WGU Information-Technology-Management - WGU Information Technology Management QGC2

The Analysis phase of the SDLC involves gathering and documenting business, user, and system requirements. This ensures the project team fully understands what the system must achieve before moving into design and development.

Option A: Validation occurs during testing.

Option C: Structuring component interaction is part of design.

Option D: Optimization for performance is a later concern during development and testing.

Thus, the primary purpose is to define the business, user, and system requirements.

Green computing practices aim to reduce environmental impact by lowering energy use, minimizing e-waste, and extending hardware life cycles. One of the most effective practices is to extend device life through reuse and refurbishment. This prevents premature disposal, reduces demand for new hardware manufacturing, and lowers overall environmental impact.

Option B: Incorrect—prioritizing high performance can increase energy consumption and is not necessarily sustainable.

Option C: Incorrect—economical hardware does not always mean environmentally sustainable.

Option D: Incorrect—recycling is important, but refurbishment and reuse extend usable life and reduce waste earlier.

Thus, the IT practice that best supports green computing is extending device life with reuse and refurbishment.

Purpose of Prototypes in Product Management:

Prototypes provide a working model of the product to collect user feedback.

This helps the product management team refine the application and address usability issues.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A: Showing feature interaction is a secondary purpose but not the primary reason for using a prototype.

Option C: Testing user interfaces may involve prototypes, but the main purpose is feedback collection.

Option D: Prototypes are not typically used for creating training materials.

Definition of Discovery Prototyping:

Discovery prototyping is an iterative design approach that builds a working model or prototype of a system to gather feedback and ensure it meets user and business requirements.

The goal is to refine the system iteratively based on feedback before full development begins.

Key Characteristics:

Helps identify gaps between user expectations and design early in the process.

Reduces risks of rework and enhances user satisfaction.

Incorrect Options Analysis:

A. Rapid Application Development (RAD): Focuses on faster delivery of applications through iterative development but not solely on prototyping.

B. Joint Application Development (JAD): Refers to collaborative sessions for gathering requirements, not iterative prototyping.

D. Loose Coupling: Refers to software design principles, not prototyping.

References and Documents of Information Technology Management:

"Iterative Design and Prototyping Best Practices" (Gartner).

ITIL Systems Design Guidelines (Axelos).

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is used for monitoring and managing network devices such as routers, switches, and servers. It allows administrators to gather network performance data and configure devices remotely.

Understanding the Development Phase in SDLC:

The development phase involves translating system design specifications into actual software.

This includes coding the system using programming languages and integrating modules as per the design.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option B: Describes the maintenance phase, which focuses on updates and corrections post-deployment.

Option C: Relates to the testing phase, where interoperability and functionality are verified.

Option D: Refers to the implementation phase, where the system is deployed for user operations.

Authentication is the process of validating a user’s identity before granting access to a system or resource. Examples include passwords, biometrics, and multifactor authentication.

Option A (Confidentiality): Ensures data is only accessible to authorized users, not the identity check itself.

Option B (Authorization): Occurs after authentication, determining what resources a verified user may access.

Option C (Accounting): Tracks user activity for auditing purposes.

Thus, the step that validates identity is Authentication.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

In IT and UX design, a wireframe is a low-fidelity, structural blueprint of a screen, page, or interface. Its key characteristics are:

It shows the basic layout: placement of menus, buttons, content areas, images, forms, and navigation elements.

It does not focus on visual styling: usually no colors, branding, fonts, or detailed graphics.

It generally has no interactivity: it represents what goes where, not how the system behaves in detail.

Wireframes are used to:

Clarify information hierarchy and navigation flow.

Align stakeholders on the structure of the solution before investing in visual design or development.

Serve as a bridge between requirements and higher-fidelity mockups or prototypes.

This is exactly described by “a basic layout without visual design or interactivity,” which matches Option C.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. A diagram of system data flow without functionalityThat describes a data flow diagram (DFD), not a wireframe. DFDs focus on data movement, not page layout.

B. A polished design with visual design and interactivityThat describes a high-fidelity mockup or interactive prototype, not a wireframe.

D. A detailed coded interface for backend testingThat refers to an implemented UI or test harness, which goes far beyond the purpose and fidelity of wireframes.

Benefits of In-House Development and Maintenance:

In-house teams gain deep knowledge of the organization’s business processes, enabling better alignment between IT systems and business needs.

Combines technical expertise with business insights, resulting in a workforce that understands the company’s unique challenges and opportunities.

Why Other Options are Incorrect:

A. Financial savings: In-house development often incurs higher costs due to salaries, training, and infrastructure.

B. Utilizing state-of-the-art resources: This is typically a benefit of outsourcing, not in-house development.

D. Fastest development time: In-house development is often slower compared to outsourcing due to limited resources.

References and Documents of Information Technology Management:

"In-House vs. Outsourced Development: A Comparative Analysis" (Forrester).

ITIL Service Design and Workforce Development (Axelos).

Prototypes are used in business analysis to model system requirements and gather early feedback from stakeholders. They provide a tangible representation of requirements, allowing users to visualize and test functionality before full-scale development begins.

Option A: Coding the back end is not the purpose of a prototype.

Option B: User manuals and simulations come later in training or documentation.

Option D: Branding and visual design are separate from business analysis.

Thus, the purpose of prototypes is to model requirements and gather early feedback from stakeholders.