Use of Computers for Better Productivity

Implemented effectively, CASE can result in improved system development productivity, reduced productivity time, reduced maintenance costs, and enhanced information technology development. Since documentation is often generated automatically by CASE products, there is traceability which enables companies to recreate how programs work long after programmers have departed, and the automated aspect of CASE reduces some of the human error which can creep into system development. In addition, since CASE tools are used to facilitate grater standardization of work procedures and adherence to design structure, greater flexibility can occur in the workforces of organizations which use CASE and companies can realize benefits from modular development and structured programming (Sumner & Ryan, 1994, p. 16).

It is in the role of methodology support or methodology companion that some CASE tools have realized their potential. The level of methodology assistance varies from product to product, but may include a graphics tool, a data dictionary and automated checkpoints which can help enforce a specific methodology and help ensure completeness and consistency of the resulting specifications and applications (Jankowski, 1995, p. 20).

CASE applications are typically used in software development environments where there is a high degree of sophistication in product design. CASE tools can be run on microcomputers or on networks as well as on larger machines.

Web-based training and communication can be conducted in "real-time" so that employees can watch an annual shareholders' meeting live regardless of where the meeting takes place and regardless of where the employees are located. Similarly, Web based communications can eliminate expensive travel by combining videoconferencing with Web-based technology so that meetings can be held in cyberspace. In some cases, when video is inconvenient or too expensive (requiring considerable bandwidth), companies can use exclusive "chat" rooms or bulletin boards to receive employee feedback on particular issues, or even rely on traditional electronic mail (e-mail).

At the end of 1999, more than half of all American employees had access to the Internet through the workplace; that number is expected to increase to three-fourths of all workers by the end of 2000 (Gantz, 2000, p. 33). Making the Internet available to workers is neither difficult nor particularly costly; companies can set up a high-speed connection, a firewall to protect internal security, and provide browser software (which is readily available). Employees are then able to use the Internet for business purposes for everything ranging from research to making purchases over the Internet and using e-mail to keep in touch with clients and vendors.

quire careful selection to ensure that a company purchases the right tools for its developers and can train them on its use. In addition, there can be considerable resistance to the implementation of CASE tools in environments which have lacked this structure in the past. This requires that developers be trained not only in the tools themselves, but in the benefits that the tools offer in terms of enhancing productivity and reducing tedious tasks (Baum, 1995, p. 37).

 

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