QUESTION
COIT 11233 Term 1 2012
General Information
Case Study (30%)
The purpose of this assignment is to respond to a series of questions based on a fictional
case study scenario. The questions relate to various aspects of ICT and IS that affect
organisations. In order to respond to the questions, you will need to extend your
knowledge of topics covered in the course. Note that this assessment refers to concepts
covered in weeks 1 – 11, so you will need to be mindful of content regarding IS
implementation and legal and ethical issues.
You need to reference external material other than the text in order to complete
this assignment successfully. ALL use of external sources must be cited in Harvard
format. Plagiarism detection will be used in this assessment.
Case Study Scenario
A privately owed creative industries company, Smiling Penguin Industries (SPI), has
recently raised a large volume of capital in order to invest in ICT in order to meet
demand for its services. Using the latest in smartphone and table technology and
leveraging off location services, a new product has been launched called TellMe.
TellMe is being marketed as the terrestrial equivalent of the fictional Hitchhikers Guide
to the Galaxy (H2G2). In effect, the application (available on all smartphone and tablet
platforms) gives users condensed, highly accurate information on just about any topic a
traveller might need – even if Internet connectivity is unavailable. This information
includes basic maps, transport options, details and ratings of venues providing food and
accommodation, helpful hints about points of interest and locale events, medical and
legal information and alerts to civil unrest or natural disasters.
Being location aware, the application downloads and caches information that might be
needed about the current locale when Internet connectivity is available. TellMe tracks
and monitors where users are in order to populate the application cache with the most
relevant information. Furthermore, the application monitors and learns from the type
of information the user requests. This information is stored and analysed by servers
that the TellMe application communicates with.
Like the fictional H2G2, TellMe accepts updates from contributors in order to keep its
information accurate. Employing an open wiki style approach to content editorial, users
of TellMe also effectively become content providers. While the application is primarily
client‐server by design, SPI are also interested in deploying a P2P version that enables
users in a close proximity to share information about food, accommodation, current
events and travel attractions.
Until recently, TellMe was limited by the requirement for constant Internet connectivity
in order to provide information. It had operated as a reasonably popular travel
CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT ‐ PAGE 1
COIT 11233 Term 1 2012
application on IOS and Android platforms, acting as a review and feedback site primarily
for food and accommodation venues (see for example TripAdvisor). Income was
derived from advertising on both the mobile application and on the parent web site.
However, developments of location awareness, coupled with information compression,
caching technologies and data mining led to the release of a paid, subscription‐based
version of the application.
TellMe proved to be a success and in the first year, the number of users increased by ten
times. While the success is welcome, the resulting impacts on SPI have required a
significant review of the organisations ICT and IS. The organisation faces six key
challenges:
Network Infrastructure and Services: SPI had traditionally operated from a single
location in Sydney. However, the single corporate office model is not sustainable or
scalable. SPI has employed staff at locations all over the world, with corporate offices
now in New York, Hong Kong, London and Reykjavík. These offices need high‐speed
reliable connectivity to support voice, video and data exchange. Various ad hoc
solutions and services are in place, but both the design and requirements of intranet
connectivity need to be addressed. A second, and perhaps more pressing issue, is that
SPI has also reached the data throughput limits on the single network link it has to the
Internet from its Sydney office. This is as a result of user demand for the service.
Internal systems and process: SPI operated traditionally with less than 20 staff,
mostly technical. Human Resource and Financial systems were virtually non‐existent
as these functions were handled externally. All other systems were effectively technical
in nature and revolved around code management and data management. As a growing
organisation, SPI may need other systems to continue to offer services and remain
competitive.
Data Management and Service delivery: As a small organisation, SPI managed data in
a very ad hoc manner. Backup and recovery solutions were in place, but these are
now simply too small for the volume of data that TellMe is creating. Moreover, SPI
operates from a single data centre which is both limited by connectivity and the
number of servers that can be accommodated in the physical environment. Given the
growth in demand, a scalable approach needs to be found for storing and retrieving data
and providing the server‐side services that the TellMe client requires.
Security and Privacy: Until now, SPI has considered itself too small to really worry
about data security and privacy. However, given the nature of TellMe, its executives are
concerned about their liability and responsibilities, especially as they operate over
multiple jurisdictions. It has also been suggested that the data they store has immense
value and poses significant risks if illegally obtained and misused.
Risk: SPI hasn’t focused on risk before. Now that it has a valuable product, anything
that could negatively impact on service delivery needs to be identified.
The Future: While you can’t predict the future, you can look at the trends and
technologies coming over the horizon. Until now, SPI have been focused on delivering
TellMe using current technologies. However, they are aware their widow of opportunity
CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT ‐ PAGE 2
COIT 11233 Term 1 2012
will close unless they adapt and remain useful. As such, they need to inventory
emerging technologies and consider how they could be leveraged to improve their
TellMe application and service.
You have been engaged as a technology consultant. You have been asked to address the
questions below in order to provide SPI with advice about the current state of ICT in
their organisation and what changes or steps they should be taking to make more
effective use of it..
Your Task
To complete this assignment, you must answer the following questions in the context of
the case study:
1. How can SPI better position itself to meet the growth demands on its network
and server infrastructure? In answering you should discuss and address:
• The current infrastructure problems faced by SPI
• Examples of important infrastructure decisions that SPI faces
• Examples of information/questions that will inform the decision making
process
• Methods and techniques for evaluating options
For students aiming for full marks, include:
• Examples from the real world of solutions or technologies that may solve
the problems you have identified and/or
• Lessons learned from other real‐world organisations that provide similar
Internet driven services?
2. What IS technology should SPI consider in investing in? In answering you should
discuss and address:
• The current limitations of Information Systems in SPI
• Examples of important IS that may be required now and in the future.
Justify your choice of systems and discuss how they would add value to
SPI as an organisation.
• Examples of information/questions that will inform the decision making
process surrounding the adoption of such systems
• Methods and techniques for evaluating options
For students aiming for full marks, include:
• Examples from the real world of Information Systems that may solve the
problems you have identified and/or
• Lessons learned from other real‐world organisations that provide similar
Internet driven services?
3. What security and privacy challenges does SPI face? In answering you should
discuss and address:
CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT ‐ PAGE 3
COIT 11233 Term 1 2012
• Identify data and systems that face security threats. Explain the potential
avenues of attack and the potential results of a security breach.
• Identify technology or countermeasures that may mitigate or limit the risk
of successful attack
• Discuss potential privacy issues surround data used and obtained by
TellMe.
• Explain what standards and laws SPI may need to comply with regarding
privacy
4. What future trends and technologies could affect the organisation and the TellMe
product? In doing so:
• Identify and describe trends and technologies that could have a positive
effect on SPI and TellMe – explain how they would be useful?
• Identify and describe trends and technologies that could have a negative
effect on SPI and TellMe – explain how they would be pose risk?
• Provide examples from other organisations/contexts where technologies
have radically changed the way in which an organisation operates and/or
what it produces.
What you need to submit
You are required to submit a single document in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx)
with the response to the previous questions clearly labelled and separated. Use the
template on the assessment page as the basis for your submission.
References from in‐text citations should be at the end of the document.
Hints
• Take note of bolded terms or words in the case. These are things you should
understand and in many cases, discuss in your question responses.
• Try to limit each response to around 500 ‐ 700 words. If you can say what you
need to say in less, then that is fine – don’t write for the sake of writing.
• There is not single “correct” response. You need to give an opinion and justify
your response based on the case and external literature.
• You may use the course news forum to ask questions abut SPI from the “client”
(the Course Coordinator).
CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT ‐ PAGE 4
COIT 11233 Term 1 2012
Assessment Criteria
Criteria Mark Range Mark
Question 1
Limited response that fails to address most or all of
the discussion points; external literature not used or
is not relevant to informing the response.
Response addresses some but not all of the
discussion points; references used
Thorough response to discussion points (and
possibly beyond) with good linkage to and use of
external literature
Question 2
Limited response that fails to address most or all of
the discussion points; external literature not used or
is not relevant to informing the response.
Response addresses some but not all of the
discussion points; references used
Thorough response to discussion points (and
possibly beyond) with good linkage to and use of
external literature
Question 3
Limited response that fails to address most or all of
the discussion points; external literature not used or
is not relevant to informing the response.
Response addresses some but not all of the
discussion points; references used
Thorough response to discussion points (and
possibly beyond) with good linkage to and use of
external literature
Question 4
Limited response that fails to address most or all of
the discussion points; external literature not used or
is not relevant to informing the response.
Response addresses some but not all of the
discussion points; references used
Thorough response to discussion points (and
possibly beyond) with good linkage to and use of
external literature
General (Penalty)
Referencing (-1 per error), maximum (-10)
Note: this criteria relates to citation format or
omission errors (i.e. source appears in reference list
but not cited or not cited correctly). Plagiarism
(unreferenced/copied) material will result in a referral
to the office of Learning and Teaching for action.
Severe penalties apply should plagiarism be proven.
0 – 5
6 – 10
11 – 15
0 – 5
6 – 10
11 – 15
0 – 5
6 – 10
11 – 15
0 – 5
6 – 10
11 – 15
0 – (-10)
TOTAL 0 – 60
CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT ‐ PAGE 5
SOLUTION
Contents
Task 1: Growth and Infrastructure demands 2
Current Infrastructure Issues 2
Examples of Important Infrastructure Decisions 2
Questions that will inform the decision making process 2
Techniques for evaluating options 3
Real world Examples and lessons 3
Task 2: IS Technology for Investment 3
Limitations of Information System.. 3
Important IS Required. 3
Questions that will inform the decision making process 4
Techniques for evaluating options 4
Real world examples and lessons 4
Task 3: Security and Privacy challenges 4
Data and Systems that face Security Threats 4
Technology to counter the threats 5
Privacy issues on the Data. 5
Laws and Standards compliance for Privacy. 5
Task 4: Future Trends and Technologies 5
Technologies which may Impact the Development 5
Technologies which may Impact Negatively. 6
Examples from Real Scenarios 6
Task 1: Growth and Infrastructure demands
Current Infrastructure Issues
The most important issue which SPI faces is the organizational structure. It has operated in a traditional way, with only one corporate office at Sydney. It is not conducive for the development of an IS industry to work in an isolated scenario, when most of the companies are catering to the global clients. The multinational companies have a bigger share in the local markets as well as abroad. This expected that in order to do a sustainable business, a company like SPI should have its branches at many places around the globe.
It has recently initiated its corporate offices at New York, Hong Kong, London and Reykjavik. Then, there comes a new challenge there to work in a distributed fashion. The work like collection of data, development of the application, deciding the security policies etc. can be done from a particular branch or the multiple branches.
Examples of Important Infrastructure Decisions
The decision to locate the datacenters, which help the application to cache the data while having the connectivity regarding the best places for trip, reviews about the restaurants etc. need that the datacenters to be local. There may be low throughput and the collection of data would be may be inefficient if the datacenter is only located at Sydney.
The organizational structure should also change. The SPI started as a small organization with mostly technical people. Now, the organization has become bigger in size, many important issues regarding human resources and financial issues need people and the departments specialized for the purpose.
Questions that will inform the decision making process
There are important questions which may improve the decision making process. Some of them are mentioned below:
- Who are the potential customers for the application?
- Where are the users of the application located?
- What are the current technologies and trends which make the access to the data easier and faster?
- What are the different departments and businesses which might be done at the regional centers?
Techniques for evaluating options
There are many business intelligence tools of the reputable vendors like Microsoft, Oracle etc. which help in the categorization of data, presenting graphs of the KPIs which help in making decisions regarding the development, marketing, finance and human resources.
The KPIs graphs are the easy way of presenting the important issues which the growth of a company may be facing.
Real world Examples and lessons
These days most of the organizations are shifting their infrastructure from the actual datacenters (centralized and the distributed) ones to the Clouds (Cloud Computing) which provide distributed and accessible network from anywhere.
Task 2: IS Technology for Investment
Limitations of Information System
The Information system of SPI face various challenges as the transition of the organization from the small to big was not met with the modifications in the IS system. The client base of the application has increased with the demand for better data mining capabilities. This has been an important factor in the success of the application that it is compatible with the IOS and the Android platform. There are many other mobile platforms which should be also covered in order to attract more clients. The interface of the application is one field which requires a continuous renovation to keep the clients attracted to the application(Burford,2010).
There are also issues regarding the network connectivity and the reliable exchange of data. SPI has been connecting to its clients through the datacenter located in Sydney. But as the clients of the application have grown it needs to distribute the datacenter so, that users of the application are able to collect data from local servers, This would not only add to the easy access and the maintenance of data but also improve the data throughput. This is required more so because the data include video which consumes higher bandwidth. This is the quality and the data and content which would be helpful in keeping the faith of the clients.
Important IS Required
The distributed architecture of the databases for the application is required for the growth of SPI. There is a need for stable and clustered databases which would keep the data in a high availability mode. There is also a need of improved data mining technologies and the connection between the clients (as P2P) is required so that the common data can be shared among them. This would be also helpful in case there is less availability of the internet facilities.
Questions that will inform the decision making process
There are important questions which may improve the decision making process. Some of them are mentioned below:
- How are the clients connected to the application server?
- What are the alternate ways of connectivity?
- How the contents should be managed in the application?
- How the data should be presented through the interface of the application?
Techniques for evaluating options
The techniques regarding the evaluations of the options require that the company should keep a track of the new trends and the technologies which are reliable and are implemented by the other competent applications in the field.
The feedback of the clients has been always an important method for the improvement of the application (Waterfall model) development.
Real world examples and lessons
The Clouds discussed in the above task provide an excellent environment for the application support. The Clouds support the various services for the applications in IS, like IAAS (Infrastructure as a Service), PAAS (Platform as a service) and Software as a service (SAAS). The clouds provide robust services, depending on your vendor, which require less attention and maintenance. The software licenses and the hardware costs are not required to be borne by the vendors only.
Task 3: Security and Privacy challenges
Data and Systems that face Security Threats
The infrastructure of SPI has grown up in terms of business. With a greater client base which it has it is required that the systems provide the security and privacy of data. There had been little backup and recovery solutions to the system. The database backup and restore technologies are very much needed in the scenario, when the business and the client base are expanding.
The data relevant to the clients must be stored in a safe environment. The data of the client, if lost would do an irrecoverable damage to the business. There has been significant improvement in the data backup, archival and recovery technologies in the current times.
This also required that the data of the clients are private apart from being separate. This brings an ethical issue as well as a chance of damage to the business, if the privacy of the data has been breached. The client would never accept the services which compromise the security and the privacy of his data.
Technology to counter the threats
The technologies like Database mirroring, saving the data in the RAID disks, using multiple databases at different locations etc. are some of the technologies which help in storing the data in the safe environments. Even if the database server at particular location fails or is harmed by any disaster the data can be recovered from the mirror database. This is not the only benefit, the application would never be down if it is working in such an environment. Thus the business would be up and running, without any downtime.
Privacy issues on the Data
A client would seldom accept that his important data has been accessed by some other person. There are different kinds of contents like voice, video or some other personal data of the client, which need to private. There may raise ethical issues if the account password and the data of the client is disclosed or hacked. The IT companies make sure that the passwords and the data are encrypted and stored in safe hands.( www.iitx.com/Resources/,2010)
Laws and Standards compliance for Privacy
Most of the applications today allow their clients to access the application through LDAP and SSO. The LDAP is the lightweight directory access protocol which uses standard security protocols like Kerberos for the authentication of the user logging into the application.
The SSO is an another protocol which works over the LDAP layer to enables the user to login into the application only once, and gives secure access to all the parts of the application without requiring to login multiple times. For example, when you login into the Google account, you would not need to login into all other Google applications like Gmail, Picasa etc., that saves the user some time and improves the application
Task 4: Future Trends and Technologies
Technologies which may Impact the Development
There have been rapid advancements in the technology in the IT field, either the development of the software, platforms, frameworks and the infrastructure. SPI requires that the data of the clients should be stored in the safe environment which has enough security to the account. There has been growth in the security of the data travelling through the internet layer. The protocols like IPSec, ISAKMP etc. which make the secure transfer of data through the networks. The web security is offered by the SSL and TLS protocols. There have been advancements in the field of cryptography as well. Initially the 54-bit DES algorithm was used nowadays 128 bit AES algorithms are used, which are highly secure.
Technologies which may Impact Negatively
This might be shocking indeed but there are some bad impacts of the business too. The technology has made the faster access to the systems quite easier. This means that any change in the system of IT development would have a faster response on the business. These impacts may have dark sides too. The technological advancements require that a particular technology would give way to another in order to stay in the business. Thus a technology may get outdated in few months, rendering the loss of the investment and would require making fresh investments to sustain the business.
The technology makes the business competitive. The interface, the access to the data, the sharing of the data all these things should be revamped with time, in order to stay competitive. The ideas shaping the business and hence the shape of the application architecture should be reviewed, as there may be change in the client base if there are new no innovations in the application.
Examples from Real Scenarios
There have been many cases where the application of IS radically changed the way the organization had been working in the past. The examples can be taken from the way the government offices worked then and nowadays. Earlier, the government offices worked with lots of physical files with paper records. There was no regularity in the format of the applications and the records in these offices. The data used to lost, by the decay of the paper files. All the work had to be done manually. With the application of IS, there was a complete change in the way of working.
All the work was automated, the forms and formats of the work was designed. Most of the data in the paper files were digitalized. There started movement of the files on the network. The web interfaces and the GUIs were designed.
References
1.David Burford 2010, Cloud Computing: A brief Introduction , viewed on 25th may 2012,
www.ladenterprizes.com/pdf/CloudComputing.pdf
2. International Information Technology Inc. 2010, Infrastructure applications , viewed on 25th may 2012, www.iitx.com/Resources/WpInfrastructureApps.pdf
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