MT300M3-3: Choose the best method for organizations to acquire information systems.
Acquisition of Information Systems
Organizations need to stay competitive. Part of their strategy is to make the best use of their information systems. There are several ways that an organization may acquire or modify an information system. The company that you have founded has grown into a medium-sized business and you need to update your information systems.
-Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of your options, including but not limited to using a prewritten application, an open-source application, or developing your own customized application.
-How would you accomplish any customization or development assuming that you have an IT staff that mainly provides support on the existing system, they are not systems analysts or programmers, and their time is fully taken up with their current duties?
-Are there any new hardware requirements?
-Discuss methods and tools for development.
-What is the system development life cycle?
-Would your database and applications reside on servers in your offices or use the Internet to access them in the cloud?
-Would you consider outsourcing?
-After looking at the alternatives, provide a decision on what you would do.
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, organizations need to harness the power of information systems to stay competitive and ensure operational efficiency. As the founder of a medium-sized business, it is crucial to update your information systems to meet the growing demands and capitalize on new opportunities. When considering how to acquire or modify an information system, several options come to mind, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. In this essay, we will explore the options of using a prewritten application, an open-source application, or developing a customized application. Additionally, we will discuss methods for customization and development, hardware requirements, the system development life cycle, hosting considerations, the possibility of outsourcing, and ultimately provide a decision on the optimal course of action.
Using a prewritten application offers several advantages. Firstly, prewritten applications are readily available in the market, allowing for quick implementation and deployment. They often come with extensive documentation and support, minimizing the need for extensive training and reducing implementation time. However, prewritten applications may have limitations in terms of customization and may not fully align with your unique business processes. Additionally, they may require ongoing licensing fees, which can impact long-term costs.
On the other hand, open-source applications provide greater flexibility and customization options. They are typically free to use and can be modified to suit specific business needs. Open-source communities foster innovation and collaboration, leading to continuous improvement and a vast library of plugins and extensions. However, the downside of open-source applications is that they may require specialized expertise to configure, customize, and maintain. This can pose a challenge if your IT staff lacks the necessary programming skills and their time is already fully allocated to existing responsibilities.
Developing a customized application offers the highest level of tailoring to your business requirements. It ensures a perfect fit for your processes and can provide a competitive advantage. However, developing a custom application requires significant time, resources, and expertise. Considering your IT staff’s current duties and skill sets, dedicating them solely to development may not be feasible.
To address the challenge of customization or development with limited programming resources, you can explore options such as outsourcing or hiring external development resources. This approach allows you to leverage specialized skills and experience without overburdening your existing IT staff. However, outsourcing introduces additional considerations, such as finding a reliable partner, managing communication and collaboration, and ensuring data security and privacy.
When evaluating hardware requirements, it is essential to consider the scalability and performance needs of your information system. Upgrading hardware infrastructure, such as servers and networking equipment, may be necessary to accommodate increased system demands. Conducting a thorough assessment of your current infrastructure and consulting with IT professionals will help determine the specific hardware requirements.
The system development life cycle (SDLC) is a structured approach to developing information systems. It typically includes phases such as requirements gathering, system design, development, testing, implementation, and maintenance. Following the SDLC ensures a systematic and efficient development process, reduces risks, and helps deliver a high-quality information system.
Choosing between hosting the database and applications on servers in your offices or utilizing the cloud depends on various factors. Cloud-based hosting offers benefits like scalability, accessibility from anywhere, and reduced infrastructure and maintenance costs. However, it requires a reliable internet connection and raises concerns about data security and privacy. On-premises hosting provides greater control over the infrastructure and potentially better performance but may involve higher upfront costs and increased maintenance responsibilities.
Considering all the options and factors, it is crucial to make an informed decision that aligns with your business objectives, resources, and constraints. Given your medium-sized business, limited programming resources, and the need for customization, a combination of prewritten and open-source applications seems like a practical choice. You can select a prewritten application that closely matches your requirements and customize it using open-source plugins and extensions. This approach balances the advantages of quick implementation, support, and customization flexibility while minimizing the need for extensive programming resources. Additionally, outsourcing certain development tasks or seeking external expertise when needed can help overcome any resource limitations.
In conclusion, when acquiring or updating information systems for your medium-sized business, it is essential to carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages of various options. Assessing customization requirements, available programming resources, hardware needs, development methods, and hosting considerations will guide you in making an informed decision. By combining prewritten applications with open-source customization and considering the possibility of outsourcing, you can optimize your information systems to meet your unique business needs and drive success in a competitive landscape.
As a renowned provider of the best writing services, we have selected unique features which we offer to our customers as their guarantees that will make your user experience stress-free.
Unlike other companies, our money-back guarantee ensures the safety of our customers' money. For whatever reason, the customer may request a refund; our support team assesses the ground on which the refund is requested and processes it instantly. However, our customers are lucky as they have the least chances to experience this as we are always prepared to serve you with the best.
Plagiarism is the worst academic offense that is highly punishable by all educational institutions. It's for this reason that Peachy Tutors does not condone any plagiarism. We use advanced plagiarism detection software that ensures there are no chances of similarity on your papers.
Sometimes your professor may be a little bit stubborn and needs some changes made on your paper, or you might need some customization done. All at your service, we will work on your revision till you are satisfied with the quality of work. All for Free!
We take our client's confidentiality as our highest priority; thus, we never share our client's information with third parties. Our company uses the standard encryption technology to store data and only uses trusted payment gateways.
Anytime you order your paper with us, be assured of the paper quality. Our tutors are highly skilled in researching and writing quality content that is relevant to the paper instructions and presented professionally. This makes us the best in the industry as our tutors can handle any type of paper despite its complexity.
Recent Comments