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

Vision in leadership refers to the ability to set long-term goals and provide a clear direction that guides organizational growth and change. Leaders with vision inspire teams to work toward future objectives beyond immediate operational tasks.

Option A: Financial reporting is operational, not visionary.

Option B: Daily task focus reflects management, not vision.

Option C: Assigning roles is administrative, not strategic vision.

Therefore, Vision in leadership is defined as establishing goals that promote long-term growth.

Analysis Phase in SDLC:

The analysis phase involves gathering detailed requirements from stakeholders to ensure the system aligns with business needs.

This phase translates high-level goals into specific functions, operations, and deliverables.

Key Activities in the Analysis Phase:

Engaging stakeholders and subject-matter experts.

Documenting requirements in detail (e.g., user stories, use cases).

Identifying potential constraints and refining goals.

Incorrect Options Analysis:

A. Physically constructing software: Part of the development phase.

B. Desired features descriptions: Happens in the design phase.

D. High-level strategy: Belongs to the planning phase.

References and Documents of Information Technology Management:

"SDLC Analysis Phase Best Practices" (Gartner).

ITIL Requirement Gathering Framework (Axelos).

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Scope creep occurs when additional work, features, or requirements are added to a project without proper evaluation, approval, or changes to time, cost, or resources. The most effective way to prevent scope creep is to define the scope clearly in the project plan and use that definition as a scope baseline to control changes.

A clear scope in the project plan includes:

A project scope statement that describes what is included and what is excluded.

A work breakdown structure (WBS) that decomposes work into defined deliverables.

A scope baseline against which all change requests are evaluated.

A formal change control process to review, approve, or reject scope changes.

Why the other options are incorrect:

B. Adding extra features to improve satisfaction – Adding features without proper approval is a direct cause of scope creep.

C. Allowing minor scope changes without review – Even small changes, if unmanaged, accumulate and change the project’s scope, cost, and timeline.

D. Including new scope requests during the project – New scope may be appropriate, but only after formal review and approval, not automatically.

Therefore, defining the scope clearly in the project plan (and managing against it) is the method that helps prevent scope creep, making A the correct answer.

Defining Authentication:

Authentication is the process of verifying a user's identity to ensure they are who they claim to be.

This is commonly achieved through knowledge factors (passwords), possession factors (tokens), or biometric factors (fingerprints).

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A (Information secrecy): Focuses on protecting data, not identity confirmation.

Option B (Public key encryption): A method of encryption, not directly tied to user identity verification.

Option D (Authorization): Deals with granting access to resources after authentication.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

System testing is a phase in the SDLC where the entire integrated system is tested as a whole to ensure it behaves as specified. The primary purpose of system testing is to verify that the complete system meets the defined functional and non-functional requirements (such as performance, reliability, and security) documented earlier in the lifecycle.

Unlike unit testing, which focuses on individual components, or integration testing, which focuses on interactions between components, system testing validates the end-to-end behavior of the solution from the perspective of overall requirements.

Option A (To review the individual components of the system) describes unit testing, not system testing.

Option B (To gather the system’s user requirements) is an activity of the requirements analysis phase, which occurs before design and development.

Option C (To design the software architecture) corresponds to the design phase, not the testing phase.

Thus, the purpose of system testing is to verify the system meets specific requirements, making D the correct answer.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

In project management, the triple constraint (often shown as a triangle) traditionally consists of:

Scope – What work and deliverables are included.

Time – The schedule or duration of the project.

Cost – The budget and financial resources.

These three are interdependent:

If scope increases without adjustment, time and cost are likely to increase.

Compressing time may increase cost or require scope reduction.

Reducing cost may affect the scope or timeline that can be supported.

Therefore, when cost is one point of the triple constraint, the other two elements are scope and time.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. Procurement and compliance – These are project management considerations but not part of the classic triple constraint.

B. Risk and integration – These are knowledge areas in project management, not the three core constraints.

C. Quality and resources – Quality is often impacted by the triple constraint, and resources support it, but neither are the traditional two other points.

Thus, Option D. Scope and time correctly identifies the other elements of the triple constraint along with cost.

In modern IT management, the ITIL framework is not prescriptive or rigid; instead, it provides flexible and adaptable guidelines that organizations can tailor to their size, structure, and needs. ITIL is designed to enhance IT service quality, efficiency, and alignment with business goals. It can be implemented in organizations of any size, not just large enterprises, and it does not replace other frameworks but can be used alongside them.

Option A: Incorrect, ITIL does not dictate rigid step-by-step processes; it offers adaptable practices.

Option B: Incorrect, ITIL complements, not replaces, other frameworks (like COBIT, Agile, or DevOps).

Option D: Incorrect, ITIL applies to both small and large organizations.

Therefore, ITIL’s role is to provide adaptable guidelines to enhance IT services.

An Extranet extends an organization’s internal network to provide controlled access to external users such as suppliers, vendors, and business partners. It uses security mechanisms like authentication and encryption to ensure that only authorized external parties can access the relevant internal resources.

Option A (Intranet): Internal-only network for employees; not accessible to outside users.

Option B (VPN): Provides secure remote connections for users but does not inherently grant controlled access to internal systems for external organizations.

Option C (LAN): A local network limited to internal devices in a small geographic area.

Thus, the correct type of network is an Extranet.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

When planning to move disaster recovery (DR) operations to the cloud, a preliminary concern is ensuring that the solution complies with legal and regulatory requirements, especially those involving data residency, data protection, and industry-specific regulations. Different countries and regions may enforce rules about where data can be stored and processed, and how it must be protected in the cloud.

Organizations must evaluate whether the chosen cloud provider’s regions, services, and controls can meet these regulatory challenges, or whether some jurisdictions restrict the use of cloud-based DR for certain types of data.

Option A (multiple delays in data access during outages) is a performance concern, but it is not typically the first or primary planning concern compared to compliance and legal issues.

Option C (limited visibility into system performance) can be an operational concern, but it is generally addressed after feasibility and compliance are considered.

Option D (backup processes are interrupted) describes an operational problem, not a planning-stage concern inherent to moving DR to the cloud.

Therefore, the regulatory challenges in some regions are a key preliminary concern when shifting disaster recovery operations to cloud infrastructure.

Definition of Systems Thinking:

Systems thinking refers to the ability to understand and analyze how different components of a system interact and influence each other, especially at a broad organizational and strategic level.

For an IT leader, this means bridging the gap between technical operations and corporate strategy, enabling effective communication and alignment across all levels of the business.

Why Systems Thinking is Important for IT Leaders:

Ensures alignment of IT initiatives with organizational goals.

Facilitates problem-solving by understanding the broader impact of decisions.

Encourages cross-functional collaboration and holistic decision-making.

Incorrect Options Analysis:

B. Coordinate: While coordination is a skill, it does not encompass the strategic perspective described.

C. Courage: An important leadership trait, but not specific to systems-level thinking.

D. Breadth: Refers to having a wide range of knowledge, but lacks the systems-oriented focus.

References and Documents of Information Technology Management:

ITIL 4 Leadership Practices: Systems Thinking (Axelos).

"Systems Thinking for IT Leaders" (Harvard Business Review).