Week 12

1.     Explain the triple constraint and its importance in project management.

The triple constraint involves making tradeoffs between scope, time and cost for a project.  It is inevitable in a project life cycle that there will be changes to the scope, time or cost of the project.  Project management is the science of making intelligent trade-offs among time, cost, and scope.
A projects vision needs to be clear, concise and comprehensible, but also has to be the same to all stake holders. From a business prospective, everyone has to be aligned with the direction of the overall business and the projects overall objectives. There are three Primary variables in any project, time, cost and scope. These three variables are interdependent. All projects are limited in some way by these three constraints. The project management Institute calls the framework for evaluating these competing demands the triple constraint. The relationship between these variables is such that if anyone of the three factors changes, at least one factor is likely to be affected. For example, moving up a projects finish date could result in either increasing costs to hire more staff or decreasing scope tp eliminate features. Increasing a projects scope to include additional customer requests could result in extending the projects times to completion or increasing the project’s cost.

2.     Describe the two primary diagrams most frequently used in project planning

PERT chart or Program Evaluation and Review Technique chart is a graphical network model that depicts a project’s tasks and the relationships between those tasks being Dependencies and Critical path. Pert charts define dependency between project tasks before those tasks are scheduled. The critical task, outlined below in bold, is a path from the start to finish that passes through all the tasks that are critical to completing the project in the shortest amount of time.

Gantt chart à a simple bar chart that depicts project tasks against a calendar. A Gantt chart is one of the most common tools used by project managers. As seen below, tasks are listed vertically and the projects time frame is listed horizontally. It shows the actual progress of tasks against the planned duration.

Guidelines can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW_wGSFavTc

3.     Identify the three primary areas a project manager must focus on managing to ensure success

1.       Managing people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRzV1dJMErw

2.       Managing communications
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpuHUiy_xog

3.       Managing change
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZVIWZGheXY

4.     Outline 2 reasons why projects fail and two reasons why projects succeed.

There are several reasons why projects fail, two of these are a failure to align project with organizational objectives and a lack of project management. There are also several key reasons why projects succeed and two of these are a strong project management and a good decision making structure

Week 10

1) What is your understanding of CRM?

CRM involves the managing of all aspects of customer relations with the intent of keeping customers and profits. The benefits of CRM is that it provides better customer service, improves call centre efficiency, cross-sells products better and helps sales staff close deals faster.

2) Compare operational and analytical customer relationship management.

Operational systems are transactional, which record things that happen directly with customers. It helps front office systems with their decisions. This is day-to-day operations of the business where as analytical customer relationship management entails the concept of data-mining, which looks for patterns and trends to help provide management with strategic information. It helps the back office systems and is concerned with the long term decisions of a business. The similarities are that they both have the same goal of retaining customers and increasing profits.

3) Describe and differentiate the CRM technologies used by marketing departments and sales departments

The marketing departments use a list generator which uses customer information for different marketing campaigns. There is the campaign management which guides the users through marketing campaigns such as through the tasks of planning and scheduling. And finally there is xcoss-selling and Up-selling. Cross-selling is the selling of additional products, whereas up-selling is increasing the value of the sale. The marketing department use CRM technologies to help them when considering the creating of a marketing plan. This is because it helps the business gain greater information on their customers.

The sale department use sale management CRM systems which automates some of the sale processes e.g. calendars etc. Sale also uses contact management CRM systems which maintains customer contact information e.g. features such as maintaining organisational charts and finally opportunity management CRM systems which helps target sale opportunities as it finds potential customers or companies for future sales. The sales department is then different to the marketing department as it does not focus the use of CRM on marketing campaigns but focus' on helping retain the customer and gain new ones.

4) How could a sales department use operational CRM technologies?

The sales department could use operational CRM technologies to:

• list generators - allowing them to provide information on a specific aspect
• campaign management - help schedule and segment the firms resources
• look for systems that cross-sell and up-sell

5) Describe business intelligence and its value to businesses

Business intelligence are the tools and technologies that help provide gather, provide access to and analyse data that will be used in strategic decision making e.g. tools such as data mining. Its value to the business is that it helps provide support for decision making that is based on data that has been analysed. This help the business as the decisions become more accurate as the analysed data benefits the decision, which will benefit them as employees gain knowledge.

6) Explain the problem associated with business intelligence. Describe the solution to this business problem

The problem associated with business intelligence is the idea of data rich, information poor. They don't know what the best tactical move for the business is as they have plenty of data but no solid information. The solution to this problem is the use of business intelligence. This would then allow the whole business to be aligned, which will result in more informed decisions. An example of using BI is in retail and sales where predicted sales and loss prevention are determined with the use of BI. The benefit of this is then that it reduces latency, making it quicker and more efficient when making a decision.

7) What are two possible outcomes a company could get from using data mining?

Two possible outcomes a business could gain from using data mining include:

1. increased profits
2. better sales

Week 9

1) Define the term operations management 

Operations management is the management of all processes that transport inputs into outputs. It is responsible for managing the core processes the business used to create their product.

2) Explain operations management’s role in business 

If all processes are efficient and productive in the transformation of inputs into outputs, the role would be:

• imaginative role, as they determine the process in the future
• forecasting, which involves estimating set demands
• capacity planning,
• scheduling
• managing inventories
• ensuring quality processes
• motivating employees
• Locating facilities

3) Describe the correlation between operations management and information technology 

The correlation is strong as Operation Managers role is varied and the need for IT to provide them with visibility of the business. This will help show them where the processes are. This will also show them what resources will be needed and in what amounts, when it should be scheduled, ordered and when corrective management will be needed. It also helps with where the work will be performed (e.g. near transport and near available labour) and how will the good be designed while designating who will perform the work, either in-source or outsource.

Overall, it is greatly used in the Operation Managers role as it helps them make correct decisions that will influence the whole business. Decision support systems greatly help in this area as many decisions have many possible outcomes. This is done through the use of what-if-analysis, which will help determined the best outcome.

4) Explain supply chain management and its role in a business

Supply chain management involves the management of information flows between the different stages of the supply chain in order to maximise total efficiency and profitability. The supply chain has 5 different steps - plan, source, make, deliver and return. This management involves communication between all 5 steps of the chain. The supply chains role in business is to decrease the power of its buyers while increase its own supplier power. It also as the job of increasing switching costs to reduce threats of substitutes and create entry barriers which will help with increasing efficiencies

5) List and describe the five components of a typical supply chain 

1. Plan: they must have a plan for managing all resources, a major part is developing sets of metrics to monitor the supply chain
2. Source: this is where the firms must choose their suppliers. While doing this they also determine the pricing, delivery and payment processes which they will do with the suppliers
3. Make: where companies manufacture the products, including scheduling, testing etc
4. Deliver: logistics e.g. set of processes that plans for and controls the transportation and storage of the products
5. Return: the receiving of the defective and excess products that the customers don't want

The supply chain could also take the form of: supplier to manufacturer to distributer to retailer to customer. In certain cases such as through the use of ebay, some of these steps are cut out. This then becomes the probem of disintermediation.

6) Define the relationship between information technology and the supply chain

The supply chain heavily relies on IT to make accurate decisions regarding each step. As without IT problems such as over forecasting or under forecasting can be made. Therefore with the use of IT managers can accurately manage the supply chain. It also helps the supply chain gain visibility which allows us to view all areas up and down the supply chain. Through this the bullwhip effect is decreased, which involves the distorted product demand. The consumer behaviour helps with the use of Demand Planning Systems. This allows the company to respond quicker to customer demands by supply chain enhancements. And finally competition which is the supply chain planning systems that help improve the flow of the supply chain. Supply chain execution systems automate some of the steps in the supply chain. This shows that IT would then greatly make the supply chain faster. There is also the element of speed which through technology the supply chain would become faster. Overall, IT greatly benefits the supply chain and helps it develop as it makes it faster and more efficient.

Week 8

1.       Explain the business benefits of using wireless technology.

The benefits of using a wireless network include less hardware, less switches, no cables, a reduction in IT infrastructure and it’s easier to make. There is also an increase to productivity as you can be anywhere on the move and still do your job and with its universal access, it increases its mobility

2. Describe the business benefits associated with VoIP

VoIP is voice over existing line. The benefit of this is there is no need copper cables and it’s not reliant on phone companies, therefore if they have a problem it will not affect the individual. There can be business on many different sites as communications are free as well as international calls. Overall it is cost saving as you don't need infrastructure and leverage existing connections for free communication.

3. Compare LANs and WANs

LANs are connections of the same geographical locations. All connect to one server where they share data and communicate. They have to do this through authentication and authorization as it will help them control the people on the network.

WANs are connections from different geographic locations. This allows people from different LAN connections to connect together via the internet. This is evident with things such as the business website, where people in offsite locations can still connect with people from the main biulding.

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

Radio frequency identification services e.g. etags. This is the use of small devices that send information back to the company immediately.

It can help the supply chain as companies can keep track of their inventory in all steps of the supply chain which keeps it efficient and productive as the businesses can clearly determine the time it will take to reach the customer, making less of a buffer as the customer will know exactly when the product will reach them. This will allow the business to apply the just in time principle as they will be able to navigate the time exactly as they will know the exact placement of the stock.

The video that makes this evident can be seen athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zj7txoDxbE.

5. Identify the advantages and disadvantage of deploying mobile technology

The advantages of deploying mobile technology include a mobile workforce as it will allow them to work anywhere and can see real time data and real time processing (eliminating steps within the business process), therefore making it faster

The disadvantages include the fact that wireless technology is insecure causing other problems such as it is not perceived as safe therefore making privacy issues apparent, especially with mobile phone cameras and with unsecure devices, other problems then arise such as viruses

Week 7

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

(a) There are several characteristics of high quality information. This first of these include the accuracy of information such as are all the values correct? An example of this is, is the name spelled correctly? Is the dollar amount recorded properly?

(b) The second characteristic is completeness. Is the data missing any relevant information? For example, is the address complete, including street, city, state, and zip code?

(c) The third characteristic of high quality information is whether or not it is consistent. For example is aggregate or summary information in agreement with detailed information? Put simply do all total fields equal the true total of the individual fields?

(d) The fourth characteristic to enable high quality data requires uniqueness, such as, is each transaction, entity, and event represented only once in the information? A clear example of this is, ‘are there any duplicate customers?’

(e) The fifth and last characteristic is the timeliness – is the information current with respect to the business requirements? For example, is information updated weekly, daily, or hourly?

2. Define the relationship between a database and a database management system.
The relationship between a database and a database management system can be broken down into two distinct categories. This first of these being direct interaction allows the user to interact directly with the Data Base Management System, which then in turn, obtains the information from the database. The second category, the indirect interaction allows the user to interact with an application such as a sales application. This application then interacts with the data base management system which subsequently obtains the information from the database.
This process can we witnessed in the image below.

3. Describe the advantages an organisation can gain by using a database.
There are six advantages that an organization can gain from using a database. The first advantage of using a database is that it increases flexibility as a well-designed database should be able to handle changes quickly and easily while providing its users with different views while further maintaining only one physical view. It should however have multiple logical views. The second advantage is linked with the third, these being an increased scalability and performance which will allow an organizations database to meet increased demand, while maintaining acceptable performance levels. The fourth advantage of using a database is that it prevents data redundancy, that is, it stops the same data being stored in many places. The fifth advantage ensures the organization that its data meets constraints such as student grade averages cannot be negative. Put simply, it helps ensure the quality of information. The final advantage of an organization using a database is that it increases its information security, that is, it keeps the organisation’s data safe from theft, modification, and/or destruction.

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

The fundamental concept behind the relational database model concerns itself with a collection of tables from which data can be accessed in many different ways without having to reorganize the database tables. That is, once relationships are created, tables can “talk” to each other.  We can link the tables to find such things as which teacher is teaching each subject and which item is selling the most on Friday’s. The tables are 2 dimensional that related to each other in order to allow flexibility and visibility over the business. Each table consists of both columns and rows.

An example of this can be found at

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-matters8/relat.gif

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

Few benefits of a data-driven website include:

• it is faster to search through data
• more competitive
• increased customer satisfaction as they get the information they want in a faster and more efficient way

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

Data warehouses: collection of databases that collect business analysis and decision making tasks. The primary purpose is to aggregate information throughout an organisation into a single area in order to make decisions simpler.

Data mart: smaller subset of a database

The purpose of these is to move away from transactional data to get information and visibility across whole firms and produce all data across all functional areas.

Week 6

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

Information architecture is an overall plan of how an organisation is going to configure its IT resources to meet business goals where as information infrastructure is the actual implementation that provides an effective Information System, including services, hardware, software and people involved.

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

With new architectures, organizations that use IT effectivilty can build new business capabilities faster, cheaper, and in a vocabulary the business can understand such as web services, which have become a major avenue for this integration, and  open systems and source code rather than proprietary systems and source code.

An organization may also use a solid information architecture to create an exact copy of a system’s information, known as backup while also implementing the ability to get a system up and running (including the data) in the event of a system crash or failure. A company may build a computer system designed that in the event a component fails, a backup component can immediately take over with no loss of service. Furthermore a backup operation in which the functions of a computer component such as a processor or a database is assumed by secondary system components when the primary component becomes unavailable through either failure or scheduled down time

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

àFlexibility = Able to meet changing business demands while involving multinational challenges
àScalability = Systems ability to meet growth requirements and involves Capacity planning
àReliability = High Accuracy and Low Accuracy puts the organisation at risk
àAvailability = High availability 99.999% uptime and ensures business continuity
àPerformance = How quickly a system performs a certain task an growing pressure on systems to be faster

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

The service orientated architecture is using existing system in different ways to meet different demands. A company may build services then re uses same piece of technology as they are able to adapt quickly and easily to different demands. You can start to gain better information flows between different systems. Users can re-use applications many times for different tasks making expansion economical and more compatible.

5.       What is an event? 

Events are the eyes and ears of the business expressed in technology—they detect threats and opportunities and alert those who can act on the information. Pioneered by telecommunication and financial services companies, this involves using IT systems to monitor a business process for events that matter and automatically alert the people best equipped to handle the issue.

6.       What is a service?

Services are more like software products than they are coding projects. They must appeal to a broad audience, and they need to be reusable if they are going to have an impact on productivity. Early forms of services were defined at too low a level in the architecture to interest the business, such as simple “print” and “save” services. The new services are being defined at a higher level; they describe such things as “credit check,” “customer information,” and “process payment.” These services describe a valuable business process. For example, “credit check” has value not just for programmers who want to use that code in another application, but also for businesspeople who want to use it across multiple products—say, auto loans and mortgages—or across multiple business.

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

Virtual Computing Benefits is one of two emerging technologies that companies can use to increase performance and utilise their infrastructure effectively. This can be done by reducing capital costs through increases in energy efficiency while requiring less hardware which increasing your server to admin ratio. This ensures that the enterprise application performs with the highest availability and performance.  Virtualisation also improves enterprise desktop management & control with faster deployment of desktops and fewer support calls due to application conflict. It also reduces hardware infrastructure and increasing utilisation of software while consolidating and reducing power and cooling requirements.

The second of the two emerging technologies is Grid computing which is an aggregation of geographically dispersed computing, storage, and network resources, coordinated to deliver improved performance, higher quality of service, better utilization, and easier access to data.

Furthermore Grid computing is used by scientific, e-Commerce, technical or engineering projects that require many processing cycles to complete a job. It allows people to offer their free-processing time on home computers to companies