Aug 1999 IM218 : Information Management (Question 3) Suggested Solutions

(a)

Briefly explain each of the following six stages of hardware acquisition.

Determine ® Preliminary ® Request for ® Theoretical ® Physical ® Final
needs investigation proposals benchmark benchmark selection

[6]

Needs:
can be determined from sources either internal or external to the information system; users should be interviewed to ascertain mandatory and desirable attributes.

Investigation:
to determine what the market has to offer, and to explore the range of possible solutions; sources of information include trade publications, vendor's groups, industry groups, and consultants.

Proposals:
to request all interested parties to submit formal bids for satisfying the needs.

Theoretical Benchmark:
proposals are evaluated solely on the basis of the vendor's claims; no attempt is made to verify these claims.

Physical Benchmark:
actual products are tested to verify vendor's claims.

Selection:
best product is chosen, and a legal contract is drawn up.

(b)

For physical benchmark,

(i) explain the three possible options.

(ii) which is the least desirable option, and why?

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[2]

(i)
Testing at own site:
equipment is tested in the environment in which it will be used;

Testing at independent site:
rent time from a service provider with a similar hardware and software configuration;

Testing at vendor's site:
vendor simulates purchaser's configuration at vendor's site.

(ii)
Testing at vendor's site, because the results are less likely to be objective.

(c)

The following table shows the software performance ratings, on a scale from 0 ( worst) to 10 (best), in evaluating a software package proposed by different vendors, A to D.

Criterion	Vendor
	A	B	C	D
Speed	7	4	3	2
Size	8	6	4	5
Portability	5	9	5	5
Ease of use	9	1	7	9

The weights assigned to the criteria are as follows:

Criterion	Speed	Size	Portability	Ease of use
Weight	0.20	0.30	0.15	0.35

(i) Calculate the weighted score by criteria for each vendor, and also the total weighted score for each vendor.

(ii) Briefly explain how the weighted score is used to select the vendor. Indicate which vendor should be selected.

(iii) Should an acquisition decision be made based on the weight-scoring process only? Justify your answer.

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[2]

[4]

(i)

	Vendor
Criterion	A	B	C	D
Speed Size Portability Ease of use	7 * 0.20 = 1.40 8 * 0.30 = 2.40 5 * 0.15 = 0.75 9 * 0.35 = 3.15	0.80 1.80 1.35 0.35	0.60 1.20 0.75 2.45	0.40 1.50 0.75 3.15
Total	7.70	4.30	5.00	5.80

(ii)
The vendor with the highest score should be chosen. In this case, vendor A should be chosen

(iii)
No, the decision should not be based simply on the scores. Apart from the attributes of the software, vendor's reputation and reliability should be taken into account this is particularly important with software acquisition, where the vendor may be required for maintenance. Besides, rating the performance and choosing the weights is a black art at best.