Chapter 10, Problem 1LO

Program Plan Intro

Mention some examples of waste and mistakes in an IS environment along with their causes, and recommended solutions.

Explanation of Solution

The major cause of computer related problems is the computer-related waste and mistakes. Let us see some examples of these waste and mistakes one by one including their causes and possible solutions.

Computer-related waste

Some of the computer-related waste are as follows:

Operating unintegrated information systems: Some organizations for cost-benefit operate with unintegrated information systems which results in a difficulty in collaborating and sharing information among decision makers and further leads to missingupcomingopportunities, extra cost, and less sales.

Acquiring redundant systems: Unknowingly some organizations acquire those information systems which otherwise looks different as per their specification but performs same tasks as are performed by already installed systems in the company. These issues often occur due to improper analyses of requirements before investing into these systems. Acquiring redundant system increases company’s hardware and software cost.

Wasting information systems resources: In some companies there are no proper guidelines for employeesregarding the proper usage of information system resources of the organization. Employees often use the company information system resources for sending and receiving texts, online shopping, using social media websites, watching and downloading videos and movies, etc. Although this is less relevant as compared to other computer-related waste, but it coststhe companies a reasonable amount of money.

Computer-related mistakes

Computer related mistakes are errors, failure, and other computer problems which result in incorrect output. Some of the common computer-related mistakes are as follows:

• Data-entry or data capture errors.
• Programming errors.
• Errors in file handling.
• Mishandling computer output
• Installing inadequate computing capacity than required
• Failure to provide access to most current information.

Possible solutions to computer-related waste and mistakes

To prevent such computer-related waste and mistakes, employees and managers should work together to minimize waste and organizations should make its efforts towards establishing, implementing, monitoring, and reviewing effective policies and procedures.

The organization should establish policies and procedure regarding acquisition, use and disposal of information system resources. Once the policies are decided, they should implement these policies with a proper training so that users are aware of how to use the information resources. After the implementation, the organization should keep watch on whether the policies and procedures are being followed and take necessary actions incase of negligence. Finally, the company should review the already formed guidelines to check whether they are performing the intended task.