CASE STUDY

Inspire Diamond Glass produces handmade decorative glass in its upstate New York factory, and sells its wares to a global market. The company still is an industry leader, but sales have levelled off. Some managers believe that IT glitches are the problem.

Background

Last year, Inspire Diamond rushed to implement a new Web-based system to boost sales. Unfortunately, the online system was not tested thoroughly and experienced start-up problems. For example, customers complained about order mix-ups and overcharges for deliveries. You are a new system analyst, and your supervisor asked you to investigate the problems.

Tasks

1.Based on what you know about e-commerce, how would you have tested a new Web-based system?

(3 marks)

2.Should ISO standards have been considered? Explain your answer.

(5 marks)

3.What should Inspire Diamond do in the future to avoid similar problems when developing new systems?

(2 marks)