Computer, and operate the computer equipment. This situation represents a fundamental violation of internal control. Hiring qualified professionals. End-user managers may lack the knowledge to evaluate the technical credentials and relevant experience of candidates applying for a position as a computer professional. Also, if the organizational unit into which a new employee is entering is small, the opportunity for personal growth, continuing education, and promotion may be limited. For these reasons, IPU managers sometimes experience difficulty attracting highly qualified personnel, which increases the risk of programming errors and systems failures. Lack of standards. Because of the distribution of responsibility in the DDP environment, standards for developing and documenting systems, choosing programming languages, acquiring hardware and software, and evaluating performance may be unevenly applied or nonexistent. Opponents of DDP argue that the risks associated with the design and operation of a data processing system are made tolerable only if such standards are consistently applied. This requires that standards be imposed centrally.
Advantages of DDP. The most commonly cited advantages of DDP are related to cost savings, increased user satisfaction, and improved operational efficiency. Specific issues are discussed in the following section. Cost reductions. In the past, achieving economies of scale was the principal justification for the centralized approach. The economics of data processing favored large, expensive, powerful computers. The wide variety of needs that such centralized systems had to satisfy called for computers that were highly generalized and employed complex operating systems. Powerful yet inexpensive small scale, which can cost-effectively perform specialized functions, have changed the economics of data processing dramatically. In addition, the unit cost of data storage, which was once the justification for consolidating data in a central location, is no longer the prime consideration. Moreover, the move to DDP can reduce costs in two other areas: (1) data can be entered and edited at the IPU, thus eliminating the centralized tasks of data conversion and data control; and (2) application complexity can be reduced, which in turn reduces development and maintenance costs. Improved cost control responsibility. Managers assume the responsibility for the financial success of their operations. This requires that they be properly empowered with the authority to make decisions about resources that influence their overall success. Therefore, if information-processing capability is critical to the success of a business operation, then should not management be given control over these resources? This argument counters the argument presented earlier favoring the centralization of organization-wide resources. Proponents of DDP argue that the benefits from improved management attitudes outweigh the additional costs incurred from distributing these resources. Improved user satisfaction. Perhaps the most often cited benefit of DDP is improved user satisfaction. This derives from three areas of need that too often go unsatisfied in the centralized approach: (1) as previously stated, users desire to control the resources that influence their profitability; (2) users want systems professionals (analysts, programmers, and computer operators) who are responsive to their specific situation; and (3) users want to become more actively involved in developing and implementing their own systems. Proponents of DDP argue that providing more customized support—feasible only in a distributed environment—has direct benefits for user morale and productivity.