Prepare a brief preliminary investigation report for Dr. Jones. Before you begin this task, you should review the sample report in this chapter, and visit Part A of the Systems Analyst’s Toolkit, which provides suggestions for oral and written presentations

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers should follow the six-step approach described in the textbook. A sample answer follows:
• Introduction. The first section is an overview of the report. The introduction has a brief description of the system, the name of the person or group who performed the investigation, and the name of the person or group who initiated the investigation.
• Systems Request Summary. The summary describes the basis of the systems request.
• Findings. The findings section contains the results of your preliminary investigation, including a description of the project’s scope, constraints, and feasibility.
• Recommendations. Recommendations for further action, with specific reasons and justification, are explained in this section. Management will make the final decision, but the IT department’s input is an important factor.
• Time and Cost Estimates. This section describes the cost of acquiring and installing the system and the total cost of ownership during the system’s useful life.
• Expected Benefits. Anticipated tangible and intangible benefits and a timetable that shows when they are to occur are included in this section.
• Appendix. An appendix is included in the report if you need to attach supporting information.
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