Chapter 4

Computer Software

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Learning Objectives

 Describe several important trends occurring

in computer software

 Give examples of several major types of

application and system software

 Explain the purpose of several popular

software packages for end user productivity
and collaborative computing

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 Learning Objectives

 Define and describe the functions of an

operating system

 Describe the main uses of computer

programming software, tools, and languages

 Describe the issues associated with open

source software

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 Case 1: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

 General Electric
– 500,000 suppliers in 100 countries, with
14 different languages
– Needed to coordinate contracts, compliance
initiatives, certifications, and interactions
– Was using homegrown Global Supplier Library
– Switched to a Software-as-a-Service vendor
– Better capabilities for same cost
– Suppliers can manage their own data

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 Case 1: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

 H.B. Fuller Company

– Current payroll system was expensive and
going nowhere
– Gave up control to avoid the headaches of
trying to fix the existing software
– Configuration rather than customization
allows company to maintain its “lean core”
– Standardization leads to more agility
– IT must be involved in the process
– Must have a way to backup necessary data,
in case SaaS provider goes out of business
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 Case Study Questions

 What factors should companies take into

consideration when making the decision
between developing their own applications,
purchasing them from a vendor, or taking the
SaaS route?
– Make a list of factors and discuss their
importance to this decision

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 Case Study Questions

 What risks did GE take on when they

contracted with a small, less experienced
vendor?
– What contingencies could have been put in
place to prevent any problems from arising?
 What should companies do if no “configuration
option” perfectly fits with their needs?
– Should they attempt to customize, or select
the least-worst alternative?
– When would they do each?

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Types of Application & System Software

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 Application Software

General
Custom
Purpose

Application Software
Commercial
Off-the-Shelf Open-Source
(COTS)

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Business Application Software

Function-Specific Application Software

Thousands of these packages support

specific end-user applications

Customer Relationship Management

Enterprise Resource Planning

Supply Chain Management

Web-enabled electronic commerce

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Software Suites, Integrated Packages

Most widely used productivity packages

are bundled as software suites

Advantages Disadvantages

1. Cost less than buying 1. All features not used

individual packages 2. Takes a lot of disk
2. All have similar GUI space (bloatware)
3. Programs work well
together

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Components of Top Software Suites

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 Integrated Packages

Integrated packages combine the functions

of several programs into one package
E.g., Microsoft Works, AppleWork

Advantages Disadvantages

1. Many functions for 1. Limited functionality

lower price
2. Uses less disk space
3. Frequently pre-
installed on PCs

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 Web Browsers

Software that supports navigation through

point-and-click, hyper-linked Web resources

Becoming the universal platform

from which end users launch…
Information searches
E-mail
Multimedia file transfer

Discussion groups

Other Internet-based applications

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 Search Engines

Browsers are used to gain access

to Internet search engines

Google, Ask Jeeves, Look Smart, Lycos,

Overture, Yahoo!

Using search engines to find information has

become an indispensable part of Internet,
intranet, and extranet applications

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 E-mail, Instant Messaging, Weblogs

 E-mail
– Sending and receiving messages and
attachments via the Internet, intranet, or
extranet
 Instant messaging (IM)
– Receive electronic messages instantly
 Weblog or blog
– A personal website in dated log format
– Updated with new information about a subject
or range of subjects

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 Word Processing/Desktop Publishing

 Word Processing
– Create, edit, revise, and print documents
– E.g., Microsoft Word, Lotus WordPro, Corel
WordPerfect
 Desktop Publishing
– Produce printed materials that look
professionally published
– E.g., Adobe PageMaker, Microsoft Publisher,
QuarkXPress

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 Electronic Spreadsheets

Used by virtually every business for

analysis, planning, modeling

Worksheet of rows and columns

Can be stored on local computers or a network

Requires designing format and developing
the relationships (formulas)
Most help you develop charts and graph
displays of spreadsheet results
Supports what-if questions

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 Presentation Graphics

Convert numeric Microsoft PowerPoint,

data into graphics Lotus Freelance,
Corel Presentations
Common
presentation
graphics
packages…
Top packages can Are used to create
tailor files for multimedia
transfer in HTML presentations of
format to websites graphics, photos,
animation, video

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 Personal Information Managers

Software for end user productivity and collaboration

Stores information about clients

Manages schedules, appointments, tasks

Most have ability to access the Web and e-mail

Some support team collaboration by sharing

information with other PIM users

e.g., Lotus Organizer, Microsoft Outlook

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 Groupware

 Software that helps workgroups collaborate

on group assignments
– E-mail, discussion groups, databases, audio,
and video conferencing
– E.g., Lotus Notes, Novell GroupWise,
Microsoft Exchange
– Windows SharePoint Services and
WebSphere both allow teams to create
websites for information sharing and
document collaboration

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 Software Alternatives

 Outsource software development and

maintenance
 Application service providers (ASPs)
– Companies that own, operate, and maintain
application software and computer system
resources
– Use the application for a fee over the Internet
– Pay-as-you-go
– Use expected to accelerate

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 Cloud Computing

 Software and virtualized hardware resources

are provided as a service over the Internet
– No technology knowledge, expertise, or control
needed
– Often confused with grid computing
– Pay-for-use avoids capital expenditures
– Sharing “perishable and intangible” computer
power improves utilization rates
– Capacity can be scaled upward almost instantly
– Immediate access to broad range of applications
– Contracts can generally be terminated at any time
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 Software Licensing

COTS and ASP software is licensed, which involves…

Intellectual property rights

Copyright and trademark
Trade secrets
Traditional contract law, including Uniform
Commercial Code (UCC)

You don’t buy software…

You buy a license to use the software

Licensed to protect vendor’s property rights

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Case 2: Power Distribution & Law Enforcement

XML is becoming increasingly popular as an

open standard for sharing data across organizations

The Ohio Law

A power In Ohio, almost Enforcement
consortium is 1,000 police Gateway Search
implementing an departments now Engine is an Internet-
XML-based have access to based tool that can
settlements digital records kept securely comb
system that drives by neighboring law through numerous
costs out of power enforcement crime databases with
distribution agencies a single log-in and
query

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 Case Study Questions

 What is the business value of XML to the organizations

described in the case?
– How are they able to achieve such large returns on
investment?
 What are other ways in which XML could be used by
organizations to create value and share data?
– Look for examples involving for-profit organizations to
gain a more complete perspective on the issue
 What seem to be important elements in the success
of projects relying on extensive use of XML across
organizations, and why?
– Research metadata to inform your answer

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 Categories of Group Software

System Manages hardware, software, network,

Management and data resources of computer systems
Programs Operating systems, network
management programs, database
management systems, system utilities

Helps users develop IS programs and

procedures, and then prepare them
for processing
System
Development Includes language translators and
Programs editors, CASE, and programming tools

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Interface Between End Users & Computer

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 Operating Systems

Integrated system of programs that…

Controls the Provides

input/out, support
Manages the storage services as the
operations of resources, and computer
the CPU activities of the executes
computer application
system programs

The operating system must be loaded and activated

before other tasks can be accomplished

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Operating System Basic Functions

•Command-driven
•Menu-driven
•Graphical User
Interfaces (GUI)

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 Popular Operating Systems

 Windows
– GUI, multitasking, networking, multimedia
– Microsoft’s operating system
– NT, XP, 2003
– Different versions manage servers
 Standard, enterprise, data center, Web

 Unix
– Multitasking, multi-user, network-managing
– Portable - can run on mainframes, midrange,
and PCs
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 Popular Operating Systems

 Linux
– Low-cost, powerful, reliable, Unix-like
operating system
– Open-source

 MAC OS X
– Apple operating system for the iMac
– GUI
– Multitasking
– Multimedia
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 Open Source Software

 The basic idea

– When programmers can read, redistribute, and
modify source code, the software evolves
– This can happen at astonishing speed
– Produces better software than the traditional
commercial (closed) model
– The proprietary approach to software
development has hidden costs that often
outweigh its benefits

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 Open Source Software

 Open source software is not…

– Shareware
– Public domain software
– Freeware
– A viewer or reader made freely available
without source code
 OSS…
– Is copyrighted & distributed with license terms
– Sometimes carries a fee for packaging,
distribution, or support

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 Open-Source Licensing Characteristics

 The License
– The program must include the source code and allow
distribution in source code as well as compiled form
– Shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away
the software as a component of an aggregate software
distribution containing programs from several sources
– Must allow modifications and derived works, and must
allow them to be distributed under the same terms as
the license of the original software

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 Open-Source Licensing Characteristics

 The License (continued)

– May restrict source code from being distributed in
modified form only if the license allows the distribution
of patch files with the source code for the purpose of
modifying the program at build time
– Must not discriminate against any person or any
group of persons
– Must not restrict anyone from making use of the
program in a specific field of endeavor

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 Open-Source Licensing Characteristics

 The License (continued)

– The rights attached to the program must
apply to all to whom the program is
redistributed, without the need for execution
of an additional license
– Must not be specific to a product
– Must not contaminate other software by
placing restrictions on any software
distributed along with the licensed software

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 Examples of Open Source Software

 Open Office
– Can be used for any purpose: domestic, commercial,
educational, or public administration
 Mac OS X
– Based on a form of UNIX
– Advanced GUI
– Supports multi-tasking and multimedia
– Integrated Web browser, e-mail, instant messaging,
search engine, digital media player, and more
– Includes software development tools

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 Application Virtualization

 An umbrella term for software technologies that

improve portability, manageability, and compatibility
of applications
– Works by insulating applications from the underlying
operating system
 Benefits
– No need for multiple platforms for multiple
applications
– Energy savings from not having servers running
at low capacity

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Other System Management Programs

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 Other System Software

 Utilities
– Miscellaneous housekeeping functions
– Example: Norton utilities includes data backup,
virus protection, data compression, etc.
 Performance Monitors
– Programs that monitor and adjust computer
system to keep them running efficiently
 Security Monitors
– Monitor and control use of computer systems
to prevent unauthorized use of resources

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 Application Servers

 Provide an interface between an operating

system and the application programs of users
 Middleware
– Helps diverse software applications exchange
data and work together more efficiently
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Programming Languages

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 Machine Languages

First Generation Languages

The most basic of programming languages

Strings of binary codes unique to each computer

Requires specific knowledge of the

internal operations of the CPU being used
Must specify the storage location for every
instruction and item of data used

Difficult to work with, and error prone

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 Assembler Languages

Second Generation Languages

Developed to reduce difficulties

in writing machine language programs
Uses assemblers to convert the programs
into machine instructions
Symbols used to represent operation codes
and storage locations
Alphabetic abbreviations, call mnemonics, and
other symbols represent operation codes,
storage locations, and data elements

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 High-Level Languages

Third Generation Languages

Uses brief statements or arithmetic expressions

Statements translated into machine language

by compilers or interpreters
Less efficient than assembler language and
requires greater translation time

Machine dependent

Examples: BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN

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Fourth-Generation Languages

Fourth-Generation Languages

Variety of programming languages that are

nonprocedural and conversational
Programmers specify the result wanted;
the computer determines the sequence of
instructions that accomplish the result
Simplifies the programming process

Natural language; very close to English

Sometimes called fifth-generation (5GLs)

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Object-Oriented Languages

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Object-Oriented Languages

Most widely used software

development languages

Easier to use and more efficient for graphics-

oriented user interfaces

Reusable: can use an object from one

application in another application

Examples: Visual Basic, C++, Java

Most object-oriented languages provide a GUI

that supports visual programming

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 Web Languages

HTML A page description language that creates

hypertext documents for the Web

XML Describes Web page content by

applying identifying tags or contextual
labels to the data

Java Object-oriented programming language that

is simple, secure, and platform independent

Java applets can be executed

on any computer

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J2EE versus .Net

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How Web Services Work

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 Language Translator Programs

Translate instructions written in programming

languages into machine language

Assembler Compiler Interpreter

Translates Translates high- A compiler that

assembler level language translates and
language statements executes each
statement statement in
a program,
one at a time

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 Programming Tools

 Help programmers identify and minimize

errors while they are programming
– Graphical programming interfaces
– Programming editors
– Debuggers
 CASE Tools
– A combination of many programming tools into
a single application with a common interface
– Used in different stages of the systems
development process

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 Case 1: Wolf Peak International

 Wolf Peak International

– A small company which designs and manufactures
eyewear for safety, sports, driving, and fashion
– Outgrew the capabilities of QuickBooks
– Spent a lot of money to implement a new accounting
system
– Nobody knew how to extract financial or operational
data used to make critical business decisions
– Successfully implemented SAP Business One
software, replacing the failed accounting system

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 Case Study Questions

 What problems occurred when Wolf Peak upgraded

from QuickBooks to a new accounting software
package?
– How could these problems have been avoided?
 Why was SAP’s Business One a better choice for
Wolf Peak’s management than the new accounting
software?
 Should most SMEs use an integrated business
software suite like SAP Business One, instead of
specialized accounting and other business software
packages?

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