We are at the age were technology is the one spinning the world. All of the things that makes our lives comfortable nowadays; from the tiniest microscopic robot doctors to enormous space shuttles going to the unknown space in search for information are made through technology. Technology is science is the application of the sciences. Centuries of researches and countless ideas made every technology that we are enjoying today.
We need to study technology mainly because of the important role that it plays in our lives. Without it we would still be living in the Stone Age. Without it centuries of hard work and enormous research activities done by several intellectual men and women will be put to waste because as we all know facts and theories alone will not directly be of help to us. Technology plays a vital role in almost every aspect in the society. It gave birth to cellular phones, telephones and other ways of making communication a lot easier; thus making distance not a hindrance in business and trades. Medical milestones were also achieved through the use of technologies like powerful microscopes, scanners and robotic equipments that made procedures impossible to men not long ago doable today. The computer and its various types that are everyone’s best friend nowadays are also one of the greatest children of technology. Computers not only boosted the business process but also mobile. You can do business almost anywhere as long as you have your laptop at your side. Computers were made to be very versatile and can be of use from gaming, sports, sea navigation, simulations, and other things beyond your wildest imagination. Technology also gave breakthroughs in building and road constructions. The development of high grade cements made it possible to make skyscrapers and bridges that literally crossed oceans. To sum it all, technology is like a virus that infected our society. But unlike typical viruses, this virus is not harmful unless used in wrong ways.
It has been said by some analyst that men will destroy themselves in the future. That the genius minds behind the different technologies that we are having today will soon create a community that will destroy themselves in search for power and greed. In my opinion technology will have a great role in the continuing existence or the destruction of men. If technology will be used properly, our society will benefit from it and man will continue to exist and face the challenges that time brings but if technology will be abused then we are like making the sharpest knife just to stab our own heart.
About Me
What are the two most frequently experienced causes of frustration of IS professionals and users while working on an IS plan? note: you are required to interview an IS professional/s for your answer ...(at least 3000 words)
On this matter we interviewed Mr. Nilo Ricafort, MIS Manager in EMCOR Davao, Bajada Branch. He gave brief but precise answers. He said that these two would definitely be misconceptions about IS effects in the users’ point of view and misunderstanding between the users’ needs and the developers’ knowledge on how things must be done in standard.
Moreover, I'll discuss the two causes of frustrations:
Misconceptions about IS effects
Misconceptions arise in the part of the users because unlike the developers usually users do not have enough knowledge about how these systems are developed and what are its possible effects. And because of these misconceptions, users tend to expect more from the system and later on they will be frustrated if the effects that the system cause where less than what they have expected. On the other hand, if the systems effect will also be too good, the users will also be overwhelmed and will be start to be conscious about their capabilities to support and use a very good system which may also lead to poor performance in their case. There a re a lot of misconceptions about IS and these are some of them:
--> Implementation of IS will speed up the process
A lot of people think that if we speak of IS implementation or improvement it means a lot of process will speed up instantly. But if we come to think of it, definitely the positive effects of the said actions will not be seen or felt in an instant. And there are a lot of possible reasons behind the delay of the effects that an IS may bring upon a company. And I found this article that gave some of the examples and also discuss some ways to give it some remedy.
IT professionals face unique challenges when it comes to managing their problems. They know that when hardware/software/client interface produces problems, dynamics are set in motion that can quickly cascade into nightmare proportions:
• Pressure to immediately reestablish service to the customer
• An already existing backlog of trouble tickets
• A relentless daily flow of in-coming trouble tickets
• A reality that sees a problem quickly affect thousands of clients
--> Users are not involved in IS development
Unlike what they think, users need to be involved in the process of IS development. The IS that will be done must be incorporated with what the users are complaining about there previous system or process. With the help of the users negative or positive feedback about there experience in using their previous system, the developers will be aware on what to areas change or to improve. Moreover, I found an article discussing how the users take a vital role in IS development.
The importance of involving users of enabling technology in all phases of the development and provision of these aids has gradually been focused, and eventually become established, during the last few years. It is, however, far from self evident how to make these ideas and ambitions really come true in the hectic daily activities of Research and Resource Centre, especially when it comes to more profoundly and multiply impaired users. Thus a very small number of such users are actually involved in any long term perspective. Apart from the lingering lack of awareness of needs and possibilities several other factors can be identified, such as:
• A lack of suitable organizational and work settings, flexible enough to offer realistic conditions for multiply disabled to participate and develop together with professionals in this field.
• Lacking working life experience, social networks and self confidence, and a related need for continuous educational programs, among the potential interested users.
--> IS improvement means job loss
There a re a lot of people who thinks that a conversion from an old system to a more IT involved system would definitely mean job loss. This may be true on some cases but this happens rarely. But because of this misconception, users tend to be passive and will not likely give their full support on the development of the new IS. They tend to hinder the developers from crucial information that would build up the success of the new system. They are thinking that if the new system fails then the old system will be retained and they will still have their jobs. They do not realize that IS development does not always mean job loss. This is because it is more convenient for most of the companies to train their old employees for the new system rather than hire new ones. The reason behind this is that companies will not take the risk in giving up on their trusted and proven employees for the sake of hiring new ones that may have the qualities for the new system. Training the present employees will also be less expensive than hiring new ones. If the companies opted to hire new employees they will face the burdens of advertising, interviews and other personality checks and backfires that the new employees may bring because of their need to adopt in the working environment.
Misunderstanding between the users’ needs and the developers’ knowledge on how things must be done in standard
This problem depends on the type of software development that developers choose. I’ll give some examples about the different ways of software development and on what strategies this problem can be seen.
--> Interactive and Incremental Development
The basic idea behind iterative enhancement is to develop a software system incrementally, allowing the developer to take advantage of what was being learned during the development of earlier, incremental, deliverable versions of the system. Learning comes from both the development and use of the system, where possible key steps in the process are to start with a simple implementation of a subset of the software requirements and iteratively enhance the evolving sequence of versions until the full system is implemented. At each iteration, design modifications are made and new functional capabilities are added.
The procedure itself consists of the initialization step, the iteration step, and the Project Control List. The initialization step creates a base version of the system. The goal for this initial implementation is to create a product to which the user can react. It should offer a sampling of the key aspects of the problem and provide a solution that is simple enough to understand and implement easily. To guide the iteration process, a project control list is created that contains a record of all tasks that need to be performed. It includes such items as new features to be implemented and areas of redesign of the existing solution. The control list is constantly being revised as a result of the analysis phase.
The iteration involves the redesign and implementation of a task from the project control list, and the analysis of the current version of the system. The goal for the design and implementation of any iteration is to be simple, straightforward, and modular, supporting redesign at that stage or as a task added to the project control list. The level of design detail is not dictated by the interactive approach. In a light-weight iterative project the code may represent the major source of documentation of the system; however, in a mission-critical iterative project a forma lSoftware Design Document may be used. The analysis of iteration is based upon user feedback, and the program analysis facilities available. It involves analysis of the structure, modularity, usability, reliability, efficiency, & achievement of goals. The project control list is modified in light of the analysis results.
This method of software development also provides the user the opportunity to participate in the evaluation of the system. But then again, the process is very time consuming because of a lot of iterations and would cause backfires due to the delay in the making of the system.
--> Adaptive Software Development
Adaptive Software Development is a software development process that grew out of rapid application development work by Jim Highsmith and Sam Bayer. ASD embodies the principle that continuous adaptation of the process to the work at hand is the normal state of affairs.
ASD replaces the traditional waterfall cycle with a repeating series of speculate, collaborate, and learn cycles. This dynamic cycle provides for continuous learning and adaptation to the emergent state of the project. The characteristics of an ASD life cycle are that it is mission focused, feature based, iterative, time boxed, risk driven, and change tolerant.
The word “speculate” refers to the paradox of planning – it is more likely to assume that all stakeholders are comparably wrong for certain aspects of the project’s mission, while trying to define it. Collaboration refers to the efforts for balancing the work based on predictable parts of the environment (planning and guiding them) and adapting to the uncertain surrounding mix of changes caused by various factors – technology, requirements, stakeholders, software vendors, etc. The learning cycles, challenging all stakeholders, are based on the short iterations with design, build and testing. During these iterations the knowledge is gathered by making small mistakes based on false assumptions and correcting those mistakes, thus leading to greater experience and eventually mastery in the problem domain.
This type of software development is very good in having the users cooperate with the development process. This is because the development process will adopt on what the situation is. The users may also be a factor on these situations; thus the system development will also adapt to what the users want.
Overall this frustration depends on the method that the developer will use in software development. It is up to the developers correct planning and assessment on the companies’ situation to ensure that the product system will comply on the standards that the users and the company want.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_Software_Development
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iterative_and_incremental_development
On this matter we interviewed Mr. Nilo Ricafort, MIS Manager in EMCOR Davao, Bajada Branch. He gave brief but precise answers. He said that these two would definitely be misconceptions about IS effects in the users’ point of view and misunderstanding between the users’ needs and the developers’ knowledge on how things must be done in standard.
Moreover, I'll discuss the two causes of frustrations:
Misconceptions about IS effects
Misconceptions arise in the part of the users because unlike the developers usually users do not have enough knowledge about how these systems are developed and what are its possible effects. And because of these misconceptions, users tend to expect more from the system and later on they will be frustrated if the effects that the system cause where less than what they have expected. On the other hand, if the systems effect will also be too good, the users will also be overwhelmed and will be start to be conscious about their capabilities to support and use a very good system which may also lead to poor performance in their case. There a re a lot of misconceptions about IS and these are some of them:
--> Implementation of IS will speed up the process
A lot of people think that if we speak of IS implementation or improvement it means a lot of process will speed up instantly. But if we come to think of it, definitely the positive effects of the said actions will not be seen or felt in an instant. And there are a lot of possible reasons behind the delay of the effects that an IS may bring upon a company. And I found this article that gave some of the examples and also discuss some ways to give it some remedy.
IT professionals face unique challenges when it comes to managing their problems. They know that when hardware/software/client interface produces problems, dynamics are set in motion that can quickly cascade into nightmare proportions:
• Pressure to immediately reestablish service to the customer
• An already existing backlog of trouble tickets
• A relentless daily flow of in-coming trouble tickets
• A reality that sees a problem quickly affect thousands of clients
--> Users are not involved in IS development
Unlike what they think, users need to be involved in the process of IS development. The IS that will be done must be incorporated with what the users are complaining about there previous system or process. With the help of the users negative or positive feedback about there experience in using their previous system, the developers will be aware on what to areas change or to improve. Moreover, I found an article discussing how the users take a vital role in IS development.
The importance of involving users of enabling technology in all phases of the development and provision of these aids has gradually been focused, and eventually become established, during the last few years. It is, however, far from self evident how to make these ideas and ambitions really come true in the hectic daily activities of Research and Resource Centre, especially when it comes to more profoundly and multiply impaired users. Thus a very small number of such users are actually involved in any long term perspective. Apart from the lingering lack of awareness of needs and possibilities several other factors can be identified, such as:
• A lack of suitable organizational and work settings, flexible enough to offer realistic conditions for multiply disabled to participate and develop together with professionals in this field.
• Lacking working life experience, social networks and self confidence, and a related need for continuous educational programs, among the potential interested users.
--> IS improvement means job loss
There a re a lot of people who thinks that a conversion from an old system to a more IT involved system would definitely mean job loss. This may be true on some cases but this happens rarely. But because of this misconception, users tend to be passive and will not likely give their full support on the development of the new IS. They tend to hinder the developers from crucial information that would build up the success of the new system. They are thinking that if the new system fails then the old system will be retained and they will still have their jobs. They do not realize that IS development does not always mean job loss. This is because it is more convenient for most of the companies to train their old employees for the new system rather than hire new ones. The reason behind this is that companies will not take the risk in giving up on their trusted and proven employees for the sake of hiring new ones that may have the qualities for the new system. Training the present employees will also be less expensive than hiring new ones. If the companies opted to hire new employees they will face the burdens of advertising, interviews and other personality checks and backfires that the new employees may bring because of their need to adopt in the working environment.
Misunderstanding between the users’ needs and the developers’ knowledge on how things must be done in standard
This problem depends on the type of software development that developers choose. I’ll give some examples about the different ways of software development and on what strategies this problem can be seen.
--> Interactive and Incremental Development
The basic idea behind iterative enhancement is to develop a software system incrementally, allowing the developer to take advantage of what was being learned during the development of earlier, incremental, deliverable versions of the system. Learning comes from both the development and use of the system, where possible key steps in the process are to start with a simple implementation of a subset of the software requirements and iteratively enhance the evolving sequence of versions until the full system is implemented. At each iteration, design modifications are made and new functional capabilities are added.
The procedure itself consists of the initialization step, the iteration step, and the Project Control List. The initialization step creates a base version of the system. The goal for this initial implementation is to create a product to which the user can react. It should offer a sampling of the key aspects of the problem and provide a solution that is simple enough to understand and implement easily. To guide the iteration process, a project control list is created that contains a record of all tasks that need to be performed. It includes such items as new features to be implemented and areas of redesign of the existing solution. The control list is constantly being revised as a result of the analysis phase.
The iteration involves the redesign and implementation of a task from the project control list, and the analysis of the current version of the system. The goal for the design and implementation of any iteration is to be simple, straightforward, and modular, supporting redesign at that stage or as a task added to the project control list. The level of design detail is not dictated by the interactive approach. In a light-weight iterative project the code may represent the major source of documentation of the system; however, in a mission-critical iterative project a forma lSoftware Design Document may be used. The analysis of iteration is based upon user feedback, and the program analysis facilities available. It involves analysis of the structure, modularity, usability, reliability, efficiency, & achievement of goals. The project control list is modified in light of the analysis results.
This method of software development also provides the user the opportunity to participate in the evaluation of the system. But then again, the process is very time consuming because of a lot of iterations and would cause backfires due to the delay in the making of the system.
--> Adaptive Software Development
Adaptive Software Development is a software development process that grew out of rapid application development work by Jim Highsmith and Sam Bayer. ASD embodies the principle that continuous adaptation of the process to the work at hand is the normal state of affairs.
ASD replaces the traditional waterfall cycle with a repeating series of speculate, collaborate, and learn cycles. This dynamic cycle provides for continuous learning and adaptation to the emergent state of the project. The characteristics of an ASD life cycle are that it is mission focused, feature based, iterative, time boxed, risk driven, and change tolerant.
The word “speculate” refers to the paradox of planning – it is more likely to assume that all stakeholders are comparably wrong for certain aspects of the project’s mission, while trying to define it. Collaboration refers to the efforts for balancing the work based on predictable parts of the environment (planning and guiding them) and adapting to the uncertain surrounding mix of changes caused by various factors – technology, requirements, stakeholders, software vendors, etc. The learning cycles, challenging all stakeholders, are based on the short iterations with design, build and testing. During these iterations the knowledge is gathered by making small mistakes based on false assumptions and correcting those mistakes, thus leading to greater experience and eventually mastery in the problem domain.
This type of software development is very good in having the users cooperate with the development process. This is because the development process will adopt on what the situation is. The users may also be a factor on these situations; thus the system development will also adapt to what the users want.
Overall this frustration depends on the method that the developer will use in software development. It is up to the developers correct planning and assessment on the companies’ situation to ensure that the product system will comply on the standards that the users and the company want.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_Software_Development
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iterative_and_incremental_development
fast forward ..., you were hired and have been tasked to develop a strategic information systems plan for a company. The company officers have extended an invitation for you to meet with them to discuss the direction of the company. Before this meeting, they have asked that you provide a list of questions with some explanation about the "why" of the question so they can be prepared, thus maximizing the output from this meeting.
Develop a list of questions you would ask the officers of the company and give an explanation and justification for each question. (1000 words)
Is the company ready for IS improvements or replacement?
This question for me is the most important one that must be placed into priority in the said meeting. In this question the company representatives are expected to deliver their thoughts, facts and evidences that will show if the company is ready for the said IS modification. And if we speak of the readiness of the company, we will deal on these aspects.
Funds
Accept it or not but the all IS modifications requires a lot of funds. Funds are needed to purchase of upgrade IT equipments. It is also needed in trainings if it’s necessary. The software that will be used in the IS development and usage is also not free and these software are really expensive especially if the company that is intended to use it scopes a lot of processes. Without the necessary funds to cope up with the expenses, planning to have the said IS development or modification will be a waste of time and will just cause negative backfires to the company.
Employee capabilities
The success of the IS deployment will also be determined on how the direct users of the system can use it to its fullest. Even if the software and the hardware that make up the system are considered with high standards but if the user has no capabilities in using it, the systems capabilities will also be limited. This factor can be cured if the company have enough funds to train their employees. If the employees are all equipped with enough knowledge about what they are about to do in the system, the system will be used at most.
Time
Time is also essential for a successful IS development and deployment. If the company do not have enough time for it, they better not invest for it at all. Even though the company will definitely aim for a less time in the doing the said project because time itself is vital in the operations of the company. But then again, IS development cannot be rushed, a lot of factors must be properly dealt upon to make sure that the product system will greatly fit the company and give it lots of advantages.
Acceptance
Will the company and the people that support it accept it? Even though the company will give trainings and do other necessary steps to make the transition convenient for the direct users there will still be some resistance in learning new things and exploring to areas that they are not familiar with.
Who will be involved in the IS?
It is necessary to make something like map to know who are involved in the system. We will discuss what departments, the users, and other things including computers and networks that will be possibly have something to do with the system. The said information will be important to know because the ones that are involved in the system must be properly checked if they are ready for the IS. If not, certain adjustment can be done to improve what is missing or what things that can be done to improve it.
What do the company expects to achieve or accomplish after the IS deployment or improvement?
In everything we do, it is important to know what our goals first before making some actions to do it. The said goals will become our target and will make us pointed to one road and will serve as our guide. By making these goals we will be rest assured that our future actions will be aligned to it and will make the process a lot manageable and easy.
Develop a list of questions you would ask the officers of the company and give an explanation and justification for each question. (1000 words)
Is the company ready for IS improvements or replacement?
This question for me is the most important one that must be placed into priority in the said meeting. In this question the company representatives are expected to deliver their thoughts, facts and evidences that will show if the company is ready for the said IS modification. And if we speak of the readiness of the company, we will deal on these aspects.
Funds
Accept it or not but the all IS modifications requires a lot of funds. Funds are needed to purchase of upgrade IT equipments. It is also needed in trainings if it’s necessary. The software that will be used in the IS development and usage is also not free and these software are really expensive especially if the company that is intended to use it scopes a lot of processes. Without the necessary funds to cope up with the expenses, planning to have the said IS development or modification will be a waste of time and will just cause negative backfires to the company.
Employee capabilities
The success of the IS deployment will also be determined on how the direct users of the system can use it to its fullest. Even if the software and the hardware that make up the system are considered with high standards but if the user has no capabilities in using it, the systems capabilities will also be limited. This factor can be cured if the company have enough funds to train their employees. If the employees are all equipped with enough knowledge about what they are about to do in the system, the system will be used at most.
Time
Time is also essential for a successful IS development and deployment. If the company do not have enough time for it, they better not invest for it at all. Even though the company will definitely aim for a less time in the doing the said project because time itself is vital in the operations of the company. But then again, IS development cannot be rushed, a lot of factors must be properly dealt upon to make sure that the product system will greatly fit the company and give it lots of advantages.
Acceptance
Will the company and the people that support it accept it? Even though the company will give trainings and do other necessary steps to make the transition convenient for the direct users there will still be some resistance in learning new things and exploring to areas that they are not familiar with.
Who will be involved in the IS?
It is necessary to make something like map to know who are involved in the system. We will discuss what departments, the users, and other things including computers and networks that will be possibly have something to do with the system. The said information will be important to know because the ones that are involved in the system must be properly checked if they are ready for the IS. If not, certain adjustment can be done to improve what is missing or what things that can be done to improve it.
What do the company expects to achieve or accomplish after the IS deployment or improvement?
In everything we do, it is important to know what our goals first before making some actions to do it. The said goals will become our target and will make us pointed to one road and will serve as our guide. By making these goals we will be rest assured that our future actions will be aligned to it and will make the process a lot manageable and easy.
Think about yourself worthy to be called as IT professional, how do you see yourself 10 years from now, what are your strategies to get there? (at least 3000 words)
I see myself ten years from now as a fully capable network administrator. I mentioned the phrase “fully capable” because nowadays I observed that there are a lot of employees whose job descriptions are for network administrators but does not function as to what he/she is supposed to do. This path is really not easy. Being a fully functioning network administrator not only requires knowledge from researches and readings but also needs vast experience in the said field. It is also a fact that this job is not in huge numbers in developing countries like ours, that’s why finding the job itself is a pain. And because the job is very limited there will be a lot of other qualified applicants like me that would be my rivals.
Considering this goal as a very big challenge for me, I have come up with these strategies to at least give me a better chance in achieving this goal.
1. Read wide arrays of related articles and books
Knowledge is not limited on the things that our professors in school teach us. Our generation is very blessed because information nowadays is in the grasp of our hands. This privilege gave each one of us the capacity to be better every day, to surpass the boundaries of distance and time, and to learn more by just sitting in front of your computer while browsing the net. Though this fact is very good to know, sad to say, the advantage that our generation is experiencing is up to us to put into good use. Even though vast significant information are in our reach, it is still worthless if we instead reach on those senseless things or not even bother to reach a hand.
Knowing this, I’ll make sure that the opportunity that the current information era is giving us will be put into good use. I will read relevant articled everyday focusing on IT related subjects. I will take advantage of different forums and activities that our college will give us and listen to the things that speakers will share. If I have some spare cash I will buy some IT related books especially those that focuses its topics on computer networking. This stage will be an information gathering one. I’ll make sure that I will meet new terms, new algorithms, new definitions and theories every day. In this manner I will be better and more knowledgeable every day. I may not feel the relevance of some readings that I may encounter for now but this will help me be familiarized in this subjects thus they will not be foreign to me as I meet them in the near future. And besides, we have a saying that prevention is better than cure. Prevention from ignorance is better than treating it in the future.
2. Grab every chance of IT and Networking experience
I have my own personal computer. And there was one time when I needed to link up with my classmates’ laptop. A beginner myself, I was quite confused on how to do things. So I browsed the internet and found a lot of ways on directly connecting two computers using a single networking cable.
The scenario that I have mentioned was a networking experience itself. Though it may not be that hard for networking professionals it’s a very healthy experience for me. These circumstances are the things that cannot be thought in school. As some say, experience is the best teacher. And in order to be thought by the best teacher, I must be open for them. I will make sure that I will grab any possible IT related experience that I can have. From upgrading/fixing my own computer to networking and diagnosing others computers.
There are a lot of things that is easier said than done. This situation is same with IT related instructions and procedures. For example, it is very easy to enumerate the steps on how to change a CPU. First, you take out the CPU fan, unbolt it if have some bolts. If the motherboard is a new version, pull the lever to unlock the metal that is enclosing the CPU. After that gently lift the CPU and replace it by the new one. Make sure that it is properly in place then lock it using the lever. Then put some thermal paste, about a pea-size. Then install the CPU fan and it’s done. Looks very easy but it will be a pain if it’s your first time to do this step. Getting the CPU fan out of the motherboard is not that easy, a lot of wires and main board parts are just beside it and you need to be careful not to bulge them or your motherboard will be broken. Applying the thermal paste is also better to be learned through experience. If the thermal paste is too much, it will overflow and penetrate to the CPU and the results will be not so good. That’s why experiencing these instructions rather than reading them will be much more significant. You may not get good results at first, but as you continue to do the process, you will have familiarity over it and assuming you have been doing this for a long time, it is expected that you have encountered almost all possible circumstance that might happen during the process. This will help you give fast and relevant solutions to them.
3. Be involved in the IT society
It is a good thing to learn by yourself but it does not mean that you will not allow others to have a share of what you have known. Sharing knowledge is a very good opportunity for development. There are a lot of IT practitioners out there that also have goals like me. Some of them are far ahead of me in terms of experience and researches. It is a good idea to learn from them. The IT society aims to further give the IT industry in our country a boost in practice and relevance. By helping them reach this goal, IT will be rampantly practiced here in the Philippines in the near future, thus, IT specialist will be very in demand. This situation will be very good for us and will give us a lot of opportunities to practice and develop our craft and earn what we sown.
4. Get a college degree
Every good job nowadays requires a college degree, how much more in the future. It is necessary for me to graduate to an IT related to be closer to my goals and give me some good credentials on the future. Studying on an IT related course will also lead me closer to experience and knowledge opportunities that will help me be competitive in the future.
5. Be employed on an IT related job
After finishing my studies, it will not be likely for me to be a network administrator right away. I need to seek for further job experience. And having an IT related job will greatly help me. It is a good thing if it has to do with computer networking, but if not, at least it has something to do with computer hardware. This is because as a competitive network administrator you must not only be good in the software end of networking, but you must also know hardware installation, maintenance, troubleshooting and repair. Having these capabilities will give me an edge in other applicants that are also interested for the job.
6. Focus on Network Administration in future studies
Unlike the first step where I gathered any possible IT facts and information, on this stage I will focus on information related to networking and administrating it. Experience will continue through my present job. On this stage I will train myself for future opportunities that my dedication to my craft will carry me. And through enough hard work and prayers I will reach my goals soon.
7. Be a network administrator
After all my hard work and struggling paid out. I am a network administrator at last. On this stage I will use all the things from experience to my researches to be a competitive network administrator. I will make sure that all those hard work will not put in to waste and give everything that I can do to give justice to my job.
8. Continue research and studies
My life doesn’t end here. After having my goal as a network administrator I will continue to grab opportunities of experience and knowledge to be closer to my dream in having the most secured and fastest network in the world.
9. Help the IT society
It’s not a bad idea to help others that have the same call like me. The world needs IT. And in order for IT to be helpful, IT needs us; a group of individuals who continue to practice and develop IT for it to suite in the needs of the people. By helping others and sharing my knowledge, this time I will be a part of their own success and give the IT industry a little hand in its endeavor.
I see myself ten years from now as a fully capable network administrator. I mentioned the phrase “fully capable” because nowadays I observed that there are a lot of employees whose job descriptions are for network administrators but does not function as to what he/she is supposed to do. This path is really not easy. Being a fully functioning network administrator not only requires knowledge from researches and readings but also needs vast experience in the said field. It is also a fact that this job is not in huge numbers in developing countries like ours, that’s why finding the job itself is a pain. And because the job is very limited there will be a lot of other qualified applicants like me that would be my rivals.
Considering this goal as a very big challenge for me, I have come up with these strategies to at least give me a better chance in achieving this goal.
1. Read wide arrays of related articles and books
Knowledge is not limited on the things that our professors in school teach us. Our generation is very blessed because information nowadays is in the grasp of our hands. This privilege gave each one of us the capacity to be better every day, to surpass the boundaries of distance and time, and to learn more by just sitting in front of your computer while browsing the net. Though this fact is very good to know, sad to say, the advantage that our generation is experiencing is up to us to put into good use. Even though vast significant information are in our reach, it is still worthless if we instead reach on those senseless things or not even bother to reach a hand.
Knowing this, I’ll make sure that the opportunity that the current information era is giving us will be put into good use. I will read relevant articled everyday focusing on IT related subjects. I will take advantage of different forums and activities that our college will give us and listen to the things that speakers will share. If I have some spare cash I will buy some IT related books especially those that focuses its topics on computer networking. This stage will be an information gathering one. I’ll make sure that I will meet new terms, new algorithms, new definitions and theories every day. In this manner I will be better and more knowledgeable every day. I may not feel the relevance of some readings that I may encounter for now but this will help me be familiarized in this subjects thus they will not be foreign to me as I meet them in the near future. And besides, we have a saying that prevention is better than cure. Prevention from ignorance is better than treating it in the future.
2. Grab every chance of IT and Networking experience
I have my own personal computer. And there was one time when I needed to link up with my classmates’ laptop. A beginner myself, I was quite confused on how to do things. So I browsed the internet and found a lot of ways on directly connecting two computers using a single networking cable.
The scenario that I have mentioned was a networking experience itself. Though it may not be that hard for networking professionals it’s a very healthy experience for me. These circumstances are the things that cannot be thought in school. As some say, experience is the best teacher. And in order to be thought by the best teacher, I must be open for them. I will make sure that I will grab any possible IT related experience that I can have. From upgrading/fixing my own computer to networking and diagnosing others computers.
There are a lot of things that is easier said than done. This situation is same with IT related instructions and procedures. For example, it is very easy to enumerate the steps on how to change a CPU. First, you take out the CPU fan, unbolt it if have some bolts. If the motherboard is a new version, pull the lever to unlock the metal that is enclosing the CPU. After that gently lift the CPU and replace it by the new one. Make sure that it is properly in place then lock it using the lever. Then put some thermal paste, about a pea-size. Then install the CPU fan and it’s done. Looks very easy but it will be a pain if it’s your first time to do this step. Getting the CPU fan out of the motherboard is not that easy, a lot of wires and main board parts are just beside it and you need to be careful not to bulge them or your motherboard will be broken. Applying the thermal paste is also better to be learned through experience. If the thermal paste is too much, it will overflow and penetrate to the CPU and the results will be not so good. That’s why experiencing these instructions rather than reading them will be much more significant. You may not get good results at first, but as you continue to do the process, you will have familiarity over it and assuming you have been doing this for a long time, it is expected that you have encountered almost all possible circumstance that might happen during the process. This will help you give fast and relevant solutions to them.
3. Be involved in the IT society
It is a good thing to learn by yourself but it does not mean that you will not allow others to have a share of what you have known. Sharing knowledge is a very good opportunity for development. There are a lot of IT practitioners out there that also have goals like me. Some of them are far ahead of me in terms of experience and researches. It is a good idea to learn from them. The IT society aims to further give the IT industry in our country a boost in practice and relevance. By helping them reach this goal, IT will be rampantly practiced here in the Philippines in the near future, thus, IT specialist will be very in demand. This situation will be very good for us and will give us a lot of opportunities to practice and develop our craft and earn what we sown.
4. Get a college degree
Every good job nowadays requires a college degree, how much more in the future. It is necessary for me to graduate to an IT related to be closer to my goals and give me some good credentials on the future. Studying on an IT related course will also lead me closer to experience and knowledge opportunities that will help me be competitive in the future.
5. Be employed on an IT related job
After finishing my studies, it will not be likely for me to be a network administrator right away. I need to seek for further job experience. And having an IT related job will greatly help me. It is a good thing if it has to do with computer networking, but if not, at least it has something to do with computer hardware. This is because as a competitive network administrator you must not only be good in the software end of networking, but you must also know hardware installation, maintenance, troubleshooting and repair. Having these capabilities will give me an edge in other applicants that are also interested for the job.
6. Focus on Network Administration in future studies
Unlike the first step where I gathered any possible IT facts and information, on this stage I will focus on information related to networking and administrating it. Experience will continue through my present job. On this stage I will train myself for future opportunities that my dedication to my craft will carry me. And through enough hard work and prayers I will reach my goals soon.
7. Be a network administrator
After all my hard work and struggling paid out. I am a network administrator at last. On this stage I will use all the things from experience to my researches to be a competitive network administrator. I will make sure that all those hard work will not put in to waste and give everything that I can do to give justice to my job.
8. Continue research and studies
My life doesn’t end here. After having my goal as a network administrator I will continue to grab opportunities of experience and knowledge to be closer to my dream in having the most secured and fastest network in the world.
9. Help the IT society
It’s not a bad idea to help others that have the same call like me. The world needs IT. And in order for IT to be helpful, IT needs us; a group of individuals who continue to practice and develop IT for it to suite in the needs of the people. By helping others and sharing my knowledge, this time I will be a part of their own success and give the IT industry a little hand in its endeavor.
The pace of change seems to increase relentlessly, especially changes involving information technology. Using your crystal ball, identify and discuss three changes likely to have substantial impact on your school services in the next three years. (1500 words)
Change is very likely to happen nowadays because of a fast changing environment. Even we belong in the 3rd world country we still encounter changes through the help of new technologies introduced to us. Many institutions have change from manual operations to automated one.
I enrolled in University of Southeastern Philippines as one of the lucky students of Bachelor of Science in Information Technology in the year 2005 but I was not able to continue my 2nd year in 2nd semester in the said school. Within that period of time, I was not able to encounter many changes in terms of facilities or even the services offered by the university. But I’m not also expecting much either since it is a state university. Luckily, I was also given a chance to study again after a year. I was a bit surprised because the enrolment system is not the same anymore. It was quite difficult not just for me but also for the other schoolmates because that was the first implementation of the new enrolment system of the university. In terms of acquiring information anything about the university a new website was also introduced for the convenience of anyone. With regards of the facilities, the only change that I noticed was the new units of our laboratory room, at least. I also consider this as a change and also a hindrance when the administration produced a memo forbidding the students and faculties to use the electricity of the university. We cannot deny the fact that they cannot provide enough facilities to the students, yet they are also the ones who are inhibiting us to use ours. And I consider this as one of the hindrances of learning especially in our case. These are some of the many changes in our university for 5 years now. Some are substantial enough, and some are not.
What about the changes for the next three years? Is information technology change good? How can IT help the organization in responding to the challenges of an increasingly complex and uncertain environment? How can IT help the organization achieve the flexible organization structure? Will this change be substantial for everybody or not? Change is the only constant thing in this world. And change is really important especially if the goal will be for the good of everybody or at least, for the good of the majority, the students.
In one of the survey article in The Economist, John Browning (1990) wrote: "Information technology is no longer a business resource; it is the business environment." His statement is not far from truth. Ongoing advances in information technology (IT), alongwith increasing global competition, are adding complexity and uncertainty of several orders of magnitude to the organizational environment. There are also factors to consider in an IT change especially in our case since we are a state university.
As what I have observed, there are many researches regarding information technology that are considerable for the progress of the university. I also think that only few knew that these researches exist. The sad part is they are not implemented and only remain in papers. In recent time, we are doing our documentation for our proposed system concerning the university. And hopefully in the next school year, we will be able to produce an efficient and functional product. And if not at least it will be implemented in three years time. Personally, I am really hoping that one day this will be implemented. I am saying this because being in this field is really not an easy thing. And it will really take time doing a particular system that will only come to a useless end.
For me, one the significant change involving information technology in the next three years is to have more hardware facilities like computers that are capable of handling a multi tasking jobs. These hardware facilities should have a higher standard of specs so that it will give convenience to the users. This may sound expensive but it will be beneficial in the long run. We cannot deny the fact that not all students of the university can afford to have a personal computer and there are some that are only relying in the school facilities and services they offered just like the free access of the internet. And it is quite disturbing that the students have to “paunhunay” or really have to run so that a student can have a unit, a good unit in order to be served first. I am able to relate to this because I was also one of these students before. This change could also help the students to enhance their abilities and skills regarding graphics design, multimedia, or anything that can’t be done with the facilities that we have now because of its limited capabilities. It is also very important to have a good hardware facility because no matter how good and efficient a software product is and there is no appropriate hardware facility it will only result to a failure.
With regards to the software side, it would be extensive to have an id that has a multiple use or an all purpose school id. This id has a barcode or something that can be detected electronically. This will serve as a gate pass and because of this, man power will be lessen. Another thing is for the library, this id will also serve as a login system whenever a student wants to access the internet or borrow a book. This can also be a locator of the owner of the id. For example, if you want to know where a particular student is, you just have to input his name and the locate him. These are just some of the few functions of the all purpose school id that can be a convenient way not just to the students but also with the users.
Conclusion:
IT and New Organizational Structures of Interdependence: Benjamin and Levinson (1993) emphasized that for IT-based change to be effective, technology, business processes, and organization need to be adapted to each other. Comparing the present information revolution with the Industrial Revolution, Malone and Rockart (1993) indicated that the latest changes in IT would lead to the evolution of new technology-intensive organizational structures. They project that the advances in IT would result in dramatic decline in the costs of "coordination" which would lead to new, coordination-intensive business structures. Rockart and Short (1989) suggest that IT would enable the firms to respond to the "new and pressing competitive forces" by providing for "effective management of interdependence." Interorganizational relations that are based upon trust and conditions of unstructured authority (Litwak and Hylton, 1962) would be created using newer types of coordination mechanisms. Malone and Crowston (1991) believe that in light of these new possibilities there is need to reassess our current theories of organizations, of markets, and of management.
I merely agree about the statement above from BRINT Institute's Book on Knowledge Management because it clearly stated that in order to attain an Information Technology change the first one that should adapt and accept the change is the organization itself. It has to adapt the changes that the environment has. It has to consider the cost of the possible change. And must also consider the cause and effect of a particular change if it these changes likely to have substantial impact in our university services in the years to come.
References:
http://www.brint.com/papers/change/conclusions.htm
Change is very likely to happen nowadays because of a fast changing environment. Even we belong in the 3rd world country we still encounter changes through the help of new technologies introduced to us. Many institutions have change from manual operations to automated one.
I enrolled in University of Southeastern Philippines as one of the lucky students of Bachelor of Science in Information Technology in the year 2005 but I was not able to continue my 2nd year in 2nd semester in the said school. Within that period of time, I was not able to encounter many changes in terms of facilities or even the services offered by the university. But I’m not also expecting much either since it is a state university. Luckily, I was also given a chance to study again after a year. I was a bit surprised because the enrolment system is not the same anymore. It was quite difficult not just for me but also for the other schoolmates because that was the first implementation of the new enrolment system of the university. In terms of acquiring information anything about the university a new website was also introduced for the convenience of anyone. With regards of the facilities, the only change that I noticed was the new units of our laboratory room, at least. I also consider this as a change and also a hindrance when the administration produced a memo forbidding the students and faculties to use the electricity of the university. We cannot deny the fact that they cannot provide enough facilities to the students, yet they are also the ones who are inhibiting us to use ours. And I consider this as one of the hindrances of learning especially in our case. These are some of the many changes in our university for 5 years now. Some are substantial enough, and some are not.
What about the changes for the next three years? Is information technology change good? How can IT help the organization in responding to the challenges of an increasingly complex and uncertain environment? How can IT help the organization achieve the flexible organization structure? Will this change be substantial for everybody or not? Change is the only constant thing in this world. And change is really important especially if the goal will be for the good of everybody or at least, for the good of the majority, the students.
In one of the survey article in The Economist, John Browning (1990) wrote: "Information technology is no longer a business resource; it is the business environment." His statement is not far from truth. Ongoing advances in information technology (IT), alongwith increasing global competition, are adding complexity and uncertainty of several orders of magnitude to the organizational environment. There are also factors to consider in an IT change especially in our case since we are a state university.
As what I have observed, there are many researches regarding information technology that are considerable for the progress of the university. I also think that only few knew that these researches exist. The sad part is they are not implemented and only remain in papers. In recent time, we are doing our documentation for our proposed system concerning the university. And hopefully in the next school year, we will be able to produce an efficient and functional product. And if not at least it will be implemented in three years time. Personally, I am really hoping that one day this will be implemented. I am saying this because being in this field is really not an easy thing. And it will really take time doing a particular system that will only come to a useless end.
For me, one the significant change involving information technology in the next three years is to have more hardware facilities like computers that are capable of handling a multi tasking jobs. These hardware facilities should have a higher standard of specs so that it will give convenience to the users. This may sound expensive but it will be beneficial in the long run. We cannot deny the fact that not all students of the university can afford to have a personal computer and there are some that are only relying in the school facilities and services they offered just like the free access of the internet. And it is quite disturbing that the students have to “paunhunay” or really have to run so that a student can have a unit, a good unit in order to be served first. I am able to relate to this because I was also one of these students before. This change could also help the students to enhance their abilities and skills regarding graphics design, multimedia, or anything that can’t be done with the facilities that we have now because of its limited capabilities. It is also very important to have a good hardware facility because no matter how good and efficient a software product is and there is no appropriate hardware facility it will only result to a failure.
With regards to the software side, it would be extensive to have an id that has a multiple use or an all purpose school id. This id has a barcode or something that can be detected electronically. This will serve as a gate pass and because of this, man power will be lessen. Another thing is for the library, this id will also serve as a login system whenever a student wants to access the internet or borrow a book. This can also be a locator of the owner of the id. For example, if you want to know where a particular student is, you just have to input his name and the locate him. These are just some of the few functions of the all purpose school id that can be a convenient way not just to the students but also with the users.
Conclusion:
IT and New Organizational Structures of Interdependence: Benjamin and Levinson (1993) emphasized that for IT-based change to be effective, technology, business processes, and organization need to be adapted to each other. Comparing the present information revolution with the Industrial Revolution, Malone and Rockart (1993) indicated that the latest changes in IT would lead to the evolution of new technology-intensive organizational structures. They project that the advances in IT would result in dramatic decline in the costs of "coordination" which would lead to new, coordination-intensive business structures. Rockart and Short (1989) suggest that IT would enable the firms to respond to the "new and pressing competitive forces" by providing for "effective management of interdependence." Interorganizational relations that are based upon trust and conditions of unstructured authority (Litwak and Hylton, 1962) would be created using newer types of coordination mechanisms. Malone and Crowston (1991) believe that in light of these new possibilities there is need to reassess our current theories of organizations, of markets, and of management.
I merely agree about the statement above from BRINT Institute's Book on Knowledge Management because it clearly stated that in order to attain an Information Technology change the first one that should adapt and accept the change is the organization itself. It has to adapt the changes that the environment has. It has to consider the cost of the possible change. And must also consider the cause and effect of a particular change if it these changes likely to have substantial impact in our university services in the years to come.
References:
http://www.brint.com/papers/change/conclusions.htm
Google is a highly successful Internet business. Recently they have broadened their scope with a multitude of new tools. Research Google’s business model and answer the following questions below. You may add additional information not included in these questions.
Questions :
Explain Google’s business model.
1. Who are their competitors?
2. How have they used information technology to their advantage?
3. How competitive are they in the market?
4. What new services do they offer?
5. What makes them so unique?
6. How competitive are they in the international market?
Google is known to be as a web search engine. And as I have searched the net, these are their competitors in this said field. I have included brief information about them that I also browsed from the internet.
Who are their competitors?
--> Ask.com
Ask.com had a personality change in 2008 as it re-focused itself on being a question-answering service. It's actually reasonably good at coming up with answers through web search and being able to gather questions and answers through its Q&A. Some semantic technology is involved that goes beyond merely matching on keywords. It has a variety of search tools that includes web search, news, images, video, blogs. Maps and directions are provided from Microsoft.
--> Yahoo.com
Yahoo! Search is one of the best for search aids. It has Search Assist at the top with related searches and suggested concepts to explore, as well as top sites from the search results in the left side panel. Yahoo signed-in account holders save page and keep notes in the new Search Pad. Search results are enhanced with deep links and thumbnails of images and videos. All in all, Yahoo is pleasant to use.
--> Cuil.com
"Cuil is an old Irish word for knowledge. For knowledge, ask Cuil"
Cuil was launched in 2008 as the world's biggest search engine. Its founders included some from Google. Its edge was going to be an ability to examine the context of words to establish their relevance to a search query. Initially it didn't do this well, but that has changed.
Today categories provide context and specifics: they are well developed and include sub-categories with examples. Scroll over the links to get previews of top results. Try this with arctic exploration. But it doesn't do well with more specific queries such as where did john franklin die.
--> Exalead.com
Exalead is a small alternative search engine. It is based in France and may have somewhat better coverage of European content. The index has been 8 billion pages for a couple of years. Most notably, Exalead has function that all other engines abandoned: accepts wildcard characters; and has a NEAR operator to require that words be within 16 words or a number you set.
With regards on how they used information technology to their advantage it is clearly seen that the backbone of the business that Google decided to enter is directly associated to information technology. This is because without a computer, without knowledgeable people browsing the internet, google will not exist at all.
They used information technology wisely. They continue to find ways to improve on giving fast and relevant response to every possible queries that a user may come about. In fact, they developed different algorithms and methods to make their answers significant and reliable.
They also did not rely only in desktop. As a respond to the rapidly developing technologies, they expand there services in cellular phones and other devices that supports internet access.
As I browsed the net for new services that they are offering aside from being a search engine, as I was not surprised seeing a lot. But these new services are mainly under a broad project that they developed which they called "Google Business Solutions".
These are the following services they marked as new:
--> Google Ad Manager
Sell, schedule, deliver, and measure your directly-sold and network-based ad inventory.
--> Google enterprise search solutions
Maximize website ROI and internal productivity with Google-powered search for your website or intranet.
--> Postini services
Protect your email infrastructure with hosted spam and virus protection, archiving, and encryption.
In my personal perspective, google is unique because of its simplicty. Simplicity in terms of its interface and the way the search engine gives its response. This is a good thing for a lot of users especially to those who are not familiar in navigating websites.
Simplicity can be clearly seen in there main page, where you will only see the google logo, a texfield for input, and some options. Unlike from other search engines that i have tried, google focuses on the relevence of their answers and not on how their sites attractive look.
Aside from that, google is also unique in terms on their business oriented services. I am not sure if they are the first in this field but i am pretty much confident that they are leading it. I can say this because I browse the internet a lot and almost every site have there ads on and there advertising power has been very powerfula and in demand nowadays.
Google is very competitive in international market. infact they rank one of highest among the different search engines available based on advancedwebranking.com and other website rankings survey that i have browsed. Because their field is directly independent to internet connectivity, they are able to reach almost every part in the world which made there company very influencial in terms of advertising and business solutions.
Reference:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/competing_with_google_search.php
Questions :
Explain Google’s business model.
1. Who are their competitors?
2. How have they used information technology to their advantage?
3. How competitive are they in the market?
4. What new services do they offer?
5. What makes them so unique?
6. How competitive are they in the international market?
Google is known to be as a web search engine. And as I have searched the net, these are their competitors in this said field. I have included brief information about them that I also browsed from the internet.
Who are their competitors?
--> Ask.com
Ask.com had a personality change in 2008 as it re-focused itself on being a question-answering service. It's actually reasonably good at coming up with answers through web search and being able to gather questions and answers through its Q&A. Some semantic technology is involved that goes beyond merely matching on keywords. It has a variety of search tools that includes web search, news, images, video, blogs. Maps and directions are provided from Microsoft.
--> Yahoo.com
Yahoo! Search is one of the best for search aids. It has Search Assist at the top with related searches and suggested concepts to explore, as well as top sites from the search results in the left side panel. Yahoo signed-in account holders save page and keep notes in the new Search Pad. Search results are enhanced with deep links and thumbnails of images and videos. All in all, Yahoo is pleasant to use.
--> Cuil.com
"Cuil is an old Irish word for knowledge. For knowledge, ask Cuil"
Cuil was launched in 2008 as the world's biggest search engine. Its founders included some from Google. Its edge was going to be an ability to examine the context of words to establish their relevance to a search query. Initially it didn't do this well, but that has changed.
Today categories provide context and specifics: they are well developed and include sub-categories with examples. Scroll over the links to get previews of top results. Try this with arctic exploration. But it doesn't do well with more specific queries such as where did john franklin die.
--> Exalead.com
Exalead is a small alternative search engine. It is based in France and may have somewhat better coverage of European content. The index has been 8 billion pages for a couple of years. Most notably, Exalead has function that all other engines abandoned: accepts wildcard characters; and has a NEAR operator to require that words be within 16 words or a number you set.
With regards on how they used information technology to their advantage it is clearly seen that the backbone of the business that Google decided to enter is directly associated to information technology. This is because without a computer, without knowledgeable people browsing the internet, google will not exist at all.
They used information technology wisely. They continue to find ways to improve on giving fast and relevant response to every possible queries that a user may come about. In fact, they developed different algorithms and methods to make their answers significant and reliable.
They also did not rely only in desktop. As a respond to the rapidly developing technologies, they expand there services in cellular phones and other devices that supports internet access.
As I browsed the net for new services that they are offering aside from being a search engine, as I was not surprised seeing a lot. But these new services are mainly under a broad project that they developed which they called "Google Business Solutions".
These are the following services they marked as new:
--> Google Ad Manager
Sell, schedule, deliver, and measure your directly-sold and network-based ad inventory.
--> Google enterprise search solutions
Maximize website ROI and internal productivity with Google-powered search for your website or intranet.
--> Postini services
Protect your email infrastructure with hosted spam and virus protection, archiving, and encryption.
In my personal perspective, google is unique because of its simplicty. Simplicity in terms of its interface and the way the search engine gives its response. This is a good thing for a lot of users especially to those who are not familiar in navigating websites.
Simplicity can be clearly seen in there main page, where you will only see the google logo, a texfield for input, and some options. Unlike from other search engines that i have tried, google focuses on the relevence of their answers and not on how their sites attractive look.
Aside from that, google is also unique in terms on their business oriented services. I am not sure if they are the first in this field but i am pretty much confident that they are leading it. I can say this because I browse the internet a lot and almost every site have there ads on and there advertising power has been very powerfula and in demand nowadays.
Google is very competitive in international market. infact they rank one of highest among the different search engines available based on advancedwebranking.com and other website rankings survey that i have browsed. Because their field is directly independent to internet connectivity, they are able to reach almost every part in the world which made there company very influencial in terms of advertising and business solutions.
Reference:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/competing_with_google_search.php
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