Computer Systems In Organizations

What are important considerations for an organization to dispose of old computer equipment? What methods would work best for the organization in which you are working or have worked?

When an organization disposes of computer equipment it has to make sure that the data has been destroyed, that it is not affecting the environment, and it has to look at the cost of disposal as part of the cost of owning such equipment. For most enterprises, overwriting each disk sector four times should be enough to destroy all the data. To dispose of the equipment in an environmentally safe way, the best approach is to investigate how your disposal vendor handles environmental compliance and what certifications it has for handling hazardous materials.

The organization that I work for uses the equipment, even if it is considered obsolete, until it stops working completely. Once that happens, the equipment is stashed in a warehouse, where it remains for years and years. I believe that it would be a better idea to retire the equipment when it is technically obsolete, wipe out all the data, and donate the equipment to the employees. There are still many families in this country that cannot afford a computer, new or old. In addition, in this organization in particular there are many Dominican employees, who are extremely poor and their children could definitely use a computer for their schoolwork.

Why is it recommended to establish a formal evaluation criterion when considering the purchase of hardware for the organization? Are any of the criteria from the wireless laptop article applicable to any other types of hardware to be purchased for your organization?

Organizations have to establish an evaluation of criterion when purchasing hardware because organizations need to purchase the hardware components for their computer system that will be effective, efficient, and well suited to the work that they do. The users of the computers need to communicate their needs to the information systems professionals who are working on developing this criteria so that together they can combine ones knowledge of computer systems with the other's knowledge of the business, in order to establish what the company needs, and what needs may arise in the future.

In the wireless laptop article, the laptops are evaluated in terms of integrated wireless, integrated optical drives and weight. These criteria could also be used to evaluate the some of the wireless equipment that is being purchased in my organization for the use of the top executives, like PDA's and BlackBerry's. The article also includes a table that compares the laptops in terms of in terms of portability, connectivity, battery, display, performance, warranty, etc., which are also important to consider when purchasing the type of portable devices that my organization has recently started to acquire.

Accuracy of Data Input

The accuracy of data input is important to an organization because it makes a huge difference in terms of time and resources spent. Inaccurate data can lead to errors, which can result in many hours of work to be able to correct them. This translates into time and money that the organization would lose. In addition, depending on the type of work the organization does, accuracy of data input may mean the difference between putting a safe product on the market, or facing fines and lawsuits later on if the product was unsafe and caused damages to the consumers. This is particularly so in the case of pharmaceuticals and other health-related products and services.

Methods of Data Input

The following are the methods of data input that I believe would be best for each of the following situations:

1. Printed questionnaires: For printed questionnaires, the best input method would be the optical data reader, which can convert handwritten or typed documents into digital data. These are used in surveys and the census with sufficient accuracy.

2. Telephone survey: For a telephone survey it would be a good idea to use voice recognition systems, which can recognize human speech, that way a person can simply articulate the answer and the system will collect the data.

3. Bank checks: For bank checks, the best input method would be magnetic ink recognition devices, which both people and computers can read. This speeds up the process of data collection and secures the accuracy of the data.

4. Retail Tags: The best input method for retail tags are point of sale (POS) devices, which compute the total charges, including tax. This secures that the cashier will not charge the wrong price for an article.

5. Long documents: For long documents the best input devices are the keyboard and mouse of a PC. It is a good idea to use an ergonomic design keyboard like Microsoft's split keyboard.

Convenience and Quality of Output

Convenience and quality of output is important because it is what gets the information to person who needs it. Output in one department of an organization usually becomes the input of another department; therefore, the quality of the output device is just as important