WGU C179-Business of IT Applications

Explanation:

Correct Answer: (C) Designing systems so that people with disabilities can use them, for example by supporting screen readers, captions, keyboard navigation, and sufficient color contrast

Accessible design ensures that people with visual, hearing, motor, or cognitive disabilities can use technology effectively. Guidelines such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines provide specific criteria, and laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 508 can apply. Accessibility also benefits many other users, such as those in noisy places or using small screens. Building it in from the start is cheaper than adding it later. Organizations that ignore accessibility risk lawsuits and exclude customers and employees.

Why Other Options are Incorrect:

A. Making a website available only to employees: Limiting access to employees concerns audience and authorization, not accessibility for people with disabilities. The option confuses the term with restricted access.

B. Making a system load faster on every device: Speed is a performance goal. It helps users but does not address barriers faced by people with disabilities. The option describes a different quality.

D. Making a system accessible to all hackers: This would be a security failure and not the meaning of accessibility. The option misuses the word.

Explanation:

Correct Answer: (D) Who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for each task or deliverable

A RACI matrix clarifies roles and responsibilities by assigning each activity a level of involvement for each person or group. The responsible person does the work, the accountable person has final authority and answers for the result, those consulted provide input, and those informed are kept updated. Typically only one person is accountable for each item. This reduces confusion, prevents tasks from being missed, and improves communication. It is especially useful in projects with many stakeholders.

Why Other Options are Incorrect:

A. The total budget for each task: Budgets are documented in cost estimates and the project budget. A RACI matrix addresses roles, not money. It has no cost information.

B. The order in which tasks must be performed: Task sequence is shown in the project schedule or network diagram. A RACI matrix says who is involved, not when work happens. It does not show dependencies.

C. The risks that are most likely to occur: Risks are recorded in a risk register that evaluates probability and impact. A RACI matrix is not a risk tool. It deals with responsibility assignment.

Explanation:

Correct Answer: (B) To verify that separately developed modules or components work correctly together

Integration testing follows unit testing and checks the interfaces and data exchanged between components. Problems such as mismatched data formats, incorrect assumptions, or timing issues often appear only when modules are combined. Finding them at this stage is easier than after the whole system is complete. Integration testing may be done incrementally or after all modules are ready. It is followed by system testing and acceptance testing.

Why Other Options are Incorrect:

A. To test each line of code by itself: This describes unit testing, which examines the smallest pieces of code in isolation. Integration testing looks at how pieces interact. The levels of testing differ.

C. To confirm that users like the color scheme: Preferences about appearance are evaluated through usability or acceptance testing. Integration testing focuses on technical interaction between components. The option concerns a different goal.

D. To check that the building's fire alarm works: Fire alarm checks are a facilities matter. They have no connection to software testing. The option is unrelated.

Explanation:

Correct Answer: (D) Contracting an external provider to perform IT services or business functions that were previously done in-house

Organizations outsource to reduce costs, access specialized skills, or focus on their core business. Common examples include help desk support, application development, and infrastructure management. Risks include loss of control, dependence on the vendor, security concerns, and hidden costs. Success depends on clear contracts, service level agreements, and active vendor management. Offshoring is a form of outsourcing in which the provider is located in another country.

Why Other Options are Incorrect:

A. Moving servers to a different floor in the same building: Relocating equipment is an internal facilities change. No external provider takes over work. It is not outsourcing.

B. Hiring more in-house developers: This increases internal capacity, which is the opposite of outsourcing. The work remains within the organization. It is called insourcing or staffing up.

C. Training existing employees on new software: Training builds internal skills and does not transfer work to an outside firm. It is a human resources activity. It does not describe outsourcing.

Explanation:

Correct Answer: (B) Technologies and practices for collecting, analyzing, and presenting business data to support decision making

Business intelligence converts data into insights that managers can use. BI tools include dashboards, reports, data visualization, online analytical processing, and ad hoc queries. They draw data from sources such as data warehouses and operational systems. Organizations use BI to track key performance indicators, spot trends, and identify problems or opportunities. Good BI depends on data quality and on users who know how to interpret results.

Why Other Options are Incorrect:

A. Hardware used to connect computers in a local network: This describes networking equipment such as switches and routers. BI is about analyzing data rather than connecting devices. The two belong to different areas of IT.

C. A plan for hiring and training new IT staff: This is a human resources or workforce planning activity. BI may help analyze workforce data, but it is not a staffing plan. The definition does not match.

D. A method of encrypting data stored on laptops: Disk encryption is a security measure and has nothing to do with analyzing business data. Security protects data, while BI uses it for insight. The term intelligence refers to insight, not protection.

Explanation:

Correct Answer: (D) The amount of work remaining in a sprint over time, compared with an ideal trend

A burndown chart plots remaining work, usually in story points or hours, against the days of the sprint. A line showing the ideal pace is included for comparison. If the actual line stays above the ideal line, the team is behind schedule, and if it is below, the team is ahead. The chart gives the team and stakeholders a quick view of progress. It prompts discussion if work is not being completed as expected.

Why Other Options are Incorrect:

A. The number of defects found in production: Defect counts are shown in quality or defect trend reports. A burndown chart tracks planned work. The two charts answer different questions.

B. The team's monthly salary costs: Cost reports track spending. A burndown chart concerns work remaining, not money. The option is unrelated.

C. The number of users who visit a website: Web traffic appears in analytics dashboards. It has nothing to do with sprint progress. The option confuses different metrics.

Explanation:

Correct Answer: (B) By enabling the organization to deliver products or services in ways that rivals cannot easily match, such as lower cost, better quality, or unique features

IT creates competitive advantage when it supports capabilities that customers value and competitors find hard to copy. Examples include a logistics system that delivers faster than rivals, analytics that personalize offers, or an e-commerce platform that makes ordering effortless. Advantage depends on how technology is used, not on owning it, since competitors can often buy the same tools. Advantages also fade as technology spreads, so organizations must keep innovating. The strongest advantages combine technology with unique processes, data, and skills.

Why Other Options are Incorrect:

A. By buying the newest hardware available, regardless of business needs: New equipment does not create advantage unless it supports a valuable capability. Spending without a purpose wastes money. Competitors can purchase the same hardware.

C. By eliminating the need for a business strategy: Technology supports strategy and cannot replace it. Without strategic direction, IT investments are unfocused. Advantage comes from aligning technology with goals.

D. By ensuring that all competitors use identical systems: Identical systems would remove differences and therefore remove advantage. Advantage comes from distinctiveness. This option describes the opposite of the concept.

Explanation:

Correct Answer: (A) Treat it as a potential security incident by reporting it according to policy, ensuring the data is removed from the personal account, and providing training and a secure remote access option

Sending protected patient information to a personal, unmanaged email account violates security and privacy policies and may be a reportable breach under regulations such as HIPAA. The supervisor should follow the incident response procedure, which includes notifying the privacy or security officer so the risk can be assessed. The data must be removed and its further spread prevented. The clerk should receive training on acceptable use, and the organization should provide approved tools such as a VPN or secure remote desktop so staff can work remotely without risk. Documentation of the response is important for compliance.

Why Other Options are Incorrect:

B. Ignore it because the clerk was only trying to be productive: Good intentions do not remove the risk of exposing patient data. Ignoring the event could result in regulatory penalties and harm to patients. Policies exist to protect sensitive information regardless of motive.

C. Ask the clerk to forward the spreadsheet to other coworkers as well: Spreading the data further increases exposure and compounds the violation. Data should be restricted to authorized systems and people. This action would worsen the situation.

D. Delete the clerk's work email account without telling anyone: Deleting the account hides the incident and does not remove data already sent. It also bypasses the formal incident process. Transparency and documentation are required.

Explanation:

Correct Answer: (B) Requirements analysis

Requirements analysis is the phase in which analysts work with users, managers, and other stakeholders to identify what the system must do. Techniques include interviews, surveys, workshops, observation, and document review. The results are documented as business, functional, and nonfunctional requirements. Clear requirements guide design, development, and testing and provide the basis for judging whether the finished system succeeds. Errors or omissions at this stage are expensive to correct later, so this phase receives considerable attention.

Why Other Options are Incorrect:

A. Maintenance: Maintenance occurs after the system is in use and involves fixing defects, applying updates, and making enhancements. It does not define the original needs. Stakeholders may suggest new requirements during maintenance, but this is not the main requirements-gathering phase.

C. Deployment: Deployment involves installing the system in the production environment and training users. By this point the requirements should already be defined and the system built. Gathering requirements during deployment would be far too late.

D. Testing: Testing verifies that the system meets the documented requirements and works properly. It relies on the requirements rather than creating them. Testing may reveal missing requirements, but that is a sign of earlier gaps.