Wireless Technologies & the Moders Organaization ..

1] * The new wireless devices have different capabilities such as:

. Cellular telephoney              . Wi-fi                 . Digital camera
. Bluetooth                               . GPS                  . Organizer
. Calculator ...


2] * Microwave transmission systems : For high-volume, long distance, point-to-point communication. 


* Communication satellite :

   . Geostationary earth orbit.

   . Medium earth orbit

   . Low earth orbit


* Radio transmission : Sends data directly between transmitters & recievers using radio-wave frequencies.

* Infrared light : A red light not commonly visible to human eyes.



3] * Wireless networks & distance ..

Short-range ..

Medium range --> Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) , Mesh network which uses multiple WI-Fi access points to creat a wide-area network.

Wide area --> Include cellular radio & wireless broadband or WiMAX.



4] * Mobile computing & commerce ..

. Mobile computing: A computing model designed for people who travel frequently.

. Mobile commerce: Any e-commerce conducted in a wireless environment.

* M-commerce applications :

  . Banking
  . Wireless payments
  . Micropayments
  . Wireless wallets
  . Bill payment services


5] * Major threats to wireless networks:

1. Rouge access points.

2. Eaves-dropping.

3. War driving.

4. Radio-frequency jamming.

 

 

End of Chapter .. 

 

Electronic Commerce's Applications & Issues ..

1] * What do we mean by E-commerce & E-business??

1. E-commerce is The process of buying, selling, transferring or exchanging products, services or information using computer networks, including the internet.

2. E-business is The broader concept of e-commerce, including serving customers, collaborating with business partners & performing electronic transactions within an organization.


2] * Business to consumer: The sellers are organizations & the buyers are individuals.



* Business to business: The sellers are organizations & the buyers are organizations.



* Consumer to consumer: The sellers are individuals & the buyers are individuals.



* Business to employee: Organizations provide information & services to employees, allow them to manage their benefits, take training classes electronically, buy discounted insurance, travel packages & tickets to events.



* E-government: The use of internet technology to deliver information & public services to citizens, business partners &suppliers. Also used to conduct business transactions with citizens, goverment itself & businesses.


 * M-commerce: Conducting e-commerce in wireless environment.


. There are limitations to e-commerce though, such as: Lack of univerally accepted security standards , insufficient telecommunications bandwidth , expensive accessibility , legal issues & lacks a critical mass of buyers and sellers.


* Forward auction: Auctions which sellers use as a channel to many potential buyers.

* Reverse auction: A buyer ( regularly an organization ) wants to buy a product or a service through requesting quotation.

3] * Electronic storefront:

A web site that represents a single store.

* Electronic malls: Includes Referral malls which you cannot make actual purchase from.

Also known as e-mall / cyber mall. A collection of individual shops under a single internet address.




4] * Online services:

1. Cyber banking
2. Online securities trading
3. The online job market
4. Travel services


* Online advertising methods:

. Banners
. Pop ups
. pop unders
  


5] * Sell - side marketplace : Where organizations attempt to sell their products / orders to other organizations electronically from their private e-marketplace.


* Buy - side marketplace : Where organizatoins attempt to buy needed products / services from other organizations electronically.


* Electronic exchange : Public exchanges have many buyers & many sellers.

1. Vertical exchange:
Connect buyers & sellers in a given industry.

2. Horizontal exchange:
Connect buyers & sellers across many industries.

3. Functional exchange:
Needed services such as temporary help are traded on an 'as-needed- basis.



6] * There are electronic payment methods:

. Electronic checks

. Electronic credit cards

. Purchasing cards

. Electronic cash : Stored-value money cards , Smart cards , Person-to-person payments , Digital wallets.

7] * Ethical issues in E-business:

. Privacy issues

. Jobs loss


* Legal issues in E-commerce:

. Fraud

. Domain names

. Cybesquatting

. Copyright

. Taxes & fees

End of Chapter .. 

Information System's Ethics, Privacy & Security ..

1] * There are ethicaql issues related to information technolohy:

.Privacy --- Privacy policies which are related to data collection problems, accuracy and confidentiality help organizations avoid legal issues.


.Intellectual property --- Intangible property created by corporations or individuals that is protected under trade secret, patents & copyritght laws.



* Intellectual property issues regarding IT's Software are the most common.




2] * Inforamtion security threats:

 

  

 1. Intentional:

. Espionage
. Extortion
     . Vandalism
     . Theft
     . Software attacks :
         viruses - trojans horses - logic bombs - back doore - denial of service alien software - phishing - pharming
     . Compromises to intellectual property


2. Unintentional:

. Human errors
. Environmental hazards
. Computer system failure



3] * There are different mechanisms to protect information systems -->  Controls :

. Security procedures

. Physical guards

. Detection software.


* The controls are used for:

. Prevention

. Deterrence

. Detection

. Damage control

. Recovery

. Information system correction 



* General controls:

1. Physical controls

2. Access controls

3. Administrative controls

4. Communication controls


* Another type of controls are Application controls:

1. Input controls

2. Processing controls

3. Output controls



4] * IS auditing is done around, through, using a computer.

. Internal & External IT auditing --> many issues that could be supported by Software & Checklists.

* IT auditing prepares for disaster ricovery .. how is that done??

Because it implies how to avoid, plan & fast recovery from any disaster.

End of Chapter .. 

Network Applications, Web 2.0, Distance Learning & Telecommuting ..

1] * Four major network application :

. Discovery: Browsing and information retrieval & providing useres with the ability to view, download, process information from the database.

Tools: Portals , directories , search-engines.


. Communication: Through chat rooms , call centers , e-mail , voice communications & blogs.

. Collaboration: Mutual efforts by two or more entities who work together to accomplish tasks. By Groupware & workflow systems.




2] * Web 2.0

. Apps & IT used by web 2.0:

1. XML

2. AJAX : Web development technique that allows a portion of the web page to relod with new data instead of the whole web page.

3. Tags: A keyword or a term that describes a piece of information.

4. Weblogs: A personal website, open to the public, where the creator express his\her feelings or opinions.

5. Wiki: A website on which anyone can post anything and change other material.



* Really Simple Syndication:

 Allows any user to publish their blog or anything to whoever has an interest in subscribing. In case a change in the content occurs, the subscribers will get a notification.


* Podcast:

A digital audio file that is distributed over the web using RSS for play.back on portable media players or PCs.

* Videocast:

Same as a podcast, but is a digital video file.



* The websites using web2.0 are categorized:

Social Media: Allow user to upload their content on the web in the form of a text, voice, images & videos.


Aggregators: Websites that provide collections of content from the web.


Mashups: Websites that takes content from a number of other websites & mixes them together to creat a new type of content.



* Through using a set of shared protocols & standards, these applications allows various systems to share data & services without needing human translation.




3] * E-learning: Learning supported by the web.
      In a classroom as a support to conventional teaching, or Virtual classrooms.

* Distance learning: Where teachers & students do not meet face to face.



4] * Telecommuting ..

1. Benefits :

 Less stress
 Better family life
 Employment opportunity for housebound people

Increase productivity
Increase the ability to retain skilled employees
Tap remote labore pool


2. Disadvantages:

Increased feeling of isolation
Possible fringe benefits loss
Lower payment
No workplace visibility
Slower promotion
Lack of socialization

Hard to supervise the work
Possible data security problems
Training costs
Equipping & maintaining telecommuters' houses

End of Chapter .. 

 

Managing Data & Knowledge ..

1] * Data is important because IT applications cannot be carried out without it.


* Due to various reasons such as:

1. Data is increasing continuously


2. Data security & quality & integrity

3. Storing in various systems

* Data Lifecycle

. Step 1: Data is collected.

. Step 2: Stored into a database.

. Step 3: preprocessed to fit the format of a data warehouse or data marts.




2] * There are various data resources:

. Internal :  Corporate databases.

. Personal : Users document their own experiences.

. External : Govermenta reports to commercial databases.




3] * There are advantages to the database approach:

1. Reduction of data isolation, redundancy and inconsistency.

2. Sharing among all users is possible.

3. Increase of data integrity & security& application independancy of each other.




* Data Warehouse: Historical data organized according to subject, to be accessible in a readily acceptable for analytical processing activities.



. There are benefits to using a data warehouse:

1. Improve business knowledge.

2. Provide competitive advantage.

3. Enhance customer service and satisfaction.

4. Facilitate decision making.

5. Help streamline business processes.



* Data governance: An approach to managing information across the entire organization.

. Unambiguous rules are followed for creating, collecting, handling and protecting information.



4] * Knowledge: contextual, relevant and actionable information. There are two types:


1. Explicit: Deal's with objective, rational and technical knowledge.

2. Tactic: Subjective, cognitive and experiential learning.  

Information System and the Modern Organization

1] * What is an information system?
Collects, processs, stores, analyzes and disseminates information for a specific purpose.


* What is a computer-based information system?
        An information system that uses computertechnology to perform some or all of its intended tasks.


* What is an application program?
A computer program designed to support a specific task or business process.

Departmental Information System: The collection of application programs in a single department.



* Enterprise resource planning system: Correct lack of communication among the functional area ISs.

* Transaction processing system: Supports monitoring, collection, storage and processing of data from the organization's basic business transactions. 

* Electronic Commerce system: Enable organizations to conduct organizations, called business-to-business electronic commerce, and customers to conduct transactions with businesses, called business-to-consumer electronic commerce.


* Clerical workers: Support managers at all levels of the organization. Supported by Office Automations system.

* Lower-level managers: Handle day-to-day operations of the organization. Supported by Office Automation system.

* Middle managers: Make tactical decisions which deal with activities. Supported by Office Automation system & Business Intelligence system.

* Knowledge workers: Professional employees which are expert in a particular subject area. Supported by Office Automation system & Business Intelligence system & Expert system.

* Executives: Male decisions that deal with situations that can significantly change the manner in which business is done. Supported by Dashboards.




2] * Porters Competitive Forces model

1. The threat of entry of new competitors.

2. The bargaining power of suppliers.

3. The bargaining power of customers.

4. The threat of substiute products or services.

5. The rivalry among existing firms in the industry.







* Porter's Value Chain Model

1. Primary activities:

Inbound logistics
Operations
Outbound logistics
Marketing and sales
After-sale services


2. Support activities:

The firm's infrastructure
Human resource management
Product and technology development
Procurement




* To counter the five competitive forces, there are different strategies:

1. Cost leadership strategy.

2. Differentiation strategy.

3. Innovation strategy.

4. Operational effectiveness.

5. Customer orientation srategy.




3] * IT & the society & organization

. Reduce the number of middle managers.

. Change manager's job.

. Impact employees at work:

1. Effect's their health and safety.

2. Opportunities for disabled people.

. Life quality improvement:

1. Robot revolution.

2. Health care improvement.




4] * Managing Information Resources ..


. Information resources: A term that includes all the hardware, software, data and networks in an organization.

Resources management is done by information system department & End users. 


* Information system department: Responsible for corporate-level and shared resources.


* End users: Responsible for departmental resources.

End of Chapter ...

 

The Modern Organization Functioning in a Global Environment ..

1] * We always hear the term 'Business Process', but what does it mean?
 It is a collection of related activities that produce a product or a service of value to the organization, its business partners and its customers.


* There are processes which include one functional area & there are processes which cross functional areas ---> Product design.


* As any process, well management is crucial to performance.
 |___ Organizations emphasize Business Process Management (BPM)
        |___ A management technique that includes methods and tools to support the design, analysis, implementation, management and optimization of business process. 


2] Data, Information & Knowledge.

 .Data : Elementary description of things, events, activities and transactions that are recorded,    classifies and stored, but not organized to connvey any specific meaning.

 .Information : Data that have been organized so that they have meaning and value to the recipient.

 .Knowledge : Data or information that have been organized and processed to convey understanding, experience, accumilated learning and expertise as they apply to a current business problem.


3] Information Technology Infrastructure & Architecture.

 .IT Infrastructure :
Consists of:
1) Physical facilities
2) IT components
3) IT services
4) IT management --- Support the entire organization.

 

 

 

 

 .IT Architecture :
 Integrates the information requirements of the overall organization and all individual users, IT infrastructure and all participants.



4] The Global Web-based Platform.

.Enables individuals to connect, compute, communicate, compete & collaborate everywhere & anywhere, anytime and all time & to access infinite amounts of information, services & entertainment.

. Operates regardless of geography, language barriers, time & distance.
  
.Consist of components that comprise the internet and the World Wide Web :

1) Hardware
2) Software
3) Communication technologies

5] Business Pressures. 

.The business environment consists of different factors. Changes in any of them is likely to creat pressure on the business. The factors are :

1) Socail
2) Legal
3) Economic
4) Physical
5) Political

. How do organization respond to pressure??
 With IT-supported activities.
   |___ Strategic Systems
   |___ Customer Focus
   |___ Make-to-order
   |___ Mass Customization
   |___ E-business      

END ..