Showing papers on "Software as a service published in 1992"

How to Match Computers and Accounting Software

Abstract: The key is to uncover the needs of the enterprise. A common but unwise approach to selecting a computer system to handle an organization's accounting and management information is to buy a powerful, expensive computer first and then select an accounting software package to fit the hardware. Another unwise approach is to purchase accounting software and then shop for the supporting hardware. While both approaches may work eventually, they're likely to be very time-consuming and costly. Instead, a management accountant should begin by figuring out exactly what management wants the accounting-information system to accomplish by analyzing the organization's accounting and business reporting needs and determining the possible ways to meet those needs. GATHERING THE INFORMATION Getting the information requires overcoming at least two major obstacles. * The traditional limits of accounting. Historically, accounting systems focused almost entirely on money transactions. Other information was collected, but it was gained independently by various departments of a business--such as marketing and manufacturing--that needed it, and the data were kept separate from the accounting system. Today's businesses generally recognize the importance of integrated information systems that encompass all internal data. Some even plug in data obtained from outside sources, such as government and industry trade associations. Thus, accountants today must dramatically expand their vision of the boundaries of accounting information systems. * Figuring out what management needs. Obtaining information requires meetings with three levels of management: strategic planners and staff and line managers. The tactics for eliciting information from each group differ. Here are some advisories for gathering the information: * Discussions with staff managers should elicit from them what data they need. Requests could include anything from the company's backlog of orders to industrywide production rates. And since the content or format of future reports can rarely be anticipated, the software should be sufficiently flexible to produce ad hoc reports, meeting ever-changing needs. * When meeting with line managers, accountants should focus on how they will use the accounting information. The questions should delve deeply into company operations, going beyond direct financial transactions, to uncover ways to integrate current computerized operations into the accounting system. For example, it might be suggested that the system can provide real-time information on inventory or customers' paying patterns. When such synergy is discovered, it provides a double benefit: Not only can the business's operation be improved but the accounting department's visibility may be significantly enhanced. * The accountant also should consider whether the business will be growing in the foreseeable future. If it will be, the software selected should be able to accommodate growth, to avoid the expense of replacing that software in the future. It's important to understand that the cost of a software replacement is not just the purchase price; the largest cost is the time and money spent to learn a new program. Ways of learning which software has that capability are provided below. THE SOFTWARE SEARCH Armed with these insights, an accountant can now begin the search for software. A first step is to check with the company's trade association. Many associations have identified, tested and sometimes endorsed vertical (industry-specific) accounting software for their industry. Some even commissioned and guided its development. If that approach is unproductive, the accountant can turn to a wide assortment of information sources for advice on locating accounting software. For details on these sources, see the sidebar, "Searching for Accounting Software? Let the Computer Do the Shopping," on page 57). …

Software Management and Accountability

Abstract: Software is protected by copyright law which means that the owner of the copyright holds exclusive rights to the reproduction and distribution of his or her work. How therefore does the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) help, advise and control companies on use and misuse of software?

Software is a Product...Not

Abstract: : Much of our planning for software uses the hardware product model. While we're not perfect, we do a fairly good job of managing hardware engineering for required time, quality, and money. But software more often than not is late, doesn't do what we want it to do, and costs too much. And that's a problem. We can't see a solution to our problem-perhaps because we have made the solution invisible by thinking about it in the wrong terms. I propose a vocabulary change. We will better understand the process if we consider software as a service, not a product. Let me expand on this statement. I do not believe we must do any of the software-building activities differently. Instead, from the perspective of scheduling, budgeting, and delivering software, we should use the service paradigm rather than the product paradigm. Scheduling, Budgeting

Controlling Software Piracy

Abstract: Executives need to control software piracy, the unauthorized copying of personal computer software. A personal computer software package is normally licensed to run on one computer. A person or a firm wishing to run a software package on multiple systems must procure a special license from the company that licenses that software package. Copying a software package licensed to run on a single computer for use on multiple computers violates the federal Copyright Act of 1976. This law allows the owner of the software to make backup copies of the program disks in case the originals are damaged or destroyed but also allows the author of the copyrighted works to sue violators for damages. The act also makes it a felony for anyone to sell illegally copied software, and this felony is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to 5 years. Managers often overlook employees’ copying software for their personal use. However, a company-not just the person who does the copying-can be held liable for pirated software. Depending on the circumstances, the company can also be held liable for violating copyright law (Shantz and Jackson, 1987). This article explains what software manufacturers

Toward domain-specific design environments: Some representation ideas from the telecommunications domain

Abstract: ACME is an experimental environment for investigating new approaches to modeling and analysis of system requirements and designs. ACME is built on and extends object-oriented conceptual modeling techniques and knowledge representation and reasoning (KRR) tools. The most immediate intended use for ACME is to help represent, understand, and communicate system designs during the early stages of system planning and requirements engineering. While our research is ostensibly aimed at software systems in general, we are particularly motivated to make an impact in the telecommunications domain, especially in the area referred to as Intelligent Networks (IN's). IN systems contain the software to provide services to users of a telecommunications network (e.g., call processing services, information services, etc.) as well as the software that provides the internal infrastructure for providing the services (e.g., resource management, billing, etc.). The software includes not only systems developed by the network proprietors but also by a growing group of independent service software providers.

Effective service engineering through software design reuse

Abstract: The prospects for the production of service applications, for telecommunications, where software reuse principles and generic design are the main drivers, are addressed. Service development and service profiling are discussed. The emphasis is on telecommunications relevant aspects, but essential software technology is included. >