CIS 251 - System Development Methods

Review for First Test

The following questions are provided to help you study for the first test. Do not expect to see these exact questions on the test.

  1. How does the text define systems analysis?

  2. What is Moore's Law? How does it affect some of your decisions in system design?

  3. What should be included in a business profile?

  4. What is an enterprise application? Explain how this is different from an application that supports enterprise computing.

  5. The text discusses four kinds of modeling in chapter 1. Name the four things that it says you should consider modeling.

  6. The text listed five classic phases of a System Development Life Cycle. Name them.

  7. A classic recommendation in system development is to start with your reporting requirements. What does this approach lead you to define next?

  8. What does the word iteration mean with respect to system development?

  9. When writing system documentation, or any other business communication, you should always start with Kipling's six honest serving men. List them, and state a meaning that each may have when planning communications.

  10. When talking to people, one on one or in groups, how can you determine whether they are understanding your message?

  11. Since the text brings it up, why is it better to admit you don't know something than to make up an answer? If this is not obvious to you, what are the possible repercussions when people find out your answer was wrong or harmful?

  12. What does the acronym SWOT stand for?

  13. What reasons would cause you to write a business case? What should a business case include?

  14. IT projects were once done only by the IT department. What other groups are commonly included in planning such projects now?

  15. How could an IT project reduce a company's productivity?

  16. What is ROI and why is it important in a business case?

  17. The text mentions that some projects are done to provide stronger controls. What is it talking about?

  18. What kind of system project is more likely to be started in bad economic times? How about in good times?

  19. What is the purpose of a system review committee?

  20. The text lists four kinds of feasibility. What are they? Devise a scenario for each that would cause a prudent analyst to reject a project.

  21. What does a Pareto chart look like? What does it tell you? What should it help you decide?

  22. What are two ways that an XY chart might appear? What does the word "correlation" have to do with an XY chart?

  23. Explain why choosing to focus on project's speed to completion, quality of work, or low cost will have a negative effect on the feature or features you do not focus on.

  24. Assume you have a short project with five tasks. Sketch a Gantt chart that might be made for it. Explain what the bars mean, what the x and y axis stand for, and what would be indicated by two colors on each bar.

  25. What is another kind of chart that serves that same purpose as a PERT chart?

  26. Why does the text say that PERT charts are made with a bottom up technique?

  27. Which kind of chart shows tasks on separate horizontal lines? What does this mean? How is the same concept shown on chart that shows some tasks on the same horizontal line?

  28. What are two definitions of a critical path in a series of tasks? How is a critical path shown in a chart?

  29. What kind of chart shows how often problems of several types occur?

  30. What is the reason that a project manager monitors a project? What are two mechanisms the text proposes the project manager use?