ITM 100 Course Summary for Exam - December 2023 PDF

Prisha Hathiwala - [email protected], 501547517 ITM 100 6 COURSE SUMMARY FOR EXAM on DECEMBER 12th, 2023, 12-2PM Week 1 - Week 2 IT Innovations - Continuing stream of information technology innovations to create a more efficient business world. - Cloud computing, mobile digital platforms, big data, AI, the Internet of Things (IoT) New Business Models - New Business Models which change how businesses are distributed/created. - Netflix/AppleTV/Amazon causes viewers to unplug cable and use internet for entertainment E-commerce Expansion - Changing how firms design, produce and deliver their products and services. - Facebook/YouTube/Netflix exemplify new face of e-commerce by selling services not just physical products Management Changes - With new smartphones, internet and wireless networks managers have instant access to important information online (Online collaboration, Business Intelligence, Virtual meetings) Changes in Firms and Organizations - More aware of changes in technology, consumer attitudes and culture as they emphasize more accurate decision making based on data and analysis (social media to listen to consumers) Globalization - Internet has drastically reduced costs of operating on global scale, Increases in foreign trade, outsourcing, Competition for jobs, markets, resources, ideas, Growing interdependence of global economies and requires new understandings of markets and opportunities Digital Firm -Significant business relationships are digitally enabled and core business processes are accomplished through digital networks -Key corporate assets are managed digitally such as intellectual property, core competencies, and financial human assets (Cisco,3M and GE) Operational excellence -Businesses continuously seek to improve the efficiency of their operations in order to achieve higher profitability (Walmart with over $524 billion in sales in 2019) New products, services, and business models -A business model describes how a company produces, delivers and sells a product or service to create wealth(Tim Hortons Credit Card) Customer and supplier intimacy -When a business really knows its customers, the customers respond back with returning and purchasing more.(PC Optimum at Shoppers) -Intimacy with suppliers result in lower costs as It allows them to provide vital inputs (JCpenney IS) Improved decision making: Managers do not have the right information at the right time tend to rely on forecasts, best guesses and luck (Poor outcomes raise costs, lose customers) Competitive advantage: Charging less for superior responding to customers in real time. Industry leaders (i.e., Apple, Walmart, UPS) They know how to use information systems for this purpose Survival – competitive necessity - Firms also invest in information systems and technologies because they are necessities of doing business - Keeping up with competitors Blockbuster did not survive Netflix (video rental to video streaming) Information System (IS) - Set of interrelated components which Collect, process, store, and distribute information - Support decision making, coordination, and control and contains information about significant people, places and things within the organization Information Technology - Hardware and software are technical foundations and tools, similar to the material and tools used to build a house. - This includes not only computer machines, storage devices, and handheld mobile devices along with software like Windows or Linux operating systems Functions of an IS include: - Input:Raw data or information from organization, external environment or other IS - Output:Information to be supplied to people, activities (or other IS) that use it - Processing:Converts raw data (or one form of information) into more meaningful information - Feedback:Output returned to members of the organization to help them evaluate or correct the input and/or processing Organization: Hierarchy of authority, responsibility; Separation of business functions; Unique business processes; Unique business culture; Organizational politics Management: Managers set organizational strategy and must act creatively (Creation of new products and services) Technology: Hardware/software/Infrastructure/Data management Senior Management: makes the long-range strategic decisions about products and services as well as ensures financial performance of the firm. (@TMU President,Vice President) Middle management: Carries out the programs and plans of the senior management (Deans, Associate Deans, Chairs, Professors Operational management: Is responsible for monitoring the daily activities of the business (Administrators, Librarians, Teaching Assistants Knowledge workers: Such as engineers, scientists or architects design/create products for the firm Data Workers: Such as secretaries or clerks assist with scheduling and communications Production or service workers: Produce and deliver the service Business information value chain: Raw data acquired and transformed through stages that add value to that information Business perspective: Calls attention to organizational and managerial nature of IS Complementary assets - Assets required to derive value from a primary investment - Organizational assets (e.g., efficient business processes) - Managerial assets (e.g., incentives for management innovation) - Social assets (e.g., Internet and telecommunications infrastructure) 1 Technical Approach: Emphasizes mathematically based models to study IS. The disciplines are Computer science, management science, and operations research. Behavioral approach - Behavioral issues (strategic business integration, implementation, etc.) - The disciplines are Psychology, economics, sociology - Approach of our Book/Class: Sociotechnical - Optimal organizational performance achieved by jointly optimizing both social and technical systems used in production helps avoid purely technological approach Business Processes - Flows of material, information, knowledge (may be assets or liabilities) - Manufacturing and production: Assembling the product - Sales and marketing:Identifying customers - Finance and accounting:Creating financial statements, paying suppliers - Human resources:Hiring employees, paying employees Enterprise Applications: Systems for linking the enterprise & Span functional areas, focus on executing business processes across the firm (Include all levels of management) Intranets: Internal company websites accessible only by employees. Term intranet refers to an internal network, in contrast to the Internet, which is a public network linking organizations and other external networks. Extranets: Company websites accessible externally only to vendors and suppliers. Often used to coordinate supply chain and it allows customers to see realtime statistics such as views and clicks through their current ads Collaboration - Working with others to achieve shared and explicit goals to focus on task or mission accomplishment within or across organizations - Teams have a specific mission that someone in the business assigned to them. - Changing nature of work - Nature of work has changed from factory manufacturing and pre computer office work where each stage in the production process occurred independently of one another and was coordinated by supervisors - Growth of professional work - Interaction jobs tend to be professional jobs in the service sector that requires close coordination and collaboration - Changing organization/scope of the firm and Changing culture of work and business, and Emphasis in Innovation - The more a business firm is “collaborative,” the more successful it will be. - Productivity (people interacting and working together) - Quality ( People working collaboratively can communicate errors faster if they work in isolation -Innovation (working collaboratively can come up with more ideas) - Innovation - Customer service (using collaboration and social tools can solve customer complaints and issues faster - Financial performance (collaborative firms have superior sales,growth and performance) - Profitability, sales, sales growth - Technologies for Collaboration and Social Business - Email and instant messaging (IM)/Virtual meeting systems (telepresence, Zoom) - Cloud collaboration services (Google Drive, Google Docs, MS OneDrive) - Collaboration platforms: Microsoft Teams, Google Meet/Chat, Slack,Wikis and Meta Social business: Use of social networking platforms (internal and external) to engage employees, customers, and suppliers (deepen interactions and expedite information sharing, conversations” is a keyword to strengthen bonds with customers Six steps in evaluating software tools 1. Identify your firm’s collaboration challenges 2..Identify what kinds of solutions are available 3. Analyze available products’ cost and benefits 4. Evaluate security risks 5. Consult users for implementation and training issues 6. Evaluate product vendors The IS Department - Chief information officer (CIO): manager who oversees the use of information technology - Chief information security officer (CISO): senior-level executive who oversees an organization's information, cyber, and technology security - Chief privacy officer (CPO): responsible for the firms knowledge management program - Programmers: highly trained specialists who write software instructions for computers - Systems analysts: translate business problems and requirements into systems - Information systems managers: leaders of teams of programmers and analysts in information system departments IT Governance: Strategies and policies for using IT in the organization who have decision rights (decisions must be made to ensure effective management/use of IT) 2 Week 3 - Week 4 **Cloud Computing** Definition by NIST includes on-demand service, ubiquitous network access, location-independent resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and measured service. D2L relies on Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud hosting, showcasing the scalability and reliability of cloud services. **Competitive Forces Model for IT Infrastructure** This model helps in understanding the market forces that influence IT infrastructure decisions. **Computer Components** The ad example provided detailed specifications such as Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processors, DDR2 memory, SATA hard drive, and display details. **Computer Hardware Platforms** Includes client machines like desktop PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, servers, and mainframes like IBM Z OS used in banking and telecommunications. **Consulting and System Integration Services** Large firms engage leading consulting firms for support with complex infrastructure, such as Accenture and IBM Global Services. **Data Management and Storage** Database software providers like IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, and Apache Hadoop are critical for large-scale systems. **Enterprise Software Applications** By 2020, it was expected that firms would spend over $500 billion on software for enterprise applications with SAP and Oracle being the largest providers. **Internet Platforms** Support company websites and intranets with hardware, software, and management services. The Internet hardware server market includes IBM and Dell. **IT Infrastructure** Defined as a set of physical devices and software required to operate an enterprise, providing computing services, facilities, management, and education services. **Management Issues** Includes dealing with platform and infrastructure change, governance, and making wise infrastructure investments. **Networking/Telecommunications Platforms** Network operating systems like Windows Server, and network hardware providers such as Cisco and Juniper Networks. **Operating System Platforms** Operating systems for corporate servers and client level such as Windows Server, Unix, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Android, iOS, and Chrome OS. **Software Categories** System software manages a computer system at a fundamental level, and application software addresses specific needs to solve real-world problems. **Stages in IT Infrastructure Evolution** Evolution stages include mainframe, personal computer, client/server, enterprise computing, and virtual computing. **Technology Drivers of Infrastructure Evolution** Moore’s Law on microprocessor performance, Law of Mass Digital Storage, and Metcalfe’s Law on network economics. **Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Model** Analyzes direct and indirect costs where hardware and software account for about 20% of TCO, with strategies for cost reduction. **Enterprise Application Challenges** - **Expensive**: High purchase and implementation costs, often leading to cost overruns and long development times. - **Technology Changes**: Keeping up with rapid technological advancements can be challenging. - **Business Process Changes**: Adapting to and integrating new business processes is required. - **Organizational Learning Changes**: Enterprises need to continuously learn and adapt to use applications effectively. - **Vendor Dependence**: There can be a heavy reliance on software vendors, leading to switching costs. - **Data Management**: Standardizing and cleansing data is essential for management. **Next-Generation Enterprise Applications** - **Enterprise Solutions/Suites**: Aim to enhance flexibility, web-enable applications, and integrate with other systems. - **Cloud-Based Versions**: Availability of enterprise applications in the cloud. - **Mobile Platform Functionality**: Enterprise applications are being optimized for use on mobile platforms. - **SMB Versions**: Tailored versions for small and medium-sized businesses. - **Social CRM**: Integrating social networking technologies for creating company social networks, monitoring social media activities, utilizing social media analytics, and managing social and web-based campaigns. - **Business Intelligence (BI)**: Including BI within enterprise applications provides flexible reporting, ad hoc analysis, “what-if” scenarios, digital dashboards, data visualization, and incorporates AI and machine learning technologies. Business Value of CRM and ERP Systems: Specific ways these systems add value to a business, like improving customer satisfaction or operational efficiency. Detailed Aspects of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Systems. Specific functions and integrations of ERP systems in business operations. Global Supply Chain Challenges and Internet Solutions: The complexities of managing global supply chains and how internet technologies aid in these processes. Supply Chain Management Software: In-depth discussion on types of SCM software, their functionalities, and their impact on business efficiency. Week 5 - Week 6 Problems in managing data - Effective IS provide accurate (free of errors), timely (available to decision-makers when needed) and relevant information (useful for the types of decisions to be made). - Data management is essential to organize and maintain information within systems so that the information continues to be accurate, timely, and relevant. File Organization Terms and Concepts - Physical data organizations: - Database: Group of related files. File: Group of records of the same type. Record: Group of related fields. Field: Group of characters as words or numbers. - Logical data concepts: - Entity: Person, place, or thing on which we store information. Ex. Maintaining info about students, courses, schedules, enrollment information, grades, Schedule information which contains courses taught by all the professors belonging to all the departments of the university, faculty members, departments. - Attribute: Each characteristic or quality describing an entity. Ex. Students are represented using name, current major, gender. Course Department, name, Units. Faculty name and department. - Key field = Identifier field used to retrieve, update, sort a record. Ex. Students represented using student ID. Each course has a course identifier. Faculty members have IDs. Problems with the Traditional File Environment - Files maintained separately by different departments. Data redundancy. Data inconsistency. Program-data dependence. Lack of flexibility. Poor security. Database Management Systems - Database: serves many applications by centralizing data and controlling redundant data. - Database management system (DBMS) e.g. Oracle, SQL server, DB2 - Interfaces between applications and physical data files. Separates logical and physical views of data. Solves problems of traditional file environment. Controls redundancy. Eliminates inconsistency. Uncouples programs and data. Enables organizations to centrally manage data and its security. Relational DBMS - Represent data as two-dimensional tables. Each table contains data on entities and attributes. - Table: grid of columns and rows. Rows (tuples): Records for different entities. Fields (columns): Represent attributes for an entity. Key field: Field used to uniquely identify each record. Primary key: Field in a table used for key fields. Foreign key: Primary key used in the second table as look-up fields to identify records from the original table. Operations of a Relational DBMS - Three basic operations are used to develop useful sets of data, which are Structured Query Language (SQL) programming statements: - SELECT: Creates a subset of data of all records that meet stated criteria - JOIN: Combines relational tables to provide users with more information than is available in individual tables - PROJECT: Create a subset of columns in a table, creating tables with only the information specified Capabilities of Database Management Systems - They have data definition capabilities and data dictionaries. Querying and reporting, which has “Data manipulation languages” like Structured Query Language (SQL). - Many DBMSs have report generation capabilities for creating polished reports (Microsoft Office’s Access). Designing Databases - Conceptual Design (Abstract model of database from a business perspective) vs. Physical Design (Detailed description of how the data will actually be arranged & stored on physical devices) - Normalization: Process of creating small stable data structures from complex groups of data - Normalization 2nd Definition: Streamlining complex groupings of data to minimize redundant data elements and awkward many-to-many relationships - Referential integrity: Rules used by RDBM S to ensure relationships between tables remain consistent - Entity-relationship diagrams (ERDs): Process of creating small stable data structures from complex groups of data. A correct data model is essential for a system serving the business well. 3 Non-Relational Databases and Databases in the Cloud - Non-relational databases: “No SQL” is a More flexible data model that is Easier to scale. - Data sets are stored across distributed machines and can Handle large volumes of both unstructured and structured data. - Databases in the cloud Appeal to start-ups, smaller businesses. Other examples are Amazon Relational Database Service (ARDS), Microsoft SQL Azure, and other Private cloud services. Blockchain - Are Distributed ledgers in a peer-to-peer distributed database, which Maintains a growing list of records and transactions shared by all. Encryption used to identify participants & transactions. - Used for financial transactions, supply chain, & medical records. Is the Foundation of Bitcoin & other crypto currencies. The Challenge of Big Data - Big data: Massive sets of unstructured/semi-structured data from web traffic, social media, sensors, and so on. - The volume of data can be too much for a typical DBMS, which can grow to petabytes or exabytes of data. - Can reveal more patterns, relationships and anomalies. Requires new tools and technologies to manage and analyze data. The Challenge & Ethics of Big Data - Surveillance Capitalism - freely given individual data creates unprecedented value for those who capture data and distill the information. This drives up the market value of these companies. - The ability to predict consumption trends by using freely given big individual data allows these companies to sell, influence, and dominate more. - Can government elections (e.g. the 2016 US election) be influenced by Big Data analysis? Business Intelligence Infrastructure - Business Intelligence Infrastructure is an array of tools for obtaining information from separate systems and big data. - Data warehouse: Stores current and historical data from many core operational transaction systems, consolidates and standardizes information across enterprises, but data cannot be altered, and provides analysis and reporting tools. - Data marts: A subset of a data warehouse. It typically focuses on a single subject or line of business. - Hadoop enables distributed parallel big data processing across inexpensive computers. Key services include the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS, data storage), MapReduce (breaks data into clusters), & Hbase (No SQL database). Used Yahoo/NextBio. - In-memory computing:It is used in big data analysis. It uses the computers’ main memory (Random Access Memory - RAM) for data storage to avoid delays in retrieving data from old and slow disk storage. It can save hours or days of processing and reduce it to seconds. It requires optimized hardware. - Analytic platforms: High-speed platforms using relational and non-relation tools optimized for large datasets. Analytical Tools: Relationships, Patterns, Trends - Tools for consolidating, analyzing, and providing access to vast amounts of data to help users make better business decisions. These tools include: - Multidimensional data analysis (OLAP) - Mining 3 types: Data, Text, Web - Data Mining: Finds hidden patterns and relationships in datasets. It infers rules to predict future behaviour. Types of information obtained from data mining can include: Associations, Sequences, Classification, Clustering, and Forecasting. - Text Mining: Extracts key elements from large unstructured data sets. It is sentiment analysis software. - Web Mining: Discovers and analyzes useful patterns and information from the web.Web mining can be categorized into web content mining, web structure mining, or web usage mining. - Sentiment Analysis = Mines text comments in email, blog, social media conversation, or survey to detect favourable & unfavourable opinions about specific subjects Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) - Supports multidimensional data analysis. Viewing data using multiple dimensions. Each aspect of information (e.g. product, pricing, region) is in a different dimension. - OLAP enables rapid, online answers to ad hoc queries. Establishing an Information Policy - Information Policy is a firm’s ruleset, procedures, and roles for sharing, managing, and standardizing data. - Data administration establishes policies and procedures to manage data. - Data governance deals with policies and processes for managing the availability, usability, integrity, and security of data. This is especially true when regarding government regulations. - Database administration creates and maintains the database(s). Ensuring Data Quality - More than 25 percent of critical data in Fortune 1000 company databases are inaccurate or incomplete. Before a new database is in place, a firm must: - 1. Identify and correct faulty data. 2. Establish better routines for editing data once databases are in operation. - Quality is assured through data quality audits (Structured survey of the accuracy & completeness of data in an IS) or data cleansing. (Activities for detecting & correcting data). What Are the Different Types of Decisions, and How Does the Decision-Making Process Work? - Improving hundreds of thousands of “small” decisions adds a sizeable annual value for the business. Types of decisions: - Unstructured: Decision makers must provide judgement, evaluation, and insight to solve problems. (Example: Should we build a new TRSM building? The same location or a new location?) - Structured: Repetitive and routine; involve definite procedure for handling so they do not have to be treated each time as new. (Example: Who should get an A, and who should get a D?) - Semi-structured: The only part of the problem has a clear-cut answer provided by an accepted procedure. (Example: Who should be admitted into the co-op program?) - Senior managers make many unstructured decisions. - Middle managers make more structured decisions but these may include unstructured components. - Operational managers and employees make more structured decisions. The Decision-Making Process - Intelligence: Discovering, identifying, and understanding the problems occurring in the organization. - Design: Identifying and exploring solutions to the problem. - Choice: Choosing among solution alternatives. - Implementation: Making chosen alternative work and continuing to monitor how well the solution is working. Managerial Roles - IS can only assist in some of the roles played by managers - The classical model of management has five functions. - Planning, organizing, coordinating, deciding, and controlling. - More contemporary behavioural models - The actual behaviour of managers appears to be less systematic, more informal, less reflective, more reactive, and less well organized than in the classical model. Mintzberg’s 10 Managerial Roles - Interpersonal roles: Figurehead, Leader, Liaison - Decisional roles: Entrepreneur, Disturbance handler, Resource allocator, Negotiator - Informational roles: Nerve centre, Disseminator, Spokesperson Real-World Decision Making - Three main reasons why investments in IT do not always produce positive results: - Information quality: High-quality decisions require high-quality information. - Management filters: Managers have selective attention and have a variety of biases that reject information that does not conform to prior conceptions. - Organizational inertia and politics: Strong forces within organizations resist making decisions calling for major change. High-Velocity Automated Decision Making - Made possible through computer algorithms precisely defining steps for a highly structured decision. Require safeguards to ensure proper operation and regulation. - For example: high-speed computer trading programs where trades are executed in 30 milliseconds. What is Business Intelligence (BI)? - Business intelligence: Infrastructure for collecting, storing, and analyzing data produced by a business. Includes databases, data warehouse, and data marts. - Business Analytics: Tools and techniques for analyzing data. Includes OLAP, statistics, models, and data mining. - Business intelligence vendors Create business intelligence and analytics purchased by firms. The Business Intelligence Environment - The six elements in the business intelligence environment are: 1: Data from the business environment. 2: Business intelligence infrastructure. 3: Business analytics toolset. 4: Managerial users and methods. 5: Delivery platforms (ex: MIS, DSS, ESS). 6: User interfaces, which have data visualization tools. Business Intelligence and Analytics Capabilities - The goal is to deliver accurate real-time information to decision-makers. - Main analytic functionalities of BI systems: Production reports, Parameterized reports, Dashboards/scorecards, Ad hoc query/search/report creation, Drill down, Forecasts, scenarios, models. Predictive Analytics - Uses a variety of data, and techniques to predict future trends and behaviour patterns. - Specifically: Statistical analysis, Data mining, Historical data, Assumptions - Incorporated into numerous BI applications for sales, marketing, finance, fraud detection, and health care. Specifically Credit scoring/Predicting responses to direct marketing campaigns 4 Big Data Analytics - Big data: Massive datasets collected from social media, online and in-store customer data, and so on. - Help create real-time, personalized shopping experiences for major online retailers. - Smart cities: Public Records, Sensors, location data from smartphones. Ability to evaluate the effect of one service change on the system. Operational Intelligence and Analytics - Operational intelligence: Business activity monitoring. Collection and use of data generated by sensors. - Internet of Things - Creating huge streams of data from web activities, sensors, and other monitoring devices. Software for operational intelligence and analytics enables companies to analyze their big data. Location Analytics & Geographic Information Systems - Location analytics: Ability to gain business insight from the location (geographic) component of data. Example: Mobile phones, Sensors, scanning devices, Map data - Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Ties location-related data to maps. Example: For helping local governments calculate response times to disasters. Support for Semi-Structured Decisions - Decision-support systems (DSS) - Support for semi-structured decisions - Use mathematical or analytical models - Allow varied types of analytics - “What-if” analytics - Sensitivity analysis - Backward sensitivity analysis - Multidimensional analysis / OLAP - For example: pivot tables Decision Support for Senior Management - ESS - Help executives focus on important performance information - Balanced scorecard BSC method - Measures outcomes on four dimensions: Financials, Business processes, Customers, Learning & Growth. Key performance indicators (KPIs) measure each dimension and progress towards targets - Business performance management (BPM): Translates the firm’s strategies (e.g., differentiation, low-cost, producer, the scope of operation) into operational targets. - Data for ESS: Internal data from enterprise applications, External data such as financial market databases, and Drill-down capabilities Week 7 - Week 8 Networking & Communication Trends Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Convergence: Telephone & computer networks converging into single digital network using Internet Use tiny tags with microchips containing data about an item & location standards Tag antennas to transmit radio signals over short distances to special RFID readers Common uses: Automated toll-collection, Tracking goods in a supply chain, and Reduction in cost of tags Broadband: More than 74 percent U.S. Internet users have broadband access making RFid viable for many firms Broadband Wireless: Voice, data communication are increasingly taking place over broadband wireless platforms Major Components in a Simple Network: Client & server computers, Network interfaces (NICs), Connection medium, Network operating system (NOS), Hubs, switches, routers Software-Defined Networking (SDN): Functions of switches & routers managed by central program Client-Server Computing Distributed computing model Server sets rules of communication for network & provides every client with an address so others can find it on the network Clients linked through network controlled by server Has largely replaced centralized mainframe computing The Internet = Largest implementation of client/server Packet Switching Method of slicing digital messages into parcels (packets), sending packets along different 3 Major Types of E-Commerce: Business-to-consumer (B2C, Example: Amazon.com, Dell), communications paths as they become available, & then reassembling packets at destination. Business-to-business (B2B, Example: ChemConnect, IBM, GE), and Consumer-to-consumer (C2C Example: Previous circuit-switched networks required assembly of complete point-to-point circuit (very eBay, Kijiji). expensive) Packet Switching more efficient use of network’s communication capacity B2B Transaction Affects ○ Variety of Internet-enabled technologies used in B2B. Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) ○ Ex. Electronic data interchange (EDI), Private industrial networks (private exchanges), Net TCP/IP & connectivity: Common worldwide standard that is basis for the internet marketplaces, Exchanges Protocols: rules that govern transmission of information between two points Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Department of Defense reference model for TCP/IP has Four (4) layers: Application, Transport, ○ Computer-to-computer exchange of standard transactions such as invoices, purchase orders Internet, Network interface ○ Major industries have EDI standards Define structure and information fields of electronic documents ○ More companies are moving toward web-enabled private networks Communication Networks Allow them to link to a wider variety of firms than EDI allows Signals: Digital versus analog Enable sharing a wider range of information Modem: translates digital signals into analog form (and vice versa) New Ways of B2B Buying/Selling Local area networks (LANs), Ethernet, Client/server vs. peer-to-peer, Wide area networks (WANs), ○ Private industrial networks Metropolitan area networks (MANs), and Campus area networks (CANs) Private exchanges Various powerful servers (Website, corporate intranet, extranet, Backend systems) Large firm using a secure website to link to suppliers and partners Telephone network, wireless cell phones ○ Net marketplaces (e-hubs) Single digital marketplace for many buyers and sellers May focus on direct or indirect goods Media Speed Transmission May be vertical or horizontal marketplaces Physical transmission media: Twisted pair wire (CAT5), Coaxial cable, Fibre optics cable ○ Exchanges: Independently owned third-party Net marketplaces for spot purchasing 3 Challenges for E-Com Business Models: Diminishing Returns Of The “Network Effects” Model, Low Wireless transmission media & devices: Satellites, Cellular systems Barriers To Entry, Dependence On Some Else’s Platform (Such As Apple, Android, Other Apps) Cellular Systems = Competing standards ○ CDMA: United States only. GSM: Rest of world, A T&T, T-Mobile. ○ Third-generation (3G) networks (144 Kbps) Suitable for e-mail access, web browsing ○ Fourth-generation (4G) networks (Up to 100 Mbps) Suitable for internet video (LTE & Wi Max) ○ 5G Networks: Gigabit capacity, enables the internet of things (IoT), Higher speed, better connectivity, BUT Not available everywhere, telcos are expanding 5G network coverage 5 Internet World’s most extensive network. Key Concepts: No one owns the internet, it has no formal management Information Asymmetry Reduced: One party possesses greater knowledge than the other Costs Reduced: Process of decreasing a company's expenses to maximize profits Internet service providers (ISPs) Provide connections. Types of Internet connections: ○ Ex. Menu costs: Merchants’ costs of changing prices. Search costs: The effort to find suitable ○ Dial-up: 56.6 Kbps products. Transaction costs: The cost of participating in a market). ○ Digital subscriber line (DSL/FIOS): 385 Kbps–40 Mbps Switching Costs Reduced: Costs that a consumer incurs as a result of changing brands, suppliers, or ○ Cable Internet connections: 1-50 Mbps products. ○ Satellite T1/T3 lines: 1.54–45 Mbps ○ Can be monetary, psychological, effort-based, and time-based, costs of rebalancing or Each Internet device assigned Internet Protocol (IP) address (ex. 32-bit number = 207.46.250.119) changing investments. The Domain Name System (DNS) Converts IP addresses to domain names, has a Hierarchical ○ Low Switching Cost: Switching between Apparel stores via internet retailers (shop multiple stores from home). structure, and is for Top-level domains ○ High Switching Cost: Intuit Inc. = very unique applications that take significant time, effort, Network service providers (NSPs) own trunk lines (high-speed backbone networks) some gov. and training costs. All useful applications are interconnected, not offered by most companies. Regional telephone & cable TV companies Provide regional & local access Switching away from Intuit Inc. can disrupt operations and risk financial errors with small Professional organizations & government bodies establish Internet standards: IAB, ICANN, W3C companies that use it. Thus, Intuit Inc. can charge premium prices. IAB - Internet Architecture Board, ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers Dynamic Pricing Enabled: Businesses set flexible prices for products/services based on current market demands. Internet Services: E-mail, Chatting & instant messaging, Newsgroups, Telnet, File Transfer Protocol ○ Revenue management pricing strategy. Examples: ○ DYNAMIC Uber changes prices at times of busy-ness or weather difficulties - increased (FTP), World Wide Web (WWW), Voice over IP (VoIP) revenue ○ NOT DYNAMIC: Taxis don't change their price with the weather (storm at 5pm = sunny Voice over IP (VoIP): Digital voice communication using IP, packet switching. Providers: Cable providers, morning 5am) Google, Skype Disintermediation Enabled: Usually done to reduce costs or increase delivery speed ○ Process of cutting out 1 or more middlemen from a transaction, supply chain, or Unified Communications Systems integrate voice, data, e-mail, conferencing. decision-making process. ○ In financial terms transact+invest, disintermediation involves the removal of banks, brokers, or other third parties. Virtual Private Network (VPN): Secure, encrypted, private network run over Internet. PPTP (Point-to-Point ○ Cryptocurrencies are disintermediating the financial sector and government from monetary Tunneling Protocol) transactions. ○ The process doesn't always work because it requires additional staffing and other Web 1.0 resources to replace the services supplied by an intermediary. Hypertext ○ Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Uniform Digital Goods: Goods that can be delivered over a digital network Cost of producing first unit is almost entire cost of product. The Cost of delivery over the Internet is very resource locator (URL) low. Web Servers Marketing costs remain the same; pricing highly variable. ○ Software for locating & managing web pages Industries with digital goods are undergoing revolutionary changes (publishers, record labels, etc.) Search engines: Started as simpler programs using keyword indexes, Ex. Google’s PageRank System Search engine marketing: Major source of Internet advertising revenue Search engine optimization (SEO): Adjusting Web site & traffic to improve rankings in search engine results Web 2.0 Enabling collaboration, sharing information, & creating new services online Features: Interactivity, Real-time user control, Social participation (sharing), User-generated content Web 3.0 and the Future Web More tools to make sense of trillions of pages on the Internet. Ex. Pervasive web, Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of People (IoP) Portal = Web interface presenting users integrated personalized business content. XML = Web services foundation tech. 6 Week 9 - Week 10 Tools & Technologies for Safeguarding IS Software Patches: Small pieces of software to repair flaws. Exploits are often created faster than patches can be released & implemented. Identity Management Software: Automates keeping track of all users and privileges. Authenticates users, protecting identities, controlling access. Authentication: Password systems, Tokens, Smart cards: A card with an embedded memory chip used for identification, Two-Factor authentication, Biometric authentication: Human characteristics such as fingerprints, retina or voice patterns Firewall: A system of hardware+software blocking unauthorized access to a network. Technology used to protect network security by filtering incoming & outgoing traffic. Example: A company firewall preventing access to harmful websites. Technologies include Packet Filtering Intrusion detection system: Monitors hot spots on corporate networks to detect & deter intruders Antivirus and antispyware software: Checks computers for presence of malware and can often eliminate it as well. Requires continual updating. Preventing Unauthorized Access Guidelines for Passwords: Easy to remember, hard to guess, Don’t use family or pet names, Don’t make it accessible, Use combination uppercase/lowercase letters, digits and special characters, Don’t leave computer when logged in, Don’t ever tell anyone, Don’t include in an email, Don’t use the same password in lots of places, Fingerprint analysis: a stronger level of verification than username and password. Ex. iPhone Touch ID. DoS: Hackers flood a server with false communications in order to crash the system. Distributed DoS: Uses numerous computers to launch a DoS. DoS often uses Botnets. Deliver 90% of world spam, 80% of world malware. Pushdo: spamming botnet infected computers sent as many as 7.7 billion spam messages per day. Securing Wireless Networks WEP security: Static encryption keys are relatively easy to crack. Improved if used in conjunction with VPN. WPA2 specification: Replaces WEP with stronger standards. Continually changing, longer encryption keys. Security in the Cloud: Responsibility for security resides with the company owning the data. Service level agreements (SLAs). Firms must ensure providers provide adequate protection: Where data are stored, Meeting corporate requirements, legal privacy laws, Segregation of data from other clients, Audits and security certifications. Security Policy: Ranks information risks, identifies acceptable security goals, and identifies mechanisms for achieving these goals. Drives other policies, like Acceptable use policy (AUP). Defines acceptable uses of the firm's information resources & computing equipment. Identity management =Identifying valid users & Controlling access. Security = Policies, procedures, and technical measures used to prevent unauthorized access, alteration, theft, or physical damage to IS. Security measures= Special Organizational controls. Examples: Methods, policies, and organizational procedures that ensure safety of organization’s assets, accuracy & reliability of accounting records, and operational adherence to management standards. Auditing: List and rank control weaknesses and the probability of occurrence. Assess the financial and organizational impact of each threat. IS Audit: Examines firm’s overall security environment as well as controls governing individual information systems. Security Audits: Review technologies, procedures, documentation, training, and personnel. May even simulate disaster to test responses. Software Platform Trends: Trends in software platforms, including Open-source Software: Free and can be modified by users. Developed and maintained by a worldwide network of programmers and designers under the management of user communities. Examples: Apache web server, Mozilla Firefox browser, OpenOffice. Linux is the most widely used open-source software program, an operating system derived from Unix. Software for the Web: Building Web Applications Java: One of the most prominent OO languages, both for PC and mobile environments. Java Virtual Machine is used to convert Java code to the native language of a computer. Python: Used for building cloud computing applications Objective-C: Predecessor to Swift Swift: One of the most popular mobile app languages for iOS Software for the Web Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): The language used to create or build a web page. Example: HTML5. Markup Language: A language that uses tags to annotate the information in a document. Tag: The syntactic element in a markup language that annotates the information in a document. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA): Set of self-contained services that communicate with each other to create a working software application. Software developers reuse these services in other combinations to assemble other applications as needed. Web Services: Software components that exchange information using Web standards and languages. XML: Extensible Markup Language, More powerful and flexible than HTML. Tagging allows computers to process data automatically. Software Outsourcing And Cloud Services: 3 external sources for software. 1. Software packages and enterprise software: Prewritten commercially available set of software. 2. Software outsourcing. 3. Cloud-based software services and tools a. Salesforce.com b. Service Level Agreements (SLAs): formal agreement with service providers 7 Hardware Platform Trends Mobile Digital Platform: Importance of smartphones, netbooks, tablet computers, digital e-book readers like Kindle, and wearable devices in current technology trends. Consumerization of IT & BYOD: The trend of consumer technology influencing business IT infrastructure, and the implications of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies. Virtualization: How virtualization allows computing resources to be accessed in ways not restricted by physical configuration. Cloud Computing: The role of cloud computing in providing scalable computing resources. Off-load peak demand for computing power to remote, large-scale data processing centers, Pay only for the computing power they use, as with an electrical utility, Excellent for firms with spiked demand curves caused by seasonal variations in consumer demand, Saves firms from purchasing excessive levels of infrastructure, Data permanently stored in remote servers, accessed and updated over the Internet by users. Can be Private or Public: A public cloud is owned and maintained by a service provider. Example: Amazon Web Service (AWS) A private cloud is operated only for an organization. Concerns include: Security, Availability, Users become dependent on the cloud provider. Infrastructure as a service (Iaas): Customers use processing, storage, networking resources to run their information systems. They pay for only the computing capacity they use. Platform as a service (PaaS): Customers use infrastructure and programming tools to develop their own applications; Bluemix Software as a service (SaaS): Customers use software hosted on a vendor’s cloud, Google Apps Green Computing: Environmentally sustainable computing practices. Reducing power consumption = high priority. Data centers use as much energy as the output of 30 nuclear power plants. Quantum Computing: Uses quantum physics to represent and operate on data. Dramatic increases in computing speed. While conventional computers handle bits of data either as 0 or 1 but not both, quantum computing can process bits as 0,1, or both simultaneously. It allows us to solve business and scientific problems millions of times faster. Wearable Devices: The transformative impact of wearable technology in areas like fitness, healthcare, infotainment, fashion, and military applications. Internal Threats: Employees: Security risks originating from within the organization, often due to insider knowledge, sloppy security procedures, and social engineering. End users + IS specialists are at risk. Social Engineering Example: Tricking employees into revealing their passwords by pretending to be legitimate members of the company in need of information. General Controls: Govern design, security, and use of computer programs and security of data files in general throughout organization. Examples: Software/hardware controls, computer operations controls, data security controls, system development controls, administrative controls Application Controls: Definition: Controls unique to each computerized application. Examples: Input controls, processing controls, output controls Enterprise Content Management Systems: Systems that help capture, store, retrieve, distribute, and preserve documents & knowledge within an organization. Genetic Algorithms: Techniques for optimization & problem-solving based on the principles of natural evolution & genetics. Knowledge Management Systems: Systems that help organizations create, store, transfer, and apply knowledge. AI - in summary page 8 Week 11 - Week 12 Porter's Competitive Forces Model - Traditional competitors: firms share market space with competitors who are continuously devising new products, services, efficiencies, and switching costs - New market entrants: Some industries have high barriers to entry, for example, computer chip business. New companies have new equipment, younger workers, but little brand recognition - Substitute products & services: Substitutes customers might use if your prices become too high,for example, iTunes substitutes for CDs - Customers: Can customers easily switch to competitor's products? Can they force businesses to compete on price alone in a transparent marketplace? - Suppliers: Market power of suppliers when firm cannot raise prices as fast as suppliers - Blackberry failed - Didn't think of these 5 forces - Couldn’t keep up with customers - Couldn’t develop a strategy for low competition and high customer satisfaction/demand IS Strategies for Dealing with Competitive strategies - Low-cost leadership: Produce products & services at a lower price then competitors like eg: Walmart’s efficient customer response system. - Product differentiation: Enable new products or services, greatly change customer convenience & experience eg: Google, Nike. Mass customization = customer experience management - Focus on market niche: Use IS to enable a focused strategy on a single market niche; specialize - Eg: Hilton Hotels OnQ system. - Strengthen customer & supplier intimacy: Use IS to develop strong ties & loyalty with customers & suppliers like increasing & switching costs eg: Toyota, Amazon Internet's Impact on Competitive Advantage: Transformation or threat to industries like travel agency, media & printed encyclopedia - Competitive forces still at work, but rivalry more intense - Universal standards allow new rivals, entrants to market - New opportunities for building brands & loyal customer bases Internet of Things (IoT): Growing use of Internet-connected sensors in products Smart products: Fitness equipment, health trackers. Also a related theory that one day, everything will have an IP address - even cars Expand product differentiation opportunities: Increasing rivalry between competitors Raise switching costs: Switching costs are the costs a consumer pays as a result of switching brands or products. Inhibit new entrants/May decrease power of suppliers. The Business Value Chain Model - Firm as series of activities that add value to products or services. Highlights activities where competitive strategies can best be applied such as Primary activities vs. support activities - Primary Activities: Activities most directly related to the production & distribution of a firm's product or services - Primary activities = how you make money - Walmart - Retail environment cutting down cashier lines by providing other payment services - Supply chain, merchandising, warehouses, retail - Most Retail companies would consider where to put certain products - Bottom, high, eye-level on shelves - Apply technology or consultants to figure this out and how you compare to opponents - Support activities: make the delivery of the primary activities possible & consist of organization infrastructure - Support = how you make it possible to make money - Walmart - HR - Head Office - Management overseeing company - Investor Relations - At each stage, determine how IS can improve operational efficiency & improve customer & supplier intimacy. Utilize benchmarking, industry best practices. Extending the Value Chain: The Value Web: Firm’s value chain is linked to value chains of suppliers, distributors, customers. - Is industry value chain - Value web: collection of independent firms that use IT to coordinate their value chains to produce a product or service for a market collectively & is more customer driven, less linear operation than traditional value chain Synergies: When output of some units are used as inputs to others, or organizations pool markets & expertise. - Synergies = ability to get - Merging businesses could improve primary and combine/efficient the support activities - Google bought YouTube - To monetize the turn of events of people using online video more - Add services from other AI services to improve themselves - Disney couldn’t buy specific Sony movie, but then decided to bought the rights to all of Sony Core Competencies: Activity for which firm is a world-class leader. Relies on knowledge, experience, sharing this across business units. - Eg: Procter & Gamble’s intranet and directory of subject matter experts - Eg: Apple renowned for innovative product designs & user experience - Process Capabilities = Core Competencies - If you're really good on certain things, double down on it and expand it. Don’t waste time in the beginning on trying other irrelevant processes Network-Based Strategies: Take advantage of a firm's abilities to network with one another. Include use of: Network economics, Virtual company model & Business ecosystems Network Economics - Marginal cost of adding new participant almost zero, with much greater marginal gain - Value of community grows with size and Value of software grows as installed customer base grows - Compare to traditional economics & law of diminishing returns Virtual Company Model: Uses networks to ally with other companies - Creates & distributes products without being limited by traditional organizational boundaries or physical locations. - Outsources all work to thousands of suppliers - Example: Li & Fung’s Manages production & shipment of garments for major fashion companies, outsources all work to thousands of suppliers Business Ecosystems and Platforms - Industry sets of firms providing related and products with platforms like Microsoft and Facebook - Niche Firm: business that focuses on particular type of product - Keystone Firm: companies encompasses several operating companies - Individual firms can consider how IT will help them become profitable niche players in larger ecosystems 9 Sustaining Competitive Advantage- (Difficult to do): Competitors can retaliate and copy strategic systems eg:FedEx parcel tracking system and Citibank’s ATM system. Systems may become survival tools Challenges Posed by Strategic Information Systems (IS) - Sustaining competitive advantage - Competitors can retaliate and copy strategic systems - Systems may become tools for survival - Aligning IT with business objectives (Important to do) - Performing strategic systems analysis - Structure of industry - Firm value chains - Research on IT and business performance has shown that - a) the more successfully a firm can align information technology with its business goals, the more profitable it will be, and - b) only one-quarter of firms achieve alignment of IT with the business as about half of businesses firms profits can be explained by alignment of IT with business - **Privacy:** Protecting personal information in the digital age. Example: Regulations like GDPR ensure user data privacy. - **Information Rights:** The rights associated with information ownership. Example: Copyright laws protecting digital content. - **IP Rights:** Intellectual property rights for digital content. Example: Patents protecting new software innovations. -**Intellectual Property:** Intangible/tangible property of any kind created by individuals or corporations. 3 Main ways to protect intellectual property: - **Trade Secret:** intellectual work or product belonging to business, not in the public domain - **Copyright:** Legal right granting protection to original works. Example: Authors' rights over their published books. Statutory grant protecting intellectual property from being copied for the life of the author, plus 70 years. - **Patent:** Grants creator of invention an exclusive monopoly on ideas behind invention for 20 years. Patent law grants a monopoly on underlying concepts and ideas of software. Originality, novelty, and invention are key concepts. Example: Patents for new technological devices. - **Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act (PIPEDA), EU GDPR, US Information Rights COPPA HIPAA:** Laws and regulations governing data protection. Example: PIPEDA ensures customer data privacy in Canada. -**Challenges to Intellectual Property Rights:** - **Digital vs Physical Media:** Digital has Ease of replication, Ease of transmission (networks, Internet), Ease of alteration, and Difficulties in establishing uniqueness. - **Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA):** Makes it illegal to circumvent technology-based protections of copyrighted materials 10 Glossary/Rough Summary/Additional Chapter Notes Below Lecture 1 - Chapter 1 Information Systems: - **Business Processes:** Series of steps performed by a group in an organization to achieve a task. Examples include sales, billing, and inventory management. - **Business Function:** Specific activities in an organization, such as HR, finance, and marketing. - **Information vs. Data:** Data are raw, unprocessed facts. Information is processed data that is meaningful and useful. - **Information Technology (IT):** Refers to hardware and software used for managing and processing information. - **Information Systems (IS):** Integrated sets of components for collecting, storing, and processing data, and for delivering information, knowledge, and digital products. - **Six Strategic Business Objectives of IS:** These include operational excellence, new products, services, and business models, customer/supplier intimacy, improved decision-making, competitive advantage, and survival. - **IT Infrastructure:** Physical and hardware components, software, networking, and data storage. - **Management Information Systems (MIS):** Designed to support management decision-making. - **Senior Middle Operational Management:** Different levels of management in an organization, each with specific informational needs. - **Sociotechnical View:** An approach that recognizes the interaction between people and technology in workplaces. Lecture 2 - Chapter 2 How Businesses Use Information: - **Transaction Processing Systems (TPS):** Systems that process basic data transactions in an organization. - **MIS:** Systems designed to convert raw data from TPS into useful information. - **Decision Support Systems (DSS):** Information systems that support business or organizational decision-making activities. - **ERP Systems:** Integrated management of core business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology. - **CRM Systems:** Systems used to manage a company’s interactions with current and potential customers. - **SCM Systems:** Systems for managing the flow of goods and services and includes all processes that transform raw materials into final products. - **Chief Information Officer (CIO):** Executive job title commonly given to the person in an enterprise responsible for information technology and computer systems. - **Chief Information Security Officer (CISO):** Senior-level executive responsible for establishing/maintaining the enterprise vision, strategy, & program, ensure information assets and technologies are protected. - **Systems Analysis:** An analytical method used to define the goals of a system and then create an action plan to meet these goals. Lecture 3 - Chapter 5 IT Infrastructure: - **IT Infrastructure Definition:** The combination of hardware, software, network resources, and services required for the operation and management of an enterprise IT environment. - **Evolution Stages:** Refers to the stages of IT development from mainframes to client/server systems to the current era of cloud computing and mobile computing. - **Moore’s Law:** The observation that the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years. - **Metcalfe’s Law:** States that the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system. - **Digital Storage Law:** The observation that the amount of digital data storage increases over time for the same price. - **Components:** Includes hardware systems, software applications, networking, and data management resources. - **Management Issues:** Challenges in managing IT infrastructure, such as scalability, reliability, and security. - **Total Cost of Ownership:** The purchase price of an asset plus the costs of operation and maintenance. - **Cloud Computing:** The delivery of different services through the Internet, including data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software. Lecture 4 - Chapter 9 Enterprise Systems: - **Enterprise Systems:** Integrated software applications that standardize, streamline, and integrate business processes across finance, human resources, procurement, distribution, and other departments. - **Supply Chain Concepts:** The entire process of making and selling commercial goods, including every stage from the supply of materials and the manufacture of the goods through to their distribution and sale. - **SCM Systems:** Tools or software applications used to execute supply chain transactions, manage supplier relationships, and control associated business processes. - **Customer Relationship Concepts:** The principles and practices that support successful customer relationship management. - **CRM Systems:** Technology for managing all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. - **Operational CRM:** Customer-facing applications, like customer service, sales force automation, marketing automation, and e-commerce. - **Analytical CRM:** Analyzing customer data for a variety of purposes. - **Enterprise System Challenges:** Challenges associated with implementation, such as high cost, time-consuming, and complex integration. - **Next Generation Enterprise Systems:** The future of enterprise systems incorporating advancements like AI and machine learning. Lecture 5 - Chapter 6 Databases: - **Database Management System (DBMS):** Software for creating, managing, and using databases. It allows users to store, modify, and extract information from a database. - **File:** A collection of data or information that has a name, called the filename. - **Key Field:** A unique identifier for each record in a database, crucial for data retrieval and management. - **Data Dictionary:** A centralized repository of information about data such as meaning, relationships to other data, origin, usage, and format. - **Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD):** A graphical representation of entities and their relationships to each other in a database. - **Normalization:** The process of organizing data in a database to avoid duplication and redundancy. - **Relational DBMS:** A database management system that is based on the relational model, which stores data in tables. - **SQL:** Structured Query Language, a standard programming language for managing relational databases. - **Data Warehouse:** A large store of data accumulated from a wide range of sources within a company and used to guide management decisions. - **Blockchain:** A system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system. Lecture 6 - Chapter 12 Decision Making: - **Structured, Unstructured, Semi-structured Decisions:** Types of decisions that vary based on the level of standardization and complexity. - **Operational Intelligence:** Real-time data processing for making immediate decisions. - **Data Visualization:** The representation of data in a graphical or pictorial format. - **GIS:** Geographic Information Systems, technology for spatial and geographic data analysis and visualization. - **Balanced Scorecard:** A strategic planning and management system used to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization. - **KPIs:** Key Performance Indicators, metrics used to evaluate factors that are crucial to the success of an organization. - **Pivot Table:** A data summarization tool in spreadsheets that allows data to be rearranged or summarized. - **Sensitivity Analysis:** Technique used to determine how different values of an independent variable impact a particular dependent variable under a given set of assumptions. Lecture 7 - Chapter 7 Telecommunications: - **Packet Switching:** A method of data transmission where data is broken into packets and sent over a network. - **TCP/IP:** Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the basic communication language or protocol of the Internet. - **IP Address:** A unique string of numbers separated by periods that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network. - **LAN:** Local Area Network, a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area. - **IoT:** Internet of Things, the network of physical devices, vehicles, and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and connectivity. - **ISP:** Internet Service Provider, a company that provides individuals and organizations access to the Internet. - **Cellular Networks:** A communication network where the last link is wireless, typically used for mobile communications. - **HTTP:** Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web. - **RFID:** Radio-Frequency Identification, a technology that uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. - **VOIP:** Voice over Internet Protocol, a methodology and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. - **Wi-Fi:** Wireless Fidelity, technology for wireless local area networking with devices based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application-layer protocol for transmitting hypermedia documents, such as HTML. It was designed for communication between web browsers & web servers, but it can also be used for other purposes. HTTP follows a classical client-server model, where the client opens a connection to make a request, then waits until it receives a response from the server. HTTP is a stateless protocol, meaning that the server does not keep any data (state) between two requests. Although widely used, HTTP is inherently insecure because it transfers data in plaintext. This makes it easy for eavesdroppers to intercept the data stream between client & server. Lecture 8 - Chapter 10 eCommerce: - **B2B, B2C, C2C:** Business to Business, Business to Consumer, Consumer to Consumer - types of eCommerce transactions and models. - **Disintermediation:** Removal of intermediaries in a supply chain, or cutting out the middlemen in transactions. - **Revenue Models:** Various strategies used by eCommerce businesses to generate income. - **mCommerce:** Mobile commerce, the buying and selling of goods and services through wireless handheld devices. - **EDI:** Electronic Data Interchange, the computer-to-computer exchange of business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners. - **Information Asymmetry (IA):** A situation in which one party in a transaction has more or superior information compared to another. This imbalance can lead to inefficiencies in various market transactions. For example, a seller may know more about the quality of a product than a buyer, leading to an adverse selection problem. Can be reduced through online reviews, detailed product descriptions, & user-generated content. Reducing IA is key to building trust & transparency in digital marketplaces. - **IP:** Intellectual Property, creations of the mind such as inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, names, and images used in commerce. 11 - **Crowdsourcing:** The practice of obtaining information, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, especially from an online community. Used in various fields like business/research - **Personalization:** The process of delivering individualized content to recipients through data analysis and digital technology. Intellectual property: Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary & artistic works, designs, symbols, names, & images used in commerce. It is legally protected by laws like copyright, patent, & trademark, enabling creators to earn recognition or financial benefit from their inventions or works. This legal protection is crucial for fostering innovation & creativity, ensuring creators can control & benefit from their creations. E-commerce Transformed Marketing: Internet provides new ways to identify & communicate with customers, Long tail marketing, Internet advertising formats, Behavioral targeting, Tracking online behaviour of individuals, Programmatic ad buying, Native ad Lecture 9 - Chapter 8 Information Systems Security: - **Acceptable Use Policy:** Guidelines on the proper use of IT resources. Example: A company policy prohibiting the use of work computers for personal social media. - **Business Continuity Planning:** Strategies to continue business operations in the event of disruptions/Preparing to maintain business functions during and after emergencies. Example: A retail company having an online platform to continue sales during a physical store closure. - **Disaster Recovery:** Plans to recover IT systems, data, and operations after a disaster. Example: A data center using off-site backups to restore operations after a flood. Real-World Example: Rogers had a huge disaster. When they upgraded the core network, someone made a mistake, the patch broke. Telecom help each other. If Rogers goes down for a bit, Bell lets them use their stuff temporarily. Cover for each other. -** Both Types of Plans Above:** Needed to identify the firm's most critical systems. Business impact analysis to determine impact of an outage. Management must determine which systems restored first. - **Ransomware:** Malware that locks data and demands payment for access. Longer Definition: Malware that threatens to publish the victim's data or perpetually block access to it unless a ransom is paid. Example: Hospital systems locked by ransomware, disrupting patient care until a ransom is paid. - **Cyberwarfare:** Using technology to attack a nation's information systems. Example: Hacking into a government's energy grid to disrupt services. -**Cryptography:** Cryptography: The field of study related to encoded information (comes from Greek word for "secret writing") Encryption: Converting information into code to prevent unauthorized access/Techniques used to secure data by converting it into a code. Cannot be read. Example: Encrypting sensitive emails to protect them from interception. Decryption: The process of converting ciphertext into plaintext. Can be read. Cipher: An algorithm used to encrypt and decrypt text. Substitution Cipher: A cipher that substitutes one character with another. Key: The set of parameters that guide a cipher. Neither cipher nor key is any good without the other. Public-key Cryptography: An approach in which each user has two related keys, one public and one private. One’s public key is distributed freely. A person encrypts an outgoing message, using the receiver’s public key.Only the receiver’s private key can decrypt the message. - **Two-Factor Authentication:** Security process. User provides 2 different authentication factors to verify themselves. Example: Logging into a bank account requires a password & a code sent to a mobile phone. -**Criminal Intent vs State Intent:** China has a lot of coverage over the years with innovation via state sponsored theft. -**Risk Assessment:** Determines level of risk to firms if specific activity or process is not properly controlled. Goal is to minimize vulnerability to threats that put a system at the most risk. Example of Types of threat: Probability of occurrence during year, Potential losses, value of threat, Expected annual loss - **Malware:** Software designed to harm or exploit devices. Longer Definition: Software designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems. Specifically: Computer Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses, SQL Injection, Spyware. Example: A virus spreading through a company network via email attachments. -**Computer Viruses:** Rogue software programs. Attempts to bypass appropriate authorization and/or perform unauthorized functions. Attach to other programs in order to be executed, usually without user knowledge/permission. Deliver a “payload”, where they copy themselves from one computer to another sometimes through email attachments. May steal data or files. Permit eavesdropping access. Does destroy data. Network viruses are like body viruses: Invisible to the eye, Steal stuff, Replicate itself, Infect entire host. - **Worm:** A type of malware that replicates itself to spread to other computers. Example: A worm spreading across a network, slowing down systems. Virus vs Worms? Virus = active, needs to be sent from one computer to another by a user or via software. Worms = stand alone, can replicate themselves & spread to other laptops -**Trojan Horses:** A software program that appears to be benign, but then does something unexpected. Often “transports” a virus into a computer system. Based on a Greek ruse during the Trojan war. Lecture 10 - Chapter 11 Emerging Technologies: - **AI (Artificial Intelligence):** The simulation of human intelligence in machines. Example: AI-powered personal assistants like Siri or Alexa. Also included an overview of AI's role in business, including various AI techniques like machine learning, neural networks, natural language processing, and intelligent agents. Grand Vision: Computer hardware and software systems that are as “smart” as humans. So far, this vision has eluded computer programmers and scientists. Realistic Vision: Systems that take data inputs, process them, and produce outputs (like all software programs) and that can perform many complex tasks that would be difficult for humans to perform. Examples: Recognize millions of faces in seconds, Interpret millions of CT scans in minutes, Analyze millions of financial records, Detect patterns in very large Big Data databases, Improve their performance, over time (“learn”), Navigate a car in certain limited conditions, Respond to questions from humans (natural language), Speech, activated assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Cortana. Major Types of AI: Below, plus deep learning networks. Computer Vision: Digital image systems that create a digital map of an image (like a face, or a street sign), and recognize this image in large databases of images in near real time. Every image has a unique pattern of pixels. Examples: Facebook’s DeepFace can identify friends in photos across their systems and the entire web. Autonomous vehicles can recognize signs, road markers, people, animals, and other vehicles with good reliability. Industrial machine (robot) vision. Passport control at airports. Identifying people in crowds. Expert System: A computer system that mimics the decision-making ability of a human expert. Also an intelligent/knowledge-based system for capturing tacit knowledge in a very specific and limited domain of human expertise, capturing the knowledge of skilled employees in the form of a set of rules in a software system that can be used by others in the organization. Example: An AI system for medical diagnosis based on patient data. Rule-Based System: A software system based on a set of if-then rules Inference Engine: The software that processes rules to draw conclusions Machine Learning: A subset of AI where computers learn from data without being explicitly programmed. Can recognize patterns, gains experience, uses prior learnings (database), Supervised vs. unsupervised learning. Example: Netflix's recommendation algorithm. NLP (Natural Language Processing): Technology that enables computers to understand, interpret, and respond to human language. In other words, AI that enables computers to understand human language. Not useful for an ordinary common sense human conversation but can be very useful in limited domains, e.g. interacting with your car’s heating system.Example: Chatbots processing customer service requests. More Examples: Google Translate, Spam filtering systems, Customer call center interactions (What is the customer’s problem? What solutions worked in the past?), other Digital assistants: Sire, Alexa, Cortana, Google Assistant. Neural Networks: Computer systems modeled on the human brain. In other words, AI systems designed to simulate the way the human brain analyzes & processes information. Find patterns and relationships in massive amounts of data too complicated for humans to analyze. “Learn” patterns by searching for relationships, building models, and correcting over and over again. Humans “train” networks by feeding it data inputs for which outputs are known, to help neural networks learn solutions by example from human experts. Used in medicine, science, and business for problems in pattern classification, prediction, financial analysis, and control and optimization. Example: Image recognition systems in social media. Artificial Neural Networks: Each processing element in an artificial neural net is analogous to a biological neuron: An element accepts a certain number of input values (dendrites) and produces a single output value (axon) of either 0 or 1. Associated with each input value is a numeric weight (synapse). The effective weight of the element is the sum of the weights multiplied by their respective input values, ex. v1 * w1 + v2 * w2 + v3 * w3. Each element has a numeric threshold value. If the effective weight exceeds the threshold, the unit produces an output value of 1. If it does not exceed the threshold, it produces an output value of 0. Example: Training. Train a neural net to recognize a cat in a picture. Given one output value per pixel, train the network to produce an output value of 1 for every pixel that contributes to the cat and 0 for every one that doesn't. Robotics: The design, construction, and use of robots for various tasks.Design, construction, and operation of machines that can substitute for humans in many factory, office, and home applications (home vacuums). Generally programmed to perform specific and detailed actions in limited domains, e.g. robots spray paint autos, and assemble certain parts, welding, and heavy assembly movement. Used in dangerous situations like bomb disposal. Surgical robots are expanding their capabilities. Intelligent Agents: Work without direct human intervention to carry out repetitive, predictable tasks, like deleting junk email or finding cheapest airfare. It uses limited built-in or learned knowledge base. Some are capable of self-adjustment, for example: Siri. Chatbots is another example. Agent-based modeling applications model behaviour of consumers, stock markets, and supply chains; used to predict spread of epidemics. - **AR (Augmented Reality):** Overlaying digital information onto the real world. Example: AR apps for interior design preview. - **VR (Virtual Reality):** A completely immersive computer-generated environment. Example: VR gaming headsets. - **Digital Asset Management System:** Systems to store and manage digital content. Example: Software used by media companies to manage digital media libraries. - **LMS (Learning Management System):** Platforms used for managing, delivering, and tracking employee training & learning activities. Example: Moodle used in universities. - **3D Printing:** Creating three-dimensional objects from digital models. Example: 3D printing used in prototyping new product designs. - **Apps:** Small pieces of software that run on the Internet, on your computer, or on your smartphone. Generally delivered over the Internet. - **Mashups:** Combinations of two or more online applications, such as combining mapping software (Google Maps) with local content. Lecture 11 - Chapter 3 Strategy: - **Porter’s Five Forces:** A framework for analyzing competition in an industry. Example: Assessing the competitive rivalry in the airline industry. - **Value Chain Model:** Describing the activities that create value in a business. Example: Starbucks' value chain from bean procurement to coffee serving. - **Low-cost Leadership:** Achieving competitive advantage through lower operational costs. Example: Walmart's strategy for low-priced goods. - **Product Differentiation:** Making products unique to stand out in the market. Example: Apple's iPhone is distinguished by its ecosystem and design. - **Market Niche:** Targeting a specific, specialized market segment. Example: Tesla's focus on the electric car market. - **Customer and Supplier Intimacy:** Building close relationships with customers and suppliers. Example: Amazon's personalized shopping recommendations. - **IT/Business Alignment:** Aligning IT strategies with business objectives. Example: A retailer integrating e-commerce with its brick-and-mortar stores. - **Strategic Systems Analysis:** Analyzing how systems support business strategies. Example: A company assessing how its IT supports its customer service goals. 12 Lecture 12 - Chapter 4 Ethical and Social Issues

ITM 100 Course Summary for Exam - December 2023 PDF

Document Details

Tags

Related

Summary

Full Transcript

Upgrade to continue