SA&D / FALL 2022 / MIDTERM EXAMINATION / DR. RAINEY

My expectation is for each of you to send me the answers to this MIDTERM examination in the
format of an MS-Word File, and make sure that you put your name at the top of the document.
All exams should be emailed to [email protected], by 11:59PM—Thursday Night (October 20th,
2022). Friday, Morning (Midnight—Friday) will be considered late. Answer the following 13 Questions
for a combined total of 100 Possible Points.

If you have any clarifying questions around any of the questions in the exam, between TONIGHT and
11:55pm—Thursday Night (October 20th), email me at [email protected],
with “SA&D – ” in the subject line of the email, itself. Therefore, if I was taking the class,
the email subject would read as follows, “SA&D – Dr. James L. Rainey III.”

**I’ll check that email address at least a couple of times per day, between now and the DUE Date/Hour.

[1.] Define ‘Capability.’ [4 Points]

[2.] Define ‘System Engineering (SE).’ [4 Points]

[3.] Define Verification and Validation, separately? [4 Points]

[4.] Elaborate on the concept of ‘Lean Thinking’? [4 Points]

[5.] Using the V Model, how do ‘Business Needs’ and ‘Satisfaction Assessments’ work with
one another? [4 Points]

[6.] What is a Use Case Model, and what is a Use Case Artifact? [4 Points]

[7.] What are the 7 Steps for managing CONOPS? [4 Points]

[8.] What is DMAIC, and what does the acronym stand for? [4 Points]

[9.] Define Preventive Maintenance? [4 Points]

[10.] Define War Room? [4 Points]

[11.] What are three deliverables which can come from a War Room? [4 Points]

[12.] List 15 essential artifacts, which every System Analyst should have familiarity with
(Added Context: As a Junior System Analyst who is a part of a team, they should know
the intent or purpose of these documents, and for a Lead System Analyst, or a manager
of System Analysts, the expectation will be for them to know internal content of each
artifact, i.e. the Table of Contents)? [4 Points] [Questions 1-12 = 48 Possible Points]

[13.] “Case Problem / May Day –May Day, Portal is Down!!!!” [52 Points for the CASE STUDY,


SA&D / FALL 2022 / MIDTERM EXAMINATION / DR. RAINEY
however, pay close attention to the question(s) for both my undergraduate and
Graduate Level Students!!]

A medium sized consulting firm by the name of “Eugene and Associates (E&A)” has been hired
to maintain the portal for a large-scale law firm in Detroit. The consulting firm, itself has about
fifty people working in its ranks. Ten of the fifty are Vice Presidents (VP-s). They split all of the
profit sharing at the end of the year, and are often rewarded $50,000+ bonuses annually. This is
not included with their base salaries of $250,000. For the most part, some of these individuals are
people who've achieved their status in the company through “family connections.” The others are
the individuals who have finance or marketing backgrounds, and have master’s degrees of
Business and Administration (MBA-s). Another ten of the fifty individuals work in manager
roles, but they have IT backgrounds in specific IT Specialties (thus, some of these individuals
have ‘Systems Analysis’ backgrounds). Let’s refer to them as IT Managers. They are “white
collar” individuals who hold technical degrees and/or certifications. The average salary amongst
these individuals is $140,000 per year. There are 10 additional individuals out of the fifty who
hold the distinction of being project managers. They are responsible for managing problem
resolutions to technical problems. For the most part, these individuals hold PMP Certifications,
and they have their own niches when it comes to IT Specialties. Their average salaries range
from $75,000 to $150,000 per year (based upon the complexity of visibility of the
Projects/Programs they manage). The remaining 20 individuals are technicians who have deep
technical expertise in their respective disciplines. Their salaries range anywhere from $50,000
per year to $100,000. Ironically, Eugene himself is a Systems Engineer who graduated from
UDM's CIS Program after which he landed a huge government contract after consulting for two
years. Instead of taking the $50 million contract, instead he decided to lease some office space at
very cheap rates in the Ford Building, in downtown Detroit so that he could re-invest into his
consulting practice expanding it and adding more associates. See the breakdown below.

E&A Consulting / Breakdown

10 Vice Presidents (3 from past past IT Projects and 7 with Finance or Accounting
backgrounds).
10 IT Managers (Technical Degrees and/or Technical Certifications).
10 Project Managers (Technical niches with PMP Certifications).
20 Technicians (Most technical individuals in the organization).

The Client / The Law Firm

The Law firm which has called upon EA for their portal expertise is a large “silk stocking” firm,
with over 1000 attorneys. Ten percent of the 1000 (100) are Senior Partners who have salaries
that average $250,000 although their bonuses can range from $50,000 to $400,000 a year. The
Senior Partners live relaxed lifestyles. They watch presentations, go to meetings, and eat “Power
Lunches” all day long. They average working 40 to 50 hours per week because they've already
done their time, working the long hours as associate attorneys and/or junior partners. 20 percent
of the 1000 (200) are Junior Partners. These individuals have established reputations as having
certain specialties in the law (ie. Mergers and Acquisitions, Real Estate, Environmental, Tax
Law and Corporate Litigation). They average working 80 hours per work week. Their salaries


SA&D / FALL 2022 / MIDTERM EXAMINATION / DR. RAINEY
can be as high as $250,000 but they are not compensated by profit sharing bonuses like the
senior partners. They are well on their way to becoming senior partners and they tend to keep in
great shape. They are the shining stars from the associate ranks. The remaining 700 people in the
firm are made up of mostly associate attorneys (600) and administrative support personnel
(Paralegals, HR, Secretaries, Librarians, IT Legal Administrators, Patent Agents, Systems
Support, and Litigation Support Personnel). The attorneys range from being fresh out of law
school, to those who've been with the firm for 5 to 10 years. This is the “proving ground section”
of the firm. Everyone is shooting to make junior partners and eventually senior partner. The
average starting salary is about $100,000 per year. They hold the potential of doubling the salary
and going beyond that, if they work 80+ hours a week, which is the norm. The overtime is what
takes their $100,000 per year salaries up to $200,000+ per year. The problem is that they don't
have the time to spend it, and often they get burned out.

The Law Firm / Breakdown

100 Senior Partners
200 Junior Partners
600 Associate Attorneys
100 Administrative Support (This group consists of IT Personnel, which focus on different
aspects of Technology, Legal Assistants and Secretaries).

The System Problem to Address

A few years ago, one of the senior partners in the law firm went to lunch with one of the VP-s
from EA and conveyed that the law firm needed a portal for the Law Firm's web site. The
rationale behind this idea was that the firm was expanding to different cities throughout the
world and he felt that there should be one single access point where any person in the law firm
could log on via this portal and conduct firm business which ranged from finding out a
paralegal's phone number or e-mail address,...to entering a billing entry for some time that an
attorney may have spent with a client. The portal should have access points to; all HR Systems,
all Billing Tracking Systems, all Library Systems (Westlaw), and all Bar Exam Preparation
databases and documentation. It is basically the front page to the entire law firm.

The portal was developed and implemented by E&A, and for the most part, it’s been a success
until recently. To add technical context to this scenario, the main office of the E&A is housed on
8 floors of the First National Building, and the 6th Floor of the Firm, is entirely dedicated to the
Firm’s Data Operations. That floor requires special access privileges to get exit the elevator.
There are raised floors, which are required for the cabling connectivity to the large-scale servers,
Storage Area Networks, and at least two tape libraries. Additionally, the 6th floor has a cooling
system to keep the equipment running optimally.



SA&D / FALL 2022 / MIDTERM EXAMINATION / DR. RAINEY


Getting back to the technical problem, because the law firm has offices in different time zones
around the world, it is essential for the network to stay accessible 24 hours a day. As of recently,
the portal has started to crash frequently. When the portal goes down, all of the virtual aspects of
the firm go down. Attorneys don’t have access to their e-mail. Electronic encrypted contracts
which can usually be signed and authenticated for the courts are no longer an option. Fax to
electronic imaging is no longer an option. The online billing tracking system which ties into a
mainframe is no longer accessible (most of the older Senior Partners are most familiar with using
this system). Internet access is blocked when the portal goes down, and all of the access to the
library systems which enable the attorneys to conduct all of their legal research are no longer
accessible in these instances.

The frequency of the problem has raised some eyebrows in the ranks of the law firm’s senior
partners. Now the senior leadership at both the Law Firm and EA have made it a top priority for
this problem to be resolved. Answer the following questions based on your knowledge of
Systems Analysis.

The Data Operations floor will have to conduct a power down, one month from now. During the
power down, all electricity will be shut down on the 6th floor, however there are backup
generators--which 100% of the servers, SANS, and tape libraries are connected to. 10 E&A
Technicians will participate in the planning of a shutdown, two weeks ahead of the real event, in
preparation for the actual shutdown which is one month away. Those technicians are paired off,
with different focuses. They are as follows.

E&A Group 1
(Pair)
Focus on Window Operating Systems which run on all workstations and
laptops for the Attorneys and Staff.

E&A Group 2
(Pair)
Have technical expertise with the tape libraries, which the Law Firm’s
administrative support personnel (which focus on IT) maintain.
E&A Group 3
(Pair)
Have technical expertise with the large-scale EMC Storage Area Network
which is still under warranty with EMC Corporation, but are maintained by


SA&D / FALL 2022 / MIDTERM EXAMINATION / DR. RAINEY
the Law Firm’s administrative support personnel (which focus on Storage
Area Networks) maintain.
E&A Group 4
(Pair)
Have technical expertise with the AS400 Mainframe which is the same
model machine which runs at the Law Firm (specifically housed on the 6th
Floor), which the Law Firm’s administrative support personnel (which
focus on Mainframe System Administration) maintains.
E&A Group 5
(Pair)
Have technical expertise with building Portals on Linux and Wintel
Platforms and both Operating Systems run on various servers on the 6th
Floor. These servers are maintained by the Law Firm’s administrative
support personnel (which focus on Windows and Linux System
Administration) maintain.

The sales vendors from the contracted hardware/software companies all have assured us that
100% of the equipment can run comfortably in varying temperatures. The power down will
occur on a Friday evening and all power will be restored to the building on Sunday night to allow
for extra time for issues that may arise when the power is brought back up. Some IT managers
have opted for their System Administrators to bring their servers down during the weekend
window. Others are taking the advice of the sales vendors and entrusting the fact that the
hardware will continue to run properly. 100% of the hardware has warranties and contractual
support from the hardware/software companies. Adequate data backups will be needed prior to
the power down. Some network managers have decided to make some changes to the cabling
during the downtime. The Law Firm’s Administrative PC Support Group has decided that they
will install new wireless technology on the 6th floor so that the Attorneys can connect from other
floors.

1. [Undergraduates] As an Enterprise Architect or a Systems Analyst (who will be performing
some of the duties during this power-down.), what are some essential questions that you have
before this scheduled event is to take place?

2. [Graduate-Students] As an IT Manager (who will be managing either the personnel or the
Projects, during this power-down) what are some essential questions which you’d need to be
answered prior to the scheduled event taking place?

3. [Both Undergrad and Graduate Students] What are some of the artifacts/technical
documentation which you’d prefer to have, or that you’d advocate to acquire ‘ahead of time’?


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