Candidates should check the question paper to ascertain that all the pages are printed as indicated and that no questions are missing.

© 2014 The Kenya National Examinations Council. Turn Over

This paper consists of 20 printed pages

or xammer s se n1v Question Maximum Score Candidate's score

1 40 2 20 3 20 4 20 5 20 6 20

Total score

' U . 0 I F E

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES Write your name and index number in the spaces provided above. Sign and write the date of the examination in the spaces provided above Answer Question 1 and any ot~er THREE questions. Question I carries 40 marks. All other questions carry 20 marks each. Candidates should answer the questions in English.

3 hours

THE KENYA NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

HIGHER DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT HIGHER DIPLOMA IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

HIGHER DIPLOMA IN ARCHIVES AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT MODULE 1

TNFORMA TION COMMUNlCA TION TECHNOLOGY

Signatu3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103 INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOL November 2014 Time: 3 hours

Name. Index No.

2 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

Proposed new system

The management has investigated the problems and believes that it is not economical to increase the

number of staff on duty for these short times. They have decided to investigate setting up a fully

Type 1 : standard

Type 2: deluxe

Type 3: luxury suite

The hotel's existing system uses two separate information systems to manage its business:

Reservation and Billing System that takes requests from guests wishing to stay at the hotel,

reserves a room for them, and then produces their account for payment. The Hotel's guests can

make room reservations at the hotel's reception over the phone or from anywhere in the world by

email. Reception and phone requests are dealt with manually at the time the request is made by

hotel staff using the computer system. The hotel deals with email requests in two stages: When the systems email server receives a mail, it automatically sends a reply to acknowledge receipt of the

email. The email is placed into an email reservation's mailbox; hotel staff checks the mailbox once

a day and they make the appropriate reservations and send confirmation emails.

Room Management System that is used for managing guests. The system uses a minibar (a small

fridge stocked with foods and drinks for use by guests at a cost) and the issuance of room keys for

guests. Room keys are plastic cards with the room number magnetically encoded on them. Guests

enter their room by swiping the card through a card reader that is located beside the door of the

room. The card reader is manually programmed to recognize its own room number and is not

attached to any other computer. Data from the Room Management System is manually transferred

to the Reservation and Billing System when required.

Recently there have been an increasing number of problems developing at the front desk. At busy

times, such as immediately after the arrival of an international flight, there have been long queues

keeping newly arrived guests waiting to register. Many guests have complained about staff making

errors in allocating room keys. For example, rooms have been double booked; and reservations have

been lost from the email reservations mailbox.

Mt. Ralingo Hotel is a busy international hotel located in the South Coast of Kenya. The Hotel-has three types of rooms available for its guests.

Read the following case study then answer the questions that follow.

Turn over 3 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

" ... potential guests are expected to access the hotel's new online reservation system using the Internet. .. " With the aid of a diagram, explain the type of network suitable for this system. (6 marks)

(i) (a)

automated Reservation, Registration and Roomkey System (RRRS). The hotel system's analyst has

drawn up a list of criteria to evaluate the proposed RRRS software.

This new system will provide the following services: Guests can make their own reservations via the

Internet; make phone reservations; register and pay at the front desk; register and pay using the new

registration booths. Electronic room keys are personalized to increase security for guests and potential

guests are expected to access the hotel's new online reservation system using the Internet. Therefore

the manager has decided that the system should have the best available firewall. The hotel manager is

considering storing the small registration software on a ROM-based system, eliminating the need for a

hard drive while all the guest's data input can be communicated directly to the hotel's main database

which is proposed to have a sequential file access system. The programmer of the proposed system has

been requested to create full documentation before the system is installed for use. The new automated

Reservation system is proposed to have a batch processing system since they expect to serve thousands

of clients globally.

4 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

The hotel's systems analyst has drawn up a list of criteria to evaluate the proposed software. Explain four criteria that he should have included in his list. (8 marks)

(i) (b)

(ii) The proposed system is expected to have a ROM-based storage system for the registration software. Explain two advantages of using this system of storage compared to a hard drive for the storage of the software. ( 4 marks)

Turn over 5 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

(ii) The programmer for the proposed system has been requested to create two types of documentation before the system is installed for use. Explain two types of documentations that he should have created. ( 4 marks)

(c) (i) Assume that the proposed system has been developed and ready for implementation. Explain three methods that the hotel would adopt to convert from the existing system to the new system. ( 6 marks)

(ii) The main database is proposed to have a sequential file access method. Explain two reasons why this method of file access may not be suitable for the system. ( 4 marks)

6 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

Start Number= 0 Total= 3

WhiJe Number<= 9 Total = Total+ Number Number = Number+ Total

End While Print Total, Number End

Given the algorithm below, state the expected output to be printed. ( 4 marks) (i) (a) 2.

(ii) Explain two reasons why batch-processing mode is not suitable for the proposed system. ( 4 marks)

Suppose the reservation and billing system js to be used as a decision support system. Outline four components that it should have. (4 marks)

(i) (d)

Turn over 7 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

(b) A company located in Nairobi town intends to set up a global on line purchasing website. Two Internet service providers (ISPs) can host this website at differing costs. Explain three factors that the company should consider when selecting an ISP.

(6 marks)

(ii) Distinguish between dry running and debugging as used in computer programmmg. ( 4 marks)

8 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

1 •

A food processing company intends to replace their wired local network with a wireless local network. Explain four advantages that the company is likely to derive from this type of network. (8 marks)

(a) 3.

( c) A systems analyst is currently in the design stage of the development life cycle of a proposed information system. Explain three designs that he should come up with at this stage. ( 6 marks)

Turn over 9 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

II. hardcopy document.

I. process;

(ii) Using appropriate program flowchart symbols, represent each of the following: (2 marks)

Distinguish between management information system and transaction processing system as used in JCT. (4 marks)

(i) (b)

10 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

(6 marks)

Table I.

Determine the expected payback period of the system.

Costs Benefits New computer equipment: - Tripling of mail shot capacity:

- 10 network-ready PCs with supporting estimate: Kshs. 200,000 I year software @ Kshs. 30,000 each, - Ability to sustain telesales

- 1 server@ Kshs. 65,000 , campaigns: estimate: Kshs. - 3 printers@ Kshs. 15,000 each, 110,000 I year, - Cabling & Installation @ Kshs. 78,000, - Improved efficiency and - Sales Support Software @ Kshs. 105,000. reliability of follow-up:

estimate: Kshs. I 25,000 I year Training costs: - Improved customer service an - Computer introduction - 8 people @ Kshs. retention: estimate: Kshs.

1000 each 145,000/ year, - Keyboard skills - 8 people @ Kshs. 1000 each. - Improved accuracy of - Sales Support System - 12 people @ Kshs. customer information:

1200 each estimate: Kshs. 220,000 I year - More ability to manage sales

other costs: effort: 200,000 I year. - Lost time: 40 man days@ Ksbs. 200 I day,

Lost sales through disruption: estimate: Kshs. 150, 000,

- Lost sales through inefficiency during first months: estimate: Kshs. 150,000

(c) You are a company director who intends to implement a new computer-based management and sales processing system. The sales department has a few computers, and the salespeople are not computer literate. The financial cost/benefit analysis of the proposed system is as shown in Table 1. Use it to answer the question that follows.

12 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

(b) A library information system that had been installed failed to meet the user requirements. Explain three reasons that may have caused the failure. (6 marks)

(2 marks) physical design. (ii)

(2 marks) Explain the meaning of each of the following types of system design: (i) logical design;

(a) 4.

Turn over 13 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

(4 marks) Explain two advantages of using direct input devices. (a) 5.

(d) With the aid of an example in each case> write a pseudo-code to show the syntax of two selection constructs in programming. (6 marks)

(c) A local university prefers to install a computer network using a switch over a hub. Explain the difference between these network components. (4 marks)

14 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

A system's analyst has been contracted to carry out operational feasibility study of a proposed new library system. Explain three objectives that the study would achieve.

(6 marks)

(c)

(2 marks) logical (ii)

(2 marks) syntax; (i)

(b) Explain each of the following computer programming errors:

Turn over 15 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

(ii) Highlight three reasons why the high-level computer language became more popular than the assembly language. (3 marks)

Outline three features of the third generation of computer programming languages. (3 marks)

(i) (a) 6.

( d) Outline three differences between peer-to-peer and client/server computer networks. (6 marks)

16 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

A computer programmer in a college has been requested to provide a detailed specification of requirements for the program development team for assessment. Explain three contents of the requirements that he should include. (6 marks)

(c)

(2 marks) nng. (ii)

(2 marks) bus; (i)

(b) Describe each of the following computer network topologies:

Turn over 17 3802/104 3806/103 3813/103 3817/103

(d) A hospital administration intends to develop an expert system for medical diagnosis. Explain two features that such a system should have to make it efficient. ( 4 marks)