Collaboration systems are tools that support the works of teams.  They are IT based and they do this by sharing the flow of such information.  Businesses can solve a number of tasks they may have with collaboration.  Some of these may include but are not limited to: telecommuting, online meetings, deploying applications, and remote project and sales management.

A popular term and one of the most dominant collaboration applications, is eamil.  More specifically, instant messaging allows people to communicate in “real time”.  Private chat rooms are created in real time over the internet to allow communication between two people.  (Baltzan,Phillips,p. 384)

In the CNN.com article titled “Facebook unveils instant messaging feature”, it describes a brand new instant messaging service called Facebook chat.  Friends on Facebook will actually be able to communicate with each other in real time, back and forth instantly.  This differs from the normal built in email messaging Facebook offers.  When users click online friends, they will see who is available to chat and they will have the option to move their chat book and clear their history.

One interesting idea the article mentions is the idea that Facechat could possibly be serious competition for AOL’s instant messaging client AIM.  They are currently the number one instant messaging service in the United States.  This is because Facebook is becoming so popular, even passing up Myspace, which is something no one saw coming!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/08/facebook.chat/index.html

This article is a review of the features offer by in Genesys Meeting Center software.  It is inexpensive web conferencing software that cost approximately 33 cents per minute per user. This provides a nice alternative to purchasing an allotted time of service.  Once you create an account you are give a “credit Card” of sort with your information and PIN number.  To access the service you simple go to www.genesys.com and enter your PIN number (only the moderator needs to enter a PIN number).  The Moderator has full control of the session and software allows display live video and shows the transitions and integrated audio and video on our test PowerPoint slide show.  The moderator can also set up private chat sessions and decide when other can communicate.

this correlates to the text because the text defines groupware as software that supports team interaction and dynamics including calendaring, scheduling and videoconferencing. The text also say that that they are used to coordinate to solve problems, compete or negotiate.  I believe this software is becoming increasingly valuable because it allow people to communicate from vast distances.  This semester I used collaboration software in my MGT software it felt somewhat like an instant messenger but also had the capability of recording session.  I however would have preferred web-conferencing software that allowed use to actually see each other. I felt the lack of interaction non-verbal communication hinder our work and would have been easier with a visual experience.

Leon Erlanger

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1418513,00.asp

January 20, 2004

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

“Cisco works percentages toward Tandberg takeover”

In its quest to acquire Tandberg, Cisco is close but is not quite there. The article goes onto say that even though Cisco owns 89% of the outstanding shares of Tandberg; it is still one percent short of closing the deal in Norwegian law. The article came out on the 4^th because Cisco exclaimed that if on Dec 3^rd that it did not posses all 90% of the shares it would walk away from the deal. And now this is definitely not happening being so close. Cisco announced that it would persevere with engaging in purchasing the other percent to own the business. And it believes that by midyear of 2010 it would happen. Cisco is doing this to capture the growing videoconferencing market. Tandberg is a company based in Oslo, Norway and New York. It offers low cost and high end videoconferencing tools to companies. In the article the author examines what else has been going on in the merger. Cisco claims that back in November they have tendered an extra 2 percent putting them over the mark of taking over the business. As the author pointed out though that this just means that the shares are promised to Cisco but what is not giving is the date for which they will receive them and until then Cisco is still out of luck. Also even if Cisco receives those needed shares it still faces regulatory approval from the US Department of Justice.

Whitney, Lance. Cisco works percentages toward Tandberg takeover. 4 Dec 2009. CNET. 14 Dec 2009. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10409293-92.html

Friday, December 11, 2009

Going to the virtual office in Second Life

Remote conferencing is becoming more and more necessary in businesses today.  Since travel budgets are squeezed due to the recession, companies can no longer afford to have employees fly across the country as often as they actually need.

            Second life has been used for some years now in video games but now they it is being incorporated into the business world. With second life you can have virtual meetings on their own computer networks.  Second life will have extra security since the meetings will be set in the company’s network, rather than the public networks used in standard Second life.

            Now more than 1,400 organizations use Second life including large companies, educational institutions, government agencies, and even the U.S military. Some organizations use this just for basic meetings some even use it for training. IBM is selling its own virtual meeting tool, Sametime 3D, which allows businesses to share ideas and collaborate in a 3D world. It is still on the testing stage but this technology is growing very fast. One organization told CNN that they did not only save traveling expense and time but they also where able to come up with better ideas during their virtual meeting since the environment is very engaging. At the same time Surinder Kahai a professor at Binghamton University said that people mess up because they think that what works in a face-to-face environment also works in a virtual environment. 

            Even with Second Life human interaction is highly recommended. As it might seem more convenient it is not always the proper way to do meetings. It would be recommended to catch up on a projects progress but maybe not to plan out a project that has been chosen.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/11/05/second.life.virtual.collaboration/

According to BusinessWeek, SAP’s first significant foray into software provided over the internet and its performance is likely to influence the future of the company’s cloud strategy. However, senior VP of Business ByDesign, Rainer Zinow, announced that the company won’t make it available to all customers until the company has enough “referencing accounts” which is going to be used as part of SAP’s early adopter programme.

According to this article this technology is currently being used by approximately 90 businesses in countries such as China, France, Germany, India, UK, and the United States; although, SAP expects to bring more business in the future.

However, before SAP decides to launch its technology on a wider scale, the company wants more businesses in different countries to using its technology enough times before adopting it to use as case studies.

According to BusinessWeek, SAP launched Business ByDesign’s Feature Pack 2.0 in July. SAP announced that the next Feature Pack will be available in 2010. However, SAP anticipates to cut the total cost of ownership of the tech as well as to make it more available to the public.

Nevertheless, SAP sees the SaaS ERP tech as the significant part of its long term strategy.

Ferguson, Tim. (Sept. 10, 2009). SAP wants more software guinea pigs. BusinessWeek. Retrieved on November 18, 2009 from http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/sep2009/gb20090910_030101.htm?campaign_id=yhoo

I choose an article from cio.com and this article defines how ERP applications work.  In essence this article gives good detail about how todays ERP providers are trying to make the component more and more user friendly. Today services such as On-demand are offered to customers giving them the option of accessing online data via their television for example. However, many business in the modern business world have trouble offering their information on a primary server. When a company such as comcast puts their on demand options online they are safe because they are a big enough corporation to host their on server. Some smaller up-coming businesses do not have the luxury of owning a server and have to put info. on a server as a third party. By doing so this has a potentially hazardus threat involved.

The threat has to do with them getting information stolen and basically anyone who has access to this server can take their information and offer it. This is highly illegal but that does not stop a man trying to earn a buck because if he is successful this can lead to millions of dollars worth of information.

“nearly 54 percent of those responding to this CIO model said they probably or definitely would not move to an alternative ERP model.” In my opinion this is a dog eat dog world and risk need to be taken in order to receive great rewards.

Overall this article helped me understand some potentially hazardus problems with ERP and how things such as On-Demand software work in todays market.

Resource: November 17 , 2009

http://www.cio.com/article/40323/ERP_Definition_and_Solutions?page=9

As travel budgets are squeezed and slashed in the recession, companies are increasingly seeking innovative ways of bringing employees together for conferences and meetings remotely. Virtual community Second Life is seeking market by creating a new tool that realize businesses to have virtual meetings on their own computer networks. The company’s Enterprise tool will let employees’ avatars meet in virtual worlds from the privacy of a company’s own network, rather than the public networks used in standard Second Life. That extra security could encourage more companies to take up the technology. The ability to collaborate effectively using virtual tools may now become an increasingly important skill as technology offers more options than, say, video conferencing. According to Linden Lab, creators of Second Life, more than 1,400 organizations — including large companies, educational institutions, government agencies and even the U.S. military — use Second Life to hold meetings, conduct training and prototype new technologies more efficiently. Rashik Parmar, IBM’s chief technology officer for Europe, told CNN that last year about 350 of its technical leaders from around the world met for 72 hours via Second Life to brainstorm about new technologies.
That is kind of groupware system in collaboration system. With Second life program we can use videoconferencing and web conferencing. Furthermore It will encourage to develop other software related to videoconferencing.

The New York Times article, “Bing Adds Features, Including Results From Wolfram Alpha” relates to Chapter 10 because they utilized ERP and decision making support to better there site. Since Microsoft first started BING which began in May they have may modest but steady stands against yahoo and google. Now that the company has had some time to implement and see how their site is working and not working they have collaborated with Wolfram Alpha to know provide answers to questions when a topic is entered into the search engine. Some of the new features include nutritional facts and providing a BMI for people to utilize. If someone typed in chicken in the search engine the nutritional facts would pop up in a box on the same screen.

Microsoft wants to distinguish their Bing search engine from yahoo and google search engine sites so that people will have reason and differentiation from those already very popular sites. Enhancing their site and overing something different will hopefully make the site as popular as the competing ones. Other enhancements were made to the site including snapshots of the web pages before they open it, enhancing shopping previews, and localized weather results and events.

Microsoft utilized ERP and collaborated systems to enhance their site to further their business success. They are taking the current data they have and implementing decision making support to make decisions that will be profitable for the company.

Helft, Miguel(2009). Bing adds features, including results from Wolfram Alpha. nytimes.com/TECH, retreived November 10, 2009, from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/bing-adds-features-including-results-from-wolfram-alpha/

Two of the bigger social networking sites will be teaming up together soon. Twitter, and Linkedln will join forces soon. The two sites will let data and information be transfered and shared between the sites. Twitter is popular among younger people, and allows users to tell people what they are doing but only in one hundred and forty characters. Linkedln is a popular networking sites for professionals. It allows users to do things like post resumes and other business operations.The problem between the two sites is that one in for social purposes, while the other is for professional purposes. Is it a good idea for a future employer to see that you are out partying with friends? This leaves us with the main problem of all social networking sites. All of them allow people to post practically anything, but you are not required to use the service at all. So people put themselves in harms way by themselves. It is easy to control what is put up on the Internet as long as you are careful. There are also certain benefits that could come from it too, since it gives people another way to connect and network.

Rooney, Ben. (11-10-09). Twitter and LinkedIn Hook up. Cnn.com. Retrieved from: http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/10/technology/twitter_linkedin/index.htm

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.

“Going green” is picking up a lot of steam lately. The marketing department in every major US company seems to be jumping on the bandwagon. It’s too bad they have waited this long to jump on, or this long just to create the “green” bandwagon in the first place. Being ecologically oriented is an important ideology for me and I support any business that tries to improve their impact on the environment. With that in mind I point you to an article from Reuters concerning  “Going Green” and Enterprise Resource Planning. Syspro is currently being honored for its efforts in developing a Green ERP system. They even received the Governor of California’s award for it. That should speak volumes as to the success of the system as California is known for stringent laws regarding pollution and waste. The system is SYSPRO’s Material Yield System. This system allows cut-shape suppliers to reclaim, remnants for reuse. Not only is this efficient it also keeps the landfills free of wasted potential material. This “green” solution spans 3 categories that include waste reduction, energy efficiency and recycling of resources or as they taught me in elementary school, “reduce, reuse, recycle.” Business are realizing that going green not only helps the environment but it adds a lot more green in their wallets as well. Also by implementing green solutions a company can earn more goodwill in the community, something that cannot be accurately measured. Earth’s resources are limited and last time I checked moving to another planet is a logistical nightmare, not to mention impossible.

Reuters. (2009). SYSPRO Honored for Driving Green ERP.  Retrieved November, 11 2009 From http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS146082+04-Nov-2009+BW20091104

AirTran sees more opportunity for fee revenue

According to the article, AirTran Airways believes that there is more opportunity to boost up revenue from add-on fees that it passes on to their customers. According to the Chief Financial Officer of AirTran Airways Arne Haak, customers want to be able to buy the cheapest ticket they can get, but don’t really mind how much fees they have to pay during the process. Arne Haak believes that charging customers for seat assignments at the time they are being booked is one area that the company can create more revenue. AirTran Airway which is based in Atlanta expects to make about $340 million in revenue which would include the increased add-on fees that are being going to be enforced. The growth in revenue will be up 45 percent from 2008. “AirTran has benefited by having low costs and focusing on domestic routes where it believes it can make money”. Also recently the company has been adding service to the Caribbean. Even with the recession, AirTran’s has been one of the companies to actually increase profit. AirTran is on of the most profitable U.S. carriers this year. According to the article, the company reported about $10.4 profit in their third-quarter report. The huge increase of revenue is largely due to the add-on fees that are being enforced by low-cost carriers and AirTran Airways. Haak believes that the add-on fees are here to stay because people will always want to fly at the cheapest price they can get which AirTran has been providing its customers for years.

Reference: Weber, Harry. (2009). The Associated Press. AirTran sees more opportunity for fee revenue. Businessweek. Retrieved from: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9BPF8H80.htm

How Business Is Adopting Design Thinking

According to the article on Businessweekly.com companies such as GE and P&G have came up with a designed point of view for problem-solving decisions.  The article mentions a course offered at the learning center in Ossining, N.Y. that provides the tools for managers to create design thinking.   “For Lawrence Murphy, the chief engineer of global design for GE Healthcare who leads the sessions and helped start the program, the goal is to equip employees with new problem-solving tools to help the company evolve to “imagination at work” from its focus on operations efficiency tool Six Sigma”.  According to the article, the leaders of the course teach that having the feeling of discomfort is a good thing.  That being able to change a company’s culture will take time and discomfort because the trick is to make it into a problem-solving machine and not an education program.  The program offered has been around since 2005 and company executives from P&G plan to use it more often in the future.  Also mentioned in the article was the effectiveness of the program.  The program has helped increase the design thinking aspect in business from about 100 facilitators to about 175.  P&G have offices in Europe, Asia, and Latin America which are all starting to use the design workshops.  The program also states to beat their criteria because it often leads to much more success.  The program is extremely effective because it forces employees to use their creative skills when it comes to products and services.  And since design thinking is becoming more and more important each day, it is important to enforce new traits in today’s business.

Reference: Wong. Venessa. (2009). Special Report. How Business Is Adopting Design Thinking. Businessweek. Retrieved from: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/sep2009/id20090930_853305.htm

“Verizon Wireless Customers Can Get the Latest Applications, Ringtones, Music and More on Their Blackberry Tour Smartphones”

This article is about when the company, Verizon Wireless, offering new technology to its customers. The blackberry and smartphone phones, both are offering the most recent applications such as instant messaging. Through connecting to the internet with a phone, customers can log in to social networks such as Myspace and Facebook and send instant messages to friends and family. Along with instant messaging, customers can also use their email and chat with friends using Google, Yahoo, AOL, and other networks. Basically, with phones, people can access applications that would usually be available when using the computer.

 In relationship to Chapter 10, this article talks about instant messaging. The text book describes instant messaging as a type of communication in form of a similar chat room except it becomes private. My personal experience with instant messaging or IM, has been a good one. The first time I began IMing was when I was in middle school and AOL was popular. I joined chat rooms with friends and even had a private chat room with them. As technology kept developing, I began using Yahoo’s instant messaging and then it was popular across the world. I would chat with friends in another country and it was exciting to be chatting in real time. Now, with the Blackberry phone and the iphone, instant messaging has become very popular. Wireless companies have provided their clients with real time applications in which they can come in contact with friends and family on the spot. With the famous social networks, Myspace and Facebook, instant messaging is still growing.

 Verizon Wireless Customers Can Get the Latest Applications, Ringtones, Music and More on Their Blackberry Tour Smartphones. (23  July). PR Newswire.  Retrieved November 10, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Dateline.

Large Hadron Collider is experiencing impossible management situation. Krisztina Holly is a business leader and has to manage about 7,000 scientists from 85 countries around the world. A side from that she has to deal with the scientists’ languages, cultures, and expertise. Also she has no control over the salaries. This situation seems to be difficult to manage because of different sources from separate location.

However this is possible to manage, either big or small. Large Hadron Collider is handle by CERN, which is a European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva, Switzerland. The work behind it is enormous: “a 27-km-long circular tunnel and four enormous detectors, buried 100 meters underground. One of the four experiments, called ATLAS, weighs as much as the Eiffel Tower, has about 20 million components, uses 3000 km of cables and 1000 km of piping, and requires some 5 million lines of computing code to run.” With all this technology and device running there is no CEO or president to oversee this. Money is control by spokesperson and resource coordinator that tracks the salaries.

This article reminds me of when Fresno State was switching to a new phone system and everything has to be replaced and adjust. All the staffs and faculties had no working phone for nearly a week, but happen. Behind the scene, the phone system is an enormous machines that connection to all the phones on campus. It was interesting to see the work in process of switching over to a new system.

Holly, Krisztina. (May 20, 2009). “CERN’s Collaborative Management Model”. Retrieved November 5, 2009, BusinessWeek.
Website: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/may2009/id20090520_115971.htm

Chapter 10: Enterprise Resource Planning and Collaboration Systems

This article explains and defines the uses of ERP systems in a business. The article begins by explaining the reason behind ERP software and the advantages it has for a business if implemented correctly. ERP software is the idea of integrating all parts of a business, weather it is sales, HR, marketing, or service, ERP software has the ability to give a company feedback at every step of the customer relation process. The consolidation of many systems into one allows all aspects of a business to converge and share their information so that the best decision can be made. ERP is used at every part of the buying process in which the customer is catered to their wants and needs.
The customer is the most vital aspect to any business so any and every bit of information to further satisfy them is key in growing a business.
Business can use ERP technologies to make their operations have more fluidity and receive higher results. ERP systems can be very complex and hard to implement, therefore correct system choice and proper implementation into an operation is necessary for success. If a business can successfully integrate and use an ERP system, then they can please their customers and plan for the future, and in the end remain prosperous.

Resource:
Thomas Wailgum. ERP Definition and Solutions. 2008. http://www.cio.com/article/40323/ERP_Definition_and_Solutions

This week’s reading in the chapter ten textbook talks about enterprise resource planning and collaboration systems. According to the textbook, enterprise resource planning (ERP) “integrates all departments and functions throughout an organization into a single IT system (or integrated set of IT systems) so that employees can make decisions by viewing enterprise-wide information on all business operations” (358). This actually relates to what we are doing at my work place just not too long ago. There is a lot of programming that we do with my non-profit and each project runs under its own system and ways of functioning that it gets all complicated for everyone to stay on top of what each project or person is doing. Thus, in the past few months, we have been working to integrate all the project plans and budgets under one system and also have it all available for easy access to all employees on Google Docs. Having everyone able to see what is going on and having equal access to information will cause us to function better as an organization. The chapter also talks about teams, partnerships and alliances saying that “the core competency of an organization is its key strength, a business function that it does better than any of its competitors”. Also having everyone report their project plans, finances, and etc. under one system in which everyone else is able to see makes us all more responsible in getting things done, on time, and in a professional matter. People are less likely to turn in bad reports if they know that others will read it and stay on top of what is going on.

Chapter 10. Enterprise Resource Planning and Collaboration Systems

I found this article that talks about the virtual world Second Life being used for business meetings and conferences. With companies traveling budgets being cut, they are looking for less expensive ways to hold conferences and meeting between employees at different locations. Many companies are turning to the virtual world. Employee’s can create virtual alter egos and conduct meeting with other virtual employees. These meeting can now take place on the companies secure network instead of the typical public network used by Second Life. Over a thousand companies currently use virtual networks to hold meetings and conduct training. Therefore, the ability to use virtual tools is becoming a more important skills in business world. IBM offers a similar program to Second Life called Sametime 3D that allows companies to share ideas and project outlines. They are even testing more advanced versions of Sametime 3D.

 Not only do these types of programs help save on traveling cost and time but it provides an advantage when it comes to sharing ideas. Some employees say they would feel more comfortable stating their ideas or opinions in a virtual world rather than in a face-to-face or video chat meeting. This can be an advantage because a lot of good ideas or suggestion may never be heard because an employee is to embarrassed to speak up.

I think this article relates to the chapter because the chapter discussed video chat and IM’s, which are ways of communicating over the internet. These virtual worlds are just the next step in communication. I think these may even be useful when parents need to stay home with children or when employees themselves are sick. It will enable people to still attend meetings and conferences from their own homes.

Tutton, Mark. (2009). Virtual Businesses: Going to the office in Second Life. Retrieved November 7, 2009 from CNN.com

Web: www.CNN.com