3 control &nit$ first fetches the instr&ction

and then decodes it This is the first half of the "achine cycle

The second phase #e,ec&tion$ starts with -+( e,ec&ting the decoded instr&ction and then

storing it in registers or "e"ory

Q,. What is s+*r!% -aa a*+ma#+$? 4ive an e,a"ple of where its

&se wo&ld be beneficial

So&rce data a&to"ation is a process of a&to"ating and si"plifying the data entry process It

can be &sed as a "achine*level data o&tp&t collection organisation "ethod or as a &ser

generated data collector What so&rce data a&to"ation does in essence is collect the data

a&to"aticly rather then having so"eone interpret a "achines o&tp&t or a &sers inp&t and then

"an&ally enter it where needed So&rce data a&to"ation twea.s the data collection process a

as very often seen in online for"s that can be filled o&t only in a certain way or in other words

3 the progra""ers li"it the possible inp&ts to avoid "ista.es and eli"inate the need for

"an&al re*entry into the inp&t strea"

Si"plified% we co&ld say that SD- is capt&ring and editing data where the data is initially

created and in a for" that can be directly delivered into the inp&t strea" of a co"p&ter or"achine

5robably the "ost widespread &se of this "ay be fo&nd in prod&ct bar code labeling in which

every ite" has its own bar code consisting of n&"bers and stripes ach n&"ber bears a

certain categori6ation val&e 7&"bers are vis&ally represented by stripes of different thic.ness




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which are red by a laser bar code reader This allows for real*ti"e stoc. levels analytics and

"any other benefits

Q6 4ive an e,a"ple of open source software for the following

categories8 Operating system, Application software, Database

software.'perating syste"! +in&, #(b&nt&% )int and other distrib&tions$

-pplication software! 'pen'ffice% 9+C )edia 5layer% :ile;illa #cross*platfor" :T5 client$

Database software! )yS<+% :irebird

Q. In storing and retrieving data% what are the physical access path

and the logical access path?

+ogical access and physical access path are both for"s of interactions of h&"ans with

hardware 5hysical access path is the act&al access to hardware in the physical world% in the place where the hardware is stored 5hysical access is often sec&red by physical sec&rity

#loc.s and .eys% bio"etric loc.s and so on$

+ogical access path represents a set of tools and protocols &sed for identification%

a&thentication% a&thori6ation and ac/&ire"ent of data in a non*physical way +ogical access

path is "&ch "ore co""on for e"ployees in large enterprises beca&se the C's can

deter"ine what level of clearance for each job position is to be iss&ed% th&s li"iting the type

and a"o&nt of infor"ation an e"ployee can access

Q/. Identify three types of s%!+$-ar -aa s+ra% Co"pare the" in

ter"s of access "ethod% capacity% portability and cost per 4=

1$ )agnetic tape drives

2$ >ard dis. drives #>DD$

$ Solid state drives #SSD$

)agnetic tape drives are coils of tape fine*coated in a "agnetic "aterial &sed for storing of

analog&e or digital data )agnetic tapes are the cheapest per 4= and can have ro&ghly the

sa"e capacity li.e the >DD b&t are se/&ential access storage devices - T= tape drive was"ade in 2011 >owever% they are "&ch slower #in ter"s of data conveyance$ than the >DD

)agnetic tape drives are less prone to physical da"age than >DDs 3 therefore 3 "ore

d&rable

>ard dis. drives #>DD$ are drives consisting of a s"all "agnetic platter and an act&ator ar"

which locates and reads@writes data >DD is% &nli.e the tape drives% a direct*access storage

device It is the "ost co""on type of secondary data storage in personal co"p&ters It varies

in speed significantly% b&t is generally faster than )T5 and slower than SSD It is prone to

physical da"age The price per 4= depends on the speed of the >DD b&t is &s&ally lower

than SSD It is &s&ally connected by a S-T- cable

Solid State Drvies #SSD$ are secondary storage devices that &se an integrated set of flash

"e"ory circ&its These can be either 7'A or 7-7D*type circ&its SSD has no "oving

physical parts therefore it is not prone to physical da"age It is "&ch faster than >DD b&t




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"&ch "ore e,pensive per 4= too In ter"s of portability% SSD is easily integrated into

"achines that previo&sly ran on >DDs beca&se it can be connected via the S-T- cable

Q. What is !'+*- !+m3*#$? What are the pros and cons of clo&d

co"p&ting?

Clo&d co"p&ting is co"p&ting in which large gro&ps of of re"ote servers are networ.ed to

allow centrali6ed data storage and online access to co"p&ter services or reso&rces Clo&d

co"p&ting incl&des all clo&d services s&ch as clo&d storage and clo&d processing

5ros!

* -ccess to stored infor"ation anywhere% anyti"e #as long as there is an internet

connection available$

* Is &s&ally "ade cross*platfro"

* -llows for reso&rce re*allocation #i e sa"e co"p&ting reso&rce co&ld be &sed to

serve a "ail client in &rope d&ring &ropean wor.ing ho&rs and then reallocated to

serve a "ail client in 7orth -"erica d&ring 7- wor.ing ho&rs$

* -llows for savings in storage devices for enterprises* -llows s"aller co"panies to foc&s on what they do best and o&tso&rce their storage

and co"p&ting needs to the clo&d

* Scalability

* 7o "aintenance costs

Cons!

* Infor"ation stored in the clo&d is generally less sec&red than in physical #not*online$

drives

* The inability to operate offline #e,cept for +-7 clo&ds @ &s&ally personal or hybrid$

SECTION 4 –ANSWER ALL OF THE FOLLOWING QUESITONS (5 x 10marks)

<2 What is data "ining? What is '+-5? Thro&gh the &se of an

e,a"ple e,plain how they are different?

4enerally% data "ining #so"eti"es called data or .nowledge discovery$ is the

process of analy6ing data fro" different perspectives and s&""ari6ing it into&sef&l infor"ation * infor"ation that can be &sed to increase reven&e% c&ts costs% or

both Data "ining is a process of identifying repeating patterns in infor"ationwhich is "ost co""only &sed in large relational databases

'+-5 or 'n*line -nalytic 5rocessing provides s&""ary data and rich calc&lations

concerned with projections% co"parisons with earlier res&lts and so on

< In the process of selecting an operating syste" for yo&r personal

co"p&ter% what feat&res are i"portant to yo&? What operating syste"

wo&ld yo& select and why?

:eat&res I loo. for! sec&rity% speed% esthetics% adaptability I &s&ally choose Windows #and a"c&rrently r&nning B1 5ro on all of "y co"p&ters$ beca&se it is stable% has decent c&sto"er

s&pport% the &pdates are free and it is probably the one "ost widespread #tal.ing abo&t

Windows in general$ I wo&ld li.e to r&n )int #+in&,$ on "y 5C b&t the progra"s I &se

fre/&ently are either &noperable in +in&, or have certain iss&es with this platfor" If "ore

apps are adapted to +in&, in the f&t&re I will probably switch over




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< >ow wo&ld yo& "eas&re technology inf&sion and diff&sion in an

co"pany?

Technology inf&sion 3 e,tent to which technology per"eates a depart"ent

Technology diff&sion 3 "eas&re of how widely technology is spread thro&gho&t an organisation

Inf&sion is conserned with technology*dependance in sectors of a co"pany% while diff&sion "eas&resthe sa"e thing for whole organisations

I wo&ld "eas&re #for inf&sion$ the a"o&nt of technology per &ser@e"ployee

I wo&ld "a.e a co"plete organisation research% o&tlineing e,actly how technology*reliant is the

partic&lar organisation

< Disc&ss how infor"ation syste"s are lin.ed to the b&siness

objectives of an organi6ation

Infor"ation syste"s speed &p% econo"i6e and increase efficiency of an organi6ation

SECTION A2 – ANSWER ALL OF THE FOLLOWING QUESITONS (10 x 10marks)

Q1. Describe three benefits organi6ations see. to achieve thro&gh the

i"ple"entation and &se of information systems?

C+s r%-*!#+$s 3 co"panies see. to c&t costs and downsi6e with the i"ple"entation of

better technologies and the organi6ation of their own infor"ation syste" Co"panies no

longer re/&ire large a"o&nts of paper and e"ployees to .eep trac. and storage data%

everything is now done digitally

S3%%- %66#!#%$! 3 co"panies are now able to .eep trac. of dyna"ic changes easily and

are able to locate and alter the infor"ation needed for services "&ch faster than before

I$!r%as%- 3r+-*!## 3 e"ployees no longer have to wait in /&e&e in order to access a

certain file or object% they can now do it in the sa"e ti"e The infor"ation is centralised and

everyone #given that they have the re/&ired clearance$ can access and contrib&te to it

Q2. 7a"e the five stages of systems development and state the goal of

each

Syste"s investigation #&nderstand the proble" and its str&ct&re$

=$ Syste"s a$a's#s #analyse the ac/&ired data 3 &nderstand sol&tions$

C$ Syste"s -%s#$ #identify the best sol&tion and plan its i"ple"entation$

D$ Syste"s #m3'%m%$a#+$ #p&t planned sol&tion into effect$

$ Syste"s ma#$%$a$!% a$- r%#%7 #eval&ate the res&lts% review the" and adj&st the syste"

accordingly% .eep the syste" wor.ing$

Q. Define the ter"s reengineering and continuous improvement

Draw a chart to ill&strate their differences

Reengineering is a donwstream process of radical changes with the goal of

business breaktroughs.

Continous Impovement is an upstream process of minor and regular

adjustments (tweaks) with the goal of improving efficiency and effectivness over




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longer periods of time. Reengineering is started “from the top”, is radical andvery fast. ontinous !mprovement is a long term process of small tweaks carried

out by lower lever workers, it adjusts the path of a system rather than divert itcompletely.

Q,. What is the value chain? >ow does A5 help control processes in

the val&e chain

The val&e chain is the se/&ence of actions #or a strea"ed process$ ta.en by a co"pany to

ins&re their prod&ct or service is "ade and delivered The val&e chain is divided into

Upstream management concerned with ac/&irying raw "aterials% storaging and inbo&nd

logistics and Downstream management concerned with prod&ction% storage% o&tbo&nd

logistics% 5A% sales% "ar.eting and c&sto"er relations

A5 #nterprise Aeso&rce 5lanning$ can provide real*ti"e infor"ation regarding both sectors

of the val&e chain% enableing C's and level "anagers to s&ccessf&lly plan and ta.e action

A5 can "a.e the val&e chain of a co"pany "&ch "ore efficient and controllable

Q Identify three types of guided telecomunications media and

briefly disc&ss each in ter"s of s&itability for i"ple"entation in a(niversity networ.

Twisted pair g&ide 3 the cheapest% and the slowest in ter"s of data conveyance asily

handled b&t allows for crosstal.

Coa,ial cable 3 faster #&p to 00 )bps$ with a larger bandwith 5robably the best sol&tion for

a (niversity networ.

'ptical fibre 3 fastest #c&rrently &p to 2 4bps$ and the "ost e,pensive 7o data loss however

Q/ What are Porters five forces? =riefly describe each with

reference to a certain ind&stry

)ade by )ichael &gene 5orter% 5rofessor at >arvard =&siness School% in response to the

cas&alE SW'T analysis It consists of separate b&t very inter*dependant factors!

* Aivalry a"ong e,isting co"petitors

* Threat of new entrants

* Threat of s&bstit&te prod&cts and services

* =argaining power of b&yers #=&yer power$

* =argaining power of s&ppliers #S&pplier power$

- brief e,planation! The :ive forces "odel was "ade for analysis of "ar.ets #ind&strysectors$ and partic&lar co"panyFs position in those "ar.ets :or e,a"ple! If an ind&stry

sector

has low entrance fees #no legal or patent i"pedi"ents% low starting technology cost$ it will

have a high threat of new entrants% th&s endangering e,isting playersE in that ind&stry If

b&yers are offered si"ilar prod&cts and services for the sa"e or s"aller a"o&nts of "oney




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then the b&yer power rises b&t also the threat of s&bstit&te prod&cts and services is high To

battle this% large co"panies introd&ce c&sto"er loyalty progra"s and benefits for long*ti"e

&sers of their services If a s&pplier s&pplies &ni/&e raw "aterial or prod&ct than his s&pplier

power is high and he can dictate the price of the final prod&ct If the s&pply can be easily

ac/&ired fro" another s&pplier then his s&pplier power drops

Q10 What is Data mining and OLAP ? >ow do they relate to the &se

of MIS and DSS syste"s

'+-5 #'nline -nalytical 5rocessing$ is a part of a broader scope of b&siness intelligence

'+-5 is designed to analy6e and answer to "&ltidi"ensional re/&ests This "eans '+-5

provides the assets to analy6e and view organi6ed infor"ation fro" "&ltiple perspectives It

is &sed to project and forecast as well as to provide present*past statistical co"parsions

Data "ining is also a part of b&siness intelligence Data "ining is "ore abo&t in*detail

identification of patterns in data It provides "ore technical data than '+-5

=oth represent a cr&cial part of DSS and )IS syste"s% providing the software with solid and precise statistical analytical data% th&s "a.ing it "&ch si"pler for the &sers to ta.e actions and

for the software to project

Q11. W"a #s "% -#66%r%$!% 8%7%%$

ss%ms s+67ar% a$- a33'#!a#+$ s+67ar%9 #% 6+*r %xam3'%s +6

3%rs+$a' 3r+-*!## s+67ar%.

Syste"s software is a set of progra"s that coordinates the activities and f&nctions of hardware

and other progra"s Witho&t it% application software cannot r&n-pplication software is software targeted at helping &sers solve partic&lar proble"s In "ost

cases it resides on the secondary storage device of the co"p&ter b&t can also reside on CDs%

D9Ds% (S= flash drives and other e,ternal storage devices

5ersonal prod&ctivity software is software ai"ed at enableing an individ&al tools for creation

in a large array of fields Depending on the software% it can be ai"ed at professional and

personal &se

e,a"ples! 5hotoshop CSG ,tended% -dobe Ill&strator% 9irt&alDH% )aya -&todes.%

)icrosoft 'ffice S&ite 201 5ro 5l&s% Code=loc.s etc

Q12. W"a #s m*'#ask#$9

)&ltitas.ing #in the Co"p&ter Science sense$ is operating several tas.s at once :or e,a"ple

the co"p&ter r&ns the 'S services% while also r&nning the web browser yo& are &sing at the

"o"ent while also screening yo&r co"p&ter for "alicio&s software via the antivir&s yo&

installed previo&sly

5rocesses or tas.s are also called threads. In single core processors% "&ltitas.ing is only an

ill&sion beca&se the processors j&"ps fro" thread to thread )&lti*core processors achieve

real "&ltitas.ing beca&se their have "&ltiple cores which can operate instances of progra"s

at the sa"e ti"e

Q1. W"a #s ER:9




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A5 #nterprise Aeso&rce 5lanning$ is a set of integrated progra"s that "anages the vital

b&siness operations for an entire organisation A5s cover the whole range of the val&e chain

while providing detailed insight into the state of affairs

Q1,. C'+*- !+m3*#$ #s9Clo&d co"p&ting is the &se of networ.ed co"p&ting reso&rces Services s&ch as storage and

processing are offered in the clo&d

Q15. O66&"%&s"%'6 s 3r+3r#%ar s+67ar%;

5roprietary software is c&sto" b&ilt to s&it the needs of a partic&lar co"pany or syste" It is%

therefore% better adapted to the specific re/&ire"ents than off*the*shelf software b&t re/&ires

"ore initial reso&rces to develop and is in a way &ncharted territory If so"ething is to go

wrong% there is rarely any c&sto"er s&pport and it is harder to predefine its behavio&r if it is to

go cross*platfor" It can be also harder to integrate it with other off*the*shelf software &sed

thro&gho&t the organisation

'ff*the*shelf software is a finished prod&ct% that can be obtained and i"ple"ented faster then

the proprietary software b&t is also less adapted to the specific needs of the &ser It is not

&n&s&al for &sers to be paying for feat&res they dont &se or &se rarely S&pport and servicing

is often available and chances are 3 the software has been tested on "&ltiple platfor"s and

proble"s sol&tions have been doc&"ented and "ade p&blic It can have certain sec&rity

iss&es d&e to it being available to everyone who is willing to pay for it

Possible exam questions :

1. What is an information system? what are some of the ways information systems are

changing our lives?

An information system is a set of interrelated components that collect, manipulate and

disseminate data and information and provide feedback to meet an objective.

Information systems speed up otherwise slow processes, they save trumendous amounts of

money, digitize and categorize raw data. Information systems make important data available

anywhere, anytime. On the other hand, information systems can be percieved badly due to them

causing drops in employment rates.

2. What is knowledge management system? give an example.

KMS is an information system used for improvement of business processes and performance. It

manages and shares knowledge of and in the organisation, thus allowing employees to upgrade

their outputs.

Ex: an internal KM system in an organisation such as Google would feature massive amounts of

organised information, allowing employees to learn anything from how Google was founded to

when will a certain pattent drafted by Google pass its legislation.

3. What is a computer-based information system? what are its components

A computer-basend information system (CBIS) is an information system based on the use of

computers. Components are: hardware and software, databases, telecommunications and theInternet, people and procedures.

4 Describe the characteristics of a decision support system (DSS).




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DSS is an organized collection of people, procedures, software, databases and devices that help

make problem-specific decisions. DSS delivers accurate, relevant (for the decision) and timely

information, helping a person to decide in the best interest of the company.

For example: a broker uses a DSS that closely observes stock exchange and this helps him/her

decide wether and when to buy stock shares.

5. Difference between intranet and extranet.

Intranet is an internal network that allows people within an organization to exchange information

and work on projects.

On the other hand, extranet is a network that allows selected outsiders, such as business

partners and customers, to access authorized resources of a company's intranet. This is

particullary useful when a company has an E-commerce department.

6. m-commerce and e-commerce

M-commerce is the use of mobile, wireless devices to place orders and conduct business.

E-commerce is any business transaction executed electronically (B2B, B2C, C2C).

7 Identify the steps in the systems development process and state the goal of each.

a) systems investigation (understand problem and its structure) b) systems analysis (analyze the

acquired data – understand solutions) c) systems design (select and plan best solution) d)

systems implemetation (put solution into effect) e) systems maintenance and review (evaluate the

results of the solution)

8. Difference between DSS and knowledge management.

DSS is configured to output decision-relevant information only. It is usually meant for higher

ranking employees such as managers and CEOs. Knowledge managment is to an extent

available to all employees and it features more general information.

9. Artificial Intelligence

Is the intelligence exhibited by machine or software. An artificially inteligent system is the one that

perceives its environment (input) and adjusts its actions (process) to maximize the chances of

success (wanted output).

10. LEARN ERP, TPS, MIS, DSS

ERP –Enterprise resource planning is a business management software (usually a set of

integrated applications covering many aspects of a company's business)

TPS –Transaction processing system is a computerized and to an extent automated system

that executes processing of internal and external business transactions.

MIS –Management information system is an information system used to increase efficiency

and effectivness in managment of companies. It differs from other systems in its cause – which is

to analyze and facillitate strategic and operational activities.

DSS –Decision support systemis an information system delivering relevant, accurate and

timely data to decision makers, helping them make decisions in the best interest of business.

11. Reengineering and Continuous Improvement

Reengineering is a downstream process of radical changes with the goal of business

breaktroughs.Continous Improvement is an upstream process of minor and regular




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adjustments (tweaks) usually proposed and carried out by lower level employees that has a goal

of improving efficiency and effectiveness over longer periods of time.

12. Organizational Structures (traditional, project, virtual, team) (important)

There are 4 types of organizational structures:

a) traditional – hierarchy of decisiom making is vertical. Strategic at the top, down to operational

management. Also can be flat and have empowerment.

b) project – centered on major products or services. Quite often temporary. Features a versatile

staff (ex. Experts in the fields of PR, electrical engineering, sociologists and so on)

c) Team – center on work teams or groups. Can be temporary or permanent, depending on tasks.

Features a less versatile staff (all more or less involved in the same or similar field of study)

d) Virtual – individuals, groups or complete business units in geographically dispersed areas.

Uses telecommunications, internet for most of its collaborative work. Effectively reduces costs.

13. Value chain- Series of activities that includes inbound logistics and warehouse and storage. It is divided into

Upstream management(what needs to be done to get to the product) andDownstream

management(everything related to the sales, distribution and customer service).

14. Technology infusion/diffusion (important)

Technologyinfusion– extent to which technology permeates (zastupljena, prožima) a department

Technologydiffusion– measure of how widely technology is spread throughout an organization.

15. On-demand computing and Outsourcing (important)

On-demand computing -Also called on-demand business or utility computing is a rapid

response technique very helpfull when it comes to adapting to dynamically changing business

needs. It can reffer to outsorcing computing power and cutting costs by not having powerfull

computers in the firm. There is a concept ofmetered computingstanding for pay-per-use on

demand computing services. Many of the large computer firms such as HP are now offering this

service to enterprises.

Outsorcing –contracting with outside professional services. Paying outsiders to do a part of the

job you can't or won't so you and your firm may focus on what you do best. For example,

information systems design is quite often outsorced. Large sales (particullary on-line) tend tooutsorce posting services to large providers such as FedEx and UPS.

Downsizing – a trend occuring because of the digitalization of systems, improving their efficiency

thus removing the need for manpower at some jobs.

16. Five-forces model. (important)

The 5F model was made by Michael Eugene Porter, a Professor at the Harvard Business School,

in response to the „casual“ SWOT analysis.

It consists of:

- Rivalry among existing competitors (middle of circle)- Threat of new entrants (horizontal)

- Threat of substitue products and services (horizontal)

- Bargaining power of buyers (vertical)

- Bargaining power of suppliers (vertical)




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A) Rivalry among existing competitors (Industry Rivalry):

Many competitors with equally attractive products/services – you have little power, there you seek

competetive advantage.

A small amount or none competitors with equally attractive services – you have trumendous

power or even monopoly.

B) Threat of new entry:

If a market isattractive(low entry costs, feasible and cheap tech needed, little or no legal or

patent impediments) – threat of new entrants is high.

If a market isunattractive(high entry costs, very expensive tech required, many legal and patent

barriers) – threat of new entrants is low.

C) Threat of substitute services and products:

If your service has an alternative in the industry, then your power is weakend.

If your service has no alternative or the alternative is very uneconomic, your power rises.

D) Bargaining power of buyers (buyer power):If many smaller buyers and you enforce buyer loyality, discounts and so on, the buyer power is not

big.

If a small amount of „bigger“ buyers, then they can dictate terms to you.

E) Bargaining power of suppliers (supplier power)

The "ore &ni/&e the raw "aterial or prod&ct yo&r s&ppliers s&pply to yo&% the bigger their

power is The fewer alternatives yo& have the bigger their power gets -nd the opposite

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Midterm CSIS120 Vjezba