Planning for Hardware and Software Resources

Hardware Options: It is essential to understand hardware options available before the IT

infrastructure is implemented. The following sections identify the hardware options under each
component of computer systems, highlighting the salient features, applications and limitations of
each of them.

Central Processing Unit (CPU): The CPU is the most complex component of the computer
system and one of the most important determinant of the capacity of the computer system. It has
two functional units called 1. Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU) and 2. Control. The operations
of ALU is performed in two cycles. The instruction cycle and execution cycle. These two cycles
are collectively referred to as machine cycle. There is a clock that synchronizes the operations in
the machine cycle. The clock speed is measured in terms of megahertz. Higher the clock speed,
faster is the CPU.

Primary Memory: Is also called main memory of the computer system, holds the data and
instructions to be executed; intermediate results of processing done by the CPU and final results
to be sent to the output devices. The primary memory is often called as RAM ( Random Access
Memory). There are other types of storage available to CPU for special purposes. They include
Read Only Memory ( ROM) and CACHE memory.

Input devices: Input devices are used to provide input to the computer system. These devices
can be classified on the basis of the way the data and instructions are entered. There are two
basic ways of entering the data into computer system:

 Terminal Data Entry

 Direct Data Entry
[Link] Data Entry: Data may be entered into computed system with the help of a terminal.
The terminal, generally, has a keyboard and a display screen connected to it along with some
more devices to facilitate communication. A variety of terminals are used to enter data for
different applications. Some of the most popular ones are:

 Personal Computer
 Point of Sale Computer
  Financial Transaction Terminals
 Portable Terminals.

(a) Personal Computer: Personal computers can act as intelligent terminals for the purpose
of data entry. With falling prices of microcomputers and rapid advancements in
microcomputer technology, PCs are becoming very popular data entry terminals.
(b) Point of Sale Terminal: The point of sale terminals are special purpose terminals
designed for replacing the cash registers. The POS terminals have key defined for
different products. This facility ensures quicker and accurate data entry.
(c) Financial Transaction Terminal: The Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) are another
type of terminals that serve the special purpose of the banking operations. These
machines are specially designed to enter and access the information regarding he status
and transactions of the customers account.
(d) Portable Terminals: The portable terminals can be carried to remote locations and can be
connected to the main computer with the help of communication link. These terminals are
very useful in the case of applications where the user is mobile and these transactions
take place far away from the main computers.
[Link] Data Entry: Data may be directly entered into a computer system without the help of
keyboard. This can be achieved with the help of sensing devices. The advantage with the direct
data entry is that the chances of errors in data entry are minimised because human intervention in
the process is eliminated. These devices include (i) Bar code reader, (ii) Optical Character
Reader, (iii) Magnetic Ink Character Reader, (iv) Scanners and (v) Pointing Devices.

(i) Bar Code Reader: The bar code readers are able to scan the light and dark bar codes printed
in the packing or labels of merchandise or other goods. The Universal Product Code is printed
on most of the item sold on retail stores.

(ii) Optical Character Readers: The OCRs are used for reading a document and converting
into computer usable form. Such scanners can read a variety of forms of documents.
(III) Magnetic Ink Character Reader: These devices are able to read special character printed
with magnetic ink. The ink is magnetic in the sense that it can be magnetised by passing a very
low voltage of electricity on it.

(iv) Scanners: The scanners are the devices used for scanning both the documents and pictures
as images. Such devices are gaining popularity in publishing business, as well as in documents
management systems.

(v) Pointing Devices: A variety of pointing devices are available with computers that help in
entering data and messages. These include mouse, light pen and graphic tablets, etc.

MASS STORAGE DEVICES: Mass storage devices have an important role to play in business
information system because they store and use large volume of data. The mass storage devices
may be of two kinds, namely:

(a) Direct Access Storage Devices and

(b) Sequential Access Storage devices.
The direct access storage devices permit access to any part of the recording media directly. Thus,
direct access storage have advantage in situations where the stored data needs to be accessed in
no particular sequence or rather it is to be accessed randomly.

The most common types of storage devices in this class are Magnetic disk drives and Compact
disk drives.

The sequential access storage devices permit access to a part of the stored data in a given
sequence. For example, the twentieth record can be accessed only after the first nineteen records
have been passed through. The basic advantage of sequential data storage device is that at the
time of read/write operations, only a small part of the recording is exposed.

OUTPUT DEVICES: Compute output may be in the form of a soft copy or hard copy. The soft
copy output is meant to be lost immediately after one use, whereas the hard copy output is
obtained to store the output for future reference as well. The soft copy out put device include the
visual display unit. Where as for hard copy output example is various types of printers.

SOFTWARE NEEDS: Software needs can be defined in terms of functions of the software. It
performs three basic functions in relations to IT infrastructure:

 It manages the IT resources in an enterprise

 It offers tools for utilisation of IT infrastructure;
 It acts as an interface between the information and the users

Accordingly, software needs can be defined under three broad categories: System Software,
Application Software, Interaction/query software.

(a) System Software: The class of software manages the hardware resources such as
primary and secondary memory, display devices, printers, communication links and other
peripherals in the IT infrastructure. The system software may have a variety of
components, such as operating system and translation programmes. The popular
operating systems products include MS-DOS, UNIX, Windows 95, OS/2, MAC OS, etc.
Translation software translates the programmes written in programming languages such
as COBOL, FORTRAN, PASCAL and C++ into machine recognisable language.
(b) Application software: Application software is the collection of programmes that actually
process data to generate information under various applications. This category of
software offers tools for satisfying the uses need for information.
(c) Interaction/query software: The interaction/query software is relatively a new class of
software that serves as a language of interaction between users and programmers on the
one hand and the stock of information stored on computer system on the other. With the
help of such tools even the users are able to develop limited applications for their use
without much of technical expertise.
PLANNING FOR APPLICATION SOFTWARE:
Planning for application software involves two basic decisions, namely

 Make or Buy decision

 Selection of specific application software.
Make or Buy decision: Quite often, make or buy decision in respect of application software
is complicated due to the variety of decision situations that may prevail among different
elements of the application portfolio. Flexibility is being introduced into the ready made
software packages to ensure that they can be designed and re patterned to fit into the
requirements of a large variety of enterprise.

SELECTION OF APPLICATION SOFTWARE

A large variety of application software packages are available in the market. In view of fierce
competition among the vendors, there is every likelihood of selection process being driven by the
sales executives of the vendors. Ideally, the application software should be selected after
systematic analysis of characteristics of each package under consideration. A buyer of packaged
software must looks for, and evaluate each package in the light of, the following characteristics.

1. Operating system requirements: The package must be compatible with the operating
system already being used or planned to be or planned to be used in the enterprise.
2. Equipment requirements: An application software, generally, has a minimum
configuration for the equipment on which it will work properly. Some times software
packages originally designed for highly configured computer hardware are offered to
users of smaller computers.
3. Access method for input/output of data: It is important to assess the efficiency for input
and output of data by the software. It is better if the data entered in the given software
packages can be accessed/shared by other software packages.
4. User friendliness: The software packages should be user friendly requiring minimum
training on the part of the user.
5. Flexibility: Another important consideration for selection of an application software
package is its suitability for the application. Most of the packaged software are made
general to enhance the potential customer bbase.
 6. Modifiability: Even the most general application software package will lack on or the
other facility desired by the user. It is therefore necessary for the purchaser to understand
the modifiability of the software.
7. Data Organisation: Another criterion for selection of application software package is the
way the data are organised in the software package. Data organisation is an important
determinant of the quality of information that a system can generate.
8. Commercial Experience: It is vital to recognise that one of the basic advantages of ready
made software packages is that it is well tested. As the bugs in the software cannot be
removed by the user, the purchaser must ensure that the package has sufficient
commercial experience.
9. Cost of the package: Price of application software package is expressed in different ways.
Therefore, the cost implications of the price structure should be carefully studied and
understood.
10. Customer Support: Although, most of the ready made software packages are designed to
of plug n play type, yet the user finds it difficult to use the package properly without the
support of the vendor. It is important to check not only the quality of the software manual
but also the trouble shooting facilities offered by the software manufacturer to its users.
11. Maintenance: Often, the maintenance cost of the software far exceeds the original cost
over its life cycle.

DEVELOPING APPLICATION SOFTWARE: SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN:

The process of developing an application software is also popularly known as system

development. The process is similar in the process of building any other major system.
Traditionally, the process of system development has been described in terms of a sequence of
the following steps:

1. Identification of users requirements.

2. Analyzing the present existing system, by identifying the detailed requirements of the
users.
3. . Designing a new system, by restating the requirements in terms of method, procedures
and controls to facilitate coding of a system.
 4. Coding the various programmes in the system using a particular programming language
and linking them together to make a complete software.
5. Testing the system to ensure that it meets the specified requirements.
Main Players in Development System:

Zachman identified three main participants in the development of any major system namely, The
Client, Designer and Builder.

Managers Involvement in System Analysis and Design:

A manager role in the process of system development may be confined to the following broad
questions:

1. What does the system process

2. How does it process
3. Why develop the application software
4. Where will the data be processed, and
5. When must a given data processing function be performed.
While these questions appear to be quite simple, they form the basis of any information system.
Seeking answer to these questions will not only help manager to identify his requirements but
also enable him understand what is likely to be the outcome of the system analysis and design
process.

Sequential Vs Modular Approach

Fertuck suggested that the traditional sequential process of steps in system analysis and design
should give way to the new process that incorporates the feedback at several stages of
development. The traditional and modern processes are presented in the following figure.
The traditional process system analysis and design was sequential and completion of one stage
was prerequisite for beginning of the other stage.

The modern approach overcomes these limitations and uses modern software tools to offer
flexibility during the entire development period. The work on the each of the modules in the
process can begin almost simultaneously and testing of the each module can be completed
concurrently.

Each module here would involve three basic tasks.

• Analysis of the system

• Designing the new system
• Testing and modifying the system
Enterprise Module: This section of the system analysis and design effort takes an over all view
of the enterprise. It identifies the entities that an organization collects the information about and
groups them on the basis of their interrelationship.
Database Module: The enterprise module provides the basic framework of data requirements.
The database module works out the detailed design of database.

Interface Module: In this module, the screen format for input are defined using the screen
generators. Similarly, the format for the reports that the users would need are specified.

Application Module: This module identifies the processes that must be performed by the
application. These processes also help in defining the exact scope of the application.

Implementation: The implementation process includes the whole gamut of activities such as
testing the system, entering the basic data, training the users, installation, maintenance and post
maintenance evaluation of the system

In house Development Vs Outsourcing:

The development of an application may be done in-house or may be handed over to a consulting
firm for development. The consultants may perform the necessary development at different sites
including the clients IT infrastructure. They are some of the fears that have kept the option of
outsourcing development of application as the last option of managers. Of course, there are
some advantages in handing over the task to professionals who have the experience of doing the
job in similar enterprise or inn similar need environments.

Benefits of outsourcing Application Development Services

 Access to professional services: Consulting firms who offer application development

services specialise in the area and have professionals who have experience of handling
application development projects. They carry with them their expertise which may relate
to the application techniques as well as understanding of the business process in different
types of environment.
  Benefit of third eye view: Out sourcing of application development offers a third eye that
can look at the business processes differently and without preconceived notions.

 Better project management: As the consulting firms have a lot of experience of handling
similar application development projects, their estimates of the time and other resources
are required for the project are more realistic.

 Focusing on core activity: Out sourcing of IT services helps managers in focusing on core
activities of the enterprise. The other activities are done by the people who are directly
concerned with them.

Demerits of Outsourcing Application Development Services

 Exposure of sensitive business process: Associating a consultant may mean losing the
privacy of some of the strategic information regarding the way business is conducted in a
“successful enterprise like ours” very rightly says a senior executive.

 Higher costs: The cost of professional services may be higher than development of such
services in house. Instead of paying a consultant, it may be better to invest in a team of
personnel in the company and strengthen it with better information system resources and
keep their level of motivation higher.

 Undue dependence: There is a possibility of developing a tendency to depend on the

consultant firm for all future needs resulting in higher costs.