Consider costs of a system in light of the five components:

costs to buy and maintain the hardware; costs to develop or acquire licenses to the software programs and costs to maintain them; costs to design databases and fill them with data; costs of developing procedures and keeping them current; and, finally, human costs to both develop and use the system.

a. Over the lifetime of a system, many experts believe that the single most expensive component is people.

Does this belief seem logical to you? Explain why you agree or disagree.

b. Consider a poorly developed system that does not meet its defined requirements. The needs of the business do not go away, but they do not conform themselves to the characteristics of the poorly built system. Therefore, something must give. Which component picks up the slack when the hardware and software programs do not work correctly? What does this say about the cost of a poorly designed system? Consider both direct money costs as well as intangible personnel costs.

c. What implications do you, as a future business manager, recognize after answering parts a and b? What does this say about the need for your involvement in requirements and other aspects of systems development?

Who eventually will pay the costs of a poorly developed system? Against which budget will those costs accrue?