Security issues
Funding and Finance
Bandwidth
Mobile Broadband
Processing power
Issues with printing
Compatibility (redesigning interfaces/web pages)
Mobile operating systems
Management issues
Nano technology
Teleworking
Battery life
Software compatibility
Training
Storage space
Portability
Social implications
Legal implications
Environment implications
You need to be able to discuss how
ICT has changed the way organisations are run. You need to be able to use examples and discuss what future developments mean for organisations
Mobile computing
Difficulty in future proofing
Cost implications
More complex tasks can be carried out
Software and hardware compatibility
Dependency
Security issues
Job Security
Green Issues
Disaster recovery
Access (does everyone have it?)
Portability of devices
Increased globalisation
More efficient/productive
Spam
Expert Systems and AI
Past Paper Questions:
“ICT has developed rapidly over the last 20 years. Discuss the impact of developments in ICT on the way organisations are run in 21 st century”
“The rapid increase in the speed of broadband communications has changed the way in which we live our lives and do business. Discuss the impact of the increase in the speed of communication on business and society
“For most business applications mobile computing is a dream not a reality” Discuss this statement

Strategic responsible for decision making and long-term planning and as such the information required would be at a summary level of detail; their information needs would include details of: organisation and rival company performance, accounting and financial information, technological developments with their potential effects on the organisation, and the impact or forecast of any decisions made at strategic level.
The majority of this information will be supplied by a management information system (MIS)
Tactical
Consists of middle management who are, for example in charge of one particular department or area of a business. Obviously they have an input into decision making & planning and they will need their information in sufficient detail to complete their tactical role. This will include detailed requirements of senior management, the department resources allocated and associated budgetary provision, summary reports on department and subordinate staff performance and, finally, reports on the availability of products and services needed by the operation staff.
Operational are most likely to have little impact on decision making as they are mainly responsible for the day-today planning and running of the production side of the business. To operate effectively they need very detailed instructions from the tactical management regarding the operational requirements for the organisation. They also need information about the day-to-day tasks that need to be carried out, such as what needs to be produced, dispatched and ordered on a daily basis. In some cases they will be responsible for their own performance and so will need data to analyse their effectiveness
.

Legacy System
Legacy systems are computer systems or application programs which continue to be used even though more modern versions exist; this is often due to the high cost of replacement of the system
.
Transaction
Processing System
A Transaction Processing
System, monitors transactions; the normal series of events for a transaction is that data is collected and entered into the system, where processing takes places and the resultant information is output.
Back Office System
Back office systems are in place to take care of the administration processes of a business. A typical back office system is an automated set of processes run by a software application on the company computer network, for example, an accounting package which will: Record sales transactions
Batch processing
System
Batch processing is execution of a series of programs on a computer without human interaction, such as the calculation of
Electricity Bills.
By way of contrast online or interactive programs which prompt the user for inputs.
E-Commerce System
E-commerce consists of the buying and selling of products or services using the internet and the volume of e-commerce or online trading has grown amazingly with the popularity of the internet.
An online system is basically a web-based storefront where your customers can browse and purchase products.
EDMS
An electronic document management system
(EDMS) is a computer system which is used to track and store electronic documents and/or images of paper documents
You need to be aware of the different type s of ICT systems

You need to be aware of the different type s of ICT systems
Management Information Systems (MIS)
Management information systems are used by managers at all levels of an organisation to assist them in carrying out their responsibilities by: monitoring performance, making decisions and controlling company activities. Management
Information System (MIS) is a common term for the computer systems in an organisation that supply information about its business operation; data for this process is obtained from internal and external sources and the resultant information is output in an suitable form for the use of business management.
MIS in school = SIMS
Operational
Tactical
Strategic
Decision Support Systems (DSS)
Decision Support Systems
(DSS) are, as the name suggests, an information system that supports business and organisational decision-making activities. The main characteristic of a DSS that it is an interactive system intended to help decision makers compile useful information from raw internal and external data, and to model
situations to predict the outcome from a particular decision.
Data Processing Systems Carry out repetitive low level tasks on a day to day basis. E.g. an electronic point of sale display system (EPOS)
Information Systems Summarise data for middle managers to allow them to make medium term decisions
Management Information
Systems
Help Senior management to make long term decisions

Factors influencing an ICT Strategy:
 Business goals
 Available finance
 Legacy systems
 Geography of clients
 Business fulfilment
 External factors: compliance with external organisations and relevant legislation
 Emerging Technologies
Eventually technology becomes obsolete and needs to be replaced.
The life span is short
An ICT strategy sets out a long terms vision for an organisation on how they will make best use of the ICT available to them.
An organisation that acquires cutting-edge technology may gain an advantage over its competitors. Buying it at an early stage will be more expensive. It may make more sense to buy it at the maturity stage as costs come down and more support will be available, with bugs fixed.
A large organisation is likely to have a
CIO as a member of the company's board at strategic level.
They are in charge of the ICT resources and information services
They make all t he strategic ICT related decisions
Chief Information Officers (CIO) job involves:
 Being responsible for the technological direction of the organisation
 Responsible for ICT budgets and projects
 Making decisions regarding staff training
 Decisions about purchase of hardware and software
 Overall ICT leadership
 Information Security

An ICT policy are agreed ways of doing something that are put into place to protect the best interests of the organisation
ICT systems are vulnerable to all sorts of threats both internal and external, so
are put in place to reduce these threats and ensure all staff are able to make the best use of the ICT resources.
Its needed:
To prevent misuse from occurring
To enable any misuse that did occur to be detected and investigated
To lay down procedures that should prevent misuse
To establish disciplinary procedures to be used when an employee has been found committing an act of abuse
You need to know what would be covered in an ICT security policy
ICT policies are put in place so that staff adopt sensible and legal procedures for the use of ICT within their area of work.
Procuring means acquiring – an
ICT procurement policy is about the ways in which ICT hardware, software, consumables and services are purchased.
An organisation needs to have an ICT training strategy to ensure that each employee has the skills necessary to carry out their job

There are many variations to t he
SLC. These are generally the main stages
Review and
Maintenance
Preliminary
Study
Feasibility
Study
Installation and
Conversion
Analysis
You need to know what takes place at each of these stages
Testing
Constructing the Solution
Design

2 . Feasibility
Study
1. Preliminary
Study
This is a brief study to look at whether or not a new system is needed.
This study looks at the existing and possible alternatives.
Considers five factors:
T - Technical
E - Economic
L - legal
O - Operational
S - Schedule
3 . Analysis
Involves finding out about the current system and investigating the requirements of the users
Investigation techniques:
Interviews,
Questionnaires
Observations,
Document analysis
From the findings a a set of deliverables is agreed with the users
4 . Design
Determines how the new system will be implemented.
Breaking down the problems into smaller sub-problems.
These include layout plans and test plans.
Clear time scales are needed to prevent the project from over-running. A schedule is usually put together at this stage
5. Constructing the Solution
This is the stage where the system is produced by the development of programs or customisation of software packages.
Hardware is also installed.
Work must be monitored to ensure time scales are followed.
6. Testing
Checking that the system works by carrying out tests and comparing them to the expected results.
See Testing
Sheet for
Testing
Methods
7. Installation and
Conversion 8. Review and
Maintenance
Hardware is installed, staff are trained and files are converted to the new system. 4 changeover methods: direct, parallel, phased and pilot
See
Conversions
Sheet for more info
Once the new system is in full operation it is monitored to check it meets the originals specification.
Changes that need to me made are know as maintenance.
See
Maintenance
Sheet
Deliverables: Are a set of items promised under contract. Agree the content if the new system and prevents arguments later.

Questionnaires are a valuable method of information collection, where the opinion of many people is required for a range of set questions. The analysis of questionnaires is straightforward where the answers are multichoice or predefined, but seldom give the depth of information that can be obtained form an openended interview.
Interviews
Questionnaires Observation
Document
Analysis
Investigation
Observation of the use of the current system can yield a lot of information about its good and bad points; this is an ideal method to get the systems analyst up to speed on current system performance.
Interviews are a useful method and they can be either structured (where the questions have been determined in advance) or open-ended (where new questions are decided on based on the response to previous questions). A method of recording answers is needed, such as tape recording so that the final results can be input for analysis by an audio typist. It is possible that several interviews will take place across a range of staff, including users and senior managers.
Inspection of Documentation is an essential part of the process as user manuals and procedures help the systems analyst discover the intended way the existing system operates and may highlight any inadequacies in it.

Show the movement of data through the whole organisation.
Rules
A data store should have at least one arrow going into it and one leading from it as data is being written to it and read from it.
Data cannot flow directly from a data store to an external entity

A relationship is the way in which entities in a system are related to one another.
(1:1)
A B
(1:m)
A B
(m:m)
A B
Many - Many
If you have a many to many relationship these cannot be implemented as there will be repeating groups in the entities. A database cannot be implemented. You need to introduce a link entity which lies in between the 2 original entities.
Entity: An object of the real world that is relevant to an ICT system, e.g. a place, object, person, customer, invoice, product, course, etc
Use capitals for entity names
Entity names should be singular. E.g.
COURSE not
COURSES
Label the relationship
Crows feet on the many side
A
C
B

• Each module(or part of the system is tested)
Module Testing
Functional testing
• Sometimes called black “box testing”
– in which it is checked that the outputs are correct for the given inputs
• Sometimes called
“alpha testing” – in which the developers test the system as a whole to make sure it meets the specified requirements
System Testing
User Testing
• Sometimes called
“beta testing” – in which potential users test the new software on their own computers using real data.
• in which software is tested in its normal operating environment
Operational
Testing

is a collection of software and test data configures to perform specific tests in a module of a program by running it under different conditions, comparing actual outputs to expected outputs
Test that the new system works with large volumes of data. After a long period of use, data files may become very large. Volume testing tests that this does not affect the performance of the software
Test that the system will still perform as required even if the system has to deal with an increased workload such as increased users, large number of transactions and files

In Direct conversion the original system is switched off and the new system started on the same day at a pre-arranged time.
Although this changeover takes the least time, it is the most risky approach as it is difficult to revert to using the old system again if there are problems; consequently direct conversion is not recommended where continuity of service is critical.
Original
System switched off
It is necessary to carefully plan the changeover from the old to the new system and it is first necessary to ensure that users are adequately trained, user support is in place and all files needed for the process have been converted.
New System goes live
Using a Phased conversion is less risky than a direct conversion as there is a period when both systems are operating, which allows for an easy reversion to the original system where problems take place. This strategy has additional costs, as both systems have to be operated and synchronised to ensure they are both up to date. The amount of overlap of the two systems makes the conversion a moderate risk.
Original System operates
New System comes online

Original System operates
It is necessary to carefully plan the changeover from the old to the new system and it is first necessary to ensure that users are adequately trained, user support is in place and all files needed for the process have been converted.
This is where a suitable part of the organisation is chosen to conduct a pilot study (often called a prototype) and to transfer to the new system. The old system continues to be used throughout the rest of the organisation. As the results of the initial pilot study are analysed more pilot studies take place throughout the organisation. Although this is a time-consuming process the risks of failure are minimised and problems or bugs within the new system are fixed as they occur and prior to extending the use of the new system.
Pilot Conversion in one part of company
Pilot Conversion in other part of company
Original System operating
In this case the new system is run in parallel with the old system. The outputs from both systems are compared and the old system operated until such time as the new system is deemed to be reliable. In this case the risk of failure is the lowest of the changeover methods, but it is also the most expensive as both systems have to be operated which requires additional labour and computer resources.
New System comes online in parallel with old system

You need to be aware of the training and support methods that are available.
You need to be able to discuss which methods would be most suitable and why
Existing user base.
Help-desks.
User support from software producers.
Support articles (e.g., computer magazines, books, FAQ, etc.).
On-screen help.
Specialist bulletin boards/blogs.
Training may be needed when a new system is introduced, to learn more advance features, changes in functionality, procedures and legislation.
Internal and External Users
Users who work for the organisation that owns the ICT system are called internal users.
Any users who may not work in the organisation that owns the ICT system are called external users.
Different levels of staff will need different training. E.g. managers will need to learn how to use the MIS.
Operational staff may need to know how to use the EPOS system
Instructor-based classroom training.
One-to-one training.
Cascade training.
Computer-based training (CBT).
Distance learning.
Use of manuals, books, software guides.

CBT/E-Learning
A large number of users
One to One
Small number of users. Managers
 Work at own pace
 When and where they want
 Cheaper than sending staff on courses
 Assessment available
 Effective as lots of time can be spent on staffs specific needs
On The Job Instructor Based
(can be external or internal courses)
Suitable For
Practical tasks, smaller number of users
Advantages
 Easy to learn doing practical tasks
 Do not have to travel
 Ask for training when needed
Teaching specific skills and needs
 Suit specific needs
 External courses can avoid distractions in the workplace
Manuals/ Books/ User
Guides/Videos
Large number of users. Low level of risk with task involved
 learn on a flexible basis.
 Use for problem solving when needed
 Develop skills further in free time
 Cheap
 People may not respond well as they like to ask for help when stuck
 No evidence of how well they responded to course
 Expensive
Disadvantages
 Time consuming to train large number of users.
 May only run at fixed times and have to travel to them
 External courses may be expensive
 Can feel isolated, no interaction
Task Based
Operational level staff carrying out practical tasks
Skills Based
Analytical skills to extract data that can be used across systems. Managers




Once the system has been delivered and installed, it is measured against the system requirements documentation and its performance monitored.
Inevitably some aspects of performance will be unsatisfactory and maintenance will be required for reasons including:
 Bugs may be identified that were not spotted during the testing phase
 Users may find aspects of the software unacceptable after using the system for a while
 More efficient ways of operating the system may be required
 It may be necessary to integrate the system with new software and hardware
 New legislation may be introduced that requires system modification such as tax changes implemented onto an account package
 Security issues may force changes to be made to protect the system from external threats

Management Involvement
Senior management must be involved throughout the project. Managers need to understand clearly what specific problem the solution is aiming to solve. They need to have a knowledge of ICT systems and be involved at the stages of the system development
End User Involvement
End User Involvement is an important aspect in developing ICT solutions, as the project can be centred around getting the information that the end user wants and needs. End user involvement is also critical in establishing an interface design that is straightforward to use and has high usability. It has also been shown that there is an increased acceptance of the developed product if there is an early involvement of the users in the project creation.
Effective ICT Team Work
An effective ICT team is a key factor in the success of the project development process; most projects are broken down into small tasks and teamwork is essential to link the process together.
Inadequate Analysis sufficient time and effort should be made available so that appropriate research is carried out. End users should be involved at the start of the project and the management must ensure that a co-operative environment exists to ensure accurate and relevant data gathering takes place
Unrealistic Project Plan
Every project has a plan that lays down which team member carried out which task. Clear timescales and agreed deliverables need to be established. Thought needs to be given to give enough time and realistic planning. If not then the project may run over time and over budget.
Insufficient Monitoring
The project leader needs to monitor the progress of the project.
Unexpected problems may arise or task needs to be done that were overlooked. The project manager will need to adjust the schedule and maybe change around the team members and allocation of tasks.
Lack of Standards
A lack of professional standards can lead to missed deadlines and a system that does not function as was intended. All stages of the project need to be carried out using agreed methods that everyone works to.
Loss of Control
Many projects fall behind schedule when the team leader loses control of the project plan. This can happen if agreed deliverables are not produced or if when a mile stone is reached management are not satisfied and do not approve moving on to the next stage.

2.
3.
4.
A Risk Analysis Involves
1.
Identifying each element of an information system
Placing a value on that element
Identifying any threats to that element
Assessing the likelihood(or probability) of such threats occurring
The organisation should then take measures to protect data that are appropriate to the risk
Know the potential threats to a system
Understand the considerations in a backup strategy
Know what is a risk analysis is
Know the contents of a recovery and contingency plan
Threats to a System:
Hardware Failure
Software Failure
Telecommunications Failure
Computer Crime and Abuse
Invalid Data
System Design Failure
Disk Mirroring : Identical data is stored on two different disks. Whenever data is stored to disk, it is stored on both.
If the main disk fails, identical data is available on the second disk. The mirror disk does not have to be located in the same place as the first.
The set of procedures that are in place to restore data that is lost
The processes that have to be in place to allow recovery to happen
Contents of a Contingency Plan:
• Alternative computer hardware
• Backup procedures
• Recovery Procedures
• Staff Responsibilities
• An Alternative working location
Recovery Options:
In House Provision
Subscription Service (cold /hot start)
Reciprocal Agreements
Backup and Recovery Procedures need to be tested and roles need to be clearly identified

What Data is to be
Backed Up:
Data files, operating system files, application files
When Will
Backup be
Done:
Systems that run all the time need to be backed up while they are running. Systems that run during the day need to be backed up at night
What Type of backup should be done:
Full Backup,
Incremental,
Differential,
Online
What Media will be used for the
Backup Up:
Need to consider speed and volume
Where the backup will be kept:
There is no point storing the backup in the same place as the original
Who is responsible for the backup and testing the recovery
How frequent will the backup take place:
Every day, weekly etc. Need to consider how valuable the data is
Small scale systems can use relatively simple backup procedures such as copying nightly transactions onto an external hard disk. Large scale systems such as stock exchange or banks need an extensive and complex backup and recovery strategy

You need to be aware of the various laws and the impact they have on organisations
Copyright Design & Patents Act:
Organisations have to check there is not unauthorised software on their computers.
They have to ensure that employees are not downloading copyright material illegally.
They have to make sure they have the correct number of licences and not running software on more machines
Health & Safety Act
Appointing a safety officer
Regularly inspecting workstations against health and safety criteria
Carry out regular staff training regarding health and safety with regard to computer use
Ensuring that all software is appropriately designed
Prodding memos, leaflets or posters to advise on good health and safety practice
Establish procedures that ensure faulty equipment is replaced in a timely manner
Computer Misuse Act
Carry out audits
Ban on downloading any programs
Ban on using someone else username and password
Use software and hardware measures
Data Protection Act
Appointing a Data Protection Officer to monitor systems
Establishing procedures to follow up possible breaches
Establishing security methods such as firewalls, the use of passwords and data encryption
Including a clause in the code of practice stating that employees should not build up their own databases of personal data
Using a variety of methods to educate staff of their responsibilities in keeping data private. Establishing and circulating disciplinary measures

Outsourcing is when a business contracts another firm to carry out a particular task for it. For example, a law firm may ask an IT company to manage its network facilities so that the lawyers can concentrate on legal matters and do not have o worry about repairing machines or installing software.
Some companies may choose to employ a team to take care of their systems where others prefer to outsource. The decision will be based on which is the most affordable and cost-effective option.
Advantages:








Solves the problem of trying to recruit and retain suitable ICT staff
Allows organisations to concentrate on core business functions
The organisation does not have to worry about legislation applying to that part of the business
The company may not have to purchase expensive hardware and software
Disadvantages
Outsourcing can mean existing ICT staff may no longer be needed
The quality of outsourced work may not be as high as work done in house
The organisation has not direct control over staff employed by the outsourcing company
It could compromise the privacy and security of data held
Offshoring means moving certain business processes performed in a company, in one country to the same company or a completely different company in a different country
Bulk printing
Specialist companies provide a service to carry out bulk printing for example payroll and billing systems
Leasing:
 Similar to renting.
 You pay a fixed amount per month.
 You never own the goods being leased.
 At the end of the period you can either rent at much lower rental or start up a new lease with more up-todate hardware and software
Contracting/Buying Outright:
 When you purchase goods or services.
 For hardware/software when the contract ends the goods belong to you.
Managing Internal resources
All organisations rely on managing their resources as efficiently as possible.
Involves managing the following:
 Hardware
 Software
 Communication
 Consumables
 Facilities and Power
 People