Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Professional Issues in IT
Acknowledgment
The success and outcome of this research project required a lot of guidance and
assistance from many people, and I am extremely privileged to have got this all along with the
completion of my paper. All that I have done is only due to their assistance, and I would not
forget to thank them. I want to express my special thanks of gratitude to my professor, especially
because he gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful research project on the topic
professional Issues in Information Technology, which also helped me in doing a lot of research
and I came to know about many new things. Also, I would like to thank my parents and friends
who helped me a lot in finalizing this project within the limited time frame.
PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN IT 3
Table of Contents
Task 1..........................................................................................................................................................5
a. Computer Ethics..................................................................................................................................5
b. Professional Computer Expert Expectations........................................................................................5
c. Green IT Policy.....................................................................................................................................5
d. Intellectual Property Rights.................................................................................................................6
e. Professional Bodies..............................................................................................................................6
Task 2..........................................................................................................................................................7
a. Project Management Lifecycle.............................................................................................................8
b. The Project Initiation Phase.................................................................................................................8
c. Risk Planning........................................................................................................................................9
d. SWOT...................................................................................................................................................9
Task 3........................................................................................................................................................10
a. Risk....................................................................................................................................................10
b. Risk Management..............................................................................................................................10
c. Primary Risks......................................................................................................................................11
d. International Risk Management Standard ISO 31000........................................................................11
e. Qualitative versus Quantitative Risk Analysis....................................................................................11
f. Risks Probability.................................................................................................................................12
Task 4........................................................................................................................................................12
a. Methods of Releasing Software to Use..............................................................................................12
b. Most Feasible Method.......................................................................................................................13
C. Training Approaches..........................................................................................................................13
Task 5........................................................................................................................................................14
a. Service Level Specification.................................................................................................................14
b. Service Level Agreement...................................................................................................................15
c. Benefits and Problems of Outsourcing...............................................................................................15
d. IT Service Management (ITSM) Metrics.............................................................................................17
Part 6.........................................................................................................................................................18
a. Factors influencing Software Quality.................................................................................................18
PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN IT 4
Professional Issues in IT
Task 1
a. Computer Ethics
There is a need for Jim Page, Paro Ltd.’s managing director, and the warehouse manager
to consider ethical issues that may arise from creating a new system linking the computerized
estimating system and stock system in the warehouse. Common issues to be considered include
failure of a computer, the privacy of data, crimes that may be conducted through crimes such as
hacking. Other ethical problems that may arise are theft of software products, sabotage
perpetrated through viruses, issues to do with the copyright of the softwares, and replacement of
The IT expert hired plays a vital role in the computerization process, and they will be expected
to:
Give recommendations for hardware equipment required, such as the acquisition of energy-
Train and educate the Paro Ltd employees on how the new system works and ideal practices
Develop a software that will link the stock records and the computerized estimating system
c. Green IT Policy
PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN IT 6
Green IT policies should be implemented at Paro Ltd. to help the organization to achieve
sustainable use of resources to ensure environmental conservation. Paro Ltd may take up
initiatives such as :
Shift to renewable resources such as wind and solar energy as opposed to using non-
renewable energy that increases emissions in the environment that lead to global
warming.
Use recyclable products such as the acquisition of computers from firms that accept old
computers.
One of the steps that Paro Ltd should take to ensure that the software produced by
System5 belongs to the company is copyright protection. A significant reason why Paro Ltd.
should take the step is to ensure the protection of copyrights of the program that will be
developed for them. The protection of copyrights ensures that the distinct elements of a product
remain the property of the company. Paro Ltd should register th software that will be produced
with their attorney to help to protect it from theft from rogue operators.
e. Professional Bodies
ISACA is a professional body in the IT industry whose standards can be employed when
introducing the new system at Paro Ltd. The body is responsible for enhancing an acceptable
development and adoption of information systems. ISACA has developed a Code of Professional
ethics that that serves as a guideline fo how professionals in this conduct their operations. The
Exhibit competence by applying the skills and knowledge they have in this field.
Protect information gathered when executing their duty to enhance the privacy and
confidentiality of clients’ information. Furthermore, members are expected to ensure that the
information collected is only used for the intended purpose unless when ordered otherwise by
a court order.
Lawfully meet the needs of a client while maintaining the highest standards possible
Disclose accurate information of the results yielded from the execution of a project. They
should ensure they do not distort results when reporting the progress or results of a project.
System5 employees must uphold some of the standards mentioned above because they are a
sure way of ensuring that they remain professional. Abiding by such standards, attracts various
Task 2
PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN IT 8
Initiation
Planning
Execution
Closure
Determining the scope of the project involves defining how deep or broad the project will be
The deliverables of the project are then determined to by defining the products and services
Key stakeholders are identified because they influence the operations of the project
A criterion is applied to determine the costs and benefits that will be accrued by the project
Proper documentation is conducted of all the initial stages, such as the aim of the objective,
and a working agreement is struck between contractors working on the project and the
owners.
PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN IT 9
c. Risk Planning
During the planning phase, risks that are involved in a project are planned for by:
Doing a projection of the barriers that may halt the progress of a project
Communication with your team to inform them of their roles and responsibilities
Mitigation-involves taking some measures that will reduce the damage that risk can cause
Avoidance-appropriate measures are taken to reduce the likelihood of the riks occurring
d. SWOT
strategies that aid them in standing out from other players in the business. The tool describes the
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that a business may face. The strengths and
weaknesses of business are considered to be internal factors that affect business success. The
internal factors may include but not limited to the business location, the skillset of the workers,
and the company’s intellectual property. The business often has control over these factors. A
company’s strengths are the desirable attributes that help the company to stand out from the rest
in the same industry. A company’s weaknesses are the negative attributes that serve as barriers to
On the other hand, the threats and opportunities that may be present for a company are
considered to be external factors that affect the success of a business. Such factors include
consumers’ shopping habits, degree of competition, and price of inputs. Companies have little or
no control over such factors. Threats significantly reduce the chances of a company being
successful. On the other hand, the exploitation of business opportunities may help a company to
PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN IT 10
grow and beat other competitors. A two-by-two grid is used when presenting these four aspects
of a company that is necessary when coming up with a strategy to remain relevant in business.
Weaknesses
Strengths
Missing Information Technology department
Have a modern computerised estimating software
Poor communication channel
Paper-based system for stock taking at the warehouse
Effective management
Task 3
a. Risk
A risk is an uncertain event that may have both negative and positive impacts on the
objective of a project. Positive risks are toe whose occurrence positively impacts the objectives,
whereas negative risks are those that derail the project goals
b. Risk Management
Risk management to the measures that a team undertakes to identify, assess, prioritize
risks as procedures aimed at minimizing ad gaining control of the impacts. The procedures
c. Primary Risks
Paro Ltd mat will be faced with three primary risks that include schedule risks, budget
risks, and technical risks. Schedule risks are those that arise because the execution of a project
may take time and wrong estimation of the completion time. Additionally, the deficiency of
workers may result in the delays in completion of a project, thereby leading to schedule risks.
Paro Ltd may also be faced with technical risks that entail failure in the functionality and
performance of a system. Lack of modern efficient technology and too much sophistication of a
system may result in the technical risks. Paro Ltd. is vulnerable to this risk because it does not
Finally, Paro Ltd. will be faced with the budget risk that arises when the costs of
execution of a project goes beyond the initial estimated budget. Wrong budget estimation during
ISO31000 contains guidelines on how best to conduct risk management in such a way that an
entity will sail through a risk event. The standard lays out a holistic approach that aids in
Quantitative risk analysis refers to the assessment and documentation of the likelihood
and the consequences of speculated risks of a project. The approach here makes use of the
probability of occurrence of a risk and the repercussions that the risk has on the goals of the
project. On the flip side, quantitative risk analysis involves assessment of the effects of potential
risk projects on a project's goals numerically. The effects have to be quantified to evaluate the
values for each risk factor and the quantitative description of the impacts.
In a nutshell, qualitative risk analysis uses a subjective evaluation of risk occurrence against the
potential severity of the risk impacts, whereas quantitative risk analysis uses appropriate data that
can be verified to come up with numerical values that aid in making predictions of the outcomes
of a risk event.
f. Risks Probability
Risk
>30 High Operational risk
Task 4
1. Plan release
At this stage, the project gets structured systematically from the begin until the end to
help the team stays in track (Abrahamsson, Salo, Ronkainen, & Warsta, 2017). A systems
development life cycle (SDLC) can aid in coming up with a release plan.
PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN IT 13
2. Build release
At this point, the project is matched to meet the needs stated n the release plan. It is done
User acceptance testing involves giving end users a chance to use the software and give
feedback(Abrahamsson, Salo, Ronkainen, & Warsta, 2017). The public or team players are
4. Prepare release
The stage involves implementing feedback gathered in UAT and using it to come up with
The plan release method would be ideal for Paro Ltd., which applies the Systems
Development Life Cycle to enhance the efficiency and quality of the end-product. More to that,
the method displays workflow which the stakeholders and the team can refer to.
C. Training Approaches
Training is crucial in enhancing the adaptation of a new system within an organization. Roper
training of the employees at Paro Ltd will need to be undertaken by System5 once they have
developed the new software. Training enhances the acceptability of a new system within an
organization, improves job satisfaction among workers, and optimizes new technologies. With
PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN IT 14
proper training, an entity can increase its productivity, and this is a sure way of getting
successful. Paro Ltd employees may be trained using the following methods:
Video-based learning-this form of training involves the use of video that has a voice that
Scenario-based learning- this form of training involves the creation of situations that the
trainee can relate to based on the position that they hold at the workplace.
Interactive learning- this form of training gives room for the trainees to interact and hold
Role-based simulation- this form of training gives workers a chance to get hands-on
Paro Ltd should explore the scenario-based form training because I enhance understanding of
Task 5
delivered. The SLS is accompanied by an agreed performance monitoring regime that uses Key
Performance Indicators (Alqahtani, Solaiman, Patel, Dustdar, & Ranjan, 2019). More to that, it
includes the aims of a service being offered and the service performance. SLS also sets out the
quality and performance targets for standards that need to be complied with technically and even
A service level agreement (SLA) helps to list the expectations of the type of service and
the quality of services that one should receive when they are outsourcing. SLA indicates the
expectations of clients by using metrics that the service will be measured on and the penalties in
case of a failed service agreement. SLA includes essential service and management elements.
Service elements refer to the specifics of the service being provided, such as obligations of all
parties, whereas the latter consists of the definition of measurement standards and
Paro Ltd may enjoy the following benefits by outsourcing software development include:
Time-saving
It enhances the speed of developing software that a company needs, thereby creating time
System5 is made up of a qualified team that will ensure that the best quality software is
produced for use at Paro Ltd. Additionally, the development of quality software will enhance the
outsourcing a competent computing team will surely improve the development process
moreso because Paro Ltd does not have an IT department that could have addressed this issue at
hand.
PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN IT 16
Cut costs
It helps to cut down on costs since there is no need to invest in infrastructure and other resources
Enhances efficiency
System5 has a team of skilled computing professionals who know best how to achieve the
business goals that Paro Ltd has set(Globerman & Vining, 2017). More to that, they have the
On the other hand, outsourcing has its share of challenges which include:
The service providers often try to make abrupt changes in processes and technology, which may
not be welcome by the clientele staff. Resistance would result, and this has the potential of
Lack of collaboration
The client staff, may not cooperate with the service providers say in providing reliable feedback
on the software[ CITATION Dan19 \l 2057 ]. If this were to happen, the software developed might
not service its business goals, and this would significantly lower the efficiency of new
technologies.
The clash between the culture of the client and service provider
The client and service provider may be having disparities in the organizational culture, which is a
hindrance effective software development. Culture disparities reduce the productivity of both
entities.
The service providers may not be readily available to guide how to work with a new system, and
this may reduce the ease of the client to use new software. If this were to happen to Paro Ltd,
Critical Success Factors(CSF) and Key Performance Indicators are indeed IT Service
Service Management, there must be 3-4 Critical Success Factors that have to happen for
the entire process to be successful. Every CSF has well-defined 3-4 KPIs, which are
measurements that may be used as proof of achievement[ CITATION Ste172 \l 2057 ]. ITSM
measurements occur in four categories that include performance, value, quality, and
compliance. The CSF and KPIs have to be documented properly so that there is no
uncertainty as to their source and calculation. Processes involved in CSF and KPIs aid in
and improve service management systems. The code includes a shared ISO high-level
structure that aids in assuring the usefulness and interconnectivity of ISO management
offers better values for customers in service delivery and allowing continual
improvement. Through the standards laid out, the development of the new system will be
increases credibility and gives you a competitive edge, enhances market access, improves
Some of the standards that may be applicable for Paro Ltd is clause five that deals with
the leadership. It dictates that the top management should establish and communicate
service management policy. The policy should be effective enough to communicate roles
and responsibilities. Another standard is laid out in clause nine that states that there
Part 6
The factors affecting the quality of software may be classified as product operation
factors, production transition factors, and product revision factors. Factors under the product
operation include integrity and usability, and for transition factors, there is portability and
usability(Subih et al., 2019). Finally, under revision factors, there is flexibility and testability.
The new system being introduced at Paro Ltd also needs to meet various software qualities, as
discussed earlier. The software should be modelled in such a way that it is efficient, correct,
Correctness
The software system should produce the correct output that meets the needs of the client.
Such factors include how to complete data is, the output mission, how accurate data is and the
PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN IT 19
volume of data that is available(Subih et al., 2019). More importantly, the data that is available
Reliability
The reliability requirements are more concerned with the failure of the services of the software.
A determination of the maximum number of times that software should fail is conducted and in
Efficiency
a software system. The capability to process and those of data communication are some of the
aspects that are checked. Furthermore, storage capability also matters and is an essential
consideration.
Integrity
This factor deals with the software system security, that is, to prevent access to unauthorized
persons, also to distinguish between the group of people to be given read as well as write
permitted.
Usability
Usability requirements deal with the staff resources needed to train a new employee and to
Algorithms analysis
d. Software Quality
Software functional quality reflects how well it complies with or conforms to a given
design, based on functional requirements or specifications. That attribute can also be described
as the fitness for a piece of software or how it compares to competitors in the marketplace as a
worthwhile product (Subih et al., 2019). Software quality describes the measure to which
software that has been developed meets the desired needs. Structural quality describes how much
requirements refer to those that described how a given system should work.
The most important quality measure is the functional points analysis. This is so because,
as indicated earlier, functional software quality reflects how well it complies with or conforms to
References
Abrahamsson, P., Salo, O., Ronkainen, J., & Warsta, J. (2017). Agile software development
development-c5c4099342b3
Alqahtani, A., Solaiman, E., Patel, P., Dustdar, S., & Ranjan, R. (2019). Service level agreement
Experience.
Globerman, S., & Vining, A. R. (2017). The outsourcing decision: A strategic framework.
Michael, S., Michael, B., & Thomas, S. (2019, April). IT Service Management Frameworks
Pillay, M., & Jefferies, M. C. (2015). A revised framework for managing construction health and
safety risks based on ISO 31000. Proceedings CIB W099 Belfast 2015, 468.
Subih, M. A., Malik, B. H., Mazhar, I., Yousaf, A., Sabir, M. U., Wakeel, T., ... & Nawaz11, H.
(2019). Comparison of Agile Method and Scrum Method with Software Quality
Watts, S., 2017. ITSM Metrics & KPI’s for Measuring Success. [Online]