Andrew, a highly qualified and experienced software developer, has just started
ID: 420525 • Letter: A
Question
Andrew, a highly qualified and experienced software developer, has just started work with a government health department on a project that has been underway for about 9 months. He is replacing a novice developer who has decided to move on to a new project with another organisation. Even though the current system is incomplete, it has is being used with 'live' data. On analysing what's been done so far, Andrew discovers that the system is poorly designed and is riddled with bugs due to the former developer's lack of expertise, and that the choice of technologies are incompatible with the department's infrastructure, leading to corruptions and loss of financial data on a daily basis. In fact, much of Andrew's time is initially spent unsuccessfully attempting to recover corrupted data. His vast experience leads him to the conclusion that the system is so unstable that it will eventually corrupt beyond repair and that all its data will become unrecoverable. He therefore advises the supervisor of his findings and recommends that the system be redeveloped using appropriate technologies and quality control measures. He indicates that the entire redevelopment effort will take less than 6 weeks. The supervisor rejects Andrew's recommendation, stating that their IT Department will not agree to a change in technology, and directs Andrew to complete the project using the existing technologies. What should Andrew do? Your answer should include Q5. What are the ethical issues and implications? (3 marks) Q6. What can be done about it? (3 marks) Q7. What are the options? (3 marks) Q8. Which option is best - and why? (3 marks)
Explanation / Answer
It is important for the company to focus on maintaining its data and system. Andrew is a highly qualified and experienced software developer who is right to suggest and provide recommendations related to redeveloping the system and focusing on it to make sure that it is well balanced. It should also focus on making sure that the system does not crash and it is stable enough. In this case the system is unstable and it can crash any minute causing lot of troubles for the company. It will also result in loss of company data which will be a major problem for the company. The technology and system always needs to be updated and the data needs to be protected. In this case Andrew needs to speak to the officials and supervisors and discuss the problem. Otherwise he will be blamed if the system crashes massively and it causes a problem for the company.
It is unethical that the former employee continued doing the work in spite of knowing that the technology and system was incompatible and it would cause risk of financial data loss and data corruption. It is important that the supervisor supports the plea of Andrew and does not reject it. It will be unethical and not in the favour of the company if the plea is rejected