Transcript Upgrade Strategy

Upgrade Strategy
HIGHER INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Audit
 You can’t always start from scratch with a new
system. This in not cost effective or wise. Therefore
you should do an audit of what you already have in
the organisation.
 Hardware
 Software
 What do you have now?
• What will you need in the future?
Upgrade Strategy
We will learn about:
•Future Proofing
•Integration Testing
•Legacy Systems
•Emulation
Before you leave the store could I
interest you in an upgrade?
Upgrade Strategy
Future Proofing
Computers and communications develop at an incredible rate
Organisations need to anticipate future developments
They must buy the most advanced hardware and software that will be
compatible and can be upgraded in the future
They need to anticipate what will happen in the future.
The operating systems become too out
of date to run the new applications, then
the older hardware will not accept the
upgraded operating system.
This is when you need to upgrade.
Upgrade Strategy
Future Proofing
Hardware - You should buy a computer with more features than you
need, e.g.
•Faster processor
•A large amount of RAM
•Biggest hard disk
This will last a few years before it
starts to lack power.
Upgrade Strategy
Future Proofing
Software –
Some software will run for years and do the task perfectly well
without needing upgraded.
Some software needs upgraded frequently.
The Information System will probably be a mixture of the two.
Software is either written for a special purpose – Air Traffic Control,
Call Centre or it is bought off the shelf – an application like Microsoft
Word.
Upgrade Strategy
Integration Testing
Software and Hardware must be able to work together. This needs to
be tested whenever new hardware or software is introduced to the
system. This is known as Integration Testing.
•Are the peripheral devices compatible with the O/S?
•Does the network software support the hardware and O/S?
•Is the application software compatible with the O/S & computer?
•Is the hardware compatible with the O/S?
Upgrade Strategy
Legacy Systems
A legacy system is the system that is in existence at the start of an
upgrade program.
This is an old information systems running on
out of date hardware and operating systems.
The reasons they are still used is because the cost
of rewriting software and buying new hardware
is too expensive.
The problem is if the hardware breaks down then there are no experts
left to fix it.
A way round this is to develop software conforming to Open
Standards. This software can run on any platform (it is portable), e.g.
Linux, Java.
Upgrade Strategy
Emulation
If software has to be run on new hardware then an emulator can be
used to ‘pretend’ to be the old hardware. The system software
acts as an interface to give the appearance of being the old
platform.
Advantages:
• Allows you to run more software on the platform that would
normally not be available.
• Data can be transferred between platforms.
Problems:
• Software can run more slowly.
• May not have access to all the functionality of the software.
New Software and Hardware
 Open system – means one system can
connect with other manufacturer’s systems
 Proprietary - does not connect with another
vendor’s systems
Upgrade Strategy
We have learned about:
•Future Proofing
•Integration Testing
•Legacy Systems
•Emulation
Before you leave the store could I
interest you in an upgrade?
2010 Questions 16
16. McCready, Kovaks & Co., a local firm of accounts, is upgrading from
stand-alone computers t a network system. Before changing to the
new system, the firm has considered a network strategy and an
upgrade strategy.
(a) Future Proofing and the maintenance of legacy systems are key features
of an upgrade strategy.
Discuss the importance of these two key features.
(4)
(b) State four aspects of a network strategy that the firm should have
considered.
(4)