Appirio Case
1. List your SWOT analysis findings, starting with S, then W, then O, then T. Support each finding. Example: I claim that Appirio’s strengths are: Because ……… You will do this for each – S, W, O and T – basically a four part question. You are allowed 75 words for each part.
2. You are a young programmer in the banking industry, and you have a great idea for a software application for small businesses that simplifies a previously time-consuming payroll and banking task. You have raised some money from your savings, and from friends and family. You and some fellow programmer friends are exploring ways to turn the idea into a business. You have done some initial development work on a PC you have, but you need more computing resources, and it’s now time take the project to the next step. You are exploring the opportunities that the “Cloud” offers.
A. Based on the scenario above, which option below is the most important to you at this stage of the project? Give substantial support for your choice.
a. Agility and flexibility: The ability to rapidly provision and re-provision the technological infrastructure resources you need.
b. Cost: Fine-grained pricing of computing resources based on usage and needs. Fewer IT skills needed for implementation
c. Scalability and elasticity through dynamic provisioning of computing resources.
d. Reliability: Improved when multiple redundant sites are used e. Security: improved through centralization of data, increased security resources.
3. You have now a working SaaS application called PayMaster, and you are beginning to get praise from your initial customers, as well as some recognition within the banking industry. However, many of the companies you have approached have been reluctant to sign on.
A. For these reluctant companies, what issue is most likely to prevent them from using your software?
a. Loss of control of their data
b. Security Concerns
c. Costs
d. Performance and reliability
4. Changing perspectives, you are the CIO of a company that has decided to move to Paymaster. Up to this point, the task that PayMaster performs was run on a separate server in the server room. It required an accountant to enter and process the data, a system operator to run, patch, backup, update the software and generally manage the system, hardware and software required to run the application.
A. Based on the scenario above, which of these will still be needed when you move your company to PayMaster?
a. The hardware for the server
b. The software that runs on the server
c. The system operator
d. The space in the server room
e. The accountant
5. Based on the scenario above, and from the items below that will no longer be needed, which one is most likely to result in the most costs savings?
a. The hardware for the server
b. The software that runs on the server
c. The system operator
d. The space in the server room
e. The accountant