SPE10117 Foundations in Information Systems


Part 1 Exercise
  1. If you could build your own personal computer, what components would you purchase? Put together a list of the components you would use to create it, including a computer case, power supply, motherboard, CPU, hard disk, RAM, solid-state drives, and DVD drive. How can you be sure they are all compatible with each other? How much would it cost? How does this compare to a similar computer purchased from a vendor such as Dell or HP?

  2. Enter support.dell.com and examine all the services available. Examine the tracking services Dell provides to its customers. Write a report about customer service at Dell.

  3. If you were running a small business with limited funds for information technology, would you consider using cloud computing? Find some web-based resources that support your decision.

  4. Go to sourceforge.net and review their most downloaded ERP/CRM software applications. Report on the variety of applications you find. Then pick one that interests you and report back on what it does, the kind of technical support offered, and the user reviews.

  5. Discuss how CRM can increase the profitability. Many question the short-term return on investment of CRM tools. Explain why.

  6. Select an overnight delivery service company (FedEx, UPS, Speedpost, SF Express and so on), identify all the online customer service features offered by the company and then prepare an short report (1 - 2 pages) , the objective of which is to convince the class that its company provides the best customer service.

Part 2 Cloud Platform
  1. Create a Google Account if you don't already have one, go to Google colab and find out waht you could do with the platform.

  2. Try copy and paste the following python codes to run in a code cell

    • print ("hello world")
    • print (3 + 4 - 6 / 2 * 3)
    • 
      print(int('601D',16))
      print(hex(24605))
      print(oct(24605))
      print(bin(24605))
      print(eval('0b110000000011101'))
      print(hex(eval('0b110000000011101')))
      		    
    • 
      import math
      print (2*math.pi*math.sqrt(2))
      		    
    • 
      import calendar
      print(calendar.TextCalendar().formatmonth(2020,10))
      		    
    • 
      import random
      random.sample(range(1,50),6)
      		    
    • 
      import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
      fig = plt.figure(figsize=(10,8))    # width x height in inches
      ax1 = fig.add_subplot(111)     
      gradeFeq = {'A':1,'B':2,'C':3,'D':2,'F':1}
      ax1.bar(['A','B','C','D','F'],
      	[gradeFeq['A'],gradeFeq['B'],gradeFeq['C'],gradeFeq['D'],gradeFeq['F']])
      ax1.set_xlabel('Grade')
      ax1.set_ylabel('Student Numbers')
      ax1.set_title('Grade Distribution')
      plt.show()
      		    
  3. Write code to print "1997" in binary; "1011100100" in decimal and in hexadecimal.

  4. Submit your Google Colab page to Lab2 exercise under Assignment group in Canvas after you finished.