MIS 301
How are IP addresses related to URLs?
A website's URL is a document's web address. The IP address is a set of 4 numbers that identify that address while the URL is the user friendly, English version of the IP address.
How does grid computing transform the economics of supercomputing?
BusinessWeek reports that while a middle-of-the-road supercomputer could run as much as $30 million, grid computing software and services to perform comparable tasks can cost as little as twenty-five thousand dollars, assuming an organization already has PCs and servers in place.
What are the risks of installing packaged enterprise systems?
Can be challenging and costly, efforts can fail, other companies can use the same software
How is cloud computing's impact across industries proving to be broad and significant?
Clouds may also lower the amount of capital a firm needs to launch a business, shifting the power away from venture firms in those industries that had previously needed more variable cost money; clouds can shift resources out of capital spending and into profitability and innovation Affecting competitive dynamics of the hardware, software, and consulting industries. Accelerates innovation and changes desired skills for the job outlook of IS workers. Barriers to entry decrease. Shift in resources. Market for hardware is threatened. Server farms growing.
What factors must be considered when making the make, buy or rent decision?
Competitive advantage, security, legal and compliance, skill, expertise, available labor, cost, time, vendor issues.
What is the difference between data and information?
Data refers to raw facts. Alone it tells you nothing. The real goal is to turn data into information. Data becomes information when it's presented in a CONTEXT so that it can answer a question or support decision making
What are the risks associated with SaaS?
Dependence on single vendor, long-term viability of partner firms, users may be forced to migrate, might not have all features of desktop software, date assets stored off-site are at potential to security and legal concerns, and lastly- reliance on a network connection May be slower, less secure, less stable
Why might a firm want to seek to purchase a third-party solution to automate its value chain, and when might it want to keep functions in-house?
Depends on cost benefit analysis. If the benefit of purchasing a third party solution way surpass the cost and if the vendor specializes in making ERP, then it may be the best to purchase it. However if a company has a very complex system, it may be better to make in house.
What is a typical business model for a SaaS vendor?
Earn money via a usage-based pricing model akin to a monthly subscription
How do embedded systems extend Moore's Law, allowing firms to create "smarter" products and services?
Embedded systems are special-purpose computer systems designed to perform one or a few dedicated functions, and are frequently built into conventional products like thermostats, door locks, cars, air conditioners, industrial equipment, and elevators. Embedded systems make products and services more efficient, more reliable, more functional and can enable entire new businesses and create or reinforce resources for competitive advantage. Moore's law enables embedded systems, and these systems can create real strategic value.
What are the categories of enterprise software? (ERP, SCM, CRM and BI)
Enterprise software are applications that address the needs of multiple, simultaneous users in an organization or work group Enterprise resource planning (ERP)- software that coordinates and integrates many of the functions of a business Supply chain management (SCM)- systems that can help a firm manage aspects of its value chain, from the flow of raw materials into the firm through delivery of finished products and services at the point-of-consumption Customer relationship management (CRM)- systems used to support customer-related sales and marketing activities Business intelligence (BI)- systems, which use data created by other systems to provide reporting and analysis for organizational decision making
What are the three main sources of value for network effects? What factors contribute to the staying power and complimentary benefits of a product or service subject to network effects?
Exchange- every product/service fosters an exchange. Staying Power- the long term viability of a product or service Complementary Benefits- products or services that add additional value to the network
How does competition in markets where network effects are present differ from competition in traditional markets?
Experience early, fierce competition, by the positive-feedback loop inherent in network effects. Exhibit monopolistic tendencies where one firm dominates all rivals
What are some examples of firms that have used technology to organize for sustained competitive advantage?
Fresh Direct
What are the challenges and economics involved in shifting computer hardware to the cloud?
Hardware and software sales may drop as cloud use increases, while service revenues will increase; shift to cloud computing alters the margin structure for many in the computing industry, market for expensive, high margin, server hardware is threatened by companies moving to cloud
What is the difference between hardware and software?
Hardware is the physical components of information technology such as computers, storage devices, and networking equipment Software refers to a computer program or collection of programs- set of instructions that tell the hardware what to do. Software gets your computer to behave like a web browser or word processor, lets your smartphone play music and video, and enables your bank's ATM for cash.
In the past decade, how has technology helped bring about radical changes across industries and throughout societies? What is the impact of a disruptive technology? What is its trajectory? Why do we care?
Have created more jobs and connected more people together Trend is going towards disruptive technology. More technology is converging, new products, machines are replacing people When we graduate there will be jobs that didn't exist before that will help us be prepared for what is to come
What are the rewards of installing packaged enterprise systems?
Helps link your value chain, help firms create a standard set of procedures and data that ultimately lower costs and streamline operations, link systems with software across the firm and with key business partners
What is the importance of grounding competitive advantage (CA) in strategic positioning?
In order to be different you have to have a product/service that is valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and where there are no substitutes.
To what degree has technology permeated every management discipline? Be able to give a few examples of how technology has changed areas such as finance.
Initial public stock offerings (IPOS) needs new firms that the tech industry will provide. Merger and acquisition (M&A) deals Leading tech firms have lots of cash and are on hunt for new firms to acquire Technology impacts as an opportunity catalyst or a disruptive wealth destroyer
What are the major classifications of hardware? What are some examples of each of these categories?
Input hardware- keyboard, mouse, scanners, video cameras, microphones Processing devices: central processing unit (CPU), main memory, and special function cards Output hardware: video displays, printers, etc
To what degree has technology permeated every management discipline? Be able to give a few examples of how technology has changed areas such as human resources
Knowledge management systems morphing into social media technologies Employee training, screening, and evaluation
What are the benefits to vendors from deploying SaaS?
Limit development to a single platform, ability to instantly deploy bug fixes and product enhancements, lower distribution costs, reduce software piracy
Why do firms choose to use OSS?
Low cost, increased reliability bc more ppl can look at the code, improved security and auditing (security vulnerabilities can be seen more quickly and addressed with greater speed), system scalability, agility and improve a firm's time to market (can skip whole segments of software develop process)
What are the benefits to users that accrue from using SaaS?
Lower costs, mitigate financial risk, faster deployment times, variable operating expense scalable systems, higher quality and service levels, and remote access and availability
How have low marginal costs, network effects, and switching costs combined to help create a huge and important industry?
Marginal cost to produce an additional copy of a software product is zero Network effects & switching cost can also offer a leading software firm a degree of customer preference and lock in that can establish a firm as a standard which creates a winner-takes-all market
To what degree can technology-based competition created operational effectiveness?
Most firms use the same technology to complete tasks. Hire students from same school, copy the look and feel of competitor web sites, reverse engineer their products Most companies define themselves operational > strategic Danger of operational effectiveness is "sameness"
Inside Computer
Motherboard CPU- central processing unit RAM- random access memory or Main memory (volatile) Video Card Power Supply Hard Disk Optical Drive
What are some strategies for competing in markets where network effects are present, both from the perspective of the incumbent and the new market entrant? What are some examples of firms that have leveraged these strategies to compete effectively?
Move early so you can establish a lead in users, switching costs, and complementary products that can be difficult for rivals to match. Additional factors include: subsidizing adoption, leveraging viral marketing, creating alliances to promote a product or to increase a service's user base, redefine the market to appeal to more users, leveraging unique distribution channels to reach new customers, seeding the market with complements, encouraging the development of complements, and maintain backward compatibility
To what degree has technology permeated every management discipline? Be able to give a few examples of how technology has changed areas such as accounting
Numbers reported and audit by information systems Accounting firm has tech-focused consulting practice
How can OSS beneficially impact industry and government?
OSS also diverts funds that firms would otherwise spend on fixed costs, like operating systems and databases, so that these funds can be spent on innovation or other more competitive initiative Skip whole segments of the software development process, allowing new products to reach the market faster than if the entire software system had to be developed from scratch, in-house Allows a firm to scale from startup to blue chip without having to significantly rewrite their code, potentially saving big on software development costs Government agencies and the military often appreciate the opportunity to scrutinize open source efforts to verify system integrity
How does the concept of OSS relate to TCO?
OSS is not necessarily free because it acquires fees from support, development, maintenance, running, etc. Not as many desktop users, dissuading 3rd party firms from developing apps.
What is the difference between one-sided and two-sided markets?
One sided market- a market that derives most of its value from a single class of users Two sided market- network markets comprised of two distinct categories of participant, both of which that are needed to deliver value for the network to work
To what degree has technology permeated every management discipline? Be able to give a few examples of how technology has changed areas such as marketing
Online channels to track and monitor consumer activities Search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), customer relationship management (CRM), personalization systems gather and leverage data
How is open source software different from conventional offerings?
Open source code is openly shared, costs nothing to access. Anyone can look at the code and change it as they need as long as what they create is free and can be looked at by anyone. Where as conventional firms treat their intellectual property as closely guarded secrets and never provide their source code
What is an operating system (OS) and why do computer devices require an OS?
Operating system provides a common set of controls for managing computer hardware, making it easier for users to interact with computers and for programmers to write application software
How is operational effectiveness different than strategic positioning?
Operational effectiveness is performing the same tasks better than rivals perform them Strategic positioning is performing different tasks than rivals, or the same tasks in a different way
What is the importance of software? What are the implications of software on the firm? What are the implications on strategic decision-making?
Precise set of instructions that tells hardware what to do Without software, your PC would be a heap of silicon wrapped in wires encased in plastic and metal. But it's the instructions- the software code- that enable a computer to do something wonderful, driving the limitless possibilities of information technology. Implications for everything from competitiveness to cost overruns to security breaches Implications for decisions regarding the strategic value of IT and the potential for technology-driven savings. They can appreciate the challenges, costs, security vulnerabilities, legal and compliance issues, and limitations involved in developing and deploying technology solutions.
What kinds of problems are not suited for supercomputing and grid computing?
Problems that are linear- where one part must be solved before moving to the next and the next- may have difficulty benefiting from these kinds of "divide and conquer" computing.
What kinds of jobs are available to someone with an IT background?
Programmers, user-interface design, process design, strategy, consulting firms, chief information security officer and chief privacy officer
To what degree has technology permeated every management discipline? Be able to give a few examples of how technology has changed areas such as operations
Quality programs, process redesign, supply chain management, factory automation, and service operations
What are some examples of barriers to entry?
Scale of technology investment required to start a business, brand name, laws and regulations, start up capital, network effects, distribution channels, patents and switching costs.
How do vendors of OSS make money?
Selling support and consulting services, drive hardware sales or the sales of proprietary products that augment the OSS, use OSS to form industry standards, save capital investments, and attract third-party complementary product developers
What are the different cost categories that comprise Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)?
Software development and documentation, purchase price and ongoing license and support fees, configuration, testing, deployment, maintenance, support, training, compliance auditing, security, backup, and provisions for disaster recovery. Providing training and end user support Collecting and relating comments for system improvements Auditing systems to ensure compliance (i.e., that the system operates within the firm's legal constraints and industry obligations) Providing regular backup of critical data Planning for redundancy and disaster recovery in case of an outage Vigilantly managing the moving target of computer security issue
What are some examples of the business use of supercomputing and grid computing?
Supercomputing was once the domain of governments and high-end research labs, performing tasks such as simulating the explosion of nuclear devices, or analyzing large-scale weather and climate. Grid computing is when firms place special software on its existing PCS or servers that enables these computers to work together on a common problem. Large orgs also created grids by harnessing excess capacity from staff PCS when these computers aren't being used to their full capacity.
Why is technology critical to enabling competitive advantage?
Technology helps in improving quality, lowering costs and making processes efficient in order to gain edge on a rival by making a strong value chain.
What is the relationship of the DBMS (database system) to the other enterprise software systems?
The database system stores and retrieves the data that an application creates and uses. Think of this as another additional layer in our cake analogy. Although the DBMS is itself considered an application, it's often useful to think of a firm's database systems as sitting above the operating system, but under the enterprise applications. Many ERP systems and enterprise software programs are configured to share the same database system so that an organization's different programs can use a common, shared set of data
What are the five forces that affect competitive advantage?
The intensity of rivalry among existing competitors The treat of new entrants The treat of substitute goods or services The bargaining power of buyers The bargaining power of suppliers
Moore's Law Statements:
The speed of a computer chip doubles every 18 months [faster] Chip performance per dollar doubles every 18 months [cheaper]
Why is it so difficult for late-moving, incompatible rivals to compete in markets where a dominant, proprietary standard is present?
The technology must establish firm's tech, stability of the dominant firm, exchange benefits provided by existing user base, and the benefits from any product complements Competition in these markets is different because not only do you have to have a better technology, but that innovation must be better than the opponents as well as accommodating switching costs and complementary benefits and the current user base so it's incredibly hard to get into a market affected by network effects. The technological functionality of the new product has to be bigger and better than the staying power (switching costs), complementary benefits, exchange, and technological functionality of the incumbent product.
How can cloud computing decrease barriers to entry?
They make computing costs a variable cost rather than a huge, fixed, upfront sunk cost.
How does the price elasticity associated with faster and cheaper technologies open new markets, create new opportunities for firms and society, and catalyze industry disruption?
This fact provides an opportunity to those who recognize and can capitalize on the capabilities of new technology. As technology advances, new industries, business models, and products are created, while established firms and ways of doing business can be destroyed. Tech products are highly price elastic, meaning consumers buy more products as they become cheaper.
What kinds of problems are well-suited for supercomputing and grid computing?
Those that can be divided up so that calculating components can simultaneously work on a portion of the problem
What is the relationship between timing, technology and the creation of resources for CA?
Timing and technology alone will not yield sustainable competitive advantage. Yet both of these can be enablers for competitive advantage. Put simply, it's not the time lead or the technology; it's what a firm does with its time lead and technology. True strategic positioning means that a firm has created differences that cannot be easily matched by rivals. Moving first pays off when the time lead is used to create critical resources that are valuable, rare, tough to imitate, and lack substitutes.
Why are for-profit companies paying people to develop open source software that they give away for free?
To use OSS to drive a wedge between competitors and their customers, disrupt the finances of their competitors Venders make money on OSS by selling support and consulting services Use OSS to drive hardware sales or the sales of proprietary products that augment the OSS Competitors use OSS to form industry standards, save capital investments, and attract third-party complementary product developers
What are the four characteristics of a resource that might possibly yield sustainable CA?
Valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, non-substitutable
How might firms leverage OSS technology?
While open source alternatives are threatening to conventional software firms, some of the largest technology companies now support OSS initiatives and work to coordinate standards, product improvement and official releases
What are the legal risks of OSS?
if they distribute code and aren't aware of the licensing implications. Open source licensing agreements are so numerous it is a challenge to keep up with them.