IT - Learning Aim A - Choosing IT Systems 

The operating system 

For an organisation the  choice of hardware and software is rarely simple. Many factors need to be taken into consideration,  and the choice may be compromised by the choice between something new and different and something that is tried and tested. 

The choice will be considered using many different conflicting factors. These factors will depend to a large extent on the particular software or IT system being replaced or installed for the first time.  

User Experience 

Ease of use: how technically confident are the people who will be using the system. A sales and accounting system which will be used throughout a company for different purposes needs to be easy to use, since there may  be a fairly high staff turnover and new staff need to learn quickly. 

Performance: a system needs to be fast and reliable. A user on a website may be put off if they continue to get an error message. They would be less likely to go back to the website. 

Availability: Customers using an  online system to place orders or use a service may expect the service to be available 24 hours a day especially if it operates globally. 

Accessibility: websites and commercial systems need to be made accessible for users with a disability. For example partially sighted users may need txt to be spoken and images to be described. 

Factors affecting…