Exam 13: Choices in Systems Acquisition

Experts recommend that organizations look for ASPs that can guarantee ____ uptime-for critical applications.

Clients should not expect vendors to list the service level and ____; the clients must do it.

Since no provider can guarantee 100 percent uptime,ASPs routinely promise 90 percent uptime.

There are conditions under which organizations should avoid outsourcing.

Offshoring has caused layoffs of programmers in Western countries and created much bitterness among those professionals and supporters of local labor.

In recent years,enterprise applications have constituted a far larger part of IT expenditures on packaged software.

Studies show that saving ____________________ is not the most common reason for outsourcing.

If non-IT employees cannot develop an IS,the choice might then be to ____________________ the development of the IS.

Provide examples of typical outsourced IT services.

Some clients prefer to use a leased line rather than the ____________________ to connect to an ASP.

____________________ law states that an employee might use an employer's computer services for his or her own purpose without permission if no damage is caused and if the value of supplies and computer services does not exceed $100.

There is a peculiar-and paradoxical-aspect to IT outsourcing: while contracts are signed for long periods of time,they typically involve rapidly changing technologies.

An important downside is that ____ software is less likely to be compatible with other organizations' systems.

Innovative ISs,especially those intended to give their owners a competitive advantage,should not be outsourced.

Outsourcing ____ or core business ISs incurs more risk than outsourcing the routine tasks of operational ISs.

Large developers often distribute prerelease versions,called ____________________ of software to be tested by companies that agree to use the application with actual data for several months.

If the cost-accounting procedures of a particular company are so specific that no commercially available software can perform them,the company must develop ____,or tailored,software.

When a business outsources only routine business processes,such as customer order entry or human resource transactions,the practice is sometimes called ____________________.

Outsourcing allows a client to know exactly what the cost of its IS functions will be over the period of the contract,which is usually several years.This allows for better ____________________ planning.

Companies must take extra care to ensure that ____________________ software truly complies with company needs,including organizational culture.