University of the Philippines Cebu

College of Science
Department of Computer Science
CMSC 101
Introduction to Information Systems

ACTIVITY GUIDE (WEEK 12)

Lab Activity 6: Computer Software Selection1/ and Acquisition2/

Let’s Begin

In this week’s module, we discuss how to select the computer-based information system (CBIS)
acquisition strategy or to choose between buying, custom/in-house developing, or outsourcing your
new system. There are five (5) key selection factors of when to use each of the three acquisition
strategies, namely: 1) business need, 2) in-house experience, 3) project skills, 4) project
management, and 5) time frames. Hence, this laboratory activity allows you to apply the five (5)
selection factors in choosing between purchase of pre-packaged software or commercial-off-the-
shelf (COTS) system and in-house development acquisition strategies for two practice cases. In
addition, this exercise lets you experience the process of selecting the appropriate type of computer
application software that matches its functions to the required task.

Objectives

The laboratory activity for this module aims to enable you to:
 Apply the key selection factors in choosing either purchase of pre-packaged software or
commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) system or in-house development acquisition strategies for two
practice cases; and,
 Experience the process of selecting the appropriate type of computer application software that
matches its functions to the required task.

Tasks

1. Partner with the same classmate as in the previous lab activity since this activity is to be
accomplished in pairs to promote collaboration and interaction.

2. Use the same file naming convention as in the previous lab activity when creating the new
shared Google Doc sheet for this activity (and store it in your pair’s Google drive), which is as
follows: AnsLab[Lab Activity number]-[Your Family Name]_[Your Partner’s Family Name]. For
example, AnsLab6-Lao_Uy. The highlighted portion of the example are the ones you supply
information for your pair. Encode your pair’s responses on this shared document after you and
your partner discuss and agree on how to accomplish the activity.

3. Read and analyze the following cases below.

3.1. A plumbing supply company with 12 employees that sells standard products to wholesale
customers in a local community needs a system to manage its affairs.

3.2. A major oil company with diverse holdings, complex oil leases, and esoteric accounting
practices needs a system that can coordinate its many enterprises.

3.3. Create a table for each of the above cases to facilitate your case analysis following the table
template below.

1
This part adapted from the end of chapter analysis exercises of O’Brien and Marakas (2006), pp. 135.
2
Cases adapted from end of chapter discussion questions of Hall (2004), pp. 12.
 Acquisition Strategy Acquisition Strategy
Selection Factors Custom/In-house Development Pre-packaged System/COTS
Business Needs
In-house Experience
Project Skills
Project Management
Time Frame

3.4. Think deep for each of the cases. Put a check mark () on each of the corresponding key
factors that can be met under the column of your chosen acquisition strategy, otherwise,
put an “X” mark (). If you cannot infer what would be the likely situation under a specific
key factor, then put “NA” under the column of the corresponding acquisition strategy.

4. Choose the most likely system acquisition strategy based on your analysis in #3, i.e. either in-
house systems development or purchase of pre-packaged system or COTS for each of the cases.
Justify your selection.

5. Identify the type of application software packages, e.g. word processing, communication
software, etc., to match the required tasks of the given practice case. Justify your selection for
each task.

DML Department Stores would like to acquire software to do the following tasks:

5.1. Surf the web and their intranets and extranets.

6. Contribute responses by each member of the pair.

7. Submit your pair’s Google Doc sheet link, or the PDF file, for your responses to Lab Activity 6 to
the submission bin of the Learning Management System (LMS) on Friday of the following week
(i.e., Week 13). For those who have no Internet connectivity, submit your responses either in
print or in electronic form stored in USB disk and sent via express delivery.

References

O’Brien, J.A. and Marakas, G.M. (2006). Management Information Systems, 7th Ed. McGraw Hill,
pp. 135.
Hall, J.A. (2004). Accounting Information Systems, 4th Ed. South-Western Cengage Learning, pp. 12.