Table of Contents
ACS Code of Professional Conduct Report
Option one – Ken lets the system go live
ACS Code of Professional Conduct Report
Australian Computer Society has developed a Professional Code of Conduct to follow by all Information Communication Technology Professionals. Ken is an ITC professional working in an IT company. As an ITC professional he should be through and updated with the Code of Professional Conduct rules and regulations while he is performing the job. The following case study can reveal the exemplification of Code of Professional Conduct to be followed in the work place in IT environment. The problem and ethical dilemma is faced by Ken is within the code of professional conduct only and easily can be solved with his right decision.
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An Ethical Dilemma in IT
Ken is an ICT professional in an IT company. He has to give the project delivery by Monday i.e. 19th August 2019. When the management came to his cabin and asked for the project delivery, Ken told him there was an issue to complete the project within the date so the project will be getting ready in the next month. In fact the project is developed but he project testing is need to be completed. The management has already agreed with the client that the project will be delivered in the next Monday. So the management demanded to deliver the project on Monday. When Ken told to the director about the inability to deliver on Monday and asked him to have a postponement for a period of one month, The director abruptly demanded to deliver the project at any cost on Monday and left the cabin of Ken.
As an ICT Professional Ken has to take a decision to deliver the project without system testing or he has to fight back with the senior management and convince them to take a postponement date for a month. Option three is he has to resign the job and go out of the company. This is an Ethical Dilemma in Information Technology faced and need to be handled by Ken. There are two specific options have been given in the videos specified to handle the case study. In the following chapters the possible options are discussed and evaluated with justification ( Video one [1]).
Option one – Ken lets the system go live
Ken has to obey his management orders without following the ACS code of professional conduct and deliver the project to the client and allow the system go live. This is one of the options before him. If Ken chooses this option and deliver the project to the client and lets the system go live the following consequences can be faced by Ken. This option is not within the limits of ACS code of professional Conduct. This is merely the action to obey the orders of the management without considering the consequences (Video 2 go live) [2].
Consequences
If ken lets the system go live the following consequences are faced.
- If the system is allowed to go live the system may get compromised by the security threats. The business associates confidential information may be eavesdropped by the hackers and cyber criminals. The company reputation will be questionable (Bowern, et.al. (2007)) [6].
- If the system is allowed to go live all the functionalities and sub-functionalities may not work properly according to the requirement specifications. So that the system may get hanged within a short span of time then the company operations will be stopped abruptly. The customers and end users of the system will be facing havoc and defunct from the operations. This leads to great loss to the Client and reputation of the company will be questionable.
- If the system is allowed to go live without system testing automatically the data base storage security, user interface security and application security may not be proper and the system security threats can be taken place. This is the golden threshold for the eavesdroppers and intruders of the software and give a chance to data breach and system hacking.
Justification
The Australian Computer Society will not accept the above actions. According to the NR4.1 – C of code of ethics the ICT professional should strive to increase the competence and prestige of the profession. If the system goes for live the consequences are damaging the reputation of the client and the customers of the client. So going live is ruled out from the option ([7] (ACS Code of Ethics)).
According to the Code of Ethics of ACS rule NR4.5.1 and 4.5.2. the ICT professional should strive to preserve the continuity of information technology services and information flow with great care. The ICT professional should preserve the integrity and security of the Information system. If the consequences are considered these two rules will abandon the act of system go live. So this option should be stopped.
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According to NR4.6.1 rule of ACS code of Ethics the professional should provide the products and services to match with the operations and financial needs of clients and employees. If the system is allowed to go live without proper testing to check the functionality it is offence and against the rules of ACS. Hence the option of let the system go live is offensive and illegal [8] (M. Bowern, et.al.(2005)).
Even if he can allow the system go live the consequences will targets the ICT professional who is responsible for delivery of the system is penalized with the retrenchment from the company with the charges of trespass the rules and regulations of ACS. So that his financial reputation and personal reputation will be damaged and left with no job in the IT Companies. All financial institutions will give notices and make him bankrupt (Video 3 bank video).
Option two – Ken fights back
Option two is to speak repeatedly with the management and convince the management to get the postponement date after one month with proper testing and executional and security certification. In this option the ICT professionals should strive to convince the management repeatedly until they feel comfortable. It is the responsibility to explain all the bad consequences and bad effects after the system release without proper system test and security check. As an ICT professional Ken should speak with all layers of the management and explain the reputational issues and financial issues and convince them to stop and get the postponement date (Video 2 ken fight back ) [3].
Consequences
If the system is delivered after one month the following consequences may occur.
- The client may get dissatisfied with the delay happened by one month.
- The Client operations may get delayed and temporarily get dissatisfaction about the IT Company performance.
- The dissatisfaction may be temporary but once the system is given with complete good functionality and security the dissatisfaction may be disappear.
- The client may be penalize the company with little bit of compensation for the delay happened. But it can be taken back when the system is functioning well in long run without any security threats and compromises.
Justification
According to the Australian Computer Society Code of Ethics the ICT professionals should understand the values and ideals of the society. He should hold the responsibility to deliver the system with good condition to serve the purpose of the client (NR 4.5.1 of ACS). The functionality should not affect the privacy and confidentiality of the general public who are involved as the customers of the client company (NR 4.4 of ACS). It is the prime responsibility to safeguard the computing profession and its relationship with the community (NR 5.2 of ACS). According to the Code of Ethics of ACS the ICT professional should take care of social implications specified in NR 4. And Professional Development specified in NR 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 and perform the computing profession specified in NR 6 and sub-rules. The ICT professional should have the priorities specified in NR 1 and its sub-rules. The ICT professional should provide the products specified in NR2 and its sub-rules. More over the ICT professional should demonstrate the Honesty and safeguard the working company specified in NR III and its sub-rules. Based on these rules and regulations Ken should take the responsibility to deliver the software with proper functionality and convince the management to get one month postponement for go live ([8] (M. Bowern, et.al.(2005))).
The solution for Ethical Dilemma
In IT companies the ethical dilemma will be common and arise in times of trouble. The ICT professional should remember the rules and regulations what they have to follow while performing the job. These rules are framed by Australian Computer Society for smooth running of all functionalities related to the public and client companies. In the above case study the option two which is insisting Ken to fight back is correct and apt [7] (ACS Code of Ethics).
In all means the option two which makes the ICT professional to convince the management and take one month delay in delivery and enable the client to enjoy all the fruits of the product along with their customers and end users [7] (ACS Code of Ethics).
References
[1] Al-Saggaf, Y. (2016, October 20). A dilemma in IT: Select action end of video and see its consequence. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mugeCY3vbxo
[2] Al-Saggaf, Y. (2016, August 18). Ken lets the system go live. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVpQ7OwPmK0
[3] Al-Saggaf, Y. (2016, August 18). Ken fights back. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhkoGQNuCNE
[4] Australian Computer Society | ACS Code of Professional Conduct Case Studies | March 2014 published by ACS, Australia
[5] Australian Computer Society Code of Ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://teaching.csse.uwa.edu.au/units/CITS3200/ethics/acs-ethics.htm
[6] Bowern, M., Burmeister, O., Gotterbarn, D., & Weckert, J. (n.d.). ICT Integrity: Bringing the ACS code of ethics up to date. http://dx.doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v13i2.50 . Australasian Journal of Information Systems; Vol 13, No 2 (2006). 13. 10.3127/ajis.v13i2.50.
[7] Australian Computer Society CODE OF ETHICS Values and Ideals subscribed to by Society Members accessed from http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~perry/education/SE-Intro/ACS-COE.pdf
[8] M. Bowern, O. Burmeister, D. Gotterbarn and J. Weckert (2005) ICT Integrity: Rethinking the Australian Professional Code of Ethics published on 26 Sept., 2005 published by Proceedings of the 4th Australian Institute of Computer Ethics Conference
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