Question: 6 discussions. 200 words each
1. "Build or Buy and Service-Level Agreements (SLAs)" Please respond to the following:
• Suppose, as a Chief Information Officer (CIO), you were asked to provide the organization with time-entry system for the employees. Examine the options to insource or outsource the system to be developed. Determine whether you would insource or outsource the system to be developed and predict the implications of your decision with the organization's total cost of ownership.
• Suppose an organization that has entered into an SLA with another organization goes out of business. Determine whether the SLA still applies or becomes invalid. Propose what the organization should do to maintain the service delivery.
2. "Cloud Computing" Please respond to the following:
• Rate the importance of establishing standards that govern the cloud infrastructure, format for data storage, interoperability standards between vendors, and security requirements. Support your rationale.
3. "Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)" Please respond to the following:
• Examine the activities in the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Select the activities that you believe to be the most critical for the success of a project that is developed using SDLC. Support your position.
• Determine the conversion methods (parallel, pilot, phased, and plunge) you would apply for the implementation phase of an SDLC if you were managing a project. Support your rationale.
4. "Business Intelligence and Social Analytics" Please respond to the following:
• Examine three ways you believe that social networks have "leveled the playing field" between major corporations and small businesses.
• Sports teams have adapted the practice of businesses using business analytics to make wiser decisions. Provide your opinion on teams that use sports analytics. Explain whether or not you believe these teams maintain an advantage over those that do not.
5. "Privacy Challenges" Please respond to the following:
• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) threatened to shut off BlackBerry messaging, email and web browsing services if the device' s maker, Research in Motion (RIM), did not provide certain information necessary for national security. RIM was caught between not disclosing confidential information and not endangering UAE's national security. Give your opinion on whether RIM should have given in to UAE's demands or whether it should have protected the confidential information. Support your position.
• Imagine you are a mid-level manager working for a well-known international organization and have invested $10,000 in the organization stock, along with contributions to the 401k benefit. Suppose you have indisputable evidence that the CEO was manipulating the company's stock price. Determine if you would inform the stakeholders or refrain from saying anything for fear of causing the stock to plunge. Support your position.
6. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Privacy" Please respond to the following:
• From this week's video series, examine the belief that green programs create economic value while being socially responsible and sustaining the environment. Determine whether you agree or disagree with this statement. Support your position with one example.
• Some supermarkets use loyalty programs, which enable them to collect data about the shopping patterns of their customers. Suppose that an insurance company wanted to buy this data from the supermarket in order to analyze the behavior of its policyholders. Determine whether or not the insurance company should be allowed to buy the data. Support your position.