critical path correct answers sequence of activities that determine the earliest date by which the
project can be completed
outsourcing correct answers arrangement by which one organization provides a service or
services for another organization that chooses not to perform them in-house
onshore outsourcing correct answers engaging another company within the same country for
services
offshore outsourcing correct answers using organizations from developing countries to write
code and develop systems. In offshore outsourcing the country is geographically far away.
nearshore outsourcing correct answers contracting an outsourcing arrangement with a company
in a nearby country. Often this country will share a border with the native country.
business requirement correct answers the specific business requests the system must meet to be
successful, so the analysis phase is critical because business requirements drive the entire
systems development effort
software customization correct answers modifies software to meet specific user or business
requirements
SMART criteria correct answers useful reminders about how to ensure that the project has
created understandable and measurable objectives (Specific, Measurable, Agreed upon, Realistic,
Time frame)
project manager correct answers an individual who is an expert in project planning and
management, defines and develops the project plan, and tracks the plan to ensure that the project
is completed on time and on budget
, project correct answers temporary activity a company undertakes to create a unique product,
service, or result
Gantt chart correct answers simple bar chart that lists project tasks vertically against the project's
time frame, listed horizontally
service-oriented architecture correct answers business-driven enterprise architecture that supports
integrating a business as linked, repeatable activities, tasks, or services. SOA ensures that MIS
systems can adapt quickly, easily, and economically to support rapidly changing business needs.
SOA promotes a scalable and flexible enterprise architecture that can implement new or reuse
existing MIS components, creating connections among disparate applications and systems.
off the shelf application software correct answers supports general business processes and does
not require any specific software customization to meet the organization's needs
service (a business task) correct answers simply a business task, such as checking a potential
customer's credit rating when opening a new account. It is important to stress that this is part of a
business process
Interoperability correct answers capability of two or more computer systems to share data and
resources, even though they are made by different manufacturers. Businesses today use a variety
of systems that have resulted in diverse operating environments
loose coupling correct answers capability of services to be joined on demand to create composite
services or disassembled just as easily into their functional components
extensible markup language (XML) correct answers a markup language for documents,
containing structured information. The technical specifics of XML's capabilities go beyond the
scope of this book, but for our purposes, they support things such as ebusiness transactions,
mathematical equations, and a thousand other kinds of structured data