There is an enormous amount of data floating around the
world today and being able to analyze it all has become key. Big data can be
described as data set so large that commonly used software can’t handle it and
has to be used with special software. It is massive and usually unstructured.
It is used in many industries, from health care and finance to travel booking
sites and even sports. It is expected
that data volumes will increase 50-fold
by 2020.
There are some challenges with big data. One challenge is
having a large enough space to store the data. We want to be able to have the
capacity to have the date for us to use. One solution for that is to use cloud
computing to save data in virtual servers. Another issue that may arise is will
we understand the data when it comes in. We will need a tool or software that
will interpret that data that we are pulling in. The main areas that areas that
describe these challenges are called the 4 V’s : Variety, Velocity, Volume, and
Value.
There are also opportunities of working with big data is to
be able to extract information that was not available before. It allows us to
identify trends, extract knowledge, and use data in a productive way. We can
monitor various sources of big data so that we can a varying of information.
Big data seems to be a trend that we will not be able to
avoid, so we should take early strives to embrace it.
Kreations by Kristin and Company has had a lot of success as
an app design and web design company. User
experience helps us understand where we are now, where we want to be, how we
will get there, and how we will measure success.
Looking at the product that we are currently offering the
customer, we can see if competitors currently offer the product, see if there
are any gaps of flaws in our offerings. We also need to make sure that all
products we offer are in line with each other.
Once we have gone over what we do offer, next we look at
where we want our product to be in its next level. Have we noticed any ways
that we can improve the products? Did we address all of the users needs? How do
we want the user to interact with this product? These are all things that we
have to address before we go on to the next phase.
The next phase is creating a game plan to get where we
decided we wanted to be in previous phase. How are we going to address any of
the gaps or improvements that we found we needed to fix? How long will this
take us? We need to define all requirements and resources needed.
Finally we need to come up with a way to decide how to
measure if we have been successful in implementing all of these changes. All
goals need to be measureable so that we can keep track with progress.
The benefits of us developing a strategy will be for us to
come closer to achieving our business goals. We are able to come together on
one page as a company to decide what it is we are creating. We can clarify any abstract thinking we may
have as a group. It will help us to
reduce time that we spend working on projects that will add value to our
company.
More objects are becoming embedded with
sensors and gaining the ability to communicate. In 2008 the number of these objects actually
exceeded the number of people on Earth. We are able to communicate with all
aspects of our lives from sometime with as little as one device.The Internet of things describes how these
everyday objects connect to the Internet to create a complex system that works
together to make our lives easier.
The resulting information networks
promise to create new business models, improve business processes, and reduce
costs and risks .We are not just using computers to connect to the Internet; we
are using them to control things. We can optimize this process so that we can
control operations for the company more efficiently. There are many options to
implement this such as options for energy saving in the offices. We can use
sensors to connect to the electricity and employee can control office lights
and power with cell phones.Also heating
and cooling systems can be programmed to know when employees are in the office.
Then these objects can turn on and off accordingly.
In our warehouse sector, can also have sensors in company
cars. This will allow us to keep inventory of our products as they travel from
on warehouse to another. One thing we must consider as we move forward is the
privacy and security aspect.The more
people that use this technology the more we have to keep our data. But this
will overall will help us save move and man power with in our company.
Gamification
of applications has started to become common tool increase customers’ engagement
in products or services. It focuses on increasing the customer’s usage by
rewarding them with virtual rewards like badges or trophies that can often lead
to real product prizes or discounts. This in turn drives customers to buy more
products or utilize the product more frequently.
Some common techniques applied to
gamification projects include:
·acheivments / badges
·levels
·leader boards
·progress bars
·activity feeds
·avatars
·real-time feedback
·virtual currency
·gifting
·challenges and quests
·trophy case
·embedding small mini games within other
activities
We,
at the Koala Cola Company, have decided to combine gamification with drinking
colas. Our target audience is a group of customers of a younger age that have
grown up with technology that has been integrated in their everyday lives. With
our new app customers can now check in when they drink a cola and receive
points for every new area of town. As they collect points, they will achieve
new rewards that can be cashed in for Koala Cola products.
Gamification
will leave or customers with a positive feeling of feeling accomplishment. It
also will leave our company with increased brand recognition.
As the leading government agency in Koala Land for Public Health it is important for us to be able to be respond quickly to public inquiries, as well as be able to be in the fields to work directly with our local health departments for training. But as or organization grows, more employees are in the need of these services and has become costly. Blackberry cost for a growing number of employees has exceeded over $1,908,000 last year. The IT budget has been cut 15% for the next fiscal year and mobile demand looks to be up 25%.
The Kola Centers of Public Health has worked to secure efficient way of using expanding the use of mobile technology, while attempting to cut government spending. As, CTO, I have worked with an advisory group to create Eucalyptus Greenhouse Digital Government Strategy. Our recommendations are to implement a voluntary Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program. This program should meet the urgent IT budget challenges. To encourage participation with this program, different incentives were offered to employees. One of the main incentives was increased telework days, which also coincide with the GoGreen efforts.
The BYOD service offering was established to allow secure access to KCPH email and the KCPH intranet from your Personally Owned Equipment (POE) using the Leaf Technology mobile application.
Key Features:
Encrypted connection to KCPHMail servers
Wireless synchronization
Access to up-to-date messages, attachments, calendar, and contacts
Secure Browser provides access to the KCPH intranet
Remote data wipe capability for Leaf Client data only
Password policy enforcement
There are some challenges that have been brought up by employees that we will need to revisit. Some employees are concerned that while the organization will be saving money, they will see increased data charges on their personal bills. Also the software client may be considered corporate data and not personal, so the employee may be forced to upgrade service agreement. We may consider having a flat rate stipend that will offset the cost. While this will still cost the organization money, it will be considerably less than having to pay for equipment and a full account.
KCPH has experienced positive saving with reductions in service plans and hardware maintenance.
All I do is dream big keep my head in the clouds...
The learning continues and I am excited as ever. We have start to learn about something that is fairly new over the past few years…Cloud Computing.
What is that??? Well glad you asked. Cloud computing means that instead of all the computer hardware and software you're using sitting on your desktop, you are able to use services provided by another company virtually.
There are several products that many of use daily that utilize the cloud. Let me give you some examples to explain a little better.
Apple iCloud
One example for all of the Mac/iPhone users is the iCloud:
The iCloud is a virtual free 5GB of storage for all of you music, photos, app, calendars, and documents. It will allow you to syncs all your content from all your devices to iCloud servers and makes your content accessible from any of your devices like your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, or PC.
Google Docs
Google Docs allows users to upload documents, spreadsheets and presentations to Google's data servers. Users can edit files using a Google application. Users can also publish documents so that other people can read them or even make edits.
We have been given a great introduction about this topic and I would like to keep learning about this topic and hopefully become proficient in it!!!
So we are coming to an end to the 1st semester of my first year in the Master of Internet Technology Program at UGA. I love every part of it. This semester I took Data Management and Internet Technology.
In our Internet Technology class we have discussed a wide variety of topics.
Business modeling was a topic that was totally new to me. We use the Book Business Model Generation as guide to learning about the Business Canvas and the different components that made up the canvas and how to apply them to the business of choice.
I really really really enjoyed the speakers that came to speak with our class. Chris Hanks spoke to us about entrepreneurship. I loved his outlook on the subject and helping us think outside of the box with fusing technology into the equation. Nathan Taitt, President of Eclipse Web Media, came to the class to discuss Search Engine Optimization (SEO) with us. This helped me fully understand how the process work first hand and how it really benefits the web site.
The latest thing we have been going over in class in Java Programming using Eclipse (I’m SURE you were wondering how my iPod got to Total ECLIPSE of the Heart) and Cloud Computing using Amazon Web Services (AWS). This has been an interesting side of programming for me. Learning hands on in the classroom is so beneficial to me. Dr. Piercy walked us through all the assignments to make sure that understood everything about the Java programming and the terminology we would be using. This has been the best classroom experience that I have had and I can WAIT to continue this journey!
It seems like there is an app for almost anything we could possibly thing of in life… And I bet you have them all. How do you keep track of them all. WELL there will be an app for THAT…
We worked on a group activity in class and broke into groups and to choose a business model we worked with . Our group chose to use a business model done group member Kaleigh, for an App Organizer. This app will be able to take inventory of the apps that you currently have on your phone and intuitively be able to suggest other apps that the user may be interested in.
1.The network infrastructure: The app would be a connected to a cloud that holds the entire infrastructure.
2.Data Management Technologies: For the data management technologies we would use a MySQL database to hold the data from the app
3.Application/Business Logic Topics: We will develop a GUI (Graphic User Interface) for the mobile app client
4.Client Side Technologies – Hardware/Software: For the clients side technologies we chose the major phone platforms such as Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows
5.Developmental Tools: We chose Development tools such as Phone Gap to create the application. Using Phone Gap to develop the software will take care of the issue of cross-platform development and only have to maintain one product. Phone Gap will convert the code into compliant web standards. Also, HTML5, CSS3, and javascript.
Mary J. Blige - Searching This week in class we talked about the history of the Internet and also did a Internet Infrastructure Scavenger Hunt.Here are a few of the topics
Who is Tim Berners-Lee and what was his role in development of the Internet?
Tim Berners-Lee was the man leading the development of the World Wide Web (with help of course), the defining of HTML (hypertext markup language) used to create web pages, HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) and URLs (Universal Resource Locators). All of those developments took place between 1989 and 1991.
What does W3C stand for? What year was the group formed? Who formed it?The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was founded by Tim Berners-Lee after he left the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in October, 1994.
What year was the Web Standards Project formed? Who formed the group?founded by George Olsen, Glenn Davis, and Jeffrey Zeldman in 1998
Aside from the W3C and WaSP, list two entities that help govern the web.
Internet Activities Board (IAB) and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) help govern the web.
What is DNS?The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network.
What is Abilene? The Abilene Network is an Internet2 high-performance backbone network that enables the development of advanced Internet applications and the deployment of leading-edge network services by Internet2 universities and research laboratories across the country.
What is the total number of possible addresses for IPv6?2^128 = 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456
What are the four layers of the Layered Network Model (related to but not the OSI 7 layer model)?
Application Layer, Transport Layer, Internet Layer Network Access Layer
In Week 2 of MIST 7500 class we discussed business models and strategy.Instead of the Jackson 5, one the strategies we discussed was The Porter 5… Porter’s 5 Forces that is.
Porter’s 5 Forces
While MICHAEL JACKSON and the Jackson 5 were busy “Blaming it on the Boogie” in 1979, MICHAEL PORTER was at Harvard Business School busy developing the concept of the 5 Forces. Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis assumes that there are five important forces that determine competitive power in a business situation. Three of his forces referred to the competition from external sources and the other two were internal threats.
Five forces
1. Threat of new competition - Is it very easy to enter this business and will I have an abundance of competitors - The easier it is to enter leads to more competition and less profits OR The harder it is to enterleads to less competition and more profits
2. Threat of substitute products or services - Will there be a product that will come out on the market that will take the place of mine and lower profits
3 Bargaining power of customers (buyers) - Do the customers have a the power to demand lower prices - Bargaining with customers with lower prices may reduce profits
4 Bargaining power of suppliers - Suppliers may be able to able to raise their prices - If suppliers raise their price and we don’t raise ours we loose profits
5 Intensity of competitive rivalry - Do we have an existing competitor that we are constantly having prices was with to gain or retain customers? - Fierce competition may reduce profits
In our first class we talked about “Takin’ Care of Business” using the Business Model Canvas from the Business Model Generation.
Models: - give us ways to experiment - give us ways to predict the future - and are simplified representation of reality
It broke down the Business Modeling using the 9 key building blocks:
1. Value Proposition – What is my business product 2. Customer Segments – Who is the product for 3. Costumer Relationships – How do we relate to our Customers 4. Channels - How am I getting them the product 5. Key Recourses - What do we need do to make that product/service 6. Key Activities - What do we have to do to make that product/service 7. Partner Network – Who do we partner with and how 8. Cost Structure - What are we getting for this product 9. Revenue Stream – How will we make money
We were told to do two Business Canvases. I chose to one for a fitness gym and the other for a wedding consulting business.
For the gym, I tried to apply my knowledge from being a customer of a gym and trying to understand what I thought they may need.
For the wedding planner, I remembered some of the things that I experienced while working with a wedding planning company.
Oh yes, wait a minute Mr. Postman, Waaaaaaiiiiiitttt Mr. Postman...
-->
Our first assignment in my MIST 7500: Internet Technology class was to listen to a TechStuff Podcast : “What is a Router?”
After listening to this podcast I tried to think of a way to discuss this topic as well as tie it in with music… then it hit me. Why did I choose “Please Mr. Post Man by the Marvelettes” when there was not even the internet as we know it in 1961. Well Gladys wanted to know if the postman had any mail for her from her boyfriend that he may have brought from the post office.
The basic model of what a router is can be explained in plain language as a Post Office.
The first thing we have to understand is that the internet is a network of networks. Computers talk to each other through multiple networks. Just like people communicate by mail.
The Key Players:
Modem- Post Office
A modem collects information sent through networks and sorts it.
Router – Postman
Once the information collected and sorted by the modem it is sent to the router to deliver it to the computer that requested it.
Gladys is waiting for the Postman to deliver the information that she is expecting. She is depending on him to bring the letter from her boyfriend that was at the post office.
Packets – Mail (Gladys’ letter from her boyfriend)
Traffic on the internet is sent in little packets (mail) that are sent with the information that tells where it is going, where it is coming from and what piece it is (address label). It tells the router (postman) where to take it.
Gladys’ boyfriend sent her a packet. It was ”a card” or maybe “just a letter” with a message that she seems to already know says “he needs me”. Well that none of my business. But I am sure he put an address label to tell the Postman where to take it.
MAC Address - Home Address (Where Gladys lived)
Routers have unique addresses for each item in the network that connects to the internet. This is the way for networks to identify the devices and send the packets that go to that device.
Where does Gladys live? Well her home address should be on the address label that was included on the packet or letter that the postman was trying to deliver to her so he will know exactly where to deliver it to.
Routing Table – GPS or Mapquest (or a Map in 1961)
This isa guide that tells the network “this is the direction that you need to send packets in orderfor information to go from this machine and get to this machine”. It will give the fastest route which may not always be the shortest route.
So we look at it like this,the postman needs to get to Gladys’ address and there are 2 different ways to get there. He can get there straight down Main St. or he can choose to go down Maple, turn left on Oak St. then left down an alley to get to Main St. The first option may seem like the best option, but actually because of the traffic on Main St., the GPS (or map) will tell him to go the other way so he can arrive in a shorter time… Because Gladys is anxious. She’s already told him “Please Mr. Postman, deliver the letter,
the sooner the better”.
The process is more complex than this, but this is a simple way to explain how a router may work in helping us get our email just like the postman may help Gladys get her letter from her boyfriend.
… I just hope he really wrote her a letter. She’s crying for goodness sake.
