The article “Beware, Humans. The Era of Automation Software has begun” published in the New York Times, talked about the use of software systems in business. The article mainly focused on Hp and the computer software they use to help strengthen their business. the article made the point that humans make errors but not technology. The article also said that in the near future technology will automate many tasks that were once accomplished by humans. Well the article aims towards the idea that data systems are more efficient and cheaper then hiring new employees, it also points out that humans ere necessary. The art of running an efficient company is to find that balance of technology systems and employee head counts. Using the software at HP has cut costs bringing HP to 13.8 percent in operating margins.
This article relates to the book because it brings up the argument of Operational management and how it can benefit a company. It also relates to the book because it shows how information systems relates to business.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/beware-humans-the-era-of-automation-software-has-begun/?scp=6&sq=operations%20management&st=cse

A new technology that is embarrassing the use of Global Positioning Systems is the GTX Corp who has invented a tracking device used in shoes. This technology is aimed at Alzheimer’s patients, as a way of finding them if they get lost. For a fee of $20 a month a subscriber to the tracking service can ask to be alerted when the tracker leaves a certain area. This technology is still in the beginning stages and still being tested. Aetrex is the shoe company that is partnering with the GPS Company. The companies expecting to launch their product by the end of the year (2010).
This technology is being debated weather or not it is beneficial or detrimental to users. Many people say that having a tracking devise in a shoe would take away the rights of individuals or patients. The article GPS Shoes to track Alzheimer’s patients on CNN.com is on the side of beneficial if the user is aware of the technology and approves of its use. The cost of these shoes will run about $200 to $300. This price is worth the security that it gives to the loved ones of Alzheimer’s patients, who are said to get lost at least once with this disease. This technology has been used before in wristbands and anklets, but the designs were bulky and cumbersome. The shoes will be a great way to solve this problem. This chip technology is said to bring in an estimated total of 5 billion dollars. This is just the start to many more inventions with this technology.

he Article in the New York Times, “ A Page From an Old Playbook” talked about the efforts that have been made at Hewlett-Packard. Recently Mark V. Hurd took over at the company and realized that the technology being used was far from the standards the computer giant should be known for. Mr. Hurd had designed and took over the data industry earlier in his career when he invented a program that established data Warehousing. The book talks about Data Warehousing as a logical collection of information that is gathered from many different operational databases; that support business analysis activities and decision-making tasks. The article quotes Randy Mott, Hewlett-Packard’s chief information officer as saying: “Mark made the assessment that he did not have the information he needed to run the company the way he needed to run it. So the assessment was that, as a company, we were going to have the technology needed to fix that”. Mr. Hurd knew that this program would change how Hewlett-Packard operated its business. Mr. Hurd decided that the company could engineer their own program and use their company as the test to make sure the program worked. The Program was named NeoView, and turned out to be a very successful tool for Hewlett-Packard. Hewlett-Packard decided that with their success they could market this tool to their customers. This put Hurd at battle with his old company.
The article does mention the technology to be expensive. The article also points out that Hewlett-Packard believes that in this economy selling such a pricey system isn’t a huge problem. The company’s stance on the economic problem they face is that business need their technology of data to improve business now more then ever.

New York Times- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/technology/29hewlett.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=data%20warehouse&st=Search

The article, “Should You Worry About Data Rot?” was an interesting article. The article addressed a central issue when it comes to information technology; how do you preserve it? The article was based off of a Sunday morning TV show. The article went in to a brief history of how data storage has changed over the years. Important facts such as the average computer lasts around 3-4 years before it becomes obsolete were key to the point that storage is important. Other facts that drove the point across that storage is something we need to think about is the life span of applications. The real-time player of yesterday isn’t the same as the new real-time player 15 (figuratively speaking). Meaning old videos that you took a couple years ago won’t be converted and the data will be lost. Other examples are videos and cassette tapes. Most people are using technology to transfer old home videos to dvd and they think that there data is now safe. But one day people will ask, what was a DVD?
This reality is a scary thought. Memories are what life is about. Family photos are essential to that memory. So when we think that these memories could disappear it is breath stopping. Ideas that were brought up were using websites to back up photos. This came with a warning saying that these sites can go under. The other note was to print out the information. Photos and documents are known to last at least 100 years. The article summed up with saying that there is no storage available on the market that is known to last through the times. The best thing to do is to keep up with technology.
This related to the chapter in talking about data backup. This isn’t on a big scale like the book talked about but this does address a personal need.

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/should-you-worry-about-data-rot/?scp=1&sq=bake%20up%20and%20recovery&st=Search

This article titled “Phone Flaw Lets Hackers Take Over, Security Firm Says”, ran in the New York times last week. The article was about the I-phone and the security problems that it has been facing. The I-phone is a smart phone known for its advanced technology. The phone is basically a handheld device that works identically to a computer. Because the device is similar to a computer it is subjected to the same type of hackers as a home pc.

The article stated that a team of computer security consultants that work to hack in too computer systems for their clients, found the flaw in the I-phone. They told reporters that they were able to use the Wi-Fi connection to hack into user phones. Ones inside the phone they were able to get at all information stored within the devise. The consulting company has recommended a patch for Apple to use. The article does point out that Apple was contacted and is already taking actions to patch this security breach. Apple security executives acknowledged that Apple is committed to safety and appreciates the information they have received. They stated that they are always looking to improve and appreciate the help. Apple also made a clear statement that as far as they have herd there has been no reports of any situations linked to this break.

This article hits at two main points from Chapter 4. One point is that companies need to be aware of security and constantly working to stay one step ahead of hackers. The second point it brings up is the use of White-Hat Hackers. Theses are hackers who are usually paid by the company to try and break a computer code to gain access. Apple made a clear point at stating there case and made a potential negative situation work as a marketing tool.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/technology/23iphone.html?_r=1&scp=10&sq=security%20&st=Search

The article I read was from Prisonplanet.com and the article was titled Video adds in Magazines. The article talked about the new technology being introduced to the marketing industry. This technology is a mini display screen, the size of a wafer, that is inserted in a magazine add. The technology has speakers and visual effects. This technology is similar to the singing birthday cards. A similar article posted on MaximumPC.com made the following information known, “The ads will appear on a slender TFT LCD screen, all of 2.7 mm thick, with a 320×240 resolution. Video-in-print, which will be embedded into the magazine, can hold up to 40 minutes of video content. It runs on batteries that can be charged via a USB cable.”

The buzz about this new technology is surfacing because of its up coming use in Entertainment Weekly. The ads will run in the September issue and are purchased by CBS and Pepsi. The ads are to promote the new fall line up. This technology is more expensive. The average cost is high ranging in the seven figures. This is compared to a regular print add that would only cost nine cents per page. This relates to the chapter because the book talks about new technologies over taking old ways. This technology is a way for the print companies to try to compete in a digital world. This technology is similar to the type of ads viewed in Harry Potter. This innovation leaves room for growth. There has even been talks about using technology similar to the Amazon Kendal. The news industry is try to diversify, so that they don’t become another form of history.

Artificial Intelligence is a fast growing form of Information Systems. This form of Information systems is highly beneficial to the business world. A recent use of Artificial Intelligence is seen in Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Urban Challenge. This challenge was highlighted on MSNBC’s technology section in an article titled “Driverless SUV wins $2 million Pentagon race” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21625291/ ).This was a competition that encouraged teams to build a smart vehicle that could navigate itself through a 60-mile course in the desert area of Victorville, California. The racers were not only judged on speed but also safety checkpoints. The winner of this challenge was a Chevrolet Tahoe SUV, which had been extremely modified. The vehicle was created and guided by a team from Carnegie Mellon University and General Motors. The team won the challenge and took away a prize of two million dollars.
This type of Artificial Intelligence can be classified as an Intelligent Agent. The Computer systems that are used are aimed at using knowledge for a specific task. In this case the task was driving through rough terrains and not breaking down. This competition was a way for DARPA to get teams to research for them, without having to pay wages. This technology is hoped to be use for military vehicles. By using this type of technology soldiers wont have to risk their lives by traveling in to extremely dangerous situations. This technology also allows for judgments that soldiers usually don’t have time to make, to be executed. Tony Tether, director of DARPA was quoted in the article for stating, “I watched these things driving, and I forgot after a while that there was nobody in there.” Artificial Intelligence opens the doors to making business more efficient.

I read an article on a website named Logistics. This news source is based in Australia. The article I read was, “Costa Logistics is miles ahead with Manhattan Associates.” This article talked about a Company known as Costa Logistics, this company offers third party warehousing and distribution services. It specializes in temperature-controlled goods. Costa Logistics has recently seen many improvements to their business from the success of implementing a new Information System that has Business intelligence and customer service at the most important level.  When making the changes to their Information infrastructure they made sure to keep customer service as their number one goal. Costa Logistics decided that the first thing they needed was to make sure that all their warehouse locations were linked and gave accurate real time information. The other challenge they faced was making a common interface for both customers and suppliers. Costa Logistics made the improvements and have seen the success it has brought them. The changes have aloud for more accurate information that in turn supports better customer relations, and fewer errors.

This article relates to chapter nine in two ways. It talks about using Business intelligence to support a business. This is one thing that is clear that Costa logistics does. The other is Customer relationship management. Costa Logistics main reason for making these changes was to be more customer friendly and compete in the ever growing market. Costa Logistics used  Sales force automation this way they were able to track all products to ensure correct data to customers.

http://www.logisticsmagazine.com.au/Article/Costa-Logistics-is-Miles-Ahead-with-Manhattan-Associates/508559.aspx

The article in the New York Times, “Cisco Adds New Technologies to Collaboration Tool Chest,” highlights the new collaboration systems they are implementing. These tools aim is to bring together businesses from all around the globe. They want to move away from a text-based system such as e-mail and use more “People-centric” tools. They have designed their systems to work with any devise from phones to computers. They focused on having the right server, storage and networking infrastructure to make company-to-company collaboration unfold easily without problems. To keep with Cisco’s company aim they have kept the focus on using collaboration but with safety features as their main focus. Some of the new tools are a video posting site, a  TelePresence WebEx Engage, which is an application that allows scheduling with video integration between Cisco TelePresence and Cisco WebEx conferencing. The changes have made it easier to collaborate.

This article relates to chapter ten Enterprise Resource Planning and collaboration Systems. This type of upgrade is a form of information technology that directly relates and drives business. Collaboration enables a business to work closely in groups. This allows for feedback that can have huge impacts on business. The live conferencing is especially important because it speeds up communication and saves the cost of traveling. This also allows for businesses to become more personal. When you see the other user business becomes more personal. It also changes the meaning of communication. A userer can physically see your reactions and respond in a real time.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/68598.html

The article, “Make Customer Service Local and Strong” posted on Bloomberg.com talks about the economy forcing businesses to resort to outsourcing in an effort to cut costs. The article makes some clear and precise points. The main point is that customer service is an essential part in any business and if its not addressed as a high priority then the business is doomed. The article pointed out Circuit City as one company that struggled with this. Circuit City let there top managers go and hired less qualified individuals. These switches lead to Circuit city’s demise. The Article then talks about keeping jobs local and how keeping jobs here in America will boost our economy. The author of the article then describes how his personal business has relied a lot more heavily on E-mail. By using e-mail he can respond to common problems quicker and more efficiently then phone calls. The author is trying to make an argument that outsourcing can be avoided and by keeping jobs in America better service can be provided.

This idea of switching to outsourcing to save costs is not new. Outsourcing has been a major debate topic for many years. In chapter 11 of our textbook it talks about outsourcings pros and cons. The pros are that it helps information technology by keeping up with the latest marketing and technologies and allowing the company to save on costs and human resources. The cons are that it takes away jobs and actually may lower the quality of customer service.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/dec2008/db20081231_703004.htm

I read an article on CNet titled, “Survey: Do small businesses use social networks”. This article said that in a survey conducted in August of 500 small businesses (meaning having less then 100 employees) 76 percent of them said they saw no benefit in using social networks. Out of those surveyed 86 percent had never used any social networking site.  In the article Maria Veltre, an executive vice president for Citi banks Small Business Segment, was quoted saying, “While social media can provide additional channels to network and help grow a business, many small businesses may not have the manpower or the time required take advantage of them.” This comment seems to sum up why the findings were so negative.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10374886-93.html?tag=mncol

On the other hand a survey put out in May by a marketing firm known as MarketingProfs found that 66 percent of 213 small-business executives questioned viewed Twitter either somewhat or extremely effective. This survey highlighted Twiter as the social network of choice over Facebook and LinkedIn. The main market that is being attacked on Twiter is to early adapters. These findings are consistent with what chapter twelve talked about. Social Networking sites are growing and in the 21^st century Internet and information systems need to utilize these new markets, to get ahead.

Many bigger corporations, such as Pepsi, have recently utilized Facebook and Twitter. Small business can really use these sites as a way to reach new networks. The possibilities are endless. A good example would be using a twitter feed for restaurants to post special when it is slow. This would help increase business and costs would be low.

Chapter 9 Customer Relationship Management and Business Intelligence focuses on the importance of customer satisfaction.  Customer relationship management is the management of all aspects of customer relationships within an organization to increase customer loyalty and business profitability. The book addresses the issue by referring to CRM as, “not just a technology, but also a strategy, that an organization must embrace on an enterprise level”.  The book uses an example of Harrah’s casino as an example. Harrah’ s uses a system that has a user log into a machine with a card. This card provides information that helps identify all aspects of the guest providing them with personal service. So when the person sits down at the machine and swipe the card they are greeted with there name and special offers directed specifically to them (thanks to the information of previous purchases.

CRM can also be used to track sales of certain items, allowing managers to track the profitability of a product, even predict sales.  This information is seen in the company I work for. Target collects data about sales and uses it to promote certain items to general markets. On their website they collect data from previous purchases so they can offer similar items, to the guest. This is known as cross-selling. Another technique that can be used with this information is up-selling. An example of up-selling is when a customer is buying a product such as a Macbook and the seller recommends an up grade such as a faster modem.

Chapter 10 Enterprise Resource Planning and Collaboration Systems focuses on what Enterprise resource planning is and how it works. ERP is the system that is being crated to help organizations stay connected to other departments, creating consistency in the decision making process.  The book highlights UPS as a company that has integrated the use of ERP’s. They have used the system to connect customer and business partners with real time information related to the business. This technology has had an extremely positive effect on their business.  ERP’s were not created for this function but e-business has made it possible for ERP’s to extend its outreach capabilities.

ERP’s functionality relies on a central database that is updated immediately when any user adds information to any section, also known as a module. The system works like a chain moving information from module to module as it is going through the process. For example if an order is submitted and it will go through the sales process in accounting, and then move to the production department module. The process would go on until it reaches the end.

The three main functions of ERP’s are accounting and Finance, production and management, and human resources. Accounting and finance has the most benefit on tracking credit limits for customers and highlighting profitable product lines.  Production and management is benefited by ERP’s by providing information that helps in the planning process for a company that manufactures many product lines. Human resource tracks employees’ information, helping managers know what resources are being utilized and were employees may be best utilized.

ERP is still being developed and there are new ways that it is being utilized in the business world.

Chapter Eleven System Development and Project Management discuses the methods used to develop systems. The steps of developing systems are known as the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). The steps are: planning, analysis, design, development, testing, implementation, and maintenance.  Even though this system seems simple and to the point, today’s systems are so large that teams of developers are needed. That is why there are now many different methodology’s used today. The first method addressed was the traditional method known as waterfall. In the waterfall method each step of the SDLC is addressed in sequential order. This method takes along time and leaves room for major errors. This method is rarely used today. A more common methods used today is Rapid Application Development known as RAD. RAD is a beneficial method to use because it allows for the developers to create a mock system known as a prototype. This prototype is used throughout the process and is improved by constant feedback, given by clients and users.

The second half of the chapter discusses how to manage an information technology project. The highlight was the fact that a project manager and their vision are an essential piece of a project and without one; a system is likely to fail. The main focus a project manager has to keep in mind is the triple threat: time, cost, and scope. The three are so critical that if one of these areas changes, another one is likely to change as well. The process of project management includes choosing the right project, understand the plan, and have people who are willing to back the project. An affective project manager will oversea all areas of the project. They will outsource when necessary, and keep an open mind.

Chapter twelve Globalization, Innovation, and 21^st Century Organizational Trends addresses the idea of globalization and how it relates to Information systems. The main challenge comes from cultural differences. It is hard for one site to be universal. There are many things to consider such as language, context, and many other issues.  I know personally when I was in Morocco and went to an Internet café I was confused by the system. They used the same websites such as Facebook but the site was different. The language was aerobic, and the page layout was slightly different. I wasn’t the normal user for that application so it wasn’t applicable for me; but if a Facebook user in Morocco signed on and saw my page they may have been just as confused.

The second part of the chapter focused on 21^st century trends in relation to IS. One of the topics it discussed was the use of social networks in promoting a business and in hiring processes. Linked in is one site that it used as an example. LinkedIn is a social networking site that is more business oriented. It is similar to facebook in the since you have your own social business network. This allows people to see whom you know and gives references. The site highlights your employment history giving future employers a good since of your history. Starbucks is one employer that has utilized this site for that purpose. Other employers such as Goldman Sachs form networks for alumni were they can reach out and rehire if necessary.