December 1998
IM218: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

QUESTION 2

Total Marks: 20 Marks

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SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS
Solutions and allocated marks are indicated in green.
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2. (a) The acquisition of a piece of hardware begins with a determination of needs and a preliminary investigation. Explain with the aid of examples exactly what is involved in each of these steps.
 [6]
  • determination of needs: needs come from internal or external sources (1 mark); specific needs are split into mandatory and desirable attributes (1 mark); information is obtained regarding performance characteristics (1 mark); other relevant points regarding this stage (1 mark) to a maximum of three marks
  • preliminary investigation: a preliminary investigation of possible vendors is conducted (1 mark); to determine what the market has to offer (1 mark) and the range of possible solutions (1 mark); enough information is obtained to conduct a rough cost/benefit analysis (1 mark) to a maximum of three marks

 
(b) The next step in the hardware acquisition process may involve a request for proposal:
(i)   what is a request for proposal?
[2]
A request for proposal is a request to all interested parties to submit formal bids to satisfy the hardware needs (1 mark); it should explain the selection process as well as the needs (1 mark)
(ii)   why would we wish to send out a request for proposal?
 [1]
We would wish to send out a request for proposal to encourage competitive bidding (1 mark), to avoid abuse of the acquisition process (1 mark) one mark for either point
(iii)  when is a request for proposal unnecessary?
 [1]
a request for proposal is unnecessary when the market is well-researched and there are only a small number of qualified products.

 
(c) A proposal may be evaluated by theoretical and physical benchmarking:
(i)  What is theoretical benchmarking, and why is it important?
 [2]
Theoretical Benchmarking is the evaluation of proposals based on the representations made by the vendors (1 mark); it is important as it will cut down the number of products that need to be considered for physical benchmarking (1 mark).
(ii)  Is it better to conduct physical benchmarking at your own site or at the vendor’s site? Explain your answer.
 [2]
It is better to conduct physical benchmarking at your own site (1 mark), as the equipment will be tested in the actual environment in which it is to be used (1 mark).

 
(d) List and explain three reasons why software acquisition may be more complex than hardware acquisition.
[6]

Reasons why software acquisition may be more complex than hardware acquisition:

  1. the attributes of software are harder to specify (1 mark); greater effort is required to identify specific needs (1 mark); greater attention must be paid to evaluation (1 mark); software is more complex (1 mark)
  2. it may be possible to develop the software instead of buying it (1 mark); at the very least there may be some customisation involved (1 mark); development could even be outsourced (1 mark)
  3. ownership of intellectual property is an issue (1 mark); external vendors may attempt to retain ownership of software (1 mark).

up to two marks for each of the three aspects of the problem (each of the sections identified above); no more than two marks for any one section; this is intended to challenge the more able students.