Warns computer users of the dangers they may face from the design faults that may be present in under‐tested software. Suggest that suppliers of software should be classified according to the level of maturity of the organization′s software development process. Explains the five proposed...

File migration shows promise as a means of improving data processing performance in distributed systems, but practical application of this idea will require development of effective policies that will allow a system to fully realize the potentials of file migration. Deriving of optimal policies,...

Sound design, planning and monitoring is critical to the operational and financial success of today′s sophisticated manufacturing and non‐manufacturing systems. Owing to their increasing complexity, discrete‐event simulation is becoming the most acceptable tool to aid planning the design...

Computerised marketing information systems have been discussed in the marketing and information systems literature for some time. Looks at the extent to which they have been implemented in the UK and concludes that they are still in their infancy. A schema for a marketing information system is...

1991 has seen a new census and local authorities will be keen to analyse the changes which have occurred since the last census. Their analysis will be helped by the introduction of Geographical Information Systems which have been recommended by the Chorley Report. The findings of ten in‐depth...

In the health care area, there is a wealth of information about quality control methods, but little has been written about computer‐based quality control systems. This article focuses on the development of a statistical process control (SPC) system for hospital food‐service operations. An...

The article begins by analysing the reasons why many projects flounder. A key feature is seen to be the inability of any single manager to keep track of all the activities involved. Computerised project management systems are now relational database management systems: their increasing...

Technological advances in the last 40 years are widely used in business communications today. The “communications revolution” has affected the speed of business communications, the distance from which information can be obtained, and the amount of information being used. These effects...

Speculation as to the impact of UNIX systems is rife throughout the industry. Interest in the final outcome is not confined to the major manufacturers. Software developers are experiencing significant demand from users anxious to reap the benefits of true applications portability. The benefits...