Networks and Wireless

1. Explain the benefits of using wireless technology.

The benefits involved with using wireless technology is less hardware is required (there is not a lot of IT infrastructure, which reduces costs), universal access to many applications, 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days availability and mobility of employees.

2. Describe the business benefits associated with VoIP.

The business benefits of VoIP is that voice traffic can pass through existing internet lines, communication is free across the VPN for businesses with many sites, cost savings in not needing traditional phone infrastructure and can leverage existing network for free communication.

3. Compare LANs and WANs.

A LAN is a local area network, which is designed to connect group of computers in close proximity to each other such s in an office building, school or home. A WAN is a wide area network, which spans a large geographic area such as state, province or country. The two technologies can be compared and contrasted by the respective geographic scopes.

4. Describe RFID and how it can be used to help make a supply chain more effective.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) uses active or passive tags in the form of chips or smart labels that can store unique identifiers and relay this information to electronic readers. Examples include e-tags (e.g. the RTA tag used to pay road tolls) and smart cards (e.g. London's Oyster card for accessing public transport). RFID can be used to make a supply chian more effective by being attached to inventory, allowing businesses to keep track of their inventory as it passes through the various stages of the supply chain. It allows the supply chain to be more productive and efficient. Less buffer inventory is needed as estimated times of deliver known. Helps facilitate JIT (just-in-time) stock management.

 

5. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of deploying mobile technology.

The advantages of deploying mobile technology are a mobile workforce. An example of this is a sales person can have access to a CRM system while on the go, being able to easily know real time data on sales, stocks, customer experiences etc. This allows for real time processing of information and faster delivery of that information. Business data and applications can be stored in the 'cloud' and thus accessed wherever and on whatever device.

The disadvantages are that it is not a very secure form of data if not set up right, privacy issues, security issues and unsecured devices are easier to get a virus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdBd14rjcs0

Database and Data Warehouse

1. List, describe, and provide an example of each of the five characteristics of high quality information.

• Accuracy, is concerned with whether all the values are correct, e.g. is the name spelt correctly?
• Completeness, is concerned with whether any values are missing, e.g. is the address complete with number, name and postcode?
• Consistency, is concerned with whether aggregate or summary information is in agreement with detailed information, e.g. do all the total fields equal the true total of the individual fields?
• Uniqueness, is concerned with whether each transaction, entity and event is represented only once in the information, e.g. are there any duplicate customers?
• Timeliness, is concerned with whether the information is current with respect to business requirements, e.g. is information updated weekly, daily or hourly?

2. Define the relationship between a database and a database management system.

 

A database is the structured file consisting of tables, records and fields and a database management system is the system that manages that database, allowing the user to run queries, compile reports etc.

3. Describe the advantages an organisation can gain by using a database.

In modern business, using a data base has become very essential. The advantages of this is that it reduces redundant information, increases flexibility, makes systems scalable and increases information integrity. A database makes a business more efficient and effective in its operations and provides analytical information discovering trends.

4. Define the fundamental concepts of the relational database model.

A relational database is one that stores information in the form of logically related two-dimensional tables, each consisting of rows and columns. It is the most commonly used database model today, and example of which is Access.

5. Describe the benefits of a data-driven website.

A data driven website is an interactive website kept constantly updated and relevant to the need of it customers through the use of a database. The advantages of a database driven website is that it allows a user to run a query by submitting a form, making it easier and more simple to find information and increases customer satisfaction.

6. Describe the roles and purposes of data warehouses and data marts in an organization.

A data warehouse is a logical collection of information that supports business analysis activities and decision making tasks. The primary purpose of a data warehouse is to aggregate information throughout an organization into a single respiratory in such a way that employees can make decisions and undertake business analysis activities.

However, a data mart contains a subset of data warehouse information.

To distinguish between the two, think of data warehouse as having a more organizational focus and data marts having focused information subsets particular to the needs of a given business unit such as finance or production and operations.

Enterprise Architectures

1.     What is information architecture and what is information infrastructure and how do they differ and how do they relate to each other?

Information architecture identifies where and how important information, such as customer records, is maintained and secured. It is the overall strategy of how an organisation is going to structure its resources.

Information infrastructure includes the hardware, software and telecommunications equipment that, when combined, provides the underlying foundation to support the organisation's goals. It is the actual implementation of an effective information system.

The two concepts are related in that architecture plans what infrastructure is to be used by an organisation. They differ in that architecture is about planning, whilst infrastructure is about implementation.

2.     Describe how an organisation can implement a solid information architecture

An organisation can implement a solid information architecture via effectively implementing strong backup and recovery, disaster recovery and information security.

3.     List and describe the five requirement characteristics of infrastructure architecture. 

·         Flexibility: infrastructure architecture must be flexible enough to adapt to changes in the business environment, that must be able to grow and change with the business.

·         Scalability: it must be able to adapt to increased demands; must be able to scale to more products, customers, records and systems.

·         Reliability: ensures all systems are functioning correctly and providing accurate information .

·         Availability: systems must be widely accessible, inside and outside the business.

·         Performance: measures how quickly a system performs certain processes or transactions; should be faster and easier to use.

4.     Describe the business value in deploying a service oriented architecture 

Service oriented architecture (SOA) is a business driven IT architectural approach that supports integrating a business as linked, repeatable tasks or services. It helps today's business innovate by ensuring that IT systems can adapt quickly, easily and economically to support rapidly changing business needs. It also helps businesses increase the flexibility of their processes, strengthen their underlying IT architecture, and reuse their existing IT investments by creating connections among disparate applications and information sources.

5.     What is an event? 

An event within in the business is identified as the eyes are ears of the business. They detect threats and opportunities and alert those who can act on the information. This involves the use to IT systems to monitor the business process for events that matter and automatically alert the people best equipped to handle the issue.

6.     What is a service?

Services are more like software products. They must appeal to a broad audience, and thy need to be reusable if they are going to have an impact on productivity. New services that are defined at a high level, describe such things as 'Credit Check', 'Customer Information' and 'Process Payment'. These services describe a valuable business process.

7.     What emerging technologies can companies can use to increase performance and utilise their infrastructure more effectively?

Virtualisation, which allows multiple computer systems to run on the same hardware, e.g. a computer being able to run both Windows 7 and Mac OS X.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HItJ1ET4-oM&p=3DE7BB3F883BA051&playnext=1&index=7

Grid computing, which allows unused resources on remote computers to be used.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkO-Depf9TM

Ethics and Security

1.    Explain the ethical issues surrounding information technology.

Ethics is the principles and standards that guide our behaviour towards other people. The ethical issues that surround technology include the following:

1. Intellectual property.
2. Copyright
3. Fair use doctrine
4. Pirated software
5. Counterfeit software

Privacy is one of the largest ethical issues facing organisations. Privacy is defined as the right to be left alone when you want to be , to have control over you own possessions, and not be observed without your consent.

Privacy is related to confidentiality, which is the principle that certain information will remain outside public domain.

2.    Describe and explain one of the computer use policies that a company might employee

One computer use policy that a company might employee is the internet use policy. This policy contains general principles that are used to guide the proper users of the internet within the organisation. The policy:

o    Describes available internet services.

o    Defines the purpose and restriction of internet access.

o    Complements the ethical computer use policy.

o    Describes user responsibilities.

o    States the ramification for violations.

3.    What are the 5 main technology security risks?

4.    Outline one way to reduce each risk.

• human error - such as severity can be minimised by proper training of employees.
• technical failure - severity can be minimised by having backup infrastructure ready to go.
• natural disaster - severity can be minimised by a disaster recovery plan, e.g. a hot site.
• deliberate acts e.g. virus, spam, malware - severity can be minimised by virus protection software.
• management failure - severity can be minimised by having high procedural standards and an effective back up policy.

5.    What is a disaster recovery plan, what strategies might a firm employee?

·         The process of regaining access to computer systems and data after a disaster has taken place

—  All firms should have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan in plan

—  This plan lists things like –

◦      Communications plan

◦      Alternative Sites – hot or warm site

◦      Business Continuity

◦      Location of Backup data

e-Business

 1. What is an IP Address?  What is it’s main function?

An IP Address is defined as the basic communication language or protocol of the internet. It can also be  used as a communications protocol in a private network.

IP (internet protocol) this defined as the way that data is transferred from one computer to another basic function in transporting data between computers.

2.  What is Web 2.0, how does it differ from 1.0?

Web 2.0 is a set of economic, social and technology trends that collectively form the basis for the next generation of the internet- a more mature, distinctive medium characterised by user participation on, openness and network effects. Web 2.0 is referred to as the live web. Users can collaborate and build there own content. Business are using web2.0 to enable access to critical business  application for employees and customers.

 

3.  What is Web 3.0?

Web 3.0 is defined as a semantic web that encompasses the following:

• Transforming the web into a database.
• An evolutionary path to artificial intelligence.
• Search for information using different medias.
• Evolution toward 3D.

Web 3.0 uses the concept of Tagging to build information about you, your devices talk to each other and build intelligence about you.

 4.  What is e-Business, how does it differ from e-Commerce?

            E-business - the conducting of business on the internet including, not only buying and selling,

            but also serving customers and collaborating with business partners.

           This  looks into the business activities that may take place.

           The benefits of this are as follows:

• Highly accessible
• Increased customer loyalty
• Improved information content
• Increased convenience
• Increased global reach
• Decreased cost

          E-commerce - the buying and selling of good and services over the internet.

          E.g. Partial and pure.

5. What is pure and partial e-Commerce

Pure vs. Partial EC:

• The product can be physical or digital.
• The process can be physical or digital
• The delivery agent can be physical or digital.

Virtual organizations are companies that are engaged only in EC. (Also called pure play). While click-and-mortar organizations are those that conduct some e-commerce activities, yet their business is primarily done in the physical world. i.e. partial EC

6.  List and describe the various e-Business models?

• Business-to-business (B2B) - applies to business buying from and selling to each other over the internet.
• Business-to-consumer (B2C) - applies to any business that sells its products or services to customers over the internet.
• Consumer-to-business (C2B) - applies to any consumer that sells a product or service to a business over the internet.
• Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) - applies to sites primarily offering goods and services to assist consumers interacting with each other over the internet.

          

          7. List and describe the major B2B models?

Three most important are the sell-side B2B, buy-side B2B and electronic exchange.

          8. Outline 2 opportunities and 2 challenges faced by companies doing business online?

                Two opportunities include the following:

• Highly accessible - businesses can operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
• Decreased costs - conducting business over the internet is substantially smaller than traditional forms of business communication.

               Two challenges include the following:

• Protecting customers - customers must be protected against unsolicited goods and communication, illegal or harmful goods, insufficient information about goods or their suppliers, invasion of privacy and cyber fraud.
• Providing security - companies must protect their assets against accidental or malicious misuse. Customer information also needs to be protected from internal or external misuse.

Strategic Decision Making

1. Define TPS & DSS, and explain how an organisation can use these systems to make decisions and gain competitive advantages?

TPS=  a transaction processing system is the basic business system that serves the operational level (analysis) in an organisation.

DSS= a decision support system models information to support managers and business professionals during the decision-making process.

2. Describe the three quantitative models typically used by decision support systems?

• Sensitivity analysis  - this is the study of the impact that changes in one (or more) parts of the model have on other parts. Users change the value of one variable repeatedly and observe the resulting changes in other variables.
• What if analysis - what will happen if this changes. Looks at the impact of the change within the organisation. Users repeat this analysis until they understand all the effects of various situations.
• Goal seeking analysis - right to left/left to right. Start with on sequence and carry out the operation until the companies target is met. This sets a target value (a goal) for a variable and then repeatedly changes other variables until the target value is achieved.

3. Describe a business processes and their importance to an organisation?

A business process is a standardised set of activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customers order. A business process is  aimed to convert input within the company to outputs. It is hidden for the user and by using a business process productivity is increased. The importance of this is by knowing your business process organisation goals will be achieved.

4. Compare business process improvement and business process re-engineering?

• Business process improvement - this attempts to understand and measure the current process and make  performance improvements accordingly.

Document as Is process

Establish Measurement

Follow process

Measure Performance

Identify and implement improvement

The loop repeats over and over again as it is continuously improved.

• Business process re-engineering - this is the analysis and the redesign of workflow within and between enterprises.  The basic steps involved include the following:

Set project scope

Stud competition.

Create new processes.

Implement solution.

5. Describe the importance of business process modelling (or mapping) and business process  models?

Business process modelling (or mapping) is the activity of creating a detailed flowchart or process map of a work process, showing its inputs, tasks and activities in a structured sequence. A business process model is a graphic description of a process showing the sequence of process tasks, which is developed for a specific purpose and from a selected view point. The purpose of a process model is:

• Expose process detail gradually and in a controlled manner.
• Encourage conciseness and accuracy in describing the process model.
• Focus attention on the process model interfaces.
• Provide a powerful process analysis and consistent design vocabulary.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U3-qE057oA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq4JVkkCzKY

Information Systems

1. Explain information technology's role in business and describe how u measure success?

The positive impact of information technology on a business is that it reduces costs, improves productivity and generates growth. IT is very critical within organisations as various initiatives aid in facilitating communication and increasing business intelligence.

Success is measured through both efficiency IT metrics and effective IT metrics. Efficiency IT Metrics measures the performance of the IT system itself including throughput, speed and availability. Getting the most from each resource. Effectiveness IT Metrics measures the impact IT has on the business processes and activities including customer satisfaction, conversion rates, sell-through increases. Setting the right goals and seeing they are accomplished.

2. List and describe each of the forces in Porter's Five Forces Model?

Ø Buyer power- high when buyers have many choices of whom to buy from and low when their choices are few. One way to reduce buyer power is through loyalty programs, which rewards customers based on the amount of business they do with a particular organisation.

Ø Supplier power- high when one supplier has a concentrated power over an industry. Buyers have few choices of whom to buy from and low when their choices are many.

Ø Threat of substitutes- high when there are many alternatives to a product or service and low when there are few alternatives.

Ø Threat of new entrants- high when it is easy for new competitors to enter a market and low when there are significant entry barriers.

Ø Rivalry among existing competitors- high when competition in fierce in a market and low when competition is more complacent. Reducing switching costs is one way to "steal" your competitors' customers.

Follow links for further explanation, each link is on one area of Porters Five Firces Model:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57TzFsHqPLo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxygE8Wvvjk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp4z3LWGHpk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpdXHTN8fmQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFdPhQhGFms&feature=related

(Follow links in orders presented)

3. Describe the relationship between business processes and value chains?

Information technology needs to ensure that support works well so primary activities are running well within the organisation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wL6x1BSlw8&NR=1&feature=fvwp 

4. Compare Porter's three generic strategies?

Industry force	Cost leadership	Differentiation	Focused
Entry barriers	Ability to cut price in relation deters potential entrants.	Customer loyalty can discourage potential entrants.	Focusing develops core competencies that can act as an entry barrier.
Buyer power	Ability to offer lower price to powerful buyers.	Large buyers have less power to negotiate because of few close alternatives.	Large buyers have less power to negotiate because of few alternatives.
Supplier power	Better insulated from powerful suppliers.	Better able to pass on supplier price increases to customers.	Suppliers have power because of low volumes, but a differentiation-focused firm is better able to pass on supplier price increases.
Threat of substitutes	Can use low price to defend against substitutes.	Customers become attached to differentiating attributes, reducing threat of substitutes.	Specialised products and core competency protect against substitutes.
Rivalry	Better able to compete on price.	Brand loyalty to keep customers from rivals.	Rival cannot meet differentiation-focused customer needs.