Australian Computer Society: ACS Digital Library
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Don't Leave Patch Management to Chance
Get PDFPatch management is a costly but necessary part of server management. Should more time be spent on patch evaluation and analysis or testing and implementation? This paper attempts to introduce conditional probability into the patch management process giving the reader a tool to evaluate where best to spend their time, analysis or testing. Bayes’ theorem will be used to help predict the outcome of a patch management example
The Management of Computer Systems in Small Business: a preliminary analysis of the issues of importance to managers
Get PDFResearch investigating the relative importance of issues facing organisations in their management of Information Systems (IS) has grown rapidly since the early 1980s. However, this research has largely focused on large businesses, with little comparable data collected in the context of small businesses. This paper reports preliminary results from a pilot project investigating the relative importance of various IS concerns from the perspective of small business managers in the Albury-Wodonga region. Initial results confirm the operational focus of small business managers despite evidence of some concern with more strategic issues. In light of the preliminary nature of these findings, the paper concludes by identifying areas for further research
Business Value Creation from IT Investments: towards a process theory of IT governance
Get PDFThe history of Information Systems (IS) as a discipline has been accompanied by vigorous debate on how, and indeed whether, IT investments contribute to improving organisational performance and hence in delivering value to the organisation. A number of models have been put forward to describe the relationship between IT expenditure and business value. This paper considers one such model, the process model of Soh and Markus (1995), and although this model has many attractive features, it is perhaps deficient in the way in which it links IT investment proposals back to business objectives, drivers and requirements. A modification of this model is thus proposed, and empirically assessed through qualitative interviews with CIOs in large organisations to understand the practises and processes by which they assert that business value is achieved through IT investments. The modified model was largely supported by the empirical study, but an additional factor, that of the need for and importance of sound IT governance processes and procedures to be in place if business value is to be derived form IT expenditure
A Research Strategy for Investigating Business Process Management Approaches
Get PDFWe are witnessing a revolution in industry which, if successful, will change forever how business systems are developed and the type of staff required. This paradigm shift has only recently become possible as business process conceptual understanding evolved, technologies have matured and higher abstraction levels have become possible.
Industry leads Business Processing Systems research as it has the strategic imperative and resources to be effective. Academic research is faced with three challenges: firstly, how to do effective research in an area of such broad scope, secondly, how to make research relevant to practice, thirdly how to spend limited resources effectively.
This paper defines the research framework for effective academic research at the University of Wollongong by the Software Effective Process group. Effective research is enabled by co-ordinating research based on the primacy of the business model and its resultant effective representation in executable systems. The framework aims to build a core research team, promote strong synergy with existing research areas, and create academic and industry relevant research.. We report on the results to date of our pilot program and seek feedback and advice to help us refine our approach.
A major Australian project is utilising a new software development lifecycle for ‘system of systems’ development which has arisen out of this research strategy. Later papers will report on both the theoretical basis and practical impacts of this work and other research by the group
A Credit Union Case Study of the Business Value of IS/IT
Get PDFThis paper investigates the business value of IS/IT investments in the Financial Services Sectors (FSS) in Australia using a case study methodology to develop and refine a conceptual model of the relationship between IS/IT investment and organisational performance. The conceptual model has four main components, IS/IT investment, organisational performance, considerations for strategic information systems planning and managerial effectiveness. A case study of a credit union indicates support for components of the conceptual model. Further, the analysis reveals the existence of intermediary factors, operations, product delivery, customer service and staff. It is concluded that directing IS/IT investments to these areas, particularly when it is done in concert, is most likely to have a positive impact on organisational performance. Lastly, debate on the issue of an IS/IT investment threshold and its applicability to organisations is presented
A Model for an Electronic Information Marketplace
Get PDFAs the information content on the Internet increases, the task of locating desired information and assessing its quality becomes increasingly difficult. This development causes users to be more willing to pay for information that is focused on specific issues, verifiable, and available upon request. Thus, the nature of the Internet opens up the opportunity for information trading. In this context, the Internet cannot only be used to close the transaction, but also to deliver the product - desired information - to the user. Early attempts to implement such business models have fallen short of expectations. In this paper, we discuss the limitations of such practices and present a modified business model for information trading, which uses a reverse auction approach together with a multiple-buyer price discovery proces
Securing XML Query Processing Storage
Get PDFThe effective processing of semi-structured data queries is a preliminary part of data mining stage. XML queries employ regular path expressions to find structural patterns within XML documents. The operation of structural join is a crucial part of XML query processing. Existing approaches reduce complex join expressions to several binary structural joins. In this paper, we are proposing a new structural join algorithm called sequence join algorithm, for sequential regular path expressions in securing XML query processing storage. It exploits information about position of the elements in a product to skip generation of the redundant intermediate lists. This paper further discusses the algorithm that performs the merge of several input lists of nodes in one pass. We carried out comparative experiments, and the results prove that the algorithm is better than multiple binary joins algorithm for queries of both small and large cardinality
Issues in IT Service-Oriented Requirements Engineering
Get PDFCorporate information technology (IT) management is increasingly service-oriented, offering continuous evaluation and improvement of application, communication, delivery and support services to internal and external customers. Service-oriented requirements engineering (SoRE) plays a significant role in identifying and specifying service requirements, formally defined through service-level agreements (SLAs). However, the new frameworks and approaches emerging to guide these developments have not yet addressed how requirements for such services can be effectively developed, nor identified the diverse issues involved. We report a case study of a web services team development of requirements for an internal Service Desk service. The study revealed five main issues of concern when developing service provider requirements: service roles, responsibilities and accountability; service performance metrics; resolution of conflicting stakeholder service requirements; customer acceptance of service change; and service provider team structure. This study suggests that in the new IT services era, new techniques and approaches are needed for eliciting and determining provider and customer requirements that involve key stakeholder groups equitably and more closely negotiate the sometimes-conflicting provider and customer needs
An Integrated Management Approach to Leveraging Knowledge Innovation
Get PDFKnowledge management (KM) is widely accepted as an indispensable management discipline. It has now emerged as the next likely source of sustainable competitive advantage. However, as to how knowledge management (KM) practices can be harnessed to leverage the pursuit of knowledge innovation has yet to be fully explored. This article discusses the significance of knowledge by describing the transition from “information revolution” to “knowledge revolution” – which enables various forms of knowledge to be absorbed, assimilated, shared and utilised. Next, it highlights the practice of knowledge management (KM) and explains why KM could enable knowledge innovations to evolve, and how information technology (IT) should be exploited for this purpose. It then proposes a management framework for leveraging knowledge innovation (KI) by focusing on knowledge-centred principles, knowledge-sharing infrastructures and knowledge-based initiatives, to offer insights into integrating concepts of knowledge management (KM) with innovation management (IM). In conclusion, it outlines the challenges of knowledge innovation (KI) that merit attention for organisations to better exploit its full benefits
Grounded Theorising Applied to IS Research - Developing a Coding Strategy
Get PDFThis paper provides an example of developing a coding strategy to build theory of the roles of methods in IS development. The research seeks to identify and understand how system development methods are used in an IS department within a large Australian bank. The paper details a theoretical framework, particulars of data collection, and documents an early phase of analysis – data reduction and the generation of an initial coding scheme. Guided by a framework to study the use of methods, the analysis demonstrates the framework’s plausibility in order to develop theoretical relationships with which to develop a grounded theory