MSIT Theses and Dissertations (2009)

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11071/1445

Browse

Now showing 1 - 19 of 19

A requirements elicitation process model for health management information systems: case of Kenyatta National Hospital
Gikura, Mary Wambui; Marwanga (Dr.), Reuben; Orero, Joseph Onderi; Kiraka, Ruth
Requirements Elicitation (RE) is about learning and understanding the needs of users and stakeholders with the aim of communicating these needs to the system developers. Requirements Elicitation is an important stage in Information Systems development (ISD), and has substantial impact on software costs.RE has remained a key topic of interest for researchers and they have stated that a large number of Information Systems development (ISD) projects fail resulting in high costs to organizations. One of the reasons that these projects fail is the inability of the Information System to precisely satisfy user 's requirements which is a result of inaccurate and incomplete requirements collected in the Requirements Elicitation (RE) stage. Considering the importance of the RE stage in information systems development projects , this stage therefore becomes a critical area for IS research. This research focused on the process of RE in the development of the Heath Management Information Systems (HMIS) in Kenyatta National Hospital. Using data collected from the developers and users in the hospital the study presents a Requirements Elicitation Process model for Health Management Information systems. The results showed that the greatest challenge in the RE process was communication and the study suggests requirements prototyping to solve communication challenges. The implementation was conducted in Kenyatta national Hospital 's Comprehensive care centre. In conclusion the study elaborates a RE model that incorporates communication and requirements prototyping as key elements in the model.
Addressing ubiquitous information dissemination in the agricultural sector (Imenti north district) :using WAE and WAP technology
(Strathmore University, 2009) Muriira, Lawrence Mwenda
Anomaly and misuse intrusion detection model : using neuro-fuzzy logic.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Kirwa, Solomon Cheruiyot
Intrusion detection systems are increasingly a key part of systems defense. Various approaches to intrusion detection are currently being used, but they are relatively ineffective. A major concern of existing anomaly intrusion detection approaches is that they tend to produce excessive false alarms. One reason for this is that the normal and abnormal behaviour of a monitored object can overlap or be very close to each other which makes it difficult to define a clear boundary between the two. This thesis presents a fuzzy logic model for misuse and access intrusion detection where instead of using crisp conditions, or fixed thresholds, fuzzy sets are used to represent the parameter space as defined by a human expert. This is implemented using a neuro-fuzzy system which is a high breed system combining
An Assessment of security in critical information systems used by universities in Kenya.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Mwathi, David Gitonga
n Kenya, rarely are cases concerning data security breaches in universities reported. This does not mean that there are no such cases nor does it mean that the information systems used by the universities are secure. Further, no study has been carried to determine the extent of security in the information systems used by universities in Kenya. Occurrence of a security breach is unpredictable and so informed defence against them is important. It is against this backdrop that this study was seeking to establish the extent of security in critical university information systems in Kenya and design a security model that can be adopted by the universities. The study adopted a descriptive based approach with the use of primary and secondary data sources. Literature published in the area was reviewed and before conducing the research. Collected data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics. Based on the findings and reviewed literature, a security model was developed. Findings show that the universities are ready to support mission critical services with most of them having stable networks (83%), firewall (86%), intrusion detection software (81%), data backup facilities (75%) as well as UPS and generators (79.55%). However, security remains a challenge; most security breaches reported are due to inadequate technical safeguards (27%), insufficient user training (32%) and lack of comprehensive formal information system security policy (32%). The research concludes that indeed university information systems are vulnerable to a significant extent and that security breaches are inevitable in the prevailing conditions. The cost of security breach is high and traditional approaches to security are no longer feasible. There is therefore a need a for a comprehensive and integrated information systems security framework.
Comparative study of the e-learning platforms used in Kenyan Universities : a case study of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and United States International University.
Odhiambo, Oscar Omondi
Kenyan universities have implemented e-learning technologies and this has been done by incorporation of open source and commercial based e-learning platforms. However, despite the implementation of these platforms as content delivery channels, students have different perceptions in regard to suability of the platform and interactivity of these very platforms. The research project took a case study of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and United States International University which uses moodle e-learning platform and WebCT e-learning platforms respectively. The objectives of this research was to evaluate the student’s usability and interactivity perceptions on both Moodle and WebCT e-learning platforms and to also develop a framework to change the student’s perception and to encourage student acceptance by making the system more appealing to them. In this research, Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) an evaluation method was sued to evaluate the suability perception. SUMI has been used because it approaches the evaluation from the end-users’ perspectives. To evaluate interactivity, the research sued Interactivity parameters that should be embedded on the e-learning platforms linear interaction read, listen and watch, response practice and feedback, create and generate that is forums and real-time communication. The research was done through interviews and questionnaires. The interviews were used to get more detailed data from the students and lecturers. The analysis of the feedback from the research reveals that students from both Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and United States International University have high perceptions that e-learning platforms implemented in their institutions were not interactive and have low usability capabilities. The research recommends the features that need to be incorporated to through a guideline framework that will help increase the perceptions of students on interactivity and usability of the e-learning platforms implemented in their learning institutions.
Comparative study of the e-learning platforms used in Kenyan universities : case of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and United States International University.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Odhiambo, Omondi Oscar
Kenyan universities have implemented e-learning technologies and this has been done by incorporation of open source and commercial based e-learning platforms. However, despite the implementation of these platforms as content delivery channels, students have different perceptions in regard to suability of the platform and interactivity of these very platforms. The research project took a case study of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and United States International University which uses moodle e-learning platform and WebCT e-learning platforms respectively. The objectives of this research was to evaluate the student’s usability and interactivity perceptions on both Moodle and WebCT e-learning platforms and to also develop a framework to change the student’s perception and to encourage student acceptance by making the system more appealing to them. In this research, Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) an evaluation method was sued to evaluate the suability perception. SUMI has been used because it approaches the evaluation from the end-users’ perspectives. To evaluate interactivity, the research sued Interactivity parameters that should be embedded on the e-learning platforms linear interaction read, listen and watch, response practice and feedback, create and generate that is forums and real-time communication. The research was done through interviews and questionnaires. The interviews were used to get more detailed data from the students and lecturers. The analysis of the feedback from the research reveals that students from both Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and United States International University have high perceptions that e-learning platforms implemented in their institutions were not interactive and have low usability capabilities. The research recommends the features that need to be incorporated to through a guideline framework that will help increase the perceptions of students on interactivity and usability of the e-learning platforms implemented in their learning institutions.
Determining continuity of quality in e-government systems : a Kenyan government perspective. Thesis
(Strathmore University, 2009) Kang'a, Samuel G.
This research set to investigate and identify ways through which the Kenyan government would achieve a sustainable quality as it embarks on e-government systems adoption and implementation. The main focus of the research was the skill and expertise in the private sector, which goes unexploited the government on the basis of its interaction with the private sector. This research looks into ways the two parties would be involved in a long-term partnership guided by a framework to ensure that the quality of information systems remains sustainable. The research identified that there is an existing 90% involvement of the private sector in the development of the government’s information system a fact that justifies the possible partnership of the two parities. Besides, the research identified that attained quality in the implementation of Information Systems in the public sector has been as a result of existing frameworks. This justified the utilization of a framework to determine how quality in the e-government systems would be sustained. The information collected was used to come up with a framework that was derived from frameworks employed elsewhere in the developed countries, that would ensure that attained quality in e-government systems remained sustainable while at the same time be realized in the upcoming systems.
Development of e-census system : a case study for Kenya National Bureau of Statistics
(Strathmore University, 2009) Githinji, Stanley Muturi
Census in Kenya is conducted after every ten years using printed questionnaire, as a result, the Kenyan Government lacks timely and accurate data on the actual population after initial capturing of demographic data, there are no updates made to the census data. Census results are also not availed online to the public domain. This research work developed an e-census system that connects to the online questionnaire through internet-enabled handled GPS unit. Census clerk will use the device to remotely transmit census data to the central database. To ensure that the demographic database is up-to-date at all times the system integrated with birth and death registration module to e-census system, this will allow administrators to remotely record registered births and deaths in the country. Dissemination of census data was implemented using online map services where users can query demographic database on population per geographic region. This research found that, 97% of the questionnaire respondents agreed that e-census system should replace printed questionnaire and 77% also agreed that e-governance has improved on service delivery. Performance of e-census system was tested at application level and recorded zero error rates and a mean score of 4.4 in a scale of 1-5 that it can handle high data load and simultaneous transactions. The system had response time of2.06 seconds at the beginning of transactions and took 5 minutes for users to submit census data to e-census database. E-census system provides and disseminates accurate demographic data at all times hence the government will not wait for ten years to know the actual population of the country. The system will greatly assist the government in decision making and allocation of resources. As a result, this will speed up the national economic recovery strategy in line with achieving vision 2030 goals and objectives.
Effect of security mechanisms on the performance of wireless local area network.
(Strathmore University, 9) Otieno, Evans Meyo
Wireless networks gain their popularity and fame by providing users with several advantages in accessing information. WLANs provide true mobility and flexibility to users. Another advantage of wireless technology is installation. A physical or cable connection is no longer needed because a single connection to the access point via electromagnetic waves is all that is necessary. This both decreases installation costs and allows wireless networks to be installed in locations where previously it would have been difficult or impossible to install wiring. Such benefits and advantages bring up some security and performance problems. It is imperative to understand the impact of the security mechanisms on the performance of the network. However, the establishment of a trade-off between security and network performance is often neglected. The aim of the research is to quantify the impact of the security mechanisms on the performance of a network. To investigate the effect of multiple security mechanisms on the performance of multi-congested and uncongested networks. The performance effect on different TCP and UDP packet size distributions on secure networks is also studies. The results prove that the security mechanisms affect the network performance in different ways and the more secure the network is, the lower the performance is. The results provide ways in which to configure wireless networks such that security requirements can be met in relation to quantifiable performance impact in practical situations
Executive Information Systems : critical success factors for adoption and usage in Kenyan organizations.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Nyaga, Grace Wambui
Research on Executive Information Systems (EIS) in Kenya, African and rest of the world ahs been limited and even less has focused on factors associated with EIS successful usage. In recent years, a number of organizations have implemented Executive Information Systems (EIS) in order to improve the performance of their executive’s jobs. Although the use of EIS is important in executives’ work, the majority of executives are unwilling to use EIS applications because of their design defects. By using social factors, habits, and facilitation conditions variables from Triandis’ Framework, this paper adopts the extension of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to derive useful variables to address the problem of low usage of EIS by executives. This paper reports on the adoption and usage of EIS by the Kenyan executives. The results suggest that executives experiences in EIS positively relates to their experiences in computer based information systems and there is a high degree of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use as well as positive attitudes towards using EIS. Further the results suggest that executives consider social factors in using EIS in their work and facilitating conditions such as EIS development process, EIS management process and organizational conditions which are strongly related to adoption and usage of EIS by executives. The results of the frequency test of research model variables such has experience in CBIS (EXPCBIS) experience in EIS (EXPEIS), ability to use EIS (ABEIS) and the number of times to use EIS (NUEIS) are as follows : The important finding in experience in CBIS was that most respondents had been using CBIS for between 5-9 years (55.17%) followed by 0-4 years group with 24.14% (14). Findings in experience in EIS were that most respondents had been using EIS for between 0-4 years (72.41%), followed by the 5-9 years group with 25.85% . However, in terms of ability to use EIS most executives are, expert (knowledgeable) causal user with 37.93% followed by novice frequent user group with 31.03% . And it is evident that most executives use EIS 2 or 3 times a week with 37.93% followed by those who use EIS several times a week with 27.59%
Exploratory research on it projects
(2009-07) Omondi, Sharon A.
This study was an exploratory research to demonstrate the various constraints that plagued IT projects. The Chaos Report of 2004, a survey carried out by the Standish Research Group, revealed that the 75% of all IT projects fail. 75% of all IT projects that begin, fail. IT projects are usually covered up, not rationalized to find out what went wrong and often the individuals involved are fired without getting to know the real cause of the projects failure therefore minimizing the chances of organizations learning from their mistakes. The study examined the SAP ERP implementation at KPC as its business case, the researcher's demographic was the SAP Implementation Project Team. There were two constraints identified. These constraints greatly influence the success or failure of a project, they are, Business Process Development (user requirements) and Change Management issues, of which only 25% of business process development was carried out and up to 85% of related change management issues are yet to be resolved, even after the project's closure. The use of a performance measures is strongly emphasized to aid, Business Process Development. This measure which was initially intended for organizations, to reengineer themselves into more effective and efficient lean enterprises, was recommended for adoption in Information Technology projects; in an attempt to gain the positive aspects that lean enterprises are identified with. The researcher adopted qualitative research style, to adequately gauge the respondent's opinions, proving that the my SAP ERP implementation at the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) was a successful IT project.
Exploratory research on IT projects : a case study of Kenya Pipeline Company.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Omondi, Sharon Akinyi
This study was an exploratory research to demonstrate the various constraints that plagued the IT projects. The Chaos Report of 2004, a survey carried out by the Standish Research group revealed that 75% of all IT projects fail. 75% of all items projects that begin, fail. IT projects are usually covered up, not rationalized to find out what went wrong and often the individuals involved are fired without getting to know the real cause of the projects failure therefore minimizing the chances of organizations learning from their mistakes. The study examined the SAP ERP implementation at KPC as its business case, the researcher’s demographic was the SAP implementation Project Team. There were two constraints identified. These constraints greatly influence the success or failure of a project, they are, Business Process Development (user requirements) and Change management Issues of which only 25% of business process development was carried out and up to 35% of related change management issues are yet to be resolved, even after the project’s closure. The use of performance measures is strongly emphasized to aid, business Process Development. This measure which was initially intended for organizations, to reengineer themselves into more effective and efficient lean enterprises, was recommended for adoption in Information Technology projects; in an attempt to gain the positive aspects that lean enterprise are identified with. The researcher adopted qualitative research style to adequately gauge the respondent’s opinions, proving that the mySAP ERP implementation at the Kenya Pipeline was a successful IT project.
Exploratory research on IT projects: A case study of Kenya Pipeline Company
Omondi, Sharon Akinyi; Acosta (Dr.), Freddie
This study was an exploratory research to demonstrate the various constraints that plagued IT projects. The Chaos Report of 2004, a survey carried out by the Standish Research Group, revealed that the 75% of all IT projects fail. 75% of all IT projects that begin, fail. IT projects are usually covered up, not rationalized to find out what went wrong and often the individuals involved are fired without getting to know the real cause of the projects failure therefore minimizing the chances of organizations learning from their mistakes. The study examined the SAP ERP implementation at KPC as its business case, the researcher's demographic was the SAP Implementation Project Team. There were two constraints identified. These constraints greatly influence the success or failure of a project, they are, Business Process Development (user requirements) and Change Management issues, of which only 25% of business process development was carried out and up to 85% of related change management issues are yet to be resolved, even after the project's closure. The use of a performance measures is strongly emphasized to aid, Business Process Development. This measure which was initially intended for organizations, to re-engineer themselves into more effective and efficient lean enterprises, was recommended for adoption in Information Technology projects; in an attempt to gain the positive aspects that lean enterprises are identified with. The researcher adopted qualitative research style, to adequately gauge the respondent's opinions, proving that the my SAP ERP implementation at the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) was a successful IT project.
An exploratory study of internet service providers interconnection models in Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2009) Makori, Esther Nyaboke
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in developing countries are incurring high operating costs. Chief among the costs is the telecommunications cost of getting traffic to other networks of the Internet. Developing countries local Internet traffic is billed at the same rate with internationally accessible content hence high operating cost for the ISPs. Internet traffic moving from one ISP to another ISP in the same developing country has to be routed overseas as a result; developing countries are suffering from Internet connectivity that is expensive and slow compared to developed countries. ISPs in Kenya have realized that infrastructure is one part of connectivity and without local content; costs of connectivity will remain high. This is because local Internet traffic traverses the expensive International links. Kenya has little local content and it should shift attention to local content generation and hosting as a way of pushing down Internet connectivity costs and keep local traffic local. Also if ISPs use the right interconnection models they can be able to reduce the high Internet cost, reduce latency and increase access speed. Using data collected from the local telecommunications industry in Kenya, the researcher established that: Internet bandwidth cost is high in Kenya due to lack of local content, poor regional access, lack of competitive choices and high regulatory fees. The criteria Internet Service Providers use in choosing peering members include: geographical coverage, minimum capacity requirements, symmetry of traffic exchanged and proximity of exchange points. Savings increase when the ratio of local traffic increases and savings decline when the ratio of international traffic increases. In this study the researcher has explored the Peering and Transit ISP interconnection models and determined that the Peering model is preferred when there is high ratio of local traffic to international traffic while the Transit model is preferred when there is high ratio of international traffic to local traffic. Even if fiber optic is operational in Kenya, Internet cost will remain to be high unless Kenya starts local content generation.
A Framework for the implimentation of mobile computing in a university environment : a case study of Strathmore University.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Munyu, Josephat Karanja
The adoption of mobile computing devices and technologies has increased tremendously over the last couple of years. This research in a) Investigates the different types of mobile devices that are commercially available. B) identifies factors affecting technology adoption and different models that have been developed to explain this adoption and c) defines a framework that can be used to guide Universities in the adoption of mobile computing technology. Building on technology and diffusion models, the research suggests a framework based on four factors namely ownership of a mobile device, features of a device, mobile connectivity and services available to mobile users. From the research, 98.2% of the student’s population own a mobile phone and 69.71% have owned their phones for more than three years. 9l7 % own a PDA while 42% own a laptop. The research investigates the inter-relations between the four factors – namely ownership features, connectivity and services. It shows that all the factors have relations except between ownership and connectivity. The research findings suggest that universities can build on these high levels of availability of mobile devices to extend services to their students.
Integration of information systems in management of public and private universities in Kenya : a case of JKUAT and Strathmore University.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Muhiri, Mwangi Edwin
The integration of information systems in the management of universities was determined by analyzing the following : i) A model that determines the alignment of Information systems with the Universities’ business strategy ii) Identifying the indicators for measuring IS/IT Strategic alignment iii) Measuring the relationship of the constructs in the alignment model. Regression analysis supported the contributory relationship of IT governance and IT business alignment on University performance. In the research model University performance was the dependent variable. The standardized co-efficient beta in the coefficient table at Strathmore University revealed that the weights of the independent variables in the regression analysis were 0.34 for IT governance and 0.29 for IT business alignment, implying that IT governance enhances the university performance by almost 34% and IT business alignment contributes 29% of the university performance. Co-efficient analysis at JKUAT revealed the co-efficient of the independent variables in the regression analysis were 0.27 of IT governance and 0.23 for IT business alignment, implying that IT Governance enhances university performance by almost 27% and IT business Alignment contributes 23% to the university’s performance. From the analysis the general observation was IT governance contribution more to university performance with a higher percentage than IT business alignment.
Modeling a methodology for evaluation of wide area network technologies in Kenya.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Mirigi, Elias
Data communication Networks are increasingly becoming a permanent feature in modern business organizations. Local Area Networks (LANs) Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs) have gained so much use and popularity in recent years that it is almost impossible to imagine an organization without them. While Local Area Networks provide abundant and reliable bandwidth at higher costs and with increased security threats. Due to their increasingly critical role in the business operations and the high associated costs, it is important that organizations make careful and informed decisions when selecting a WAN technology to sue. In particular, this decision must take into account the specific and unique needs and constraints an organizations to ensure that it gets the best value for this investment. While organization are clear on their specifics need, they are faced with a challenge of deciding which technology best represents the closest match to its unique needs. The aim of this study is to model scientific methodology which organizations can use to assist them in making this important decision. The use of this methodology will ensure that they make an informed decision on a proven and conventionally used scientific methodology. This will translate into more effectiveness and efficiency and hence more competitiveness and profitability in their operations.
A Secure and verifiable internet voting system using homomorphic scheme.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Omondi, Elijah
Institutions are changed with the actions of ensuring the rights of its members to participate in a democratic election, this is surpassing all the limitations of the traditional voting system, and the development of an electronic voting system serves as an attractive solution. Traditionally, cryptographic research has alerted on proving that the tally is the sum of all the ballots, and that the contents of a voter ballots remain secret. Cryptographic voting research considered the voter and the voting booth to be one entity. Voter's final ballot must be undisclosed and that cannot be accessed by a second party. Electors need the assurance that their votes have been cast and counted as intended. This research intends to identify and explore existing voting schemes, develop a secure voting and ranking system that uses computable and verifiable homomorphic scheme for both the votes and authorities. The voting system also allows secrete voting while maintaining the accuracy of election results and thus maintain the security requirement of and electronic voting system which includes privacy, completeness and verifiability.
Strategic information technology investment decision making in corporate organizations' perspective.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Thuku, Lawrence Xavier Waweru
This study was conducted in three corporate organizations based in Nairobi namely, Standard Chartered Bank, Access Kenya and Institute of Advanced Technology. It was guided by Credit Union Return on Technology (CURT), the Garbage Can models and conducted survey and case study methodology. One of the plaguing issues in making strategic information Technology (IT) investment decisions is the difficulty in making the right kind of IT to invest in and the best way to evaluate the IT investments. Literature indicates that most organizations use traditional and budgeting tools such as the Return on Investment (ROI) Net Present Value (NPV) and Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) which do no measure the true value organizations. Despite the advent of new evaluations tools for IT investment such as Real Option Analysis (ROA) most IT executives are gathering anecdotal information and over rely on their experience, intuition and use of traditional capital budgeting tools to make key decisions on IT investments. This makes them unable to effectively make informed decisions regarding IT resources and investments. Therefore, this duty aims at proposing a general framework that combines both the traditional and modern methods in IT investment evaluation for strategic IT investment decision making. The study found out that IT plays more of supportive and strategic role (33.3%) rather than innovative role (16.7% with CEO, CFO and CIO being the key decision makers 55.6% who applied more economic based techniques with NPV being the most valuable technique (41.4%) rather than the analytic based techniques such as ROA which was (1005) not applicable in making IT investment decisions. Despite being aware of modern theories and concepts (43.3%), IT investment decision making was being hampered by factors such as lack of knowledge of existing theories and techniques that help in IT investment decision making and the over reliance of traditional financial techniques. In conclusion, the research findings highlight the importance of use of IT investment evaluation techniques in corporate organizations. It further proposes a general conceptual framework that combines both the traditional and current information Technology evaluation techniques to help make better strategic IT investment decisions.

Browse

Browsing MSIT Theses and Dissertations (2009) by Title

Results Per Page

Sort Options