APPLICATION ISSUES REPORT

DEFINITION AND OVERVIEW

Application software is a defined subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of
a computer directly to a task that the user wishes to perform. This should be contrasted with System
Software which is involved in integrating a computer's various capabilities, but typically does not directly
apply them in the performance of tasks that benefit the user.

Overview of the related business needs:

Business needs arising from business processes that have significant common approaches
throughout the public sector (e.g. financial services such as accounting, cash management,
accounts payable etc., human resources management and project administration).
Specific business needs pertaining to business processes that are unique, in the sense that
they cover the work process of a single organizational unit.

These needs and requirements incorporate a diversity of issues and aspects, both technical and
organizational, including:

The organizational entities involved, the business processes they perform that require the
support of an application software system and the interrelations and interconnection
between them.
The technical architecture of a software application system that has to match and support the
business needs of the organization in the most effective way.
The non-functional requirements of a software application which are necessary to ensure
that it does not only perform what it is intended to but it performs in the most efficient and
performant way.
The functional requirements of a software application which ensure that the specific
business needs of the beneficiary organization are covered and fulfilled by the system and
that the system will enhance the method of operation for the day-to-day business.

1
ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

In the case of a software application implemented to cover a specific business need, there is at
least one organizational unit (the beneficiary) and in some cases more, which is directly or indirectly
involved in its implementation.

These organizational units generally include:

Specific Directorates / Departments that are responsible for the financial management and
administration of the organization.
Specific Directorates / Departments that are responsible for the management of human
resource.

For the fore mentioned organizational units, the business processes they are responsible for can
be generally standardized (at least as far as the general requirements are concerned).

ARCHITECTURAL ISSUES

Application software, whether ready-made or custom developed, follows an architecture style of the
many developed during the evolution of information technology. The most common architecture styles
include, but are not limited to:

Client-server
Distributed computing
Peer-to-peer
Pipes and filters
Implicit invocation
Service-oriented architectuer
Software componentry
Structured
Three-tier model
Monolithic system
Plugin

2
 It is obvious that custom-made application software can cover any business need of any
organization whether it is common or unique. In the last years however, it is common practice to utilize a
specific kind of ready-made software, namely the ERP systems.

NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

These requirements affect the quality and the usability of the system and have a direct effect to
user satisfaction and full coverage of the systems goals, and consequently, to the success of the system.

The general categories of non-functional requirements and specifications a system must cover
are:

Security, which is related to the provisions of the system that ensure confidentiality, integrity,
availability of information, access control and non-repudiation.
Performance, which is related to the metrics a system must abide by, in order to perform
efficiently within predefined time limits.
User friendliness, which is related to the characteristics a system must provide in order for
its users to perform their tasks with ease and efficiency.
Documentation, which is related to the principles the system textual description must abide
by, in order to provide its users with the information and reference material required for
efficient operation.
Data migration, which is related to the methodology and steps required in order to
effectively transfer data from existing legacy systems to new systems.
Data entry, which is related to the methodology and organization of the task of manually
entering massive data into the system both at the initial stage before system operation and
as a continuous task during system operation.
Quality, which is related to the intangible characteristics a system must possess so as to be
complete, useful, usable and eventually successful.

3
 FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

In order to arrive at the detailed design of the functional requirements of a system, some
preparatory steps must be performed:

The analysis of the business needs and environment that will provide the context that the
system must perform in.
The specification of the system which will set the boundaries of the system and the
expectations the users have from it.

In the case of custom-made application software, specifying the systems functional

requirements can be a very demanding task.

4
APPLICATION SOFTWARE ISSUES REACTION

DEFINITION AND OVERVIEW by Davis, Raeanne

Software can be divided into two general classes: systems software and applications software.
Application software are often called productivity programs or end-user programs because they enable
the user to complete tasks, such as creating documents, spreadsheets, databases and publications, doing
online research, sending email, designing graphics, running businesses, and even playing games!
Application software is specific to the task it is designed for and can be as simple as a calculator application
or as complex as a word processing application. Figuratively, application software sits on the top of the
hardware and systems software because it is unable to run without the operating system and system
utilities. The diagram below shows how I understand about how hardware, systems software, and
application software interact with each other.

Creating application software in not an easy task as average person seems to think. It is more than
just building designs and coding. It involves deep analyzation of solutions to the emerging problems and
improvement of a process of most likely a organization or a group of people. Business needs incorporate
diversity of aspects and issues that are technical and organizational:

5
 Organizational Issues The application software must incorporate
organizational needs and requirements in order to
be useful. That is why, gathering these needs and
requirements thoroughly is an important part of
the development of an application software.
Failure to do so may arise organizational issues.
Architectural Issues The application software must conform
technicalities that support business needs and
requirements.
Non-Functional Requirements These are the operational requirements of the
application software that must conform with the
needs of the organization and the users.
Functional Requirements These are the requirements that concern how the
software is going to interact with its users, still,
covering the business needs.

As IT students and future IT professionals, it is important for us to know the various issues with
application software. To create solutions to emerging problems within organization and individuals that
can be solved by the technology, we need to understand and consider the guidelines and issues on how
to come up with effective application software.

ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES by Baculo, Lady Ann

Our assigned group topic is about Application software issues. I discussed about the organizational
issues. When software was implemented to cover a specific business need in a particular organization,
there will be at least one organizational unit who will be directly or indirectly involve in its implementation.
First, we must know what a business need is. It is defined as the need of business which describes the
goals, objectives and problems that the business is trying to solve. The purpose of the business need is to
identify and define why a change to an organizational system or capabilities is required.

6
Organizational Units
I. Departments that are responsible for financial II. Departments that are responsible for the
management and administration of the management of human resource
organization
a. Finance Department a. Department of Human Resource (HR)
b. Accounting Department
c. Department of Administration

One of the biggest challenge businesses faces today is technology. The pace of technological
improvement is running at an exponentially increasing rate. While this has been true for several decades,
the pace today makes capital investment in technology as much an asset as a handicap because a
competitor may wait for the next-generation technology, which may only be a year away, and then use it
to achieve an advantage. Of course waiting to be that competitor can be equally risky. Whats a CEO to
do? Similarly, the ability for even the best of technologists to stay informed about emerging technology is
in conflict with the need to master a company's current technology. The problem to be solved is
to develop a long-term technology strategy while remaining flexible enough to take advantage of
unforeseen technology developments.

7
 ARCHITECTURAL ISSUES by Kinaadman, Lewis Ken

Application architecture refers to the high-level structures of a software/application, the

discipline of creating such structures, and the documentation of these structures. It follows an
architecture style of the many developed during the evolution of information technology. The most
common architecture styles include, but are not limited to:

Architectural Styles Description

Client-server
Peer-to-peer (P2P
Monolithic Application
Multilayered architecture
Pipes and filters (Pipeline)
Database-centric
Architecture
Event-driven architecture
A distributed application structure that partition tasks or workloads
between providers or a resource or service, called servers, and service
requester, called clients.
A distributed application structure that partition tasks or workloads
between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in
the application.
Describes a single-tiered software application in which the user interface
and data access code are combined into a single program from a single
platform.
A client-server architecture in which presentation, application
processing, and data management functions are physically separated.
Consist of a chain of processing elements (processes, thread, coroutines,
function, etc.)
It has several distinct meanings, generally relating to software
architectures in which database play crucial role.
A pattern promoting the production, detection, consumption of, and
reaction to events.

The software or application must follow one of this architecture for better structures and
documentation. Following or using one of this architecture may lessen the issues that will arise upon
developing such software or application.

8
 NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS by Soriano, John Philip

Non-Functional Requirements are the requirements affect the quality and the usability of the
system and have a direct effect to user satisfaction and full coverage of the systems goals, and
consequently, to the success of the system. There are categories of non-functional requirements and
specifications a system must cover and those are Security, Performance, User-Friendliness,
Documentation, Data Migration, Data Entry and Quality.

Non-Functional Requirement Description

Security which is related to the provisions of the system that ensure
confidentiality, integrity, availability of information, access control and
non-repudiation.

Performance which is related to the metrics a system must abide by, in order to
perform efficiently within predefined time limits.

User-Friendliness which is related to the characteristics a system must provide in order for
its users to perform their tasks with ease and efficiency.

Documentation which is related to the principles the system textual description must
abide by, in order to provide its users with the information and reference
material required for efficient operation.

Data Migration which is related to the methodology and steps required in order to
effectively transfer data from existing legacy systems to new systems.

Data Entry which is related to the methodology and organization of the task of
manually entering massive data into the system both at the initial stage
before system operation and as a continuous task during system
operation.

9
Quality which is related to the intangible characteristics a system must possess
so as to be complete, useful, usable and eventually successful.

These requirements that needs to be covered plays the vital role in making and developing a
system because by not following one of these requirements can create issue/s between the development
team and the customers business needs.

10
 References:

http://www.moct.gov.sy/ICTSandards/en/15/3_Application_Software_Issues.htm
https://www.techopedia.com/definition/4224/application-software
http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/edumat/IHRIP/ripple/chapter3.html
http://www.ofnisystems.com/services/validation/functional-requirements/
http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/ba-stories-do-you-define-the-business-need-babok-5-1/
https://www.leanmethods.com/resources/articles/top-ten-problems-faced-business

11