Internet Technology

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

MIST 7500 Summary

This is a summary of the different weeks and concepts for my MIST7500 class at Terry. This class really gave me some insight into how business effects technology and how we can make it work for us.

· Business Model Canvas

We got an introduction to the business model canvas which allows us to describe and think through a business model for our business or even competitors. This can give us ideas for strategy to help us succeed.

· Business Strategy models

I learned about the different business strategies like Long Tail, Multi Sided Platforms, and Freemium. Getting this insight to the different strategies really gave me some inside into how to plan a business and deal with competitors.

· Internet History

This week we went over the history of the internet from the start until now. We all had different perspectives on the key points to the history of the internet but, understanding where the internet started gave me some understanding of where we will be in 10 years.

· Relating Business Strategy to IT

We were shown how business relates to internet technology by examples of cloud computing, Web 2.0, and how the mobile platform can allow for more distributed work and collaboration. It was extremely interesting to see that companies are spending so much on IT because the returns are greater than machines or buildings.

· Web Standards

This was the week that our class really kicked into gear by going through a tutorial on building a web page using web standards. It took a while but, it was good for the web page building review.

· Business ROI

This week we deal with the return on investment for web design. We learned that the design of your online presence can directly affect your bottom line. If I created a business, I now know that I should place effort into the design of my website because it can really help we get to where I want to go.

· Trending Technology

This week we over disruptive technology like battery tech. We gave a presentation on electric cars like other groups. It allowed me an opportunity to really dig into where we are going to be in a few years with zero emissions vehicles.

· Java Review

Finally we got to my comfort zone. We built a java application as a review. I am not the best at programming but, coming directly from my undergrad I felt a little more in my element with the simple programs.

· Cloud Computing & Amazon Web Services

This was my favorite week as we really got into some newer technology. Everyone hasn’t jumped on board the cloud computing bandwagon yet so; it was really cool to run through some of the things that it can do. The guide didn’t match up so well but, that even made it better. I learn the best when banging my head into the wall.

Big Data Visualization

Big data visualization is a way for us to get a presentation of our data in a pictorial or graphical format. For centuries humans have depended on visual representations like charts and maps to understand information more easily and quickly. As our business continually collects more data it gets harder for us to interpret any analytical results. By using different types of software to help us visualize our data we can predict trends and spikes in customer demand. We can predict which stores would make the most out of new products based on the data that we have stored on customer habits. We could even predict inventory levels at the various stores which would enable us to stay ahead of any shortages of a particular product. Some of the advantages and disadvantages are:

Advantages

· Makes big data comprehensible

· Predicts trends

· Visualizations can give us more insight into the nature of a problem and discover new understanding.

Disadvantages

· They can be potentially misleading if someone doesn’t understand the context

· There can be multiple implicit meanings which are inherent in visualizations and can be interpreted differently

Since everyone can understand visualizations better than they can large data sets, this technology will only serve to enhance our understanding of the data that is affecting our business. My recommendation would be to implement this technology in order to give us the insight that will allow to stay as leaders in our industry.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Hybrid IT and Cloud Computing

Hybrid IT and cloud computing allows a business to only have to deal with some resources in-house while others are provided externally. This could allow us to take advantage of the scalability and lower costs associated with a public cloud computing environment while allowing us to keep in-house any mission critical applications or customer data. We wouldn’t have to incur the costs of maintaining a separate data center as we can have most of the data that we keep be stored in the cloud. We can also have virtual servers which get rid of those hardware and maintenance costs that are associated with secure physical hardware. Some of the advantages and disadvantages are:

Advantages

· Less maintenance as the servers and hardware would be managed by the provider

· Continuous availability

· Scalability as we only have to pay for what we need

· Elasticity as our needs may change as our business progresses

Disadvantages

· Less control as the provider would be managing our resources

· We could run into restrictions on available applications, operating systems, and infrastructure options depending on who we use as our provider

Our business will have to incur the impact of higher costs if we choose to not use cloud computing. The costs of maintaining a data center and the relevant hardware can far out shadow the costs of moving to the cloud. My recommendation would be to take advantage of this technology to cut our costs and improve our infrastructure.

Cybersecurity

In today’s internet connected world, businesses like ours need to be conscious of cybersecurity. Cyber threats come in many different types such as espionage, sabotage, denial of service, and even just plain hacking. These types of attacks can negatively affect our business with things such as loss of data including customer credit info, theft of company secrets, disruption of our operations, and even blocking our customers from accessing our online presence. There are things that can be done to make us more cyber secure from attacks. We can hire a cybersecurity firm to come in and evaluate our operations and help us secure ourselves. We can upgrade our hardware such as our routers and servers to block cyber-attacks. We can even block off most internet access unless it is critical to the job in order to keep chances of attack low. Some of the advantages and disadvantages are:

Advantages

· Protection against data theft

· Protection against viruses or worms which can damage our systems

· Gives our customers a sense of protection for their sensitive data

Disadvantages

· Can be expensive

· Routers can be complicated to get configured correctly

· Have to constantly stay on top of new developments as attacks get more advanced daily

The impacts to our business are that if we do not take proactive actions concerning cybersecurity we are leaving ourselves open to attacks. This can directly affect our profits as we can lose customer confidence and even the customers themselves. I recommend quickly contacting a cybersecurity firm to help us transition to a more secure business model.

The Internet of Things

The Internet Of Things

The Internet of Things is the concept of making all objects in the world uniquely identifiable within an internet like structure using RFID (radio frequency ID), NFC (near field communication), or digital watermarking. This type of technology should be utilized by our company at the very least for inventory tracking to monitor product levels through the supply chain. This gives us the advantage of knowing what products are selling more where in real-time. We can then increase or decrease production and shipping to those locations in order to reduce waste and increase productivity. Some of the advantages and disadvantages are:

Advantages

· Automatic scanning and data logging without user interaction

· Increased accuracy of inventory levels

· Decreased human ordering errors

· Increased inventory security

Disadvantages

· Can be more expensive than traditional barcode systems

· Outside influences like metalwork, material dielectric properties and radio interference can limit RFID remote reading

This technology does have some expected impacts on our business and the industry as a whole. This would allow us to prevent over stocking an item which leads to us having to sell the goods at a discounted rate. It also would prevent us from under stocking an item which leads to a loss of sale and undermines consumer confidence in us. My recommendation would be to start using this technology as soon as possible as it helps us and ultimately helps the consumer.