Chapter 14 Maintaining Information Systems 1) Today more programmers work on maintenance activities than work on new development. Answer: True 2) Overcoming internal processing errors and providing better support for changing business needs are two reasons why systems are maintained. Answer: True 3) Maintenance activities are limited to software changes. Answer: False 4) The decision to either maintain a system or replace it is often an issue of economics. Answer: True 5) Implementation is the last phase of the systems development life cycle. Answer: False 6) Transforming requests into changes is a major maintenance activity. Answer: True 7) Installation is one of the four major maintenance activities. Answer: False 8) Obtaining maintenance requests, transforming requests into changes, designing changes and implementing changes are the four major maintenance activities. Answer: True 9) Many similarities exist between the SDLC and the activities within the maintenance process. Answer: True 10) The planning SDLC phase is analogous to the maintenance process of transforming requests into changes. Answer: False 11) The systems analysis SDLC phase is analogous to the maintenance process of obtaining maintenance requests. Answer: False 12) The systems design SDLC phase is analogous to the maintenance process of designing changes. Answer: True 13) The systems implementation SDLC phase is analogous to the maintenance process of implementing changes. Answer: True 14) The maintenance phase's primary deliverables are finalized design specifications. Answer: False 15) One way to distinguish maintenance from new development is that maintenance reuses most existing system modules in producing the new system version. Answer: True 16) A significant portion of the expenditures for information systems within organizations goes to the maintenance of existing systems. Answer: True 17) Corrective maintenance modifies the system to environmental changes. Answer: False 18) Corrective maintenance repairs design and programming errors. Answer: True 19) Adaptive maintenance modifies the system to environmental changes. Answer: True 20) Adaptive maintenance evolves the system to solve new problems or take advantage of new opportunities. Answer: False 21) Perfective maintenance evolves the system to solve new problems or take advantage of new opportunities. Answer: True 22) Preventive maintenance safeguards a system from future problems. Answer: True 23) Preventive maintenance repairs design and programming errors. Answer: False 24) Adaptive maintenance accounts for as much as 75 percent of all maintenance activity. Answer: False 25) Corrective maintenance focuses on removing defects from an existing system without adding new functionality. Answer: True 26) Adaptive maintenance is a significant part of an organization's maintenance effort. Answer: False 27) Both perfective and preventive maintenance typically have a much higher priority than corrective maintenance. Answer: False 28) The number of customers for a given system influences most of the costs associated with maintaining a system. Answer: False 29) Transitive defects are the number of unknown errors existing in the system after it is installed. Answer: False 30) The number of latent defects in a system influences most of the costs associated with maintaining a system. Answer: True 31) The number of customers for a given system influences maintenance costs. Answer: True 32) The quality of system documentation influences maintenance costs. Answer: True 33) Software structure is a cost element of maintenance. Answer: True 34) Management support is one of the major cost elements of maintenance. Answer: False 35) Separate, combined, and functional are types of maintenance organizational structures. Answer: True 36) An advantage of the combined maintenance organizational structure is the formal transfer of systems between groups improving the system and documentation quality. Answer: False 37) A disadvantage associated with the separate maintenance organizational structure is that documentation and testing thoroughness suffers due to a lack of a formal transfer of responsibility. Answer: False 38) An advantage to the functional maintenance organizational structure is that the maintenance group knows or has access to all assumptions and decisions behind the system's original design. Answer: False 39) It is now common to rotate individuals in and out of maintenance activities. Answer: True 40) Mean time between failures is a measurement of error occurrences that can be tracked over time to indicate the quality of a system. Answer: True 41) Over time, the MTBF should rapidly decrease after a few months of system use. Answer: False 42) Managing maintenance requests is a maintenance activity. Answer: True 43) The queue of maintenance tasks is dynamic. Answer: True 44) Changes to a system are usually implemented in batches. Answer: True 45) Configuration management is the process of ensuring that only authorized changes are made to a system. Answer: True 46) Build routines are software modules that have been tested, documented, and approved to be included in the most recently created version of a system. Answer: False 47) Baseline routines are guidelines that list the instructions to construct an executable system from the baseline source code. Answer: False 48) A primary objective of using CASE and other automated tools for systems development and maintenance is to change radically how code and documentation are modified and updated. Answer: True 49) Reverse engineering and reengineering tools are primarily used to maintain older systems that have incomplete documentation or that were developed prior to CASE use. Answer: True 50) Locking out the use of pages in a portion of a Web site can be done by inserting a "Temporary Out of Service" notice on the main page of the section being maintained and disabling all links within that segment. Answer: True 51) The largest systems development expenditure for many organizations is: A) systems maintenance B) project planning C) implementation D) requirements structuring Answer: A 52) Once an information system is installed, it is essentially in the: A) implementation phase B) redesign phase C) maintenance phase D) system renewal phase Answer: C 53) The last phase of the systems development life cycle is: A) operation B) implementation C) maintenance D) analysis Answer: C 54) Which of the following is a major activity that occurs during maintenance? A) coding B) transforming requests into changes C) conversion D) training and supporting users Answer: B 55) All of the following are major activities that occur during maintenance except: A) transforming requests into changes B) designing changes C) implementing changes D) structuring requirements Answer: D 56) Which of the following is a major activity occurring during maintenance? A) obtaining maintenance requests B) transforming requests into changes C) designing changes D) all of the above Answer: D 57) An SSR or similar document can be used to: A) request new development B) report problems C) request new system features with an existing system D) all of the above Answer: D 58) The first phase of the SDLC, planning, is analogous to the maintenance process of: A) obtaining maintenance requests B) transforming requests into changes C) designing changes D) implementing changes Answer: A 59) The SDLC phase of analysis is analogous to the maintenance process of: A) obtaining maintenance requests B) transforming requests into a specific system change C) designing changes D) implementing changes Answer: B 60) The SDLC design phase is analogous to the maintenance process of: A) obtaining maintenance requests B) transforming requests into changes C) designing changes D) implementing changes Answer: C 61) The SDLC phase of implementation is analogous to the maintenance process of: A) obtaining maintenance requests B) transforming requests into changes C) designing changes D) implementing changes Answer: D 62) Which of the following best identifies the deliverables for the maintenance phase? A) The creation of a document that will consolidate the information that must be considered when implementing a physical distributed systems design. B) The development of a new version of the software and new versions of all design documents that were developed or modified during the maintenance process. C) Structured descriptions and diagrams that outline the logic contained within each DFD process. D) Documentation, a user training plan, user training modules, and a user support plan. Answer: B 63) Which of the following types of maintenance accounts for as much as 75 percent of all maintenance activity? A) preventive maintenance B) corrective maintenance C) adaptive maintenance D) perfective maintenance Answer: B 64) Changes made to a system to fix or enhance its functionality best defines: A) maintenance B) support C) repair D) installation Answer: A 65) Changes made to a system to repair flaws in its design, coding, or implementation describes: A) corrective maintenance B) adaptive maintenance C) preventive maintenance D) perfective maintenance Answer: A 66) Which of the following is a type of maintenance? A) preventive B) perfective C) corrective D) all of the above Answer: D 67) All of the following are types of maintenance except: A) supportive maintenance B) corrective maintenance C) adaptive maintenance D) perfective maintenance Answer: A 68) Modifying a system to reflect environmental changes describes: A) corrective maintenance B) adaptive maintenance C) preventive maintenance D) perfective maintenance Answer: B 69) Evolving the system to solve new problems or take advantage of new opportunities describes: A) corrective maintenance B) adaptive maintenance C) preventive maintenance D) perfective maintenance Answer: D 70) Changes made to a system to evolve its functionality to changing business needs or technologies best describes: A) corrective maintenance B) adaptive maintenance C) preventive maintenance D) perfective maintenance Answer: B 71) Changes made to a system to add new features or to improve performance best describes: A) corrective maintenance B) adaptive maintenance C) preventive maintenance D) perfective maintenance Answer: D 72) Which of the following typically is assigned the highest priority? A) preventive maintenance B) perfective maintenance C) corrective maintenance D) adaptive maintenance Answer: C 73) Changes made to a system to avoid possible future problems best describes: A) corrective maintenance B) adaptive maintenance C) preventive maintenance D) perfective maintenance Answer: C 74) Which of the following is felt by many systems professionals to be new development, not maintenance? A) perfective maintenance B) preventive maintenance C) adaptive maintenance D) corrective maintenance Answer: A 75) Which of the following is a true statement? A) According to Pressman 2001 and Kaplan 2002, some organizations are spending as much as 10 - 20 percent of their software budget on maintenance. B) According to Pressman 2001 and Kaplan 2002, some organizations are spending as much as 30 - 40 percent of their software budget on maintenance. C) According to Pressman 2001 and Kaplan 2002, some organizations are spending as much as 50 - 60 percent of their software budget on maintenance. D) According to Kaplan 2002, some organizations are spending as much as 60 - 80 percent of their software budget on maintenance. Answer: D 76) Which of the following maintenance cost elements is the most significant? A) tools B) software structure C) personnel D) customers Answer: D 77) Which of the following influences most of the costs associated with maintaining a system? A) personnel B) documentation quality C) number of latent defects D) number of customers Answer: C 78) The ease with which software can be understood, corrected, adapted, and enhanced best describes: A) maintenance B) maintainability C) adaptability D) comfort level Answer: B 79) Which of the following is not a cost element of maintenance? A) defects B) documentation C) personnel D) time Answer: D 80) Which of the following are cost elements of maintenance? A) defects B) documentation C) personnel D) all of the above Answer: D 81) According to research mentioned in the textbook: A) on average, 25 percent of a company's programmers are assigned to maintain existing software B) on average, less than 10 percent of a company's programmers are assigned to maintain existing software C) on average, 37 percent of a company's programmers are assigned to maintain existing software D) on average, 52 percent of a company's programmers are assigned to maintain existing software Answer: D 82) Which of the following is not a maintenance organizational structure? A) separate B) combined C) vertical D) functional Answer: C 83) Which of the following maintenance organizational structures has as its advantage the formal transfer of systems between groups improves the system and documentation quality? A) separate B) combined C) functional D) none of the above Answer: A 84) The lack of thoroughness in documentation and testing caused by the absence of a formal transfer of responsibility is a disadvantage of: A) the separate maintenance organizational structure B) the combined maintenance organizational structure C) the functional maintenance organizational structure D) none of the above Answer: B 85) The maintenance group knowing or having access to all assumptions and decisions behind the system's original design is an advantage of: A) the separate maintenance organizational structure B) the combined maintenance organizational structure C) the functional maintenance organizational structure D) all of the maintenance organizational structures Answer: B 86) All things not being documented, so the maintenance group may not know critical information about the system is a disadvantage of: A) the separate maintenance organizational structure B) the combined maintenance organizational structure C) the functional maintenance organizational structure D) all of the maintenance organizational structures Answer: A 87) Personnel having limited job mobility and lacking access to adequate human and technical resources is a disadvantage of: A) the separate maintenance organizational structure B) the combined maintenance organizational structure C) the functional maintenance organizational structure D) all of the maintenance organizational structures Answer: C 88) Effective management of systems maintenance requires: A) managing maintenance personnel B) measuring maintenance effectiveness C) controlling maintenance requests D) all of the above Answer: D 89) Which of the following is a true statement? A) Many systems professionals do not want to perform maintenance because they feel that it is more exciting to build something new rather than change an existing system. B) Organizations have historically provided greater rewards and job opportunities to those performing new development. C) It is now common to rotate individuals in and out of maintenance activities. D) All of the above. Answer: D 90) To measure maintenance effectiveness, you should measure: A) the number of failures B) the time between each failure C) the type of failure D) all of the above Answer: D 91) A measurement of error occurrences that can be tracked over time to indicate the quality of a system best defines: A) consistency ratio B) mean time between failures C) error tracking D) regression analysis Answer: B 92) Which of the following is a more revealing method of measurement? A) number of failures B) time between each failure C) type of failure D) none of the above Answer: C 93) The process of assuring that only authorized changes are made to a system defines: A) configuration management B) consistency management C) quality management D) business process reengineering Answer: A 94) Software modules that have been tested, documented, and approved to be included in the most recently created version of a system are called: A) pretested modules B) baseline modules C) quality assurance modules D) none of the above Answer: B 95) The person responsible for controlling the checking out and checking in of baseline modules for a system that is being developed or maintained is the: A) code agent B) systems operator C) system librarian D) catalog agent Answer: C 96) Guidelines that list the instructions to construct an executable system from the baseline source code are called: A) build routines B) base routines C) construction routines D) reference routines Answer: A 97) Which of the following configuration management tools stores only the most recent version of a module, with previous versions being reconstructed when needed by applying changes in reverse order? A) source code control B) version control C) integrity control D) revision control Answer: D 98) Which of the following configuration management tools addresses interrelated files? A) source code control B) version control C) integrity control D) revision control Answer: A 99) Which of the following is a true statement regarding the role of CASE in maintenance? A) A primary objective of using CASE for systems development and maintenance is to change radically the way in which code and documentation are modified and updated. B) When using an integrated CASE environment, analysts maintain design documents and source code. C) Although CASE is very beneficial during the first part of the SDLC, it is not as advantageous during maintenance. D) All of the above. Answer: A 100) When performing Web site maintenance, issues and procedures include each of the following except: A) checking for broken links B) HTML validation C) re-registration D) stability Answer: D 101) ________, ________, ________, and ________ are the four major maintenance activities. Answer: Obtaining maintenance requests, transforming requests into changes, designing changes, implementing changes 102) ________ equates to the SDLC phase of project identification and selection. Answer: Obtaining maintenance requests 103) Analysis is analogous to the maintenance process of ________. Answer: transforming requests into a specific system change 104) The SDLC design phase equates to the maintenance process of ________. Answer: designing changes 105) The SDLC implementation phase equates to the maintenance process of ________. Answer: implementing changes 106) ________ refers to changes made to a system to fix or enhance its functionality. Answer: Maintenance 107) ________ refers to changes made to a system to evolve its functionality to changing business needs or technologies. Answer: Adaptive maintenance 108) ________ refers to changes made to a system to avoid possible future problems. Answer: Preventive maintenance 109) ________ refers to changes made to a system to add new features or to improve performance. Answer: Perfective maintenance 110) ________ refers to changes made to a system to repair flaws in its design, coding, or implementation. Answer: Corrective maintenance 111) ________ is the ease with which software can be understood, corrected, adapted, and enhanced. Answer: Maintainability 112) The formal transfer of systems between groups improving the system and documentation quality is an advantage associated with the ________ maintenance organizational structure. Answer: separate 113) The maintenance group knowing or having access to all assumptions and decisions behind the system's original design is an advantage associated with the ________ maintenance organizational structure. Answer: combined 114) Personnel having a vested interest in effectively maintaining the system and having a better understanding of functional requirements is an advantage associated with the ________ maintenance organizational structure. Answer: functional 115) Documentation and testing thoroughness may suffer due to a lack of a formal transfer of responsibility is a disadvantage associated with the ________ maintenance organizational structure. Answer: combined 116) ________, ________, and ________ are three factors for measuring maintenance effectiveness. Answer: Number of failures, time between each failure, type of failure 117) ________ is a measurement of error occurrences that can be tracked over time to indicate the quality of a system. Answer: Mean time between failures 118) ________ is the process of assuring that only authorized changes are made to a system. Answer: Configuration management 119) ________ are software modules that have been tested, documented, and approved to be included in the most recently created version of a system. Answer: Baseline modules 120) A ________ is the person responsible for controlling the checking out and checking in of baseline modules when a system is being developed or maintained. Answer: system librarian 121) ________ are guidelines that list the instructions to construct an executable system from the baseline source code. Answer: Build routines 122) ________ and ________ are two special-purpose tools that are primarily used to maintain older systems that have incomplete documentation or that were developed prior to CASE use. Answer: Reverse engineering, reengineering tools 123) ________ are special software systems that manage system configuration and version control activities. Answer: Configuration management tools 124) ________ and ________ are two general kinds of configuration management tools. Answer: Revision control, source code control 125) When maintaining Web sites, ________, ________, ________, ________, and ________ are issues and procedures to consider. Answer: future editions, re-registration, HTML validation, checking for broken links, 24x7x365 126) Identify several types of maintenance. Answer: Four types of maintenance were identified in the text. The types are corrective maintenance, adaptive maintenance, perfective maintenance, and preventive maintenance. Corrective maintenance refers to changes made to a system to repair flaws in its design, coding, or implementation. Adaptive maintenance refers to changes made to a system to evolve its functionality to changing business needs or technologies. Changes made to a system to add new features or to improve performance are perfective maintenance changes. Changes made to a system to avoid possible future problems are preventive maintenance changes. 127) To measure maintenance effectiveness, what three factors must be measured? Answer: The three factors are number of failures, time between failures, and type of failure. 128) What is maintainability? Identify several factors that influence the maintainability of a system. Answer: Maintainability is the ease with which software can be understood, corrected, adapted, and enhanced. The cost elements of maintenance include defects, customers, documentation, personnel, tools, and software structure. The defect element refers to the number of unknown defects in a system when it is installed. Typically, the more latent defects, the higher the maintenance costs. The customer element refers to the number of different customers that a maintenance group must support. Generally, the more customers, the greater the maintenance costs. The documentation element refers to the quality of technical system documentation including test cases. Without quality documentation, maintenance efforts increase exponentially. The personnel element refers to the number and quality of personnel dedicated to the support and maintenance of a system. Maintenance programmers should be able to understand and change the software that they did not originally create. The tool element refers to software development tools, debuggers, hardware, and other resources. Such tools help reduce maintenance costs. Software structure refers to the structure and maintainability of the software. If programs are well-structured, they are easier to understand, modify, and fix. 129) What is the role of CASE in maintenance? Answer: CASE can be used during maintenance to radically change the way code and documentation are updated and modified. An integrated CASE environment enables analysts to maintain design documents and to utilize code generators to create a new version of the system automatically. In addition to the general CASE tools, design recovery tools can be used to create high-level design documents of a program by reading and analyzing its source code. 130) Briefly outline the advantages of the different maintenance organizational structures. Answer: The text presented three different maintenance organizational structures: separate, combined, and functional. The separate approach's advantage is that the formal transfer of systems between groups improves the system and documentation quality. The combined structure's advantage is that the maintenance group knows or has access to all assumptions and decisions behind the system's original design. The functional approach's advantage is that the personnel have a vested interest in effectively maintaining the system and a better understanding of the functional requirements. 131) Briefly outline the disadvantages of the different maintenance organizational structures. Answer: The separate approach's disadvantage is that all things cannot be documented, so the maintenance group may not know critical information about the system. The combined approach's disadvantage is that documentation and testing thoroughness may suffer due to a lack of a formal transfer of responsibility. The functional approach's disadvantage is that the personnel may have limited job mobility and lack access to adequate human and technical resources. 132) Identify two methods for maintaining a Web site 24x7x365? Answer: The two approaches mentioned in the textbook are locking out use of the pages while the changes are made and including a time and date stamp of the most recent change. 133) What is MTBF? Answer: Mean time between failures is a measurement of error occurrences that can be tracked over time to indicate the quality of a system. 134) Discuss configuration management. Who is the system librarian? Answer: Configuration management is the process of assuring that only authorized changes are made to a system. When system maintenance is required, maintenance personnel check out the baseline modules from a system librarian. The system librarian controls the checking out and checking in of baseline modules for a system when a system is being developed or maintained. 135) Identify the four major activities that occur within maintenance. Answer: Obtaining maintenance requests, transforming requests into changes, designing changes, and implementing changes are the four major activities. 136) What are the deliverables for the maintenance phase? Answer: The maintenance phase produces a new version of the software and new versions of the design documents developed or modified during the maintenance phase. Test Bank for Modern Systems Analysis and Design Jeffrey A. Hoffer, Joey George, Joseph S. Valacich, Joe Valacich, Jeffrey Slater 9780132991308, 9780134204925, 9780135172759, 9780136088219
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