Financial Service Overseas (FSO) is a regulator of all companies providing financial services. It currently uses ‘stand-alone’ or unrelated software applications to manage its business processes. The business processes include procurement, inventory control, accounts, clients and monitoring. It is now considering whether an enterprise-wide system is a suitable replacement of all the unrelated software applications.
Required:
a) Identify FOUR (4) roles the new information system may play in FSO. (4 marks)
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Roles that the new system may play in the company are:
- Planning future operations.
- Recording transactions.
- Performance measurement (comparing actual results against plans).
- To help senior management make decisions
b) Explain TWO (2) features of an ‘enterprise-wide’ system. (4 marks)
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Features of enterprise wide system
- Enterprise wide systems are designed to co ordinate all business functions,
resources and information. - It minimizes duplication of information.
- Under an enterprise wide system each business area is provided with a system
that fulfils its needs . However each module shares a common database that is
the basis of all the information within the organisation.
c) Describe the types of test that should be conducted before the new information system goes ‘live’. (4 marks)
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Testing should include:
- User acceptance testing to establish whether user acceptance criteria are met.
- Realistic tests re alistic data and environment.
- Contrived tests how the system copes with unusual and unexpected events.
- Volume tests ensure the system can cope with the expected number of
transactions, and more.
d) Describe THREE (3) benefits of an information system built around a database should bring to an organisation. (8 marks)
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Benefits of information systems based around a database include:
- Reduced data duplication/data redundancy. Having a centralised pool of data
reduces the chance of data duplication and redundancy. For example, stock
and customer information are held and maintained centrally. - Provision of tailored reports. Databases should facilitate more flexible
reporting. For example, procurement managers should be able to produce
reports on slow moving products by different types of supplier. - Ease of access to information for staff. Databases should ena ble staff to find
data quickly (eg to answer customer queries). - Reduced IT maintenance costs. As data is maintained centrally, maintenance
(eg checking data accuracy, adding new types of data) should be an easier. - Enhanced security.