Feb 27, 20060

Balthaser Online Patents web2.0

Categories: Uncategorized

Balthaser Online has been granted a very broad patent on the creation of rich-media and interactive applications that use technologies such as Flash, Flex, and even AJAX according to an article by InformationWeek.  Most likely Balthaser will not be able to enforce the patent in such broad terms, but he will be able to compete with local design firms that he directly competes with in his market.  I do not think that Balthaser will have the resources, nor the time, to be able to prevent developers from creating rich-media web applications and services without paying him licensing or royalty fees.  The mere size of the internet, and those developing applications that rely on this technology to deliver these applications over the internet will prevent Balthaser from being able to enforce his patent in the world community, let along the U.S.  My prediction: The patent will not be enforceable, and bearing the cost of enforcing such a patent is not logical for a company the size of Balthaser Online, especially globally.  The threat: to those web design firms that are developing web2.0 applications to be delivered via the internet - If these services become largely successful, there could be a patent dispute such as the one seen between RIM and NTP.

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Feb 24, 20060

Examining SCM, CRM, and ERP information systems

Categories: Uncategorized

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) allows organizations to get closer to their customer, therefore, the focus is on customer data, or external data. Customer Relationship Management is defined by Computer Desktop Encyclopedia as "An integrated information system that is used to plan, schedule and control the pre sales and post sales activities in an organization" (customer relationship management, n.d.). A CRM mainly deals with marketing and sales departments, and it’s main goals include:

  • Improved sales performance,
  • Improved management visibility,
  • Improved customer support,
  • Improved marketing, and
  • Reduced costs (Wettemann, 2004).

SCM (Supply Chain Management) allows organizations to efficiently manage their entire supply chain from purchasing to distribution and logistics. I think that the main focus of SCM is on purchasing or transactional data, or internal data. SCM and ERP are often different systems in many organizations, which makes it difficult to "Connect Demand with Supply" as Michael Schrage’s article discusses. The difficulty will play an important role for technology managers as the two systems can have contrasting objectives. Schrage offers an example of this:

"There’s no question that you can optimize the efficiency of a supply chain at the cost of being less responsive to customers. For example, I might save my firm 25 percent of hard dollar costs if I eliminate some distribution centers and carry less inventory. That decision would probably make my company less responsive to customers, since they might then experience more stock-outs. But that trade-off may be worth it. What I pay for that extra inventory may cost more than what I lose in sales from customers who don’t find the stock they want. The question is: What’s the better business investment?" (Schrage, 2004).

EPR (Enterprise Resource Planning) attempts to bridge the gap between the SCM and CRM packages by providing a "unified software program divided into software modules that roughly approximate the old standalone systems" (Koch, 2006). I think that the main focus of ERP systems is data sharing, data distribution, and data quality in order to avoid duplicate and redundant. Kock states that the main goals for an organization to undertake EPR:
1. Integrate financial information,
2. Integrate customer order information,
3. Standardize and speed up manufacturing processes,
4. Reduce inventory, and
5. Standardize HR information (Koch, 2006).
When it comes to ERP systems, I think they can provide many benefits and paybacks for an organization that chooses to implement the system and does so effectively. An ERP system should be carefully planning, analyzed, and designed prior to implementation, followed by training and maintenance. This can be a huge task to undertake for any organization. I think that the differences in these systems is due to the lack of ability to truly fulfill an organization’s complex needs and business processes across the various departments and functions.

These systems encompass the main enterprise-wide information systems. These systems feed into the decision support systems such as data mining and OLAP using data warehouses, marts, etc… There are additional systems that are more focused on specific business objectives. Some of these systems include, but is definitely not limited to:
- Decision Support Systems
- Sales Force Management Systems
- Executive Information Systems
- Strategic Information Systems
- Group Support Systems

Resources:

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Feb 21, 20060

Articles that value data, information, and knowledge in Enterprises

Categories: Uncategorized

Article 1

Nielsen, Jakob.  (2001, January 21).  Usability Metrics.  Retrieved on February 21, 2006, from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20010121.html.

Usability metrics of software

The author suggests several ways in which the usability of an application can be determined:

  • The Success rate (whether users can perform the task at all),
  • The time a task requires,
  • The error rate
  • The user’s subjective satisfaction
  • The percentage of time that users follow the optimal navigation path, or
  • The number of times the user needs to backtrack when navigating the application.

These are common metrics or measurements of the ease of use for a typical user of a software application.  Measuring software using similar metrics are performed in order to minimize error and maximize the quality of the customer experience and thus the demand for the product.

Article 2

Young, Debby (1999).  For good measure.  CIO Magazine.  Retrieved on February 21, 2006, from cio.com: http://www.cio.com/archive/030199_value.html.

Value of information systems and their ROI

In this article the author suggests that businesses value their current Information Systems prior to investing in new Information Technology.  According to the author “For IT to provide real value, the solution has to add measurable improvements to the process. And if you first measure the cost of current processes, it’s easy to quantify the value of the improvements you hope to achieve.” (Young, 1999).

  1. The author provides the five drivers for defining the value of Information Systems:
  2. Measure potential value
  3. Align with business goals
  4. Keep the project focused
  5. Hold Business Units Accountable
  6. Measure your success

These value drivers are similar to those of other articles that suggest determining the value an IT solution provides prior to beginning the project.  In the end, the objective is to implement those technologies that provide the organization with the greatest ROI (Return on Investment), due to the large investment an Information System often requires.

Article 3

Claburn, Thomas. (2006, Feb 20). Yahoo’s Challenge-Yahoo faces many challenges as it tries to turn vast sums of data it has on visitors into revenue. Another challenge: that little company called Google. InformationWeek.

Value of data in terms of visitor information:

The article interviews Yahoo’s chief data officer, Usama Fayyad in order to describe how Yahoo hopes to use visitor information for marketing products to users more effectively.  Its all about intent, according to Fayyad, which can be derived from the information that visitors request.  This can hopefully allow yahoo to make their advertising more effective than that of competitor’s Google, which is dependent upon your search query and/or page contents.  According to the author, “Yahoo needs to translate the 10 terabytes of data a day its visitors create and turn that raw information into marketable insights” (Claburn).

Article 4

Thurm, Scott. (2006, January 23).  Companies Struggle To Pass On Knowledge That Workers Acquire.  The Wall Street Journal.  Page B1.

Value of organization knowledge

The article discusses the task of managing knowledge in an organization, and some solutions that technology can provide.  The knowledge of employees can be critical to their performance and that of the organization.  However, the problem arises when the person is moved to a new position or leaves the position/job.  The sharing and management of the knowledge of an organization’s workers can potentially provide cost savings, higher efficiency, and better performance.  There are several difficulties to manage knowledge, including getting employees to hand over their knowledge for the sake of job security.  The author provides an interesting vignette that highlights the value of the knowledge of employees:

 

“Trying to make conversation during a recent elevator ride, I asked a package-delivery courier whether it was more efficient to start at the top of the building and work down, or start at the bottom of the building and work up. "It depends on the time of day," he replied.

The comment offers a window into one of the modern workplace’s most vexing problems, the issue of knowledge management. The courier believed he had figured out something useful about elevator patterns in my San Francisco office building. But what will happen when he moves to a different job or a different route? Will productivity at the delivery company decline until his successor learns the same lessons?” (Thurm, 2006).

Article 5

Joe Celko (2004, September). A Question of Quality. Intelligent Enterprise, 7(13), 48. Retrieved February 21, 2006, from ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry database. (Document ID: 689392621).

Value of data in terms of Quality

The article focuses on Data Quality for organization’s massive collections of data as a means measuring the trust factor, or value, of the data.  According to the author, “The source and age of the data are obvious factors”,  “The trust dimension is harder to define” (Celko, 2004).

Article 6

S Bose,  K B Oh. (2004). Measuring strategic value-drivers for managing intellectual capital. The Learning Organization, 11(4/5), 347-356. Retrieved February 21, 2006, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 695363021).

Value of knowledge as intellectual capital

This article discusses methods to value a potential information system that provides the organization with intellectual capital and then hopefully a competitive advantage.  The author states that with “the emergence of the knowledge economy has presented firms with a different and even more onerous environment for valuation of intellectual capital and, by extension, the strategic management of value.  Therefore, in order to manage performance, management must possess the ability to understand the underlying value of knowledge to efficiently and effectively make continuous investments in intellectual capital.  Further, in the present competitive global environment, the ability to value and make investments in intellectual capital projects provides a substantial source of competitive advantage and enables firms to benefit from increasing returns (Arthur, 1996) from those investments.” (S Bose, 2004).  According to a study the author conducted in Australia, the highest-ranking value-drivers for an intellectual asset are:

  1. Expected profitability of the intellectual asset.  Next
  2. Uniqueness of the innovation
  3. Reputation of research team/firm
  4. Growth prospect
  5. Economic Factors
  6. And of course, Risk
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Feb 12, 20060

Most important factor in Managing a Company’s Data

Categories: Uncategorized

    I think that the single most important factor in managing company data is the backing up of that data in accordance with a Disaster Recovery Plan.
    Data backup is essential to data management because of the high value that the data generates for the organization, and secondly, the activity of backing up data is an ongoing process as part of a successful disaster recovery plan in order to effectively manage the organization’s data.  According to Wikipedia, Disaster Recovery in terms of Information Technology is "the ability of an infrastructure to restart operations after a disaster", whether the disaster is a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina, nuclear plant accident, terrorist attack, or pandemic (wikipedia.com, 2006). As the article in eWeek entitled "Disaster Recovery Gets Real" discusses, the disaster recover plan for an organization should not only consider the information stored within the IT department, but also the organization-wide data, information, and knowledge (Lundquist, 2005). I think that IT managers have a very narrow focus on the view of Disaster Recovery, and secondly, that managers tend to forget about Disaster Recovery in the wake of the fast-paced world of technology.
    IT managers live a very busy life, and the last thing on their mind is the total destruction of all that they work for. However, I think that a Disaster Recovery plan needs to brought from the back-burner to the front of IT managers’ to-do lists, especially in the wake of the recent world events. IT managers need to be concerned with Disaster Recovery plans so that they will not loose all of the highly valuable data and knowledge that the organization has so heavily invested in.
    The main part of any disaster recovery plan is the backing up of the organization’s data. This is crucial to the disaster recovery plan because without backups organizations are left to attempt to recover any salvageable data. Secondly, the more often the backups are performed, the higher the likelihood that the data is not stale and outdated, and is accurate and up-to-date. Third, the backups need to be located strategically in different physical locations, so that if the backup is lost in one location, it is still accessible from an alternate location. For example, "in the case of Katrina, some firms didn’t expect to be back in their main offices for several weeks" (Britt, 2005). When backing up data to remote locations, it is also very important to ensure that the systems at the remote locations are the same systems that the organization is currently using. An example of this occurred to the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, in which "they rushed the tapes to Houston, where many hurricane victims relocated, but found that the tapes were not compatible with the systems there. So they had to scramble to reconfigure the computer systems to read the records" (Hasson, 2005).
    Data Backup is a vital activity for a successful Disaster Recovery plan, and an increasingly important role for risk management. Risk management, as defined by Wikipedia, is "the process of measuring, or assessing risk and then developing strategies to manage the risk" (wikipedia, 2006). I think that risk managers need to work closely with all departments within an organization, especially the Information Technology department that houses and manages the organization’s data. According to Eric Lundquist of eWeek, "Risk managers for various businesses are now thinking in very broad terms concerning the best practices and policies for preserving the data that is essential to business operations" (Lundquist , 2006). I think that Eric raises a valid point when he continues to say that "Remote data backup or virtualized processors won’t do a company much good if the people required to run those restoration processes are stuck in a traffic jam"(Lundquist , 2006).
    According to CIO author James E. Geis, the organization should consider the following prior to establishing a backup or disaster recovery plan, no matter what technologies the organization is using:

  • Develop a comprehensive plan for addressing all backup and recovery facets. Identify key participants and define those roles. Document processes and procedures, assign ownership, and continuously validate that they work.
  • Understand the contingency for every possible human and non-human event.
  • What data needs to be backed up frequently?
  • Determine the RPO and RTO for each class of data.
  • What data should be replicated (local and remote) for business continuity or rapid restore?
  • When determining architecture and alternatives, consider distance to alternate sites and factor that into restore (retrieving data over a network or via tapes being transported).
  • Identify key participants in the recovery process. What is the communication plan, both internally and externally?
  • When information is archived to tape, nearline, or content addressable storage, how is that pool protected? How do its backup and recovery issues differ from production?
  • Make architectural and purchasing decisions on technology that will serve the purpose for the long run and provide scalability. Tried and true technology, and even some newer technology that fits into existing architectures, can decrease cost over the long run and increase operational efficiency.
  • Is the cost of having a rapid restore from disk greater or less than the productivity time and revenue lost while waiting for a tape restore? (Geis, 2005).

I think that Geis offers some great tips to Information Technology managers to effectively manage their data and ensuring the preservation of that data. I think that is is obvious that Geis is against the traditional approach to backing up the vast amounts of organization data onto tape format, and prefers a more modern rapid recovery system that many vendors ship and/or provide support.

In conclusion, an organization should religiously backup their data, and I feel that this is the most important activity for managing an organization’s data and ensuring the organization can rely upon that data to be there. Without backups and an ongoing disaster recovery plan, IT managers will not have any data to manage.

Resources:

  • Britt, Phillip. (2005, October). Taking Steps for Disaster Recovery. Information Today, 22(9), 1,21. Retrieved February 8, 2006, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 915261131).
  • Hasson, Judi. (2005, November). On your mark, get set . . . Federal Computer Week, 19(40), 16-18. Retrieved February 8, 2006, from ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry database. (Document ID: 947137121).
  • James E. Geis. (2005, February 4). Recovery: The Only Reason for Backup. Forsythe Retrieved February 8, 2006, from http://www2.cio.com/consultant/report3305.html.
  • Lundquist, Eric. (2005, October). Disaster Recovery Gets Real; Latest storms force big-picture view of business continuity. The IT department, once seen as having too narrow a focus on making good tech product choices. eWeek, 22(39), 28. Retrieved February 8, 2006, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 905709271).
  • Wikipedia.com. (January 31, 2006). Disaster recovery. Retrieved February 8, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster_Recovery_Plan
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Feb 12, 20060

Service-Oriented Architecture

Categories: Uncategorized

I wanted to add a topic that is directly related to the article title Nice Doing Business With You from the February 2005 issue of CIO magazine . This topic is Service Oriented Architecture, which is referred to in the article in when the author talks about the Web services and XML in either an extranet setting, through other secured connection methods, or FTP.

As defined by Wikipedia.com, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) "expresses a software architectural concept that defines the use of services to support the requirements of software users" (wikipedia.com, 2005). I think that this sentence sums up the objective of the methodology of this architecture, which allows for businesses to connect to suppliers and vendors via Web Portals or through their existing ERP solution. This approach has gained ground over the past 20 years, and is beginning to be truly recognized, which brings higher level of efficiency, lower costs, and reduction of errors.

The article entitled "SOA simple" by Marshall Lager states that "Among SOAs strengths are its flexibility and ease of integration compared with conflicting suites of applications" (Lager, 2006). I think SOA is changing the way IT operates in an organization and will continue to focus on efficiency and integration. I thought the article that we read really hit on the topic of integration of information systems not only throughout the enterprise but also between suppliers and vendors. It should not go without mentioning the obvious: without the networking technologies currently in place that allow communication via Internets, extranets, intranets, and any other network. I think that SOA is an architecture that will allow these technologies to be used for the benefit of enterprise solutions and Business-to-Business solutions that will allow organizations to compete globally with maximum efficiency. Miko Matsumura, vice president of technology standards at Infravio of stated that SOAs in the future will "enable hosted and non-hosted vendors to compete on an equal footing. Intermediaries will become specialized for verticals and business segments, and service registry repositories will grow into more full-featured catalogs and management interfaces" (Lager, 2006).

Another great article entitled "Value Propositions". The five propositions that strategists David Bovet and Joseph Martha say help companies create value for their customers" in Fast Company outlined these strategies as:

1. Your only choice is to give customers smarter choices;
2. Faster is better — that is, if customers will pay for speed;
3. You can do the right thing without doing everything;
4. Treat partners like partners;
5. Know what customers want — "super service" and "perfect orders." (Hammonds, 2000).

The article provides some great insight into the methods and strategies that enterprises should consider in order to provide a better customer experience by working strategically with the customer.

Resources:

  • Lager, Marshall. (2006, February). SOA simple. Customer Relationship Management, 10(2), 20-24. Retrieved February 9, 2006, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 977795091).
  • Hammonds, Keith H. (2000, August). The five propositions that strategists David Bovet and Joseph Martha say help companies create value for their customers. Fast Company, Issue 37, Page 247. Retrieved February 9, 2005, from http://www.fastcompany.com/online/37/ideazone.html.
  • wikipedia.com. (2006, February). Service-oriented architecture. Retrieved February 9, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service-oriented_architecture.
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Feb 9, 20060

Globalization in Business

Categories: Uncategorized

Globalization is very important to all managers today, especially those governing Information Systems strategy in an organization. This concept is especially important today where we find ourselves competing with businesses throughout the world, and doing business throughout the world. According to Computer Desktop Encyclopedia, "Although many large companies have globalized for decades, the Web, more than any other phenomenon, has enabled the smallest company to have a global presence" (Answers.com, 2006). The connectivity of the internet and mobile devices have led the march to expand Globalization to a new level, no matter if one is managing technology or not. Outsourcing and global supply chains, among many business activities, take advantage of the technology that is available to bridge the gap between businesses and their clients, suppliers, customers, and employees.

Globalization has also had a major affect on finances, or the flow of cash in a business. People are investing in companies throughout the world, and companies are seeking financing throughout the world. This means there are many more opportunities, as well as much more competition, which puts a large demand on businesses in regard to performance in the marketplace. Globalization continues to effect the way we conduct business, and will hopefully have a lasting positive effect on the U.S. and world economies.

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