

 Navigate Content

Enterprise Information Systems and Strategic Management
E-Commerce, M-Commerce and Emerging Technologies | Mock Test Papers | December 2021

Question 1

Cloud Computing is an emerging technology that provides various service models to business
organizations for storage, networking, and other services. However, many limitations are
associated with this technology. Briefly explain the drawbacks of Cloud Computing.  (4 Marks
Oct 21)

Answer 1

The drawbacks of Cloud Computing are as follows:

If Internet connection is lost, the link to the cloud and thereby to the data and applications
is lost.
Security is a major concern as entire working with data and applications depend on other 
cloud vendors or providers.
Although Cloud computing supports scalability i.e. quickly scaling up and down
computing resources depending on the need, it does not permit the control  on  these 
resources  as these are not owned by the user or customer.
Depending on the cloud vendor or provide, customers may have to face restrictions on the
availability of applications, operating systems and infrastructure options.
Interoperability (ability of two or more applications that are required to support a
business need to work together by sharing data and other business-related resources) is
an issue wherein all the applications may not reside with a single cloud vendor and two
vendors may have applications that do not cooperate with each other.

Question 2

SCI Labs is an organization involved in research and development of new medicines and drugs.
The company has five branches in different cities across the country interconnected using Grid
Computing model so as to share the resources and research that are carried out in its different
branches. Explain the benefits that SCI Labs may incur while using Grid Computing. (6 Marks
Oct 21)

Answer 2

The benefits that SCI Labs may incur while using Grid Computing are as follows:
 Making use of Underutilized Resources: In most organizations, there are large amounts of

 Navigate Content
 underutilized computing resources including even the server machines. Grid computing
provides a framework for exploiting these underutilized resources and thus  has  the 
possibility of substantially increasing the efficiency of resource usage. Grid computing (more
specifically, a data grid) can be used to aggregate this unused storage into a much larger 
virtual data store, possibly configured to achieve improved performance and reliability over
that of any single machine.
Resource Balancing: For applications that are grid-enabled, the grid can offer a resource
balancing effect by scheduling grid jobs on machines with low utilization. This feature of grid
computing handles occasional peak loads of activity in parts of a larger organization. An
unexpected peak can be routed to relatively idle machines in the grid; and if  the grid is 
already fully utilized, the lowest priority work being performed on the grid can be temporarily
suspended or even cancelled and performed again later to make room fo r the higher priority
work.
Parallel CPU Capacity: The potential for usage of massive parallel CPU capacity is one of
the most common visions and attractive features of a grid. A CPU-intensive grid application
can be thought of as many smaller sub-jobs, each executing on a different machine in  the
grid. To  the extent that these sub-jobs do   not need to communicate with each other, the 
more scalable the application becomes. A perfectly scalable application will, for example,
finish in one tenth of the time if it uses ten times the number of processors.
Virtual resources and virtual organizations for collaboration: Grid computing provides an
environment for collaboration among a wider audience. The users of the grid can be
organized dynamically into several virtual organizations, each with different policy
requirements. These virtual organizations can share their resources such  as  data, specialized
devices, software, services, licenses, and so on, collectively as  a  larger  grid.  The grid can
help in enforcing security rules among them and implement policies, which can resolve
priorities for both resources and users.
Access to additional resources: In addition to CPU and storage resources, a grid can provide
access to other resources as well. For example, if a  user needs to increase their    total
bandwidth to the Internet to implement a data mining search engine, the  work  can be split
among grid machines that have independent connections to  the Internet. In this way,  total
searching capability is multiplied, since each machine has a separate connection to the
Internet.
Reliability: High-end conventional computing systems use expensive hardware to increase
reliability. The machines also use duplicate processors in such a  way  that  when  they  fail,
one can be replaced without turning the other off. Power supplies and cooling systems are
duplicated. The systems are operated on special power sources that can start generators if
utility power is interrupted. All of this builds a reliable system, but at a great cost, due to the
duplication of expensive components.
 Management: The goal to virtualize the resources on the grid and more uniformly handle

 Navigate Content
 heterogeneous systems create new opportunities to better  manage  a  larger,  more
distributed IT infrastructure. The grid offers management of priorities among  different 
projects. Aggregating utilization data over a larger set of projects can enhance an
organization’s ability to project future upgrade needs. When maintenance is required, grid
work can be rerouted to other machines without crippling the projects involved.

Question 3

Cloud Computing service model is used to provide  services  in  terms  of  hardware  (IaaS), 
software (SaaS) and prebuilt computing platform to deploy and develop applications (PaaS).
Explain the service models of cloud computing other than mentioned above that  can  be  used 
for further services.        (4 Marks Nov 21)

Answer 3

The other service models apart from IaaS, SaaS and PaaS of Cloud Computing are as follows:

Communication as a Service (CaaS): It is an outsourced enterprise  communication

solution that can be leased from a single vender. The CaaS vendor is responsible for all
hardware and software management and offers guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS).  It
allows businesses to selectively deploy communication devices and modes on a pay-as-
you-go, as-needed basis. This approach eliminates the large capital investments.
Examples are: Voice over IP (VolP), Instant Messaging (IM), Collaboration and
Videoconferencing application using fixed and mobile devices.
Data as a Service (DaaS): It provides data on demand to a diverse set of users, systems
or application. The data may include text, images, sounds, and videos. Data encryption
and operating system authentication are commonly provided for security. DaaS users
have  access to high-quality data in a centralized place and pay by volume or  data  type, 
as needed. However, as the data is owned by the providers, users can only perform read
operations on the data. DaaS is highly used in geography data services and financial data
services.
Security as a Service (SECaaS): It is an ability given to the end user to access the security
service provided by the service provider on a pay-per-use basis. It is a new approach to
security in which cloud security is  moved into the cloud itself whereby cloud service
users   will be protected from within the cloud using a unified approach to threats.
Identity as a Service (IDaaS): It is an ability given to the end users; typically,  an 
organization or enterprise; to access the authentication infrastructure that is built, hosted,
managed, and provided by the third-party service provider. Generally, IDaaS includes
directory services, authentication services, risk and event monitoring, single  sign-on 
services, and identity and profile management.
Question 4

 Navigate Content

Ms. Neha is the owner of a consultant company named JKL Ltd. On Diwali, she decided to  offer  
Brass bottle as Diwali gift to each staff member. She placed an order of 20 bottles from online
portal. Explain the different steps involved in this e-commerce transaction in buying the bottles
online.             (6 Marks Nov 21)

Answer 4

The different steps involved in any e-commerce transaction are as follows:

i. Customers’ login: Few e-commerce merchants may allow same transactions to be done
through phone, but the basic information flow is e-mode.
ii. Product / Service Selection: Customer selects products / services from available options.

iii. Customer Places Order: Order is placed for selected product / service by customer. This
step leads to next important activity Payment Gateway.
iv. Payment Gateway: The customer selects the payment method. In case payment method
is other than Cash on Delivery (COD), the merchant gets the update from payment
gateway about payment realisation from customer. In case of COD, e-commerce vendor
may do an additional check to validate customer.
v. Dispatch and Shipping Process: This process may be executed at two different ends. First
if product/service inventory is managed by e-commerce vendor, then dispatch shall be
initiated at merchant warehouse. Second, many e-commerce merchants allow third party
vendors to sale through merchant websites.
vi. Delivery Tracking: Another key element denoting success of e-commerce business is
timely delivery. Merchants keep a track of this. All merchants have provided their delivery
staff with hand-held devices, where the product / service delivery to customers is
immediately updated.
vii. COD tracking: In case products are sold on COD payment mode, merchants need to have
additional check on matching delivery with payments.

Question 5

1. ABC Ltd. acquired FMN Pvt. Ltd. and replaced all the systems being used by FMN Ltd.
During the replacement process, the management of ABC Ltd. observed that the cost of
replacement is huge. Therefore, it allowed its employees to use their own systems rather
than replacing its old systems. This is an example of (1 Mark Oct 21)

a. Grid Computing
 b. Machine Learning

 Navigate Content
 c. Bring Your Own Device
d. Device Revolution

Question 6

2. A renowned financial consultant XYZ Ltd. has adopted the Cloud Computing technology to
obtain the resources in terms of memory and database storage. Which service model of
Cloud Computing is applicable in this case?
a. Software as a Service (SaaS)

b. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

c. Platform as a Service (PaaS)

d. Communication as a Service (CaaS) (1 Mark Nov 21)

Previous Page Next Page

