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The case study describes a small consulting company’s experience in the design and implementation of a database and associated information retrieval system. Their choices are explained within the context of the firm’s needs and constraints. Issues associated with development methods are discussed, along with problems that arose from not following proper development disciplines.

This article summarizes the coverage of conversion in 17 current textbooks from major publishers — 10 for introductory MIS and seven for systems analysis. It compares this coverage with current practice, as determined by (a) studies of 74 organizations by the author’s students and (b) conversions reported in the trade press. Differences between typical textbook coverage and practice are documented, and recommendations for remedying the situation are made.

This paper reports on primary research conducted in 1991–1996 with approximately 150 industry analysts who follow the computer and communications (C&C) industries. It shows why analysts matter to C&C vendors and why those vendors spend tens of millions of dollars per year to support them. It then discusses the vendor support items that analysts consider important and which firms in those industries, according to analysts, support them better than others. It also gives recommendations for analyst support programs.

This article summarizes the coverage of conversion in 17 current textbooks from major publishers — 10 for introductory MIS and seven for systems analysis. It compares this coverage with current practice, as determined by (a) studies of 74 organizations by the author’s students and (b) conversions reported in the trade press. Differences between typical textbook coverage and practice are documented, and recommendations for remedying the situation are made.

Information system conversion has been with us since users of punched-card tabulating systems first moved to vacuum-tube computers. However, it has generally been seen as an afterthought: once the “interesting” development stages of analysis, design and so on are done, it will just happen. This article attempts to view the process holistically, from both the technical and human viewpoints, reflecting the fact that information systems have both technical and human components. It shows how ignoring one side or the other can lead to problems, which can be avoided if all aspects are considered together. It proposes a systematic approach to considering these issues and points out benefits to both researchers and practitioners from using it.

Information system conversion has been with us since users of punched-card tabulating systems first moved to vacuum-tube computers. However, it is often seen as an after thought: once the “interesting” work of analysis, design and so on is done, it will some how happen. This chapter attempts to view the process holistically, from both the tech nical and human viewpoints, reflecting the fact that information systems have both tech nical and human components. It shows how ignoring one side or the other can lead to problems, which can be avoided if all aspects are considered together. It proposes a sys tematic approach to considering these issues and points out benefits of using it.

Assessing RISC (reduced instruction set computing) technology can be a challenging task for IS managers. The claims of RISC advocates and the technical language used to describe RISC's advantages as well as the unproven records of many of its suppliers can be confusing. This article explains RISC technology, describes the leading vendors and products in the emerging RISC markets, and provides guidelines for determining whether RISC is appropriate for particular departments.

Are current IT students ready for the explosive growth in information? IDC reports that 988 billion gigabytes of new digital information will be created by 2010 [1]. IT managers face the task of creating an infrastructure which can Store, Protect, Manage, Optimize and Leverage this information. IT departments are implementing and using SAN (Storage Area Networks), NAS (Network Attached Storage), and Data Replication technologies to solve the problems of storage capacity, data availability, and data mobility. IDC predicts that IT spending on storage and services will exceed $60 billion in 2007 [2]. Increased spending on storage makes it the fastest growing segment of IT.EMC Corporation, the world leader in storage, created the EMC Academic Alliance Program. EMC partners with colleges by providing courses to teach students about storage technologies. Courses are taught by faculty. Several colleges are using courses, as upper level elective offerings, to teach students about the design of storage technologies and the "big picture" of an information infrastructure. The courses are "open" and focused on storage technologies, not products. EMC also provides knowledge transfer to faculty. There is no cost to join and no cost to obtain the courses.

Decision trees are often used as a convenient way to visualize, and then solve, a decision problem. A standard problem approached in this way is a decision as to whether or not to sample, followed by a decision whether or not to engage in an activity. This approach has been limited to a small number of sample outcomes to be practical. This paper develops an approach which permits a continuous distribution of sample outcomes to be used. A new distribution, the "skewed parabolic distribution" is introduced as a flexible way of representing the judgemental (probabilistic) beliefs of the assessor. This new distribution is compared with the beta distribution. An algorithm, which is easily programmed and is practical for hand computation with a calculator and logarithm tables, is developed for the complete solution of a decision tree problem using this skewed parabolic distribution. An example is given. It is concluded that the skewed parabolic distribution makes use of continuous distributions practical for decision trees, and has advantages over the beta for this purpose.

This paper describes the process ofdeveloping an instruction-level simula tion of a digital computer for program checkout, with particular reference to a simulation of the Viatron 2140/2150 minicomputers on the IBM 360. The architecture of these computers is described. Design decisions to be made in simulator development are then covered, including programming language, data representation, approach to timing, and debugging facil ities. A method ofreducing the size of the simulator by "paging" the simu lated memory into and out of the host computer's core memory is discussed. Results of operational use of the simulator are given. Through out, emphasis is placed on those factors which tend to differentiate the simulation of a minicomputer from the simulation of a commercial data- processing computer.