Final blogpost #5

NESTLE

Nestle is also doing its very best to make sure those goods are transported efficiently and productively.Its all-encompassing transportation operation-and the information management systems that keep it running smoothly-are the focus of the 2002 T3 Enterprise of the Year.

In order to streamline and standardize processes, reduce costs and gain control over transportation operations, Nestle made the strategic business decision to centralize transportation management for all shipping locations into a single load control center.

Innovative technological breakthroughs to develop advance product for the market as well as systems capabilities at the forefront of the industry.
Nestle's load control center also uses RedPrairie's TMS to improve carrier management,
Nestle has shared its experiences in creating its corporate load control center through RedPrairie's On-line Educational Series.

Nestlé: Organized and animated technical & functional CRM training sessions worldwide.
Acted as main liaison between the business users and the third party technology providers.
Defined the functional and technical specifications integrated in standard solutions.

Reference:

cimaglobal.com
www.nestle.com
www.oppapers.com

Final blogpost #4

Definition of KBS

knowledge-based system is a program for extending and/or querying a knowledge base.as a computer system that is programmed to imitate human problem-solving by means of artificial intelligence and reference to a database of knowledge on a particular subject.

Focuses on systems that use knowledge-based techniques to support human decision-making, learning and action. Such systems are capable of cooperating with human users and so the quality of support given and the manner of its presentation are important issues.

Distinguish KBS from MIS

Knowledge-based system Computer program that uses an encoding of human knowledge to help solve problems. It was discovered during research into artificial intelligence that adding heuristics (rules of thumb) enabled programs to tackle problems that were otherwise difficult to solve by the usual techniques of computer science.

Management Information Systems (MIS) is the term given to the discipline focused on the integration of computer systems with the aims and objectives on an organization.

Illustrate (give example) how can KBS can improve company's competitve advantages and organizational performance

With increased market pressures now imposed on companies there is a greater requirement for information and knowledge to be considered as fundamental resources; the need to rapidly provide high quality products of high performance and reliability is forcing companies to change the way in which they manage them.

Example

KbLance.com is a web based php knowledge base software that will allow you to create and manage an FAQ list and database of information. Our faq software is very scalable and can be used to manage tens of thousands of articles.

Reference

linkinghub.elsevier.
comwikipedia.org

Final blogpost #3

Definition of VIRTUAL OFFICE

Virtual office is a term for shared office services, which normally includes business address, mail & courier services, phone services, fax services, answering services, web-hosting services, and meeting & conference facilities.

Certain providers of virtual office services will provide other in-house or outsourced services such as corporate secretarial services, accounting services, or legal service

Distinguish VO from MIS

Virtual office is also a common term for an environment that enables a network of co-workers to run a business efficiently by using nothing other than online communication technologies.

MIS refers broadly to a computer-based system that provides managers with the tools for organizing, evaluating and efficiently running their departments. In order to provide past, present and prediction information.

Illustrate how VO can improve company's competitive advantage and organizational performance

It is clear that there are tradeoffs between fully central and fully distributed organizations. Also, it is clear that central and distributed are extremes and some hybrid in between may work best and in fact describes most organizations. Finally, it clearly depends on the kind of work one is doing. But what is not so clear is what factors dominate the equation, especially if an organization is committed to breaking down barriers to make a chosen approach work.

Some advantages

Human Communication. People in a hallway are collocated so they can easily interact one-on-one or in groups, just by walking next door, down the hall, or going out to lunch together

Facilities. Facilities are centralized and shared so costs can be lower

Been Done. The obvious one. The centralized office paradigm is what people have been assimilated into from kindergarten on

Example

Virtual filesystems can be made into writable virtual office documents. The old UNIX slogan “everything is a file” together with the xsltfs:// virtual filesystem allows for transparently editing relational databases, RDF and arbitrary XML with OpenOffice.org.

Reference;

Ben Martin has been working on filesystems for more than ten years. He is currently working toward a PhD at the University of Wollongong, Australia, combining Semantic Filesystems with Formal Concept Analysis to improve human-filesystem interaction.

Final blogpost #2

Management Information System (MIS) is a subset of the overall internal controls of a business covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by management accountants to solving business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management Information Systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization.

MIS' is a planned system of collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data in the form of information needed to carry out the functions of management.

Decision Support System (DSS) is a computer program application that analyzes business data and presents it so that users can make business decisions more easily. It is an "informational application" (to distinguish it from an "operational application" that collects the data in the course of normal business operation).Typical information that a decision support application might gather and present would be:

• Comparative sales figures between one week and the next
• Projected revenue figures based on new product sales assumptions
• The consequences of different decision alternatives, given past experience in a context that is described

A decision support system may present information graphically and may include an expert system or artificial intelligence . It may be aimed at business executives or some other group of knowledge workers.

The term decision support system has been used in many different ways and has been defined in various ways depending upon the author's point of view.

A DSS can take many different forms. In general, we can say that a DSS is a computerized system for helping make decisions. A decision is a choice between alternatives based on estimates of the values of those alternatives. Supporting a decision means helping people working alone or in a group gather intelligence, generate alternatives and make choices. Supporting the choice making process involves supporting the estimation, the evaluation and/or the comparison of alternatives. In practice, references to DSS are usually references to computer applications that perform such a supporting role.

Through this 5 benefits of DSS it can improve company's competitive advantage and organizational performance:

1. Improving Personal Efficiency
2. Expediting Problem Solving
3. Facilitating Interpersonal Communication
4. Promoting Learning or Training
5. Increasing Organizational Control

Example:
Web-based and Web-enabled DSS are more accessible and as powerful as DSS built using client/server technologies.

A first generation web-based GDSS, TCBWorks (cf., Dennis, 1998), was available for academic use in the mid-90s,

References

Dennis, Alan R., "Lessons from Three Years of Web Development", Communications of the ACM, v41, n7, July 1998, pp. 112-113.

Power, D., "Where can I find or download a DSS demo?" DSS News, 01/05/2003.

Power, D. and S. Kaparthi, "Building Web-based Decision Support Systems", Studies in Informatics and Control, Vol. 11, Number 4, Dec. 2002, pp. 291-302, URL http://www.ici.ro/ici/revista/sic2002_4/art1.pdf

Final Blog Post # 1

HONDA company (LANSA)


Web enablement is a technique for making existing computer systems available via the Internet. This technique is a popular form of application modernization as it can reduce costs by promoting self-service, allowing both internal users and outside customers to access information more conveniently than ever before.

Web-enablement can be very cost efficient because it is simple to both implement and deploy. For those organizations whose objectives are to merely extend the reach of their applications, this approach can provide the desired results. However, such a solution can have its limitations in that the application itself is not modernized and would still function in the same way with the rudimentary navigation and workflow.

LANSA provides a number of tools and solutions for Web-enabling and Web extension which range from screen refacing (screen scraping of System i, iSeries and AS/400 applications) through to the development of highly graphical browser interfaces with improved navigation, functionality and desktop integration which goes way beyond that of refacing. As with all solutions built with the LANSA application development platform, a solution that begins with basic Web enabling can be extended and built upon to deliver the benefits of a fully modernized application.

LANSA Commerce Edition

is an eCommerce framework that is designed to help you grow your business relationships with customers and trading partners online. Comprised of a suite of (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) components that are built on LANSA's powerful application development platform and tools. These components allow you to rapidly generate eBusiness applications that integrate existing Windows or System i (iSeries and AS/400) RPG and COBOL applications with the Web and Wireless world. There is simply no faster way to effectively extend your applications to the Web.

Customers who have successfully Web-enabled their systems using LANSA

BBVA Previsión AFP, Bolivia's leading pension fund administrator, is a member of BBVA, a multinational financial services group based in Spain that has over 35 million customers in 32 countries.

Honda Australia Motorcycle and Power Equipment (Honda Australia MPE) distributes motorcycles, marine, power equipment and personal watercraft in Australia and is part of the global Honda company.

The Weidmüller Group is a leading provider of solutions for the transmission of power, signals and data in industrial environments with production facilities, sales companies and agencies in over 70 countries.

Midterm Question no.3

Universal Computer Access Management System

UCAMS is a central application that provides an on-line, interactive process for the management of User Identifiers (UIDs), computer resources, and passwords associated with the UIDs. UCAMS uses a web interface operating in secure mode (SSL). Key components of UCAMS include:

• Central UCAMS Database/Web Servers
• Various Platform Agents
• WWW-Based User Interface

Clients and customers have the need to simplify and streamline computer account and password management processes. There is also a desire to implement a consistent strong password policy across all computer systems and databases. UCAMS is a central application that provides an on-line, interactive process for the management of User Identifiers (UIDs),computer resources, and passwords associated with the UIDs. With SAIC's UCAMS, companies can manage computer/database resources and passwords on multi-vendor systems across an enterprise. Additionally, UCAMS provides a defendable/auditable approach to managing computer resources and passwords.
UCAMS offers a single centralized application to manage computer and database resources (accounts) and passwords across an enterprise!

• Provides strong passwords that are more secure (harder to crack) and a consistent approach for their handling and distribution.
• Provides Defendable/Auditable password management process.
• Remote access to UCAMS via the Internet via secure Web (SSL)
• Savings: Reduction in labor time spent managing various computer and account management processes.

Midterm Question no.2

Research 1 company and describe how they protect their company from internet risk



Nestle has chosen its Active Risk Manager solution to manage enterprise risk across its operations worldwide.

According to the company, Nestle was looking for a consistent method to manage risk across its multi-national operation, and web-based Active Risk Manager will enable branches in different countries to share information, update and monitor risk information in an efficient way.

Security– both internal and external– was also an important con Front's TCP/IP-to-SNA protocol boundary provides, but also has internal security issues to address. Nestle wanted to be sure that users could only access the AS/400 applications relevant to their department. With HostFront, users still have to log on to the host as if they were using a traditional terminal, and HostFront provides additional security through user IDs, passwords, and IP addresses that authenticate users before granting them access to the corporate host.

Security– both internal and external– was also an important consideration for Nestlé. The company is taking full advantage of the natural firewall that HostFront's TCP/IP-to-SNA protocol boundary provides, but also has internal security issues to address. Nestlé wanted to be sure that users could only access the AS/400 applications relevant to their department. With HostFront, users still have to log on to the host as if they were using a traditional terminal, and HostFront provides additional security through user IDs, passwords, and IP addresses that authenticate users before granting them access to the corporate host.