Case study 1 Utpal had just joined SystemX as Systems Manager.

. But he was a worried man looking at the current state of affairs at SystemX. As a part of assessing hardware and software requirements, it was found that out of the !" desktops at the corporate office# more than half did not ha$e their anti%$irus software updated with recent $irus signature files. &hree % fourths had not changed the default e%mail password 'it was the user name( and no one had installed )S patches. And one of its local mail ser$ers seemed to *e an open relay+ ,or a fleeting moment, he wondered a*out the situation at the se$en *ranch offices across the country. SystemX used the -et e.tensi$ely in dealing with its *ranches, customers and suppliers. /nformation like contract documents, marketing plans, 0heque and 1raft num*ers, *ank account details and collection details were regularly transmitted *y e%mail. Utpal2s first thought was that he would recommend that SystemX *ring in a security consultant. But the *udget constraints meant that his recommendation was unlikely to find fa$our. 3e was *eginning to feel a *it out of depth and was wondering what he should do to ensure that SystemX2s data remained safe and secure. Questions: a. 4hat security loopholes come to the fore in the situation descri*ed5 3ow can these *e plugged5 *. 4hat is the importance of a 6security *udget7 in the conte.t of the gi$en situation5 case study 2 Mr. 8etan is a do%it%yourself entrepreneur who *uilt up his fortune in trading. 3e traded in anything and e$erything, and kept close control of e$ery acti$ity. &hat was how he had grown rich enough to indulge in his one dream 9 to *uild a college in his hometown. A college that would *e at par to the ones in the *etter cities, the ones in which he could not study himself. 4ork started a year *ack and the *uildings were coming along well. 3e himself did not use computers much and *ecame hooked to the /nternet and e%mail only recently. 3e was determined to pro$ide a :0 with /nternet connecti$ity to e$ery students and faculty mem*er. 3e was currently engrossed in plans for the ;<< % seater computer la*. 4hat was confusing him was the choice of /nternet connecti$ity. 3e had a*out a do=en quotes in front of him. >ecommendations ranged from !" k*ps /S1- all the way to ; ?*ps leased line to ?uwahati, which was almost @<< km away. :rices ranged from slightly under a lakh all the way up to >s @A lakh and *eyond. 3e did not understand most of the equipment quoted 9 firewall, pro.y ser$er, cache appliance. -or was he sure what the hidden costs were. Questions: a. /n the conte.t of the gi$en case, identify $arious networking issues. *. 1escri*e *asic network security concepts in order to a$oid any type of cy*er crime. Case study 3 Study following Case study and give appropriate Answers Read the following news snippets: B )n @< -o$em*er, ;CDA, the Bank of -ew Eork lost o$er F A million as a result of an error in the software of the digital system that registered all the *ank2s financial transactions.

B /n ;CC@, a software pro*lem created total chaos in the communication system of am*ulance ser$ices in Gondon. &he delay in communications caused the death of < people. B )n H August, ;CC!, the computer system of /nternet%pro$ider America )nline 'A)G( failed for ;C hours when new software had *een installed. )$er ;! million su*scri*ers were affected. Before this took place, the A)G e.perts had strongly suggested that the system was immune to this kind of disaster. Questions: a. /s it justified to say that digital systems are unrelia*le and carries enormous risks5 *. 4hat measures should *e put in place to minimi=e damages due to failure of digital systems5 Case study 4 At 1u :ont 0o.2s 'www.dupont.com( F" *illion performance coating grope, the critical issue was content management. 64e ha$e a $ery large num*er of documents for marketingI *rochures, press releases, warranty information on products and general support content for our distri*utors and car repair *ody shops7, e.plains 0atherine March and, the groups e% *usiness strategy manager. 6)ur salesmen were dri$ing around with @ kg of o*solete literature in their trunk.7 1u :ont opted to deli$er the information through a we*%*ased intranetJ e.tranet portal, using technology from Bow%street, a portal sJw and we* de$elopment tools company. 1u :ont wanted the a*ility to customi=e information a*out its half a do=en coating *rands. /t also wanted each of its @A<< distri*utors and repair shops worldwide to see the information displayed in almost "<<< different site$iews# which the technology would allow it to do. Since the content capa*ility was initiated, 1u :ont2s site has grown rapidly. &he *ody shops can now get training, *ench marketing tools, and can paint colour formulas $ia the portal. &here are also jo*%posting and resume ser$ices. And for the distri*utors, 1u :ont is researching adding order%tracking and order accuracy capa*ilities soon. KuestionsI a. 4hat are the *usiness *enefits of the we* portal5 Make a critical assessment. *. 0an a small *usiness de$elop and maintain such a portal5 Case study ! X Uni$ersity has of late e.panded $ery rapidly introducing a num*er of programmes and increasing student intake capacity. /t has recently computeri=ed its e.amination process *ased on some off%the% shelf software. &he li*rary had already *een computeri=ed a couple of years *ack using a freely distri*uted Gi*rary Automation System. 1aily cash transactions are also handled *y computers in the ,inance and Accounting 1i$ision, using an accounting software. ,or further impro$ement of efficiency, the new go$erning *ody of the Uni$ersity ha$e entrusted the task of de$eloping an M/S for the Uni$ersity to a Software 0ompany. All these de$elopments were welcomed *y a cross%section of the Uni$ersity 0ommunity e.cept a few. )ne of them is a faculty mem*er at the Management Science 1epartment who commented that the Uni$ersity is *urdening itself with too many independent information systems. 3e strongly fa$oured an integrated information system on the lines of an L>: for a *usiness organi=ation.

QuestionsI a. 1o you agree with the faculty mem*er5 ?i$e reasons. *. 4hat do you understand *y /ntegrated /nformation System, the faculty mem*er is talking a*out5 0. Assess the role of /nformation System specialists and consultants in situations as descri*ed in the caselet. Case study " Case study: #uying a new car /f you want to purchase a new car from a ,ord dealer, chances are that the make and model you want, in the right color with the right accessories, is not in stock. /t2s just too e.pensi$e to ha$e cars with e$ery possi*le com*ination of options sitting in the parking lot waiting for a customer. /n the past, it2s *een almost impossi*le for dealers to track down e.actly the model that a customer wants. 4ith the new information system, the dealer can type the details of the required car into a terminal connected to the main ,ord plant at 1agenham. &he information will then come *ack to tell the dealer whether there are any cars a$aila*le of that specification, and e.actly where they are. &hey may *e on the ,ord parking lot, or there may *e only two a$aila*le, one at a dealerMs in :erth and the other in Bournemouth. &here may *e none a$aila*le N in which case ,ord will make one for you, though this may take some time. :lant production managers are also connected to the system, and so they know e.actly what cars ha$e *een ordered and can adjust production to reflect demand e$ery day. Question: $his is an e%a&ple of a &anage&ent infor&ation syste&' (ow does it help the dealer) the custo&er) the &anufacturer)