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101 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Data
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raw facts that describe the characteristic of an event
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Information
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data converted into a meaningful and useful context; information is data with relevance added.
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Business Intelligence
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applications and technologies that are used to gather, provide access to, and analyze data and information to support decision-making efforts
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Benefits of ERP
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• Integrate financial information
• Integrate customer order information • Standardize and speed up manufacturing processes • Reduce inventory • Standardize human resource information • Incorporate ‘best practices’ (These are standard, published operating methods found to produce the best performance and results.) • Unlike an MRP structure, ERP systems are information systems that allow an organization to access a synchronized database that strategically connects all aspects of a business. • Eliminate duplicate data • Addresses the need for global information sharing and reporting |
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Costs of ERP
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• Software costs
• Consulting fees • Process rework • Customization • Integration and testing • Data integration and conversion |
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Best Practices
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These are standard, published operating methods found to produce the best performance and results
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Information systems silos are sub-optimal because
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• Business personnel possess expertise in functional areas such as marketing, accounting, and sales.
• IT personnel have the technological expertise. • This causes a communications gap between the two. • Silos are separate information systems for different areas of an organization. There is a need for departments to share information (and reduce redundancies), and therefore enterprise systems (ERPs) are a much preferred method of storing and distributing data throughout an organization. |
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Implimentation of projects fail because
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• New processes take longer than with the prior legacy system.
• ERP costs a lot to support. • Campus-wide buy-in was difficult. • Hurdles are largely cultural. • A lot of users ignored the training programs offered. • Departments remain “highly resistant and suspicious”. • Quickly identify problems • Communication is essential • Change management – don’t assume that a good IS will be readily accepted and embraced • Labor resource issues – don’t ask too much from the implementation staff • The sooner problems are uncovered, the lower the cost of the remedy. • Consider use a pilot-group implementation, or a phased-implementation. • Avoid the temptation to ‘finger-point’. |
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Origin of misnomer of ERP
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Created to conquer the shortcomings
of MRP (manufacturing resource planning) • Involves the planning and managing of the entire organization’s resources in the most efficient, productive, and profitable manner The initials stand for Enterprise Resource Planning, reflecting its origins in manufacturing. In that industry, a variety of resources come together to create a product, hence the use of the word "resources". But it quickly became apparent that every industry relies on resources – not just materials, but people, money and information. As a result, ERP has grown to encompass multiple applications acting as modules within it, from accounting and human resources to manufacturing and supply chain. Information from many resources flows into the ERP system, and users in turn draw on that information for knowledge and perspective. Just as "resources" has come to mean more than what it originally did, "enterprise" is a misnomer as well. At the heart of any company of any size is a financial an |
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Core components of ERP and their functions
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1. Accounting and finance component – manages accounting data and financial processes within the enterprise with functions such as
• general ledger, • accounts payable, • accounts receivable, • budgeting • asset management • track profit, • forecast sales, • manage cash flow 2. Production and materials management component -handles the various aspects of production planning and execution such as demand forecasting, production scheduling, job cost accounting, and quality control 3. Human resource component - tracks employee information including – payroll, – benefits, – compensation, – performance assessment, – and assumes compliance with the legal requirements of multiple jurisdictions and tax authorities |
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Backup
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an exact copy of a system’s information
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Recovery
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the ability to get a system up and running in the event of a system crash or failure and includes restoring the information backup
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Interoperability
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This describes the capability of two or more computer systems to share data and resources, even though they are made by different manufacturers.
Interoperability is an important attribute as IT installations do not wish to be tied to an individual vendor. |
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Characteristics of solid IT architecture
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Availability: addresses when systems can be accessed by users
High availability - refers to a system or component that is continuously operational for a desirably long length of time A widely held standard is known as “five 9s” (99.999 percent) availability. Scalability: refers to how well a system can adapt to increased demands • Capacity planning - determines the future IT infrastructure requirements for new equipment and additional network capacity – Performing a capacity plan is one way to ensure the IT infrastructure is scalable Performance: measures how quickly a system performs a certain process or transaction (in terms of efficiency IT metrics of both speed and throughput) Not having enough performance capacity can have a devastating, negative impact on a business Reliability: ensures all systems are functioning correctly and providing accurate information. Reliability is another term for accuracy when discussing the correctness of systems within the context of efficiency IT metr |
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Applications Software
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is computer software designed to help the user to perform singular or multiple related specific tasks. It helps to solve problems in the real world. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software, and media players.
Application architecture: determines how applications software integrate and relate to each other Application software is used to solve specific problems or perform specific tasks * Types of Application Software* -Browser -Communication -Data Management -Desktop Publishing -E-mail -Groupware -Presentation Graphics -Programming -Spreadsheet -Word Processing |
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Disaster Recovery Plan
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a detailed process for recovering information or an IT system in the event of a catastrophic disaster such as a fire or flood
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Disaster Recovery Cost Curve
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charts (1) the cost to the organization of the unavailability of information and technology and (2) the cost to the organization of recovering from a disaster over time
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Open System
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a broad, general term that describes nonproprietary IT hardware and software made available by the standards and procedures by which their products work, making it easier to integrate them
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Web Service
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contains a repertoire of Web-based data and procedural resources that use shared protocols and standards permitting different applications to share data and services
It is easiest to think of an individual web service as software that performs a specific task, with that task being made available to any user who needs its service. |
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Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)
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is a business-driven IT architectural approach that supports integrating a business as linked, repeatable tasks or services
• SOA ensures IT systems can adapt quickly, easily, and economically to support rapidly changing business needs • Service oriented architecture begins with a service. • (A SOA) service - can be a business task, such as checking a potential customer's credit rating only opening a new account • Services are “like” software products |
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Telecommunications System
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enable the transmission of data over public or private networks
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Network
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a communications, data exchange, and resource-sharing system created by linking two or more computers and establishing standards, or protocols, so that they can work together
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Local Area Network (LAN)
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is designed to connect a group of computers in close proximity to each other such as in an office building, a school, or a home.
• A LAN is useful for sharing resources like files, printers, games, or other applications. • A LAN in turn often connects to other LANs, and to the Internet or wide area networks. |
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Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
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a large computer network usually spanning a city
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Wide Area Network (WAN)
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• A WAN spans a large geographic area, such as a state, province, or country.
• WANs often connect multiple smaller networks, such as local area networks (LANs) or metropolitan area networks (MANs). • The world’s most popular WAN is the Internet. |
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Protocol
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is a formal description of digital message formats and the rules for exchanging those messages in or between computing systems and in telecommunications. Protocols may include signaling, authentication and error detection and correction capabilities. A protocol describes the syntax, semantics, and synchronization of communication and may be implemented in hardware or software, or both.
In general, protocols are rules or standards permitting different applications to share data and services. (For example, HTTP is a networking protocol used for accessing the WWW.) |
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Firewall
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Most corporate security goes far beyond passwords such as using a "firewall," a computer that sits between an internal network and the Internet.
• The firewall allows access to internal data from specified incoming sites but tries to detect unauthorized access attempts and prevent them from occurring |
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Business Process
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a standardized set of activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customer’s order.
• Business processes transform a set of inputs into a set of outputs (goods or services) for another person or process. Examples: • Waiting in line at a grocery store is a great example of the need for process improvement. • In this case, the “process” is called checkout, and the purpose is to pay for and bag groceries. • The process begins when a customer steps into line and ends when the customer receives the receipt and leaves the store. |
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Continuous improvement vs. BPR (Business Processing reengineering)
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In the extreme, BPR assumes the current process is irrelevant, does not work, or is broken and must be overhauled from scratch.
• Such a clean slate enables business process designers to disassociate themselves from today’s process and focus on a new process • Continuous improvement: attempts to understand and measure the CURRENT process, and make performance improvements accordingly. Business process reengineering (BPR): analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises. (basically BPR assumes current process is irrelevant, so it starts from scratch vs. continuous improvement make changes where necessary ) |
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Process Modeling (Mapping)
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the activity of creating a detailed flow chart or process map of a work process showing its inputs, tasks, and activities, in a structured sequence
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Customer-facing vs. business facing processes
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• Result in a product or service that is received by an organization’s external customer.
• Adidas’ customer facing processes might include – a marketing campaign, – a sales initiative, – a new product or service, – distribution of a product or service, – customer billing, customer service, and order processing. Business-facing: • strategic planning, • internal budgets, • internal training, • purchasing raw materials in the supply chain. |
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Project
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Temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result
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Responsibilities of a project manager
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an individual who is an expert in project planning and management, defines and develops the project plan, and tracks the plan to ensure the projects is completed on time and on budget
Managing a project includes: – Identifying requirements – Establishing clear and achievable objectives. – Balancing the competing demands of quality, scope, time, and cost – Adapting the specifications, plans, and approach to the different concerns and expectations of the various stakeholders A project manager must focus on managing three primary areas to ensure success: – Managing people – Managing communications – Managing change – Managing risk |
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Work Breakdown structure
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The Work Breakdown Structure divides a project into tasks. Tasks (and corresponding subtasks) need to be well defined before building the PERT chart and being able to estimate the project's schedule and completion date.
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Project Triangle
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money, time, scope all have to be balanced; change one, the others are affected.
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Project Deliverable
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any tangible or verifiable item that is produced to complete a part of a project.
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Gantt Chart
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A simple bar chart that depicts project tasks against a calendar
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PERT Chart
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Also, a minor point about PERT charts and the critical path: The longest path through the task network is known as "critical" because it defines the project's duration. If a task on the critical path is delayed, the project's completion date will necessarily be delayed.
– – a graphical network model that depicts a project’s tasks and the relationships between those tasks • Dependency • Critical path |
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Project Scope
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defines the work that must be completed to deliver a product with specified features.
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Project Risk
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• Project risk – an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on a project objective
– Risk management – the process of proactive and ongoing identification, analysis, and response to risk factors |
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SMART Objectives
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Are useful reminders on how to ensure that the project has created understandable and measurable objectives -Specific
-Measurable -Agreed upon -Realistic -Time framed |
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What is a competitive advantage?
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A product or service that an organization's customers value more highly than similar offerings from a competitor
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According to Peter Drucker, what are managers who do the right things addressing?
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Effectiveness
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Understanding information technology begins with gaining an understanding of how businesses function and IT's role in creating efficiencies and effectiveness across the organization. How do typical businesses operate?
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By functional areas
By silos By functional silos All of the above |
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Which of the following is not a primary information technology project goal?
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Marketing Plan
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What are raw facts that describe the characteristics of an event?
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Data
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What refers to applications and technologies that are used to gather, provide access to, and analyze data and information to support decision-making efforts?
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Business Intelligence
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Why is there generally a gap between IT personnel and business personnel?
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Differing vocabularies
Differing experiences Differing expertise All of the above |
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What is a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace in which a single buyer posts its needs and then opens the bidding to any supplier who would care to bid?
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Private Exchange
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What must an individual anticipating a successful career in business, whether it is in accounting, finance, human resources, or operations management, understand?
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Information technology basics
Roles and responsibilities in information technology Measuring information technology's success All of the above |
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Why do students need to study information technology?
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Information technology is everywhere in business
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Which of the following will help an organization maintain consistent business operations?
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Marketing, sales, and accounting departments decide to use the same vendor for a new system
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Which system did the city of Los Angeles decide to implement to integrate purchasing and financial reporting?
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ERP
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Which ERP component would have a feature to set a credit limit?
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Accounting and finance
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What is the key word in ERP?
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Enterprise
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Which component can help an organization determine such things as the identification of individuals who are likely to leave the company unless additional compensation or benefits are provided?
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Human resource components
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Which of the following is the equivalent to purchasing a canned software ERP package?
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Off the rack
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What is enterprise resource planning?
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Integrates all departments and functions throughout an organization into a single TI system so that employees can make decisions by viewing enterprisewide information on all business operations
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Which of the following describes an ERP system?
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ERP systems provide a foundation for collaboration between departments
ERP systems enable people in different business areas to communicate ERP systems have been widely adopted in large organizations to store critical knowledge used to make the decisions that drive the organization's performance All of the above |
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Which of the following occurs when everyone involved in sourcing, producing, and delivering the company's product works with the same information?
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Eliminates redundancies
Cuts down wasted time Removes misinformation All of the above |
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What is the average failure rate for an ERP project according to Gartner research?
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66%
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What includes the plans for how an organization will build, deploy, use, and share its data, processes, and IT assets?
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Enterprise architecture
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What determines how applications integrate and relate to each other?
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Application architecture
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What includes the hardware, software, and telecommunications equipment that, when combined, provide the underlying foundation to support the organization's goals?
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Infrastructure architecture
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What is a backup?
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An exact copy of a system's information
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How frequently should a large organization that deals with large volumes of critical information backup?
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Daily
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What is a plan for how an organization will recover and restore partially or completely interrupted critical functions within a predetermined time after a disaster or extended disruption?
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Business continuity planning
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What is fault tolerance?
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A computer system designed that in the event a component fails, a backup component or procedure can immediately take its place with no loss of service
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What refers to how well a system can adapt to increased demands
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Scalability
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What is interoperability?
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The capability of two or more computer systems to share data and resources, even though they are made by different manufacturers
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What is an open system?
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A broad, general term that describes nonproprietary IT hardware and software made available by the standards and procedures by which their products work, making it easier to integrate them
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What is a telecommunications system?
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Enables the transmission of data over public or private networks
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What is a network?
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A communications, data exchange, and resource-sharing system created by linking two or more computers and establishing standards, or protocols, so that they can work together
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What is designed to connect a group of computers in close proximity to each other such as in an office building, a school, or a home?
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Local area network
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What spans a large geographic area, such as a state, province, or country?
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Wide area network
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What uses TCP/IP technology to transmit voice calls over long-distance telephone lines?
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VoIP
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What is a virtual private network?
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A way to use the public telecommunication infrastructure (e.g., Internet) to provide secure access to an organization's network.
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Which of the following is not a common business network characteristic?
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Reliably and securely exchange information internally but never externally via the Internet
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What is the difference between the highest and the lowest frequencies that can be transmitted on a single medium, and it is a measure of the medium's capacity?
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Bandwidth
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What refers to high-speed Internet connections transmitting data at speeds greater than 200 Kbps, compared to the 56 Kbps maximum speed offered by traditional dial-up connections?
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Broadband
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What is an RFID tag?
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Contains a microchip and an antenna, and typically works by transmitting a serial number via radio waves to an electronic reader, which confirms the identity of a person or object bearing the tag
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What is a business process?
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A standardized set of activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customer's order.
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What is a customer facing process?
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Result in a product or service that is received by an organization's external customer
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What is a business facing process?
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Invisible to the external customer but essential to the effective management of the business and include goal setting, day-to-day planning, performance feedback, rewards, and resource allocation
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What is the continuous process improvement model?
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Attempts to understand and measure the current process, and make performance improvements accordingly
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What attempts to understand and measure the current process, and make performance improvements accordingly?
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Continuous process improvement
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Which of the following is not one of the three key steps involved in business process improvement?
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Monitor the performance of key individuals
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Business process modeling (or mapping) is the activity of creating a detailed flow chart or process map of a work process showing:
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Inputs, tasks, and activities in a structured sequence
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What integrates all of an organization's business process to make individual processes more efficient?
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Business process management
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Which of the following is not one of the important characteristics of business processes?
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The processes occur only within organizations
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Which of the following is a business facing process?
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Budgeting
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What is a project?
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A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result
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What are project constraints?
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Specific factors that can limit options
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What are project assumptions?
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Factors that are considered to be true, real, or certain without proof or demonstration
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What is a project charter?
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A document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities
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An organization must identify what it wants to do and how it is going to do it. What does the "what" part of this question focus on?
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Justification of the project
Definition of the project Expected results of the project All of the above |
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Which of the following is not a technique for choosing strategic projects?
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Develop a project plan
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What is project scope?
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Defines the work that must be completed to deliver a product with the specified features and functions
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What are project objectives?
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Quantifiable criteria that must be met for the project to be considered a success
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What do SMART criteria for successful objective creation include
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Specific, measurable, agreed upon, realistic, time framed
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What is a graphical network model that depicts a project's tasks and the relationships between those tasks?
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PERT chart
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