Phase 3IP: Solving Product Dilemmas
Marlon Ashley
Colorado Technical University Online
PHIL340: Ethics for the Technology Age

The problem I will discuss is making sure the content management system (CMS) has a web-interface and is cross platform. How does making sure there is a web interface impact the design? Since the CMS has to be multi-platform, how does that impact the design? Then we are to consider any other issues that could arise. Finally, we are to discuss the ramifications of what happens if the problem is not handled. The web-interface was already considered to be part of the system. The absence of a web-interface could have a tremendous impact on the CMS design. Problems can occur like users not being able to access the system, profit loss, and productivity of the system if the web-interface is not implemented. First, if users wanted to access the CMS on the web they would not be able to utilize the software because there is no interface for them to do so. The web interface allows users to view the content that people can understand and it allows websites to be easily accessed. Web-interface is the interaction between users and software programs on the web server (Company, 2010). The web browser and web page that results from the users request is the user web-interface. Secondly, if the CMS does not have a web interface the CMS software could lose profits that could come from them not having a way for users to access the content from anywhere in the world. The existence of the web-interface expands the CMS to users who need to access the system through use of the web. The interface will allow the CMS to generate more revenue because users from all over the world that need to access the software now have a way via internet. We also want to allow people with disabilities to access the content if they choose to do so as well. Allowing the CMS to be accessible to those with disabilities will open up new marketing strategies and a new area to target for profit. When companies start new projects they have a way to profit from the results of the project as intended. Thirdly, without the web-interface the CMS would not be as productive as intended because it would be limited to a certain region and not global. The system is needed to be able to allow global access so that the CMS can produce the intended results. Some users that may want access may not live in that particular region. Finally, the web-interface is a vital part of the CMS design and without it developers should consider cancelling system development. If the CMS is to run on the web it will need a compatible interface that provides the necessary functions for users to access the system. Making sure the system is multi-platform can affect the CMS in many ways like increase in time and budget, not limiting access to users, and saving users money. Cross-platform is language, hardware, and software devices that have the ability to operate on one or more systems (Howe, 2010). Most all projects are on a scheduled completion time and having to add or take away aspects of the project pushes the deadline to these projects back. In this case we will need to ensure that the CMS is multi-platform which we did not intend on like with the web-interface. The impact this has is that the company has to increase the budget and time they have set for the project. If the funds and time are not available then the project could get terminated. If a release date was set they may lose users to competitors who may have developed a similar system. Implementing new components into the system design can be very complicated to achieve depending on how far along we are in the design. Project managers cringe when they have to achieve this task because top management is still looking to meet the deadline. Another impact is if the CMS is made to accommodate one operating system then user access is limited. There are many different O/S available to users such as LINUX,