Here comes the much awaited (oh really!) questionnaire on Management Information System (or MCS or IT or Systems) for all your students at ISBR.I have shared with you content on: Hardware, Software, Database, Electronic Business Systems, Enterprise Business Systems, E- Commerce, and Decision Support (quite a handful).
There are five questions that needs to be answered within two days starting now.
Your answers would be as COMMENTS to this post. Be crisp (say 300 words per answer), don't copy paste from the net, and don't carry out any group assignments. These efforts might just be futile.
Here are the five questions:
- Chalk out the evolution of Database Management Systems and their relative merits/ demerits. Also depict the future of Database Systems.
- Depict the various Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) packages available in the market. Also spot the key trends in the space (eg: adoption of SaaS, etc).
- Mention the ways in which the E-Commerce has evolved, the early adopters, the benefits served and the future of this technology (do mention corresponding names and years).
- Write short essays on each of the terms: Green IT, Virtualization, Cloud Computing, Business Analytics, Software as a Service, Web 2.0, and Open Source.
- Identify the trends in Consumer IT (the IT used in a B2C and C2C context).
Do a good job!
85 comments:
A DBMS is a set of software programs that controls the organization, storage, management, and retrieval of data in a database. DBMS are categorized according to their data structures or types. It is a set of prewritten programs that are used to store, update and retrieve a Database.
The Evolution of Database systems
• File Management System
• Hierarchical database System
• Network Database System
• Relational Database System
File Management System: The file management system also called as FMS in short is one in which all data is stored on a single large file. The main disadvantage in this system is searching a record or data takes a long time.
Hierarchical Database System: The FMS drawback of accessing records and sorting records which took a long time was removed in Hierarchical Database System by the introduction of parent-child relationship between records in database. The main drawback in this was if there is any modification or addition made to the structure then the whole structure needed alteration which made the task a tedious one.
Network Database System: In this the main concept of many-many relationships got introduced.
Relational Database System: The Relational Database System got introduced in which data get organized as tables and each record forms a row with many fields or attributes in it. Relationships between tables are also formed in this system.
MERITS:-
Database is more flexible, compact, and faster. It reduces the probability of inconsistent data. When a database is teamed with a computer, many of the problems with a manual database are eliminated.
A computerized database Provides:
Speed
It can find a specific record or information from among thousands or even a million entries within a second.
Compact
Since the database records stored in filing cabinets can be stored in a single floppy disk.
Flexible
It has the ability to examine information from a number of ways, so you could search for people living in the same city or with persons with the same last names.
DEMERITS:-
• Database systems are complex, difficult, and time-consuming to design
• Damage to database affects virtually all applications programs
• Extensive conversion costs in moving form a file-based system to a database system
• Initial training required for all programmers and users
[1] In the early days of computing, disk storage was extremely expensive. Most application systems ran in batch mode using data that was stored on magnetic tape. Data had to be read sequentially from flat files. For performance reasons, the management of data was
tightly integrated with the application system.
As the cost of disk storage fell, opportunities to store data for real-time access arose. Specialized DBMS software emerged during
the 1960s for the sole purpose of managing data. Application systems were then able to focus on the user interface, screen navigation,
data validations etc. and could leave the data management tasks to the specialized DBMS technology. The application system simply had
to call the DBMS when it needed to read or store data.
Although database management system (DBMS) technology is very mature, there is a potential for much future innovation in integrating structured
and unstructured data, virtualizing access to data, and simplifying data management through greater automation and intelligence. Forrester estimates
that more than 90% of all business data in enterprises is unstructured, but only 5% of unstructured data is stored in databases. This creates a huge
opportunity to integrate different types of data and content — structured, unstructured, and semistructured — for enhanced information sharing and
control. We expect that DBMS will address this challenge by supporting all kinds of data and content in its native form with much tighter integration,
while sustaining high performance.
erp is a term which refferd to how a large organization planned to use organizational planned to use organizational wide resources. erp syestems use a unified database to store data for various functions find throughout the organization. erp syestems cover a wide range of functions and integrate them into one unifield database. such as huma resource , supply chain management , coustemer relationns management and warehouse management. supply chain management (scm)is like a process which is moving between supplier to manufacture to wholesaller to retailar to consumer. supply chain management divided into 3 main flows 1.the product flow 2.the information flow
3.the finance flow
the product flow includes the movement of goods from a supplier to a custemer.the information flow involves transmitting ordersand updating the status of delivery . the financial flow consists of credit terms , payment schedules, and consignment and title ownership arrangemants. customer relationship management(crm)is a way to manage the relationship between an organizaton and customers .crm systems capture information about customer interactions and present that informationto customer -facing users to service those custmerrs more effectively and efficiently .
Quiz Management System (QMS) is FREE online results reporting system for Wondershare QuizCreator, which enables QuizCreator users to easily track, analyze and report quiz results through the built-in feature without any hassles. With this cost-effective service, users can simply and rapidly track all quizzes, answers, scores and participants in details, and review statistics in easy-to-understand reports for quick insights.
Answer 1 :- Database management system is based on data base systems through which storage & retrival of data became easier..Earlier the data were
stored in books as records ,then came the DBMS ( Data Base Management System ) where the retrival of data and storage became secured as well easier as compared to earlier days...
Data base system emerged in 1960 programmed by COBOL but it followed just the hierarcial model but it was having some limitations like there was no search or find command .
Carrying this limitationss in mind ibm desinged its own database syatem in 1970's programmed by E.Codd using the concept of hierarcial model including navigational model in addition and formed the relational model which was defined as RDBMS (Relational Database management System ) were he added the concept of tabels were he used linked list and linked these table with each other by using the keys i,e. primary key ,foreign key etc...
But at the end of 1970's (78-79) Codd reprogrammed and defined a language called as SQL (STANDARDIZED QUERY LANGUAGE) were we can find ,search the data according to our needs /requirement for.eg if we want to select deparment 40 from the employee who all are there in my company the we hav to write such a query " select dept=40 from emp" wre emp is the given table and we are fetcting just the employees who all r in department no.40.
Later L.E.Oracle came into existence by using the basics of IBM but with new form & captured the market as whole . And now he is the leader of DBMS,SQL but the name is ORACLE....
MERITS:-
1. RESIST DATA REDUNDANCY.
2. RESIST DATA CONSISTENCY.
3. RESIST DATA INTEGRITY.
4. BECAUSE IT FOLLOWS THE 5NF'S + BCNF WHICH HELPS IT TO REDUCE ALL THE REDUNDANCY,INTEGRITY,CONSISTENCY OF DATA.
5. RETRIVAL OF DATA IS EASIER .
6. SHARING OF DATA IS EASIER.
7. STORAGE IS EASIER.
DEMERITS:-
1. DUE TO LINKED LIST THERE ARE LOT OF TABLES LINKED TOGETHER WHICH INCREASES THE COMPLEXITY.
2. COST IS HIGH.
3. SOME TIMES DATA FAILURE.
FUTURE:-
1. NEED OF THIS SOFTWARE WILL NEVER END.
2. SOME NEW ADD-INS IN THE SOFTWARE CAN COME IN FUTURE.
3. POWER OF ALL THE INDUSTRY WILL BE BASED ON ORACLE AS REQUIRED FOR EVERY PART OF A FIRM.
4. MAY THE COST OF THE SOFTWARE WILL INCREASE AS THE DEMAND WILL
ANSWER 2:-
ERP software combined the data of formerly separate applications. This simplified keeping data in synchronization across the enterprise as well as reducing the complexity of the required computer infrastructure. It also contributed to standardizing and reducing the number of software specialties required within IT departments.
ERPs are often incorrectly called back office systems indicating that customers and the general public are not directly involved. This is contrasted with front office systems like customer relationship management (CRM) systems that deal directly with the customers, or the eBusiness systems such as eCommerce, eGovernment, eTelecom, and eFinance, or supplier relationship management (SRM) systems.
Here are the few software packages of erp syatems:-
1. Free and Open Source ERP software * Adempiere
2. a Java based ERP-System which started as a fork of Compiere * BlueErp ,
3. a PHP based ERP System * Compiere ,
4. a Java based ERP-System * Dolibarr ,
5. a PHP based ERP system * ERP5 ,
6. a Python based ERP system * GNU Enterprise * GRR (software) ,
7. a PHP/MySQL -based, web-accessed free ERP system * JFire ,
8. a Java based ERP-System from NightLabs * Kuali Foundation * LedgerSMB * OFBiz Apache Java based ERP-System * Omni
9. a plugin, web-accessed free ERP-System * Openbravo ,
10. a Java based ERP-System * OpenERP (formerly Tiny ERP) * Opentaps (Java based) * OrangeHRM * Postbooks from XTuple * 11.SQL-Ledger uses Perl and PostgreSQL * WebERP is a LAMP based system [edit ] Proprietary ERP software * 1C:Enterprise from 1C Company * 24SevenOffice Start
12., Premium, Professional and Custom from 24SevenOffice * abas ERP from ABAS Software * Accpac from The Sage Group * Agresso Business World from Unit 4 Agresso *
and many more as such..
Customer relationship management (CRM) consists of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers. CRM software is used to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments.
There are various types of customer realationship mngt.they are as follows:-
1. Operational CRM
2.Sales (SFA)
3. Analytical CRM
4. Sales Intelligence CRM
5.Campaign Management
6.Collaborative CRM
7.Consumer Relationship CRM
Supply chain management software is designed to capture data about events and produce information in the form of reports so supply managers can evaluate their inventory operations.Few of its types are:-
1.Inventory management software must also address the various functional areas of supply chain automation such as lot and serial number tracking, binning, blanket supply, annual demand forecasting, batch picking, and order and returns processing.
2.Optical character recognition (OCR) is an important feature of supply chain management software or SCM software. Inventory tracking involves the scanning of stock with a barcode reader during the different supply chain management events
3.Supply chain management software or SCM software may also include radio frequency identification (RFID) features. Inventory personnel attach RFID tags to large products or expensive assets, or in cases where some other type of inventory identification is impractical.
Answer 3:-
The meaning of electronic commerce has changed over the last 30 years. Originally, electronic commerce meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970s.
The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of electronic commerce.Another form of e-commerce was the airline reservation system typified by Sabre in the USA and Travicom in the UK. Online shopping was invented in the UK in 1979 by Michael Aldrich[citation needed] and during the 1980s it was used extensively particularly by auto manufacturers such as Ford,Peugeot-Talbot, General Motors and Nissan. From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing. And by the end of 2000, a lot of European and American business companies offered their services through the World Wide Web. Since then people began to associate a word "ecommerce" with the ability of purchasing various goods through the Internet using secure protocols and electronic payment services.
Lets have a look upon the growth of E-Commerce from its early days till 2008-09:-
* 1990: Tim Berners-Lee writes the first web browser, WorldWideWeb, using a NeXT computer.
* 1992: J.H. Snider and Terra Ziporyn publish Future Shop: How New Technologies Will Change the Way We Shop and What We Buy. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312063598.
* 1994: Netscape releases the Navigator browser in October under the code name Mozilla. Pizza Hut offers pizza ordering on its Web page. The first online bank opens. Attempts to offer flower delivery and magazine subscriptions online. Adult materials also becomes commercially available, as do cars and bikes. Netscape 1.0 is introduced in late 1994 SSL encryption that made transactions secure.
* 1995: Jeff Bezos launches Amazon.com and the first commercial-free 24 hour, internet-only radio stations, Radio HK and NetRadio start broadcasting. Dell and Cisco begin to aggressively use Internet for commercial transactions. eBay is founded by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb.
* 1998: Electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing from the Web.
* 1999: Business.com sold for US $7.5 million to eCompanies, which was purchased in 1997 for US $149,000. The peer-to- peer filesharing software Napster launches.
* 2000: The dot-com bust.
* 2002: eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion . Niche retail companies CSN Stores and NetShops are founded with the concept of selling products through several targeted domains, rather than a central portal.
* 2003: Amazon.com posts first yearly profit.
* 2007: Business.com acquired by R.H. Donnelley for $345 million.
* 2008: US eCommerce and Online Retail sales projected to reach $204 billion, an increase of 17 percent over 2007.
ANSWER 4:-
Green IT:-GreenIT® is the leading advisor in sustainable Information and Communications Technology.
GreenIT® provides services to enable clients to drive measurable financial and environmental benefits from programs for IT Eco-Efficiency and IT Eco-Innovation.
GreenIT® is a progressive consultancy that serves clients in three primary markets:
* Leaders in IT, Finance, Marketing, and Corporate Social Responsibility actively involved in sustainability initiatives.
* Real Estate Professionals looking to make commercial property more competitive and environmentally responsible.
* IT System and Equipment Providers and Distributors seeking to understand and communicate the sustainability attributes of their products.
Because the world's appetite for energy is outpacing production of renewable and non-renewable resources. Because the world is too densely populated to escape the effects of Greenhouse gas emissions, electronic waste disposal and toxic production methods. Because ICT is both part of the problem and a key to the solution. Because to thrive requires combining social responsibility, smart resource use and technological innovation.
* Don’t get lost in the Greenwash
* ICT is the fastest growing sector of energy use
* Energy savings is the low-hanging fruit ready to be picked
* The days of unregulated energy waste are over
* Customers shop for Green Supply Chains
* EPP – Environmentally Preferred Purchasing – Sets the Bar
* Customers Demand Sustainable Behavior
* E-Waste and U-Waste reduction programs are no longer voluntary
* Green IT innovation leads the way to Sustainability.
The overuse of “Green” may have you seeing red, but hype is a normal part of the evolution of new technologies. The issues driving the need for Green ICT are real, and growing.
Virtualization:- In computing, virtualization is a broad term that refers to the abstraction of computer resources:
* Platform virtualization, which separates an operating system from the underlying platform resources[citation needed]
o Full virtualization
o Hardware-assisted virtualization
o Partial virtualization
o Paravirtualization
o Operating system-level virtualization
o Hosted environment[citation needed] (e.g. User-mode Linux)
* Resource virtualization, the virtualization of specific system resources, such as storage volumes, name spaces, and network resources
o Encapsulation, the hiding of resource complexity by the creation of a simplified interface
o Virtual memory, which allows uniform, contiguous addressing of physically separate and non-contiguous memory and disk areas
o Storage virtualization, the process of completely abstracting logical storage from physical storage
o Network virtualization, creation of a virtualized network addressing space within or across network subnets
o Channel bonding, the use multiple links combined to work as though they offered a single, higher-bandwidth link
o I/O virtualization e.g. vNICs, vHBAs
* Computer clusters and grid computing, the combination of multiple discrete computers into larger metacomputers
* Application virtualization, the hosting of individual applications on alien hardware/software
* Virtualization Development, further work in this area
* Desktop virtualization, the remote manipulation of a computer desktop
ANSWER 5.:-
Electronic Commerce is merely a part of E-Business and is limited essentially to marketing and sales processes, and it uses digital technologies such as internet and bar-code scanners to enable the buying and selling process.
BI+ CRM+SCM+ERP+EC =EB
Today the emerging trends basically in consumer information technology is E-Commerce & M-Commerce. Now lets understand what is the defination of this E-commerce & M- commerce and how they together performed in C2C & B2B transactions.
E-commerce:- it is often referred as a business conducted over internet using any of the application that rely on internet such as E-mail, intant messaging,shopping carts,web services,EDI,UDDI & ftp and many more.ecommerce can be between two business firms or between two consumers and even between a business & consumer.
M=commerce:- m-commerce is called as mobile commerce that is now a days the consumer trend says that all most all the transactions/payment and placing orderand many more are done through mobile it also helps to transfer the ring tones vedios etc including the live alerts of news now a days which is very much popular trends for the professional who dont have time to read out news paper for half hr.
Now lets try to get in details of consumer information technology trends with respect to C2C transaction and its advantages:-
consumer to consumer transaction came into existence for span of recorded history in form of barter,flea market ,swap meet etc.most of the highly successful examples of C2C using the internet is of the corporate intermediary and are thus not strictly"pure play"eg of c2c.the best eg.venue for the consumer to consumer e-commerce is called EBAY OR AMAZON .
B2C and its advantages on consumer of it withthe new trends(e-commerce):- this type of E-commerce is basically for the transaction process between a consumer and a business firmand this transaction is done in 2 forms i,e.direct sales & online intermediary
Direct sales:- companie sthat provide product and services directly to the consumer is called the direct sales eg. the AMAZON.COM were the business let the product available directly to the consumer via internet .The goal is to remove intermediaries through
a process called disintermediation. One of the greatest following this rule is DELL.
Online intermediaries:- these are the companies that fascilitate transactions between buyers and sellersand recieve a percentage of the transactions value.these firms make the largest group of B2C companies today & the two famous intermediaries are brokers and infomediaries.
Here are some of the advantageswhich atracts the consumers attension towards information technology:-
1.shopping can be faster and more convenient .
2.offering and price can change instantaneously.
3. call center can be integrated with the website.
4.broadband telecommunication will enhance the buying experience.
written & submitted by:- varsha nayk smu/08/064
Web 2.0:-
The term "Web 2.0" refers to a perceived second generation of web development and design, that aims to facilitate communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.
Web 2.0 encapsulates the idea of the interconnectivity and interactivity of web-delivered content. Tim O'Reilly regards Web 2.0 as the way that business embraces the strengths of the web and uses it as a platform. The term was first used by Dale Dougherty and Craig Cline and shortly after became notable after the O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004. Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but rather to changes in the ways software developers and end-users utilize the Web
Web 2.0 websites allow users to do more than just retrieve information. They can build on the interactive facilities of "Web 1.0" to provide "Network as platform" computing, allowing users to run software-applications entirely through a browser.
Business Analyst:-
The term Business Analyst (BA) is used to describe a person who practices the discipline of business analysis. A business analyst or "BA" is responsible for analyzing the business needs of clients to help identify business problems and propose solutions. Within the systems development life cycle domain, the business analyst typically performs a liaison function between the business side of an enterprise and the providers of services to the enterprise. Common alternative titles are business analyst, systems analyst, and functional analyst, although some organizations may differentiate between these titles and corresponding responsibilities.
A business analyst works as a liaison among stakeholders in order to elicit, analyze, communicate and validate requirements for changes to business processes, policies and information systems. The business analyst understands business problems and opportunities in the context of the requirements and recommends solutions that enable the organization to achieve its goals.
Cloud Computing:-
Cloud computing is Internet ("cloud") based development and use of computer technology ("computing").It is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualised resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.
The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals.
The majority of cloud computing infrastructure as of 2009 consists of reliable services delivered through data centers and built on servers with different levels of virtualization technologies. The services are accessible anywhere that has access to networking infrastructure. The Cloud appears as a single point of access for all the computing needs of consumers.
Software as a Service:-
Software as a Service (SaaS, typically pronounced 'sass') is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand. SaaS software vendors may host the application on their own web servers or download the application to the consumer device, disabling it after use or after the on-demand contract expires. The on-demand function may be handled internally to share licenses within a firm or by a third-party application service provider (ASP) sharing licenses between firms.
The concept of "software as a service" started to circulate prior to 1999[citation needed]. In December 2000 Bennett et al. noted the term as "beginning to gain acceptance in the marketplace". Whilst the phrase "software as a service" passed into in common usage, the CamelCase acronym "SaaS" was allegedly not coined until 2000-2001 in a white paper called "Strategic Backgrounder: Software as a Service" by the Software & Information Industry's eBusiness Division published in Feb. 2001, but written in fall of 2000 according to internal Association records.
submitted by :- varsha nayak smu/08/064
Virtualization:
Virtualization is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as an operating system, a server, a storage device or network resources. Operating system virtualization is the use of software to allow a piece of hardware to run multiple operating system images at the same time. The technology got its start on mainframes decades ago, allowing administrators to avoid wasting expensive processing power.
In 2005, virtualization software was adopted faster than anyone imagined, including the experts. There are three areas of IT where virtualization is making head roads:
Network virtualization, storage virtualization and server virtualization
Network virtualization is a method of combining the available resources in a network by splitting up the available bandwidth into channels, each of which is independent from the others, and each of which can be assigned (or reassigned) to a particular server or device in real time. The idea is that virtualization disguises the true complexity of the network by separating it into manageable parts, much like the partitioned hard drive makes it easier to manage the files.
Storage virtualization is the pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console. Storage virtualization is commonly used in storage area networks (SANs).
Server virtualization is the masking of server resources (including the number and identity of individual physical servers, processors, and operating systems) from server users. The intention is to spare the user from having to understand and manage complicated details of server resources while increasing resource sharing and utilization and maintaining the capacity to expand later.
Virtualization can be viewed as part of an overall trend in enterprise IT that includes autonomic computing, a scenario in which the IT environment will be able to manage itself based on perceived activity, and utility computing, in which computer processing power is seen as a utility that clients can pay for only as needed. The usual goal of virtualization is to centralize administrative tasks while improving scalability and work loads.
GREEN IT
Can IT cut costs and become more environmentally friendly at the same time? That’s a question that many IT managers are starting to ask, as the payoffs of early virtualization projects are tallied.
Green IT also called green computing it describes the study and the using of computer resources in an efficient way. Green IT starts with manufacturers producing environmentally friendly products and encouraging IT departments to consider more friendly options like virtualization, power management and proper recycling habits. The government has also recently proposed new compliance regulations which would work towards certifying data centers as green. Some criteria include using low-emission building materials, recycling, using alternative energy technologies, and other green technologies.
Data centers consume more energy per square foot than any other part of an office building. But they're part of an information and services supply chain that begins with raw materials and ends with the disposal of waste. The chain includes people, the space they occupy, and the cars they drive. Along the way, the chain increasingly gobbles energy and spews greenhouse gases. The IT department is in a unique position to change that.
Green IT: used to save energy
In data centers
Energy consumption in the data center is predominantly from two loads: servers and cooling. Increasing server density compounds the problem. A Gartner poll showed that more than 69 percent of data centers are constrained for power, cooling and space. Energy-efficient servers are available from the major vendors, most notably Sun's Cool Threads technology that Sun says makes servers more efficient by a factor of five. Efficient processors from IBM, AMD and Intel are making their way into the mainstream.
The payoff of efficient servers is twofold. Servers that consume less energy also throw off less heat, requiring less energy for cooling. Alternative approaches, including ice storage and geothermal energy, accept the heat and focus directly on reducing the cost of cooling the data center.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is giving a whole new dimension to online computing.
The Business Web has evolved from a static destination where businesses merely publish and search for information, into a set of dynamic virtual workplaces where employees create and share information in a flexible, continuously evolving way. This flexibility provided by the Internet is increasingly leading to applications being developed in the cloud. Players like IBM and Google have already positioned themselves strongly in this arena whereas others like Yahoo, Microsoft, eBay and Salesforce.com are not far behind. Wipro is also trying to leverage this lucrative opportunity and plans to start offering services around it.
Cloud computing go beyond convenience. A generation used to posting and sharing photos on orkut, instant messaging with friends and interacting online for a good chunk of its spare time is having an impact on expectations in the workplace. By reducing the traditional costs and labor associated with deploying, maintaining and upgrading business technology, IT departments are increasingly becoming free to devote their limited resources to projects more strategic to the business. And since software lives in the cloud, it can be improved as often as needed without tying up the IT department or inconveniencing users. This “versionless” software eliminates upgrade projects and helps technology keep pace with the speed of business, giving employees access to new technology early and often rather than forcing them to wait for a final, packaged product to be shipped.
Cloud computing is a computing paradigm in which tasks are assigned to a combination of connections, software and services accessed over a network. This network of servers and connections is collectively known as "the cloud." Computing at the scale of the cloud allows users to access supercomputer-level power. Users can access resources as they need them. (For this reason, cloud computing has also been described as "on-demand computing.")
This vast processing power is made possible though distributed, large-scale cluster computing, often in concert with server virtualization software, like Xen, and parallel processing. Cloud computing can be contrasted with the traditional desktop computing model, where the resources of a single desktop computer are used to complete tasks, and an expansion of the client/server model. To paraphrase Sun Microsystems' famous adage, in cloud computing the network becomes the supercomputer.
Cloud computing is often used to sort through enormous amounts of data. In fact, Google has an initial edge in cloud computing precisely because of its need to produce instant, accurate results for millions of incoming search inquries every day, parsing through the terabytes of Internet data cached on its servers. Google's approach has been to design and manufacture hundreds of thousands of its own servers from commodity components, connecting relatively inexpensive processors in parallel to create an immensely powerful, scalable system. Google Apps, Maps and Gmail are all based in the cloud. Other companies have already created Web-based operating systems that collect online applications into Flash-based graphic user interfaces (GUIs), often using a look and feel intentionally quite similar to Windows. Hundreds of organizations are already offering free Web services in the cloud.
In many ways, however, cloud computing is simply a buzzword used to repackage grid computing and utility computing, both of which have existed for decades. Like grid computing, cloud computing requires the use of software that can divide and distribute components of a program to thousands of computers. New advances in processors, virtualization technology, disk storage, broadband Internet access and fast, inexpensive servers have all combined to make cloud computing a compelling paradigm. Cloud computing allows users and companies to pay for and use the services and storage that they need, when they need them and, as wireless broadband connection options grow, where they need them. Customers can be billed based upon server utlilization, processing power used or bandwidth consumed. As a result, cloud computing has the potential to upend the software industry entirely, as applications are purchased, licensed and run over the network instead of a user's desktop. This shift will put data centers and their administrators at the center of the distributed network, as processing power, electricity, bandwidth and storage are all managed remotely.
Business Analytics
The simplest definition of Analytics is "the science of analysis". Analytics involves the application of advanced quantitative techniques on enterprise and third-party data to help to make the best possible decision in a given situation.
Common applications of Analytics include the study of business data using statistical analysis in order to discover and understand historical patterns with an eye to predicting and improving business performance in the future. Also, some people use the term to denote the use of mathematics in business. Others hold that field of analytics includes the use of Operations Research, Statistics and Probability. However, it would be erroneous to limit the field of analytics to only statistics and mathematics. Analytics closely resembles statistical analysis and data mining, but tends to be based on modeling involving extensive computation. Some fields within the area of analytics are enterprise decision management, marketing analytics, predictive science, strategy science, credit risk analysis and fraud analytics.
Business Analytics focuses on effective use of data and information to drive positive business actions. The body of knowledge for this area includes both business and technical topics, including concepts of performance management, definition and delivery of business metrics, data visualization, and deployment and use of technology solutions such as OLAP, dashboards, scorecards, analytic applications, and data mining.
Example
Netflix, the movie rental company, relies on analytics to drive its growth. At the heart of its business is a movie-recommendation “engine” based on proprietary software. Cinematch, as the tool is called, analyzes customers’ choices and feedback on the movies they have rented — more than a billion ratings of movies they have liked, loved, or hated — and then recommends movies in ways that optimize both the customer’s taste and Netflix’s inventory.
Analytics also help Netflix decide what to pay for the distribution rights to DVDs, essentially giving the company a powerful information advantage during negotiations. For example, when Netflix bought rights to Favela Rising, a documentary about Rio de Janeiro musicians, company executives knew that a million customers had rented 2003’s City of God, also set in Rio. About half a million had rented the Oscar-winning documentary Born Into Brothels, and 250,000 had seen both. So Netflix paid a fee based on 250,000 rentals. If it rents more than that number of copies of Favela Rising, the film’s producers and Netflix split the upside.
by: Vaishali Shukla
Answer 1:-
DBMS are a set of software programs that controls the storage,organization, management, and retrieval of data in a database. DBMS are categorized according to their data structures or types. It is a set of prewritten programs that are used to store, update and retrieve a Database.
Tracing the evolution of DBMS we can see :-
1.General purpose dbms emerged in the year 1960 by COBOL known as IDS (Integrated Data Store) but lacked search or find command
2.IBM came out with its own dbms in 1968 known as IMS. Both IDS and IMS came to be known as navigational DBMS.
3. The year 1970 saw the emergence of Relational DBMS first being introduced by E.Codd of IBM where the concept of tables were added along with their link lists which could be addressed by keys known as primary and foreign keys.
4. 1978-1979 saw the emergence of SQL known as structured query language where one can find and search the data according to the reuirements of the clients
5.Currently, ORACLE leads in the DBMS field.
Merits of DBMS
1. Shared Data
2. centralized control
3. disadvantages of redundancy control;
4. improved data integrity;
5. improved data security, and database systems; and,
6. flexible conceptual design
Demerits of DBMS
1. a complex conceptual design process;
2. the need for multiple external databases;
3. the need to hire database-related employees;
4. high DBMS acquisition costs;
5. a more complex programmer environment;
6. potentially catastrophic program failures;
7. a longer running time for individual applications;
8. highly dependent DBMS operations
FUTURE of DBMS
a. there is a potential for much future innovation in integrating structured and unstructured data
b. virtualizing access to data, and simplifying data management through greater automation and intelligence
c.In the next four years, DBMS technology will also evolve to support information fabric, virtualizing access to heterogeneous data.
d. a huge opportunity to integrate different types of data and content — structured,unstructured, and semistructured — for enhanced information sharing and control.
submitted by
Arup Anand Dash
SMU- SU/08/065
Ans(3)Mention the ways E commerce has evolved the early adopters the benefit served and future of this technology
Use of E commerce has increased over decade it is benefiting to all the segment of the market and also to business to easy handle with customer, supplier and to dealt with each and every party who are directly or indirectly connected to the activities of the organization .
Online shopping is one aspect of e-commerce which is booming to a large extent before the companies use to have physical shop for trading purpose but now due to boom in internet the company can open its virtual shop which reduces the time and also saves cost and it also helps in not incurring inventory cost on maintaining stock because customer will buy online once the company receives the order he start manufacturing its like on demand service…
There are different kinds of software available which customizes the business of an organization like saas cots APS
Ans(1)DATABASE MANAGEMENT
Database management is software which helps the companies to maintain all kinds of data regarding its customer, employee, supplier, and owner. Database not only contain information about customer regarding its name address etc.. but also it contains the customer taste, preference, habits, customs, number of time he purchased goods and number of time he return goods it helps the company to deeply understand the customer and plan according to the customer. Through database company able to maintain regular relationship which inturn increases the morale of customer and customer can become loyal.
ADVANTAGES…
• Flexibility : DBMS is more flexible it is able to adapt changing taken place in the number of customer etc
• Saves time : it helps the company to save time in maintaining all information of customer, employee supplier with in a short duration
• Saves cost : maintaining contacts with manually is more costlier than DBMS
• Helps the company to access multiple data
DISADVATAGE….
• It does not suits to small company which may not afford to have DBMS
• Maintenance of DBMS is costly
• It require expertise and resource to administer
ANSWERS:
SUBMITTED BY:
YASHWI GARG
SMU SEC B
I.S.B.R
DATA BASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS:
Meaning:A database management system (DBMS) is computer software that manages database.It uses variety of models like:
1.Network model
2.Relational model
It allows users and other software to store and retrieve data in a structured way.The Data Base Management System accepts requests for data from the application program and instructs the operating system to transfer the appropriate data. When a Data Base Management System is used, information systems can be changed much more easily as the organization's information requirements change. New categories of data can be added to the database without disruption to the existing system.
Databases have been in use since the earliest days of electronic computing.The evolution of Data Base Management system can be divided into 3 phases-
1. 1960s Navigational DBMS
2.1970s Relational DBMS
3.End 1970s SQL DBMS
1.1960 s Navigational DBMS:
As computers grew in capability, this trade-off became increasingly unnecessary and a number of general-purpose database systems emerged; by the mid-1960s there were a number of such systems in commercial use. Interest in a standard began to grow, and Charles Bachman, author of one such product, Integrated Data Store (IDS), founded the "Database Task Group" within CODASYL, the group responsible for the creation and standardization of COBOL. In 1971 they delivered their standard, which generally became known as the "Codasyl approach", and soon there were a number of commercial products based on it available.
2.2.1970s Relational DBMS:In 1970, In 1970, E.Codd wrote a number of papers that outlined a new approach to database construction that eventually culminated in the groundbreaking A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks.[1] wrote a number of papers that outlined a new approach to database construction that eventually culminated in the groundbreaking A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks.He created tables with linked list where he used primary key and foreign key to relate these tables together to form the data base and then DBMS came into existence.
3.End 1970s SQL DBMS:At the end of 1970 s DBMS was on peak which was written and programmed by (developed) E.Codd
who was a programmer in I.B.M.So,I.B.M was the first to use DBMS.He further re programed and defined a query language
that is SQL(Standardised Query Language) where we can fetch the data we want through any query.
But later L.E.Oracle used the same concept of I.B.M but leaded the market throughout and now SQL,DBMS
is now known as ORACLE.
MERITS:
1. Due to functional dependencies and normal forms the data resists redundancies,consistency and integrity.
2. DBMS can be used as front end or back end in any project.
3. Restoring of data and back up is easier.
4.The relational Data base of the table .i.e linked list,retrival of any particular set of data became easier.
DEMERITS:
1.It occupies a large space in memory.
2.It is relatively very costly.
3.It becomes more complexities due to linked list.
4.It is not user friendly since quiery language needs commands and queries to fetch data.
FUTURE:
1.It is going to occupy the most significant place in all industries.
2.Demand for Oracle is gaining importance in B-schools.
3.This may result in higher demand and reduction in price.
Sir,
These are the probable answers that i could think at this point of time....
Ans 1> The concept of DBMS has evolved over the years.In 1970's the centralized DBMS was prepared by specialist using 3GL in response to precisely channeled request.The corporate data was stored centrally and data was accessed through dumb terminals.In 1980's,DBMS suffered a social and technical change.And the concept of distributed DBMS came into play.At that time business operations became more decentralized geographically.The competition that increased at the global level.The basic customer needs or demands favoured a decentralized management style.The large number of applications based on DBMS and the need to protect investments in centralized DBMS software made the notion of data sharing attractive.So the two database required in a dynamic business environment---
1>Quick AD-HOC data access become crucial in the quick response decision making environment.
2>The decentralized of management structure based on the decentralization of business units made decentralized multiple access and multiple location databases a necessity.
Development in the 1990's affected DBMS hugely.The growing access of the internet and the WWW as the platform of data access and distribution.The increased focus on data analysis that led to data mining and data warehousing.
The basic Merits of DBMS are as follows-
1>Reduces data redundancy(duplicity) and inconsistency of data
2>provides data integrity and security
3>provides data independence
4>provides concurrent access anomalies
The basic demerits of DBMS are as follows--
1>Confidential,Privacy and Security
2>Data quality
3>Data integrity
FUTURE of DBMS------
Although database management system technology is very mature but but there is a potential for much future INNOVATION in integrating structured and unstructured data,virtualizing access to data and simplifying data management through great automation and intelligence.There is an estimation that more than 90% of all business data in enterprises is unstructured but only 5% of unstructured data is stored in databases.This creates a huge opportunity to integrate different types of data and content---structured,unstructured and semi structured for enhance information and sharing and control.I expect DBMS should address this challenge by supporting all kinds of data and contents in its native form which must be tighter integration while sustaining high performance.I expect in the next four years DBMS technology and middle ware will also evolve to support information fabric,virtualizing access to heterogeneous data.Both of these trends will combine to offer an evolutionary path to a future world information management in which all forms of information will be much easier to access,integrate and control and this will all come at a lower cost due to increase automation.
Answer 4>
GREEN IT---JUST AS MUCH ABOUT MAKING MONEY AS SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT....
We live in a world where two issues currently dominate debate. The first is Climate Change
where the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC1) has “unequivocally” affirmed the
warming of our climate system, and linked it directly to human activity. The second is the
continued rise in oil prices primarily driven by increased demand and potentially depleted stocks.
Both issues are obviously related in terms of encouraging dramatic reductions in energy
consumption.
Governments around the world are making commitments to cut energy consumption and the
generation of CO2. The KYOTO3 agreements call for developed countries to reduce their green
house gas emissions by at least 5% against the baseline of 1990 by 2012.
In the UK a draft Climate Change Bill aims to put in place a framework to achieve a mandatory
60% cut in the UK's carbon emissions by 2050 (compared to 1990 levels), with an intermediate
target of between 26% and 32% by 2020.
These targets are both essential and challenging and ICT has undoubtedly got its part to play. It
might be surprising to many just how large that part could be. Gartner estimates that the
manufacture, use and disposal of ICT equipment accounts for 2% of global CO2 emissions,
equivalent to the much aligned aviation industry. It is calculated that this relates to 1 billion tonnes
per year of CO2 generated by this industry.
In the UK ICT equipment accounts for 10% of the UK’s total energy consumption and non domestic
equipment consumption is expected to grow another 40% by 20207. This must be set
against the UK’s climate change bill which is expecting an overall reduction by about 30% in the
same time frame.
So where is all this energy going and what can be do about it?That's why different IT sector companies are going green in terms of their service,products.For example we can see THE IBM GREEN SERVERS,WIPRO EGO GREEN laptops etc.So as a human being it is our responsibility to help nature retain its beauties....
Virtualization---
Virtualization is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as an operating system, a server, a storage device or network resources.
Operating system virtualization is the use of software to allow a piece of hardware to run multiple operating system images at the same time. The technology got its start on mainframes decades ago, allowing administrators to avoid wasting expensive processing power.
In 2005, virtualization software was adopted faster than anyone imagined, including the experts. There are three areas of IT where virtualization is making head roads, network virtualization, storage virtualization and server virtualization:
* Network virtualization is a method of combining the available resources in a network by splitting up the available bandwidth into channels, each of which is independent from the others, and each of which can be assigned (or reassigned) to a particular server or device in real time. The idea is that virtualization disguises the true complexity of the network by separating it into manageable parts, much like your partitioned hard drive makes it easier to manage your files.
* Storage virtualization is the pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console. Storage virtualization is commonly used in storage area networks (SANs).
* Server virtualization is the masking of server resources (including the number and identity of individual physical servers, processors, and operating systems) from server users. The intention is to spare the user from having to understand and manage complicated details of server resources while increasing resource sharing and utilization and maintaining the capacity to expand later.
Virtualization can be viewed as part of an overall trend in enterprise IT that includes autonomic computing, a scenario in which the IT environment will be able to manage itself based on perceived activity, and utility computing, in which computer processing power is seen as a utility that clients can pay for only as needed. The usual goal of virtualization is to centralize administrative tasks while improving scalability and work loads.
Now,recently the creation of "SECOND LIFE" has revolutionized the concept of virtualization.IBM SECOND LIFE VIRTUAL CONFERENCE really set the standard for virtualization..
Cloud computing----
Cloud computing is Internet-based ("cloud") development and use of computer technology ("computing"). The cloud is a metaphor for the Internet, based on how it is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals. It is a style of computing in which IT-related capabilities are provided “as a service”, allowing users to access technology-enabled services from the Internet ("in the cloud") without knowledge of, expertise with, or control over the technology infrastructure that supports them. According to a 2008 paper published by IEEE Internet Computing "Cloud Computing is a paradigm in which information is permanently stored in servers on the Internet and cached temporarily on clients that include desktops, entertainment centers, tablet computers, notebooks, wall computers, handhelds, sensors, monitors, etc."
Cloud computing is a general concept that incorporates software as a service (SaaS), Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, in which the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users. For example, Google Applications provides common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.
The majority of cloud computing infrastructure currently consists of reliable services delivered through data centers that are built on servers with different levels of virtualization technologies. The services are accessible anywhere in the world, with The Cloud appearing as a single point of access for all the computing needs of consumers. Commercial offerings need to meet the quality of service requirements of customers and typically offer service level agreements.Open standards and open source software are also critical to the growth of cloud computing
Cloud computing is being driven by providers including Amazon, Google, Data Synapse, and Sales force as well as traditional vendors including Sun Microsystems, HP, IBM, Intel and Microsoft. It is being adopted by individual users through large enterprises including General Electric, L'Oréal, Procter & Gamble.This are the following characteristics of cloud computing.
• Customer capital expenditure is minimized and thus lowers barriers to entry, as infrastructure is owned by the provider and does not need to be purchased for one-time or infrequent intensive computing tasks. Services are typically available to or specifically targeted to retail consumers and small businesses.
• Device and location independence enables users to access systems regardless of their location or what device they are using, e.g., PC, mobile.
• Multi-tenancy enables sharing of resources, and costs, among a large pool of users, allowing for:
o Centralization of infrastructure in areas with lower costs, e.g., real estate, electricity, etc.
o Peak-load capacity increases (users need not engineer for highest possible load levels)
o Utilization and efficiency improvements for systems that are often only 10-20% utilized.
• On-demand allocation and de-allocation of CPU, storage and network bandwidth
• Performance is monitored and consistent, but can be affected by insufficient bandwidth or high network load.
• Reliability is enhanced by way of multiple redundant sites, which makes it suitable for business continuity and disaster recovery, however IT and business managers are able to do little when an outage hits them.
• Scalability meets changing user demands, e.g., Flash crowds, quickly without users having to engineer for peak loads. Massive scalability and large user bases are common, but not an absolute requirement.
• Security typically improves due to centralization of data, increased security-focused resources, etc., but raise concerns about loss of control over certain sensitive data. Accesses are typically logged but accessing the audit logs themselves can be difficult or impossible.
• Sustainability is achieved through improved resource utilization, more efficient systems, and carbon neutrality. Nonetheless, computers and associated infrastructure are major consumers of energy.
A cloud platform, e.g., Platform as a service, the delivery of a computing platform, and/or solution stack as a service, facilitates deployment of applications without the cost and complexity of buying and managing the underlying hardware and software layers. For example:
•Web application frameworks
o Ajax (Caspio)
oPython Django (Google App Engine)
oRuby on Rails (Heroku)
•Web hosting (Mosso)
•Proprietary (Azure, Force.com)
A cloud service, e.g., Web Service, is "software system[s] designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network" which may be accessed by other cloud computing components, software, e.g., Software plus services, or end users directly. For example:
• Identity (Open Id)
• Integration (Amazon Simple Queue Service)
• Payments (Amazon Flexible Payments Service, Google Checkout, PayPal)
• Mapping (Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps)
• Search (Alexa, Google Custom Search, Yahoo! BOSS)
• Others (Amazon Mechanical Turk)
Cloud storage is the delivery of data storage as a service, including database-like services, often billed on a utility computing basis, e.g., per gigabyte per month. For example:
• Database (Amazon Simple Db, Google App Engine's Big Table data store)
• Network attached storage (MobileMe iDisk, Nirvanix CloudNAS)
• Synchronization (Live Mesh Live Desktop component, Mobile Me push functions)
• Web service (Amazon Simple Storage Service)
A cloud application leverages The Cloud in software architecture, often eliminating the need to install and run the application on the customer's own computer, thus alleviating the burden of software maintenance, ongoing operation, and support. For example:
• Peer-to-peer / volunteer computing (Bit torrent, Skype)
• Web application (Facebook)
• Software as a service (Google Apps, Sales force)
• Software plus services (Microsoft Online Services)
In reality, only a few companies have the ability to build and support a cloud computing infrastructure. But the idea of centralizing computing resources in a cloud outside of the enterprise data center is still appealing.
WEB 2.0---
The bursting of the dot-com bubble in the fall of 2001 marked a turning point for the web. Many people concluded that the web was overhyped, when in fact bubbles and consequent shakeouts appear to be a common feature of all technological revolutions. Shakeouts typically mark the point at which an ascendant technology is ready to take its place at center stage. The pretenders are given the bum's rush, the real success stories show their strength, and there begins to be an understanding of what separates one from the other.
The concept of "Web 2.0" began with a conference brainstorming session between O'Reilly and MediaLive International. Dale Dougherty, web pioneer and O'Reilly VP, noted that far from having "crashed", the web was more important than ever, with exciting new applications and sites popping up with surprising regularity. What's more, the companies that had survived the collapse seemed to have some things in common. Could it be that the dot-com collapse marked some kind of turning point for the web, such that a call to action such as "Web 2.0" might make sense? We agreed that it did, and so the Web 2.0 Conference was born.
In the year and a half since, the term "Web 2.0" has clearly taken hold, with more than 9.5 million citations in Google. But there's still a huge amount of disagreement about just what Web 2.0 means, with some people decrying it as a meaningless marketing buzzword, and others accepting it as the new conventional wisdom.
This article is an attempt to clarify just what we mean by Web 2.0.
In our initial brainstorming, we formulated our sense of Web 2.0 by example:
Web 1.0 Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> Napster
Britannica Online --> Wikipedia
personal websites --> blogging
evite --> upcoming.org and EVDB
domain name speculation --> search engine optimization
page views --> cost per click
screen scraping --> web services
publishing --> participation
content management systems --> wikis
directories (taxonomy) --> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness --> syndication
The list went on and on. But what was it that made us identify one application or approach as "Web 1.0" and another as "Web 2.0"? (The question is particularly urgent because the Web 2.0 meme has become so widespread that companies are now pasting it on as a marketing buzzword, with no real understanding of just what it means. The question is particularly difficult because many of those buzzword-addicted startups are definitely not Web 2.0, while some of the applications we identified as Web 2.0, like Napster and BitTorrent, are not even properly web applications!) We began trying to tease out the principles that are demonstrated in one way or another by the success stories of web 1.0 and by the most interesting of the new applications.
Business Analytics
The field of business analytics has improved significantly over the last few years, providing
business users with better insights, particularly from operational data stored in transactional
systems. As an illustrative example, analysis of e-commerce data has recently come to be
considered a killer-app for data mining. The data sets created by integrating click stream
records generated by web sites with demographic and other behavioral data dwarf, in size and
complexity, the largest data warehouses of a few years ago, creating massive databases that
require a mix of automated analysis techniques and human effort in order to provide business
users with critical insight about the activity on the site and the characteristics of the site’s visitors
and customers. With many millions of click stream records being generated on a daily basis and
aggregated to records with hundreds of attributes, there is a clear need for automated techniques
to find patterns in the data. In this paper we discuss the technology and enterprise-adoption
trends in the area of business analytics.
The key consumer of these analytics is the business user, a person whose job is not directly
related to analytics per-se (e.g., a merchandiser, marketer, salesperson), but who typically must
use analytical tools to improve the results of a business process along one or more dimensions
(e.g., profit, time to market). Fortunately, data mining1, analytic applications, and business
intelligence systems are now being better integrated with transactional systems creating a closed
loop between operations and analyses that allows data to be analyzed faster and the analysis
results to be quickly reflected in business actions. Mined information is being deployed to a
broader business audience, which is taking advantage of business analytics in everyday activities.
Analytics are now regularly used in multiple areas, including sales, marketing, supply chain
optimization, and fraud detection.
Note that the terms data mining and analytics are used interchangeably here to denote the general process of
exploration and analysis of data to discover and identify new and meaningful patterns in data. This definition is
similar to those presented in and (under the term knowledge discovery).
The Business Users and their Challenges
Despite these advances in analytic systems, it continues to be the case that the business user,
while an expert in his area, is unlikely also to be an expert in data analysis and statistics. To
make decisions based on the data enterprises collect, the business user must either rely on a data
analyst to extract information from the data, or employ analytic applications that blend data
analysis technologies with task-specific knowledge. In the first case, the business user must
impart domain knowledge to the analyst, then wait while the analyst organizes the data, analyzes
it, and communicates back the results. These results typically raise further questions and hence
several iterations are necessary before the business user can start acting on the analysis. In the
second case, analytic applications must not only incorporate a variety of data mining techniques,
but also provide recommendations to the business user of how to best analyze data and present
the extracted information.
Business users are expected to better utilize the extracted information and improve performance
along multiple metrics. Unfortunately, the gap between the relevant analytics and the critical
needs of the intended business users still remains significant. The following challenges highlight
characteristics of this gap:
1. The time to perform the overall cycle of collecting, analyzing, and acting on enterprise
data must be reduced. While business constraints may impose limits on reducing the
overall cycle time, business users want to be empowered and rely less on other people to
help with these tasks.
2. Within this cycle, the time and analytic expertise necessary to analyze data must be
reduced.
3. Clear business goals and metrics must be defined. In the past, unrealistic expectations
about data mining “magic” led to misguided efforts without clear goals and metrics.
4. Data collection efforts must have clear goals. Once metrics are identified, organizations
must strive to collect the appropriate data and transform it. In many situations, data
analysis is often an afterthought, restricting the possible value of any analysis.
5. Analysis results must be distributed to a wide audience. Most analysis tools are designed
for quantitative analysts, not for the broader base of business users who need the output
to be translated into language and visualizations that are appropriate for the business
needs.
6. Data must be integrated from multiple sources. The extract-transform-load (ETL)
process is typically complex and its cost and difficulty are usually underestimated.
Trends in Business Analytics
The emerging trends and innovations discussed in this paper embody approaches to these
business challenges. Indeed, it is a very healthy sign for this field that regardless of the form of
the solution—process, technology, system integration, user interface, etc.–the driving force is the
business problem.
3.1 Verticalization
In order to reduce discovery cycle time, facilitate the definition and achievement of business
goals, and deploy analysis results to wider audiences, developers of analytical solutions started
verticalizing their software. The first step in this verticalization was the incorporation of taskspecific
knowledge. Examples include knowledge about how to analyze customer data to
determine the effectiveness of a marketing campaign, knowledge on how to analyze clickstream
data generated by a web site to reduce shopping cart abandonment and improve ad effectiveness,
knowledge about how an investment bank consolidates its general ledger and is able to produce
various types of forecasts, or how an insurance company is able to analyze data in order to
provide an optimally-priced policy to an existing customer.
In the process of incorporating industry-specific knowledge, companies are also able to optimize
the performance of their applications for the specific verticals. For example, a company that
developed an analytic application for budgeting and forecasting targeted at the financial services
industry determined that its OLAP engine’s execution speed could be optimized by limiting the
number of dimensions handled by the engine to nine, a number deemed as sufficient for the
particular application in that industry.
The use of industry-specific knowledge is not limited to the data mining components of analytic
applications but also affects how the extracted information is presented and accessed. For
example, enterprises from the financial services, retail, manufacturing, utilities, and
telecommunications industries increasingly expect their field personnel to have access to
business analytic information through wireless devices that they carry. Analytic applications
companies are now working on technologies that will automatically detect the type of wireless
device and its form factor, and will automatically tailor analysis results to fit the capabilities of a
particular device. For example, if the information is to be displayed on a phone supporting the
Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) (implying that the screen is small) it may be necessary to
automatically summarize text, abbreviate several words, Comprehensible Models and Transformations for Insight
With the need to let business users analyze data and provide insight quickly, and with the goal of
reducing the reliance on data mining experts, comprehensible models are more commonly used
than opaque models. For example, in the KDD-CUP 2000 [2], a data mining competition in
which insight was important, the use of decision trees, generally accepted as relatively easy to
understand, outnumbered other methods by more than two to one.
Business users do not want to deal with advanced statistical concepts. They want
straightforward visualizations and task-relevant outputs.
Instead of the underlying log conditional probabilities that the model actually manipulates, the
visualization uses bar height to represent evidence for each value of a contributing factor listed
on the left of the figure and color saturation to signify confidence of that evidence [6]. For
example, evidence for higher salaries increases with age, until the last age bracket, where it drops
off; evidence for higher salaries increases with years of education, with the number of hours
worked, and with certain marital statuses and occupations. Note also that the visualization shows
only a few attributes that were determined by the mining algorithm to be the most important
ones, highlighting to the business users the most critical attributes from a larger set.
Over the past three years the analysis of customer data has attracted the most attention and has
provided success in reducing customer attrition, improving customer profitability, increasing the
value of e-commerce purchases, and increasing the response of direct mail and e-mail marketing
campaigns. This has paved the way for new applications of business analytics to emerge. Of
these new areas, three applications are particularly promising: supply chain visibility, price
optimization, and workforce analysis.
Organizations have automated significant portions of their supply chain. In the process they
have enabled the collection of significant data about inventory, the performance of suppliers,
logistics, etc. New applications are now able to analyze this data to provide insights about the
performance of suppliers and partners, material expenditures, accuracy of sales forecasts to better
control materials inventory, accuracy of production plans, the accuracy of plans for order
delivery, etc.
The wide adoption of CRM and Supply Chain Management software has allowed enterprises to
fully interface/integrate their demand and supply chains. Based on this integration, enterprises
are now able to capture up-to-the-minute data about the demand of a particular product, as well
as data of similar granularity about the corresponding data’s supply. By analyzing these two data
streams corporations are able to optimize the price of a particular product along several
dimensions so that the demand will meet the available supply. For example, the price of a
product may be different through one channel, e.g., the Web, than through another, e.g., in the
retail store. Such price optimizations allow corporations to maximize the profit margin of each
item sold while reducing their inventory.
Once corporations have been able to analyze data about their customers and their suppliers, it is
only natural for them to begin analyzing data about their employees. A new generation of
analytic applications allows enterprises to identify workforce trends, such as attrition rates, and
perform tasks such as compensation and benefits analyses. Companies whose cost or revenue
model is dependent on hourly models, e.g., contact centers or systems integrators, are able to use
this new generation of employee-centered analytics to optimize staffing levels and skills
requirements in order to minimize the number of employees that are not able to bill.
Integration of Analytics with Action and Measurement
With business users’ increasing understanding and experience in analytics, they are becoming
more demanding and discerning, particularly in the areas of action and return on investment
(ROI). Increasingly, analytics users are asking two key questions, “How do I turn discovered
information into action,” and “How do I know the effect of each action?” While in the past,
success stories of data mining ended with a novel analytical result, it is increasingly necessary
that solutions use the analytic results as a starting point towards the critical next steps–action and
measurement. It is no longer enough for cluster-discovery algorithms, for example, to uncover
interesting groups of customers. The successful analytic solution must make it easier for the user
to grasp the significance of these clusters in the context of the business action plan: “Here are
people with a propensity to purchase new fashions.” Achieving these results requires non-trivial
transformations from the base statistical models. Traditionally to achieve these results
necessitated the use of an expert analyst.
Integration with other existing systems is a key to both action and measurement. For example, if
the analytic application can identify customers likely to respond to a promotion, but it takes a
cadre of IT specialists to incorporate the relevant data into the advertising system to run and
execute the promotion, then the results will not be used, as IT specialists are in short supply
within the enterprise. Similarly, if promotion targeting solutions enable distribution of catalogs
with optimized promotions, but the order submission system isn’t tied closely back into the
analytics, the resulting lag in the ROI reports will prevent a timely adjustment in the next catalog
mailing. These types of integration between operation and analytics systems have seen major
initiatives in the last five years, including entire products whose value proposition is precisely
the optimization of the collect-analyze-act-measure cycle.
The innovations and trends of business analytics spanning the areas of process, new
technologies, user interface design, and system integration, are being driven by business value.
In this paper, business value is measured as progress towards bridging the gap between the needs
of the business user and the accessibility and usability of analytic tools. In an effort to make
analytics more relevant and tangible to the business user, solutions are focusing on specific
vertical applications and tailoring the results and interfaces towards the business audience, so
they are comprehensible and provide human-level insight. For ease of use, simpler and effective
deployment, and optimum value, analytics are being embedded in larger systems. Consequently,
issues such as data collection, storage, and processing specific to analytics are increasingly
considered important issues in overall system design. In efforts to broaden the effectiveness of
analytics in the business process, solutions are emerging that go beyond the customer facing
applications, reaching “behind the scenes” to applications in sales, marketing, supply chain
visibility, price optimizations, and workforce analysis. Finally, in order to achieve full impact
and value, an increasing number of analytic solutions are making results actionable and
measurement of changes key components.
SAAS—
Software as a Service (SaaS) has become one of the fastest growing
segments of the IT sector because it provides organizations with ‘turn-key’
software solutions that can be implemented quickly, while avoiding the
incremental infrastructure costs and eliminating the ongoing administrative
resources of traditional on-premise applications.
MasterCard, BT and Xerox are experiencing significantly reduced total cost of
ownership (TCO) and increased return on investment (ROI) with their
software applications by adopting SaaS solutions and focusing more on
business process improvement than IT infrastructure maintenance.
The Pitfalls of Traditional, On-Premise Software
Despite the fact that large companies have become more reliant on
sophisticated software such as customer relationship management (CRM), ecommerce
and workforce performance management (WPM) to run their
business, a majority of these organizations are dissatisfied with their return
on investments. Corporate executives are frustrated with the time, effort and
cost required to deploy new business applications, as well as the ongoing
resources consumed to keep them up and running, plus the cost to stay
innovative.
Over the past three years, Nucleus Research has published studies
indicating that more than 61% of Siebel Systems' reference customers have
experienced a negative return on investment (ROI) on their software
implementations. Nucleus also suggested 57% of SAP’s reference customers
had not achieved a positive ROI.
In each of these commentaries, Carr
advocates that large enterprises should no longer invest in on-premise
technology and applications, but instead leverage a growing array of on-demand
services in order to gain a competitive advantage.
SaaS is enabling large companies to more quickly deploy business software,
more easily administer these applications, obtain best-in-class capabilities
and redirect their scarce resources to strategic initiatives, such as business
process improvement.
White Paper
The Future of IT in Large Corporations
The Emergence of SaaS
SaaS as a software solution that is hosted and
supported by a vendor as a service, which is accessed by users via the
Internet, without the need to deploy and maintain an on-premise IT
infrastructure. Whereas some people associate SaaS with ‘pay-as-you-go’
subscription pricing, SaaS is more indicative of the hosted deployment model.
In fact, SaaS can be priced via subscription, annually or perpetually.
SaaS has generated growing industry attention and customer acceptance
because it offers a simpler method to adopt and administer essential
business software applications such as enterprise spend management, e-commerce,
workforce performance management (WPM), and customer
relationship management (CRM). It also makes it easier for end-users to
access and use these applications via the Internet.
SaaS does not require additional IT infrastructure investments in new servers
and databases to store data, or private networks to permit user access.
Instead, companies can leverage the SaaS provider’s hosting facilities and
take advantage of web-based access. The SaaS model also substantially
increases application reliability because vendors perform frequent backups
and utilize redundant hosting facilities to reduce the risk of “down-time”. By
comparison, on-premise software deployments don’t offer this safety net.
These SaaS attributes let companies focus their limited in-house IT resources
on more strategic corporate initiatives rather than reacting to daily application
availability, maintenance and support issues.
In a survey published by Summit Strategies in May 2004, 31% of large
companies (those with more than 1,000 employees) said they currently use
software as a service, and an additional 11% said they were in the process of
evaluating SaaS offerings.
AMR found that 40% of all companies are currently using hosted applications,
and 49% will use them within the next 12 months. Gartner forecasts large
companies will fulfill 25% of their application demands with hosted software
by 2010. IDC predicts the SaaS market will grow at a 21% compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) during the next four years, reaching $10.7B worldwide in
2009. By comparison, Forrester Research predicts the market for traditional
on-premise enterprise applications will only grow 4% through 2008.
These statistics clearly indicate that SaaS is gaining greater acceptance and
mainstream momentum, especially with larger corporations. This suggests
the future of IT is also moving away from on-premise system administration.
The Business Benefits of SaaS
The primary reasons that companies are turning to SaaS rather than continue
to struggle with traditional on-premise applications are:
o Faster deployment time and reduced time-to-market
o Reduced IT infrastructure acquisition and maintenance costs
The following customer case study examples illustrate how large enterprises
are benefiting from each of these SaaS attributes. These examples describe
specific SaaS providers and the dramatic impact they have had on some of
their larger customers.
Faster Deployment Time and Reduced Time to Market
In 2004, MasterCard International decided to replace its employee
performance evaluation and goal-setting applications in favor of a SaaS
alternative. The financial services company found its internally-developed
applications no longer satisfied their needs since they were not integrated
with one another, leaving employee review and goal-setting processes
uncoordinated. The applications also could not be easily accessed remotely,
making it hard for employees to complete reviews outside their offices. There
also was no automated way to notify users of updated information, making it
tough for managers to monitor employee efforts to achieve their goals.
MasterCard’s human resources department believed a SaaS solution could
overcome these challenges, and selected SuccessFactors’ workforce
performance management solution to meet its needs.
In addition to these case studies, another industry sector experiencing
success with SaaS is e-Commerce. This is a business that depends on an
integrated suite of secure applications to ensure that transactions are
processed quickly and potential threats are mitigated to prevent costly
downtime and valuable data from being compromised. Venda offers self service
e-Merchandising, e-Marketing and sales applications to support today’s
increasingly complex e-Commerce environments. Venda’s SaaS solution
helped British Telecom's (BT) Retail online store reduce IT and content
management costs immediately, and achieved a 244% ROI within five
months according to a Nucleus Research report. Xerox used Venda to
provide its product resellers with a fully integrated B2B commerce service
increasing their overall profits and reducing inefficiencies achieving a 232%
ROI in 13 months.
“Venda manages an unbelievably cost effective platform providing
consistently branded but personalized e-Commerce sites to our resellers
in multiple languages and currencies. With integration into our SAP
back-end trading system and marketing database, we are providing
resellers and consumers with low maintenance, easy-to-use sites. It
works so well we just keep adding more sites and are expanding the
solution into four more countries this summer,"
Greater Ease of Use and Added Business Value
While reducing costs is a key driver for many large companies to consider
SaaS, these solutions also must provide greater functionality than on-premise
software applications in order to drive business impact.
One area SaaS surpasses the functionality of on-premise solutions is in its
web-based access. As you’ll remember, MasterCard’s employees now
access the Success Factors performance review and goal-setting system via
the Internet, whenever and wherever it is convenient. The software also was
specifically designed to resemble MasterCard’s previous performance review
and goal-setting forms to make it easy for employees to adopt and use.
Venda’s SaaS applications helped BT increase checkout conversion rates
400% and boost average on-line customer ‘basket’ value 250%. Overall, BT’s
order volume jumped 1100% in the first 6 months after Venda’s solution was
deployed, and its on-line fraud rate was reduced from 6% to 0.1%.
Reliability and Scalability
MasterCard’s rapid implementation of SuccessFactors’ workforce
performance management software to approximately 5,000 employees is a
good example of the reliability and scalability of SaaS solutions.
Another major application developer that has demonstrated the reliability and
scalability of SaaS solutions is Ariba. The company provides a
comprehensive enterprise spend management solution to manage the entire
procurement life cycle—from plan to pay—for a wide array of industries.
Ariba’s applications give companies a consolidated view of data from multiple
systems across the organization, enabling more informed sourcing decisions,
the negotiation of better contract terms and reduced premium payments.
International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) turned to Ariba to
improve its sourcing operations. ICTSI handled a large-scale volume of
443,373 units (called twenty-foot equivalents) during the first quarter of 2005.
Automating its sourcing policies and procedures using Ariba’s SaaS solutions
have produced significant dividends for the company.
“Early sourcing events resulted in savings of up to
24%, so we incorporated the sourcing solution into our daily
purchasing practices. As a result we are seeing average savings
between 14-22%…and have achieved our payback over a year ahead of
schedule,”
For instance, last year Ariba generated over $245M in revenues, representing
a 40% growth rate and a large customer base including Arcelor, Diageo, H&R
Block, Hubbell, Inc., InBev, Mondi and Renault.
Success Factors is serving over 700,000 subscribers in more than 200 large
enterprises across all industries including Textron, General Motors, Cooper
Tire & Rubber Company, Invitrogen, MasterCard International, Volkswagen of
North America, McKesson, Reebok, MeadWestVaco, PG&E, Lancaster
General Hospital, Grant Thornton, Friendly’s Ice Cream and HP Hood.
Venda has more than sixty clients with 120 sites including Austin Reed, BBC
Shop, British Telecom, Kiddicare, Panasonic, Ted Baker, Tommy Hilfiger,
Universal, Virgin Megastore and Xerox.
The expanding customer base, rapid revenue growth and increased
profitability of these SaaS leaders are leading indicators of the tangible
business benefits and corporate viability of the SaaS model.
The future of IT is changing in real time out of the recognition that SaaS is a
quicker and cheaper way to acquire software while consuming less internal
resources. At the same time, SaaS has proven to be more scalable, reliable
and functional as on-premise software. SaaS allows large companies to
leverage leading edge business applications immediately, without
complicated upgrade processes and the IT infrastructure demanded by
traditional software applications.
The birth of IT in most companies was due to the realization that there was
new technology that could be taken advantage of to improve business
processes and the broader competitive advantage. Today, IT organizations
are again being challenged to take advantage of new technology and apply it
to improve business processes. Leading edge IT organizations are realizing
that their role is shifting away from infrastructure management and
maintenance, toward more business process improvement demands. SaaS
has proven to be a powerful new business solution that allows IT to re-focus
energy and resources to play a more crucial role within their company.
Open Source
Open source usually refers to software that is released with source code under a license that ensures that derivative works will also be available as source code, protects certain rights of the original authors, and prohibits restrictions on how the software can be used or who can use it. The most important difference between software created by the open source communities and commercial software sold by vendors is that open source software is published under licenses that ensure that the source code is available to everyone to inspect, change, download, and explore as they wish. This is the essential meaning of open source: the source code--the language in which the software is written and the key to understanding how the software works--can be obtained and improved by anyone with the right skills.More precise definitions extend this basic concept by adding provisions concerning derivative works, the rights to use the software for any purpose, the rights of the original author, and prohibitions against discrimination.
For users of software who have the skills to download and install software, open source means choice and freedom.The choice comes from the huge amount of programs available. Some programs like Firefox (the smoking-hot browser from Mozilla.org) or Open Office.org (a suite of word processing, spreadsheet, and related programs) can be downloaded and used by just about anybody. Other open source projects such as Babeldoc or Axkit are mostly useful for software developers.None of this open source software costs money. Some programs charge subscriptions for support, updates, documentation, or premium versions, but most of those are usable without paying a fee.The freedom comes from the fact that the source code is available. If you want to change something, then you can, if you have the right skills. Only a handful of the people who download and use open source ever actually change it. Most use it as intended, but they have the freedom to modify it if they want.For developers and engineers, open source has many additional meanings. To those who found a successful project, open source can mean fame, recognition, and sometimes even money from consulting or other sources.Other developers see in open source a masterful software development methodology founded on the virtues of collaboration, incremental evolution, and working code.For most developers, open source is a both a source of tools to help solve problems and a constant source of exciting new things to learn.
Answer 5>
B2C--
B2C Business-to-consumer (B2C, sometimes also called Business-to-Customer) describes activities of businesses serving end consumers with products and/or services.
An example of a B2C transaction would be a person buying a pair of shoes from a retailer.
Wallmart selling goods online, Flipkart selling books online, Amazon etc are some of the examples of B2C.
C2C---
Consumer-to-consumer (or C2C) electronic commerce involves the electronically-facilitated transactions between consumers through some third party. A common example is the online auction, in which a consumer posts an item for sale and other consumers bid to purchase it; the third party generally charges a flat fee or commission. The sites are only intermediaries, just there to match consumers. They do not have to check quality of the products being offered.
C2C are becoming more popular amongst students in universities because these are large communities in the same geographical region that are low on money. So they are looking for deals very often and these kinds of websites offer this. Universities themselves set up places for students to sell textbooks and other stuff to other students, you can even advertise that you are subletting your apartment. An example of this from above is Tiger books and Dalhousie University Classifieds, both of these are put together by the school itself for the students.
Answer 3>
Evolution of E-Commerce over the years--------
E-commerce
Less than five years ago, companies started to view the Internet as a medium over which business could be conducted. Standardization, security, privacy issues were being considered by companies who were testing the waters of E-commerce by putting up electronic storefronts that displayed products and services. Soon order entry was being enabled on E-commerce sites and a new era had dawned that allowed customers to experience a different experience while conducting business using the Internet. Amazon was a pioneer and reaped the benefits of being first-to-market. Internet time is now measured in days rather than months or years which companies of “old-economy” were used to when deciding to implement or shift business strategy decisions.
From the Internet to Intranets to Extranets has been a speedy journey in the past 5 years. The 3 C’s of first generation E-commerce: Content, Community, and Commerce have now evolved into 7 C’s of second generation E-commerce: Content (e.g. Yahoo), Community (I village), Commerce (e.g. Amazon), Communication (e.g. Doubleclick), Connectivity (e.g. Cisco), Collaboration (Mercata - now defunct), and Customization (e.g. Netperceptions). Each of these C’s reflect an evolution of features that has its roots in first enabling automated processes (such as procurement) to extending these processes externally with other consumers as well as business partners.
B2C (Business to Consumer) models have been tried and tested during the first generation of E-commerce boom, but the newer trends are toward B2B (Business to Business) and Click-and-Mortar models. B2B provides advantages of close integration and communication with partners and suppliers, Click-and-Mortar provide takes advantage of offline and online channels being established in physical store locations but at the same time offering online commerce convenience.
Companies have quickly realized that E-commerce sites are more than digital storefronts that display products and allow customers to place an order. Business processes should extend to the back-end with systems in place to optimize the company’s supply chain and distribution system. A holistic approach will offer the company insights on creating maximum efficiencies to support all business processes. E-commerce business models are more than technology solutions. The right strategy focuses on a company’s core services and products, and one that encompasses the entire e-business value chain. Although technology plays an important part in the business goals, technology by itself is a means to an end rather than the end itself. If used properly, technology can be used to leverage the e-marketplace for competitive advantage in today’s fast paced economy. The traditional model of Manufacturer -> Wholesaler/Distributor -> Retailer -> User is being dis intermediated by providing a direct link between Manufacturer and End User (e.g. Dell). Companies are extending E-commerce capabilities of electronic storefronts to back-end processes using Supply Chain Management and Enterprise Resource Planning software. Supply Chain Management is the process of tracking the availability, delivery, and pricing of supplies and materials required to meet customer demands for goods. Part of supply-chain management process includes forecasting which helps managers determine how quickly they can get necessary supplies and at what cost. Results are arrived at by looking at orders, inventories, production capacity, transportation availability, and other factors that affect cost of material. Enterprise Resource Planning is more complex and integrates order entry, monitoring inventory, and balancing financial records. Companies deploying ERP software that include functions of supply chain management, planning, warehousing, and transportation can make more knowledgeable decisions. Web based Supply Chain Management and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications are being deployed by corporations for significant cost savings. For companies that had operational centers all over the world, sharing data between facilities was a very complex task. The ubiquitous nature of Internet has provided an opportunity to share supply chain data by consolidating information and providing access to it in real-time for planning decisions. Online and offline business strategies differ significantly. Companies planning to enter the e-commerce arena must have proper strategies to ensure their profitability, growth, and survival in the electronic marketplace. The business plan must traverse all parts of the organization and systems must be in place to react quickly to changing market conditions. Stovepipe processes must be replaced by integrated and collaborative environment that generate more value. Outsourcing technology to Application Service Providers may be an option for companies whose core competencies lie in business and not in technology. Technology must be a support mechanism for business and optimize information flow internally and externally to leverage efficiencies and strategic advantage in every aspect of business. With new business models emerging (e.g. Priceline), companies should balance experimentation with risk-taking to achieve optimum efficiencies. A new way of presenting information to customers over a digital medium has also required companies to re-think ways of keeping customers loyal (“stickiness” of web sites) since competitors are only one click away. Consumers are more responsive now to new business models and what was sure to fail in the ‘old economy’ has a chance of success in the digital world if marketed correctly. E-commerce strategy should include Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to help retain customers on a long-term basis. The digital arena provides new challenges as compared to traditional brick-and-mortar business models. Knowledge management techniques are being used for effective CRM. Tracking customer orders, responding to customer queries when the order is shipped results in satisfied customers who believe the vendor is involved beyond the point when a order has been placed, products shipped, and funds transferred. Another strategy for companies that have electronic storefronts and physical location has been the merging of two models (click-and-mortar), in which a customer may be able to place an order on a web site and pickup the product at the store, or return a product to the store that had been received as a shipment from placing the web order. With satisfied customers, acquisition and retention costs are lowered.
First generation E-commerce sites running HTML have paved the way for more complex and dynamic web sites that tie together processes from order-entry to inventory control to financial record keeping. Wireless devices are now being web enabled and for conducting business to consumer E-commerce transactions. Success in the e-marketplace will depend on companies being able to respond to needs of the ever-changing marketplace and forming partnerships, alliances, and collaborations with others to deliver value that may not have been possible with individual efforts. The ability to innovate, change, recover from setbacks will be hallmarks of success in this competitive arena. Generic models of B2C commerce are outdated and newer efforts are needed to leverage the untapped potential offered in the digital medium. There is an acute shortage of personnel with the right mix of technology and managerial competencies. With continuing education and real-world experience that reflects trends in current marketplace, today’s IT professionals should seize opportunities that are available in the dynamic E-commerce field and position themselves to be leaders of the next generation E-commerce that is constantly creating rapid transformation in Internet time.
GREEN IT! A Concept.. A Way
How do you define "Green IT?"
Data center energy savings are a huge opportunity. Data centers consume more energy per square foot than any other part of an office building. But they're part of an information and services supply chain that begins with raw materials and ends with the disposal of waste. The chain includes people, the space they occupy, and the cars they drive. Along the way, the chain increasingly gobbles energy and spews greenhouse gases.
Energy consumption in the data center is predominantly from two loads: servers and cooling. Increasing server density compounds the problem. A Gartner poll showed that more than 69 percent of data centers are constrained for power, cooling and space.
Energy-efficient servers are available from the major vendors, most notably Sun's Cool Threads technology that Sun says makes servers more efficient by a factor of five. Efficient processors from IBM, AMD and Intel are making their way into the mainstream, so your favorite server will soon be available in green.
The payoff of efficient servers is twofold. Servers that consume less energy also throw off less heat, requiring less energy for cooling. Alternative approaches, including ice storage and geothermal energy, accept the heat and focus directly on reducing the cost of cooling the data center.
Reducing cooling loads gets the attention of utilities because their summer peak demand periods are caused by air conditioning. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), one of the largest natural gas and electric utilities in the United States serving 350,000 California businesses, is offering $1,000 rebates for buying efficient servers that generate less heat.
Outside the data center, PC workstations make a contribution to US companies' power bills. It's not the 100 watts they consume, it's the sheer number of them out there. The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance concluded that the average consumption could be shaved by about 25 percent through effective use of power management tools.
The state of the art in this niche is driven primarily by the demand for a set-it-and-forget-it solution. Workers don't want power management to intrude on their day, and IT doesn't want complaints to intrude on theirs. The result is network-based power management software.
Would centralized sleep control be beneficial to your network? One way to find out is to install Verdiem's Surveyor demo without turning it on. Then use the "prediction" function to calculate the potential savings of each profile. Users will be unaffected and unaware of the test, and you'll have a good idea of the effectiveness in your situation.
Prashant Guha
SMU Sec A
ERP
ERP has become an important application for enterprises, and in today's 'age of integration' acts as the complete business solution for an organization.
During this period, most large enterprises were undergoing phenomenal change and ERP as a career was in great demand both in India as well as abroad. And it still remains a financially rewarding career option for professionals to pursue. Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP, has become a backbone for them. Most organizations have realized that they can't sustain simply by automating their processes; the integration among different businesses and departments of an organization is required for seamless functioning. Today not only large enterprises, but small and medium organizations have also started to opt for ERP implementations, and even major ERP solution providers are coming up with packages specific to requirements of a particular industry. Thus, ERP professionals are in much demand even during the current economic slowdown, as companies look to adopt efficient Enterprise Business Applications (EBA) and processes.
An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) professional of an organization is responsible for facilitating the day-to-day management of the supply-demand chain across various business processes of the organization. On the other hand, IT professionals from software development or database or even network administration can also enter this domain by acquiring the functional knowledge of organizations' business processes.
There are two broad streams in ERP –functional and technical.
• Functional stream requires domain knowledge to understand and implement ERP solutions.
• Technical stream offers multiple options like programmers, system administrators and database administrators.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT- is all about anticipating and fulfilling customers needs .
Supply-chain management is the management of flow between the different stages to maximize productivity.
Simply put, knowing, even anticipating and fulfilling your customer’s needs is what supply- chain management is all about.
It covers all the stages—sourcing, product design, production, planning, order processing, inventory management, transportation, warehousing, and customer service—involved in moving goods from the raw-material stage to the end user. A supply-chain management solution has to span across the different companies involved, or alternately, the systems used by the different companies should be able to talk to each other.
A number of supply-chain management (SCM) systems are available. Typically, a SCM system is a combination of many applications, including demand planning, inventory planning, and transportation planning. SAP, BAAN, QAD, Peoplesoft, i2 and Manugistics are some of the companies providing supply-chain solutions.
Customer relationship management- CRM provides a more interactive and personalized way of communicating with customer.
Customer satisfaction is the primary focus of most organizations these days. The rapid growth in technology has also increased the expectation of customers in terms of the quality and service of products. In the past, the only point-of-contact for companies with their customers were sales personnel. Today, however, there are a variety of channels available. These include sales people, service personnel, marketing departments, call centers, e-mail, cell phones, fax, and Internet. While each of these units can function independently, the challenge faced by most companies today is how to integrate these various modes of communication so that information is available across the different channels in a company. For example, a customer who makes use of the Internet to place an order online would also expect the call center staff to know his order details in case he calls the call center for order verification.
This is where a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System steps in. It helps companies in setting up a frontline information system for sharing information about the customers across all interface units. eCRM is nothing but the electronic counter part of CRM. It doesn’t replace the traditional channels of communication, such as phone or fax, but is just another extension for the customers to interact with companies on a one-to-one basis. It’s a more personalized and interactive form of communication and synchronizes communications across both electronic as well as traditional channels. Such a system has training benefits too.
Some of the key players in CRM- include Siebel, Clarify, PeopleSoft, Vantive, Oracle, and SAP. Leaner versions of eCRM packages, such as Talisma corporations’ eCRM suit are also available that are quick and easy to deploy. CRM usually requires customized implementation. So, CRM packages cost a few hundred-thousand rupees depending on the number of licenses, and customization required.
by deepika
smu - sec (A)
sem 2
(1)A DBMS is a computer software that manages data in a structured way. It is divided into
a-1960's Navigational DBMS
b-1970's Relational DBMS
c-1970's SQL DBMS
Merits:
It improves data security
It Reduces data entry storage and retrieval costs.
Demerits:
They are complex, difficult and time consumingto design.
There are hardware and software start up costs.
Initial training is required for all programmers and users.
(5)B2C-Business to Consumer: The business develops attractive electronic market places to sell products and services to consumers.
C2C-Consumers to Consumers: This includes auction websites and electronic personal adevrtising.
Ans(4)Green IT is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently. The primary objective of such a program is to account for the triple bottom line, an expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational (and societal) success. The goals are similar to green chemistry; reduce the use of hazardous materials, maximize energy efficiency during the product's lifetime, and promote recyclability or biodegradability of defunct products and factory waste.
Modern IT systems rely upon a complicated mix of people, networks and hardware; as such, a green computing initiative must be systemic in nature, and address increasingly sophisticated problems. Elements of such a solution may comprise items such as end user satisfaction, management restructuring, regulatory compliance, disposal of electronic waste, telecommuting, virtualization of server resources, energy use, thin client solutions, and return on investment (ROI).
The imperative for companies to take control of their power consumption, for technology and more generally, therefore remains acute. In 2009, of the power management tools available, one of the most powerful may still be simple, plain, common sense
Business analytics
According to Thomas Davenport, analytics are defined as the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive modeling, and fact-based management to drive decision making. Analytics may be used as input for human decisions or may drive fully automated decisions. According to Davenport , businesses analytics represent a subset of business intelligence. The other part of business intelligence is data access and reporting. The questions that business analytics can answer represent more proactive and higher value questions than questions data access and reporting can answer. In other words, data and access tools can answer the questions: what happened; how many, how often, where; where exactly is the problem; what actions are needed. Business analytics can answer the questions: why is this happening; what if these trends continue; what will happen next; what is the best than can happpen
Software as a Service (SaaS, typically pronounced 'sass') is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand. SaaS software vendors may host the application on their own web-servers or download the application to the consumer device, disabling it after use or after the on-demand contract expires. The on-demand function may be handled internally to share licenses within a firm or by a third-party application service provider (ASP) sharing licenses between firms
Web 2.0 encapsulates the idea of the proliferation of interconnectivity and interactivity of web-delivered content. Tim O'Reilly regards Web 2.0 as the way that business embraces the strengths of the web and uses it as a platform. O'Reilly considers that Eric Schmidt's abridged slogan, don't fight the Internet, encompasses the essence of Web 2.0 — building applications and services around the unique features of the Internet, as opposed to expecting the Internet to suit as a platform (effectively "fighting the Internet").
Web 2.0 technology encourages lightweight business models enabled by syndication of content and of service and by ease of picking-up by early adopters.
• The term "Web 2.0" refers to a perceived second generation of web development and design, that aims to facilitate communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications; such as social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies.
• The term was first used by Dale Dougherty and Craig Cline and shortly after became notable after the O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004. Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but rather to changes in the ways software developers and end-users utilize the Web. According to Tim O'Reilly:
Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.
Open source is an approach to design, development, and distribution offering practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge). Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.
The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development. The principles and practices are commonly applied to the peer production development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration. The result of this peer-based collaboration is usually released as open-source software, however open source methods are increasingly being applied in other fields of endeavor, such as Biotechnology.
Cloud computing is Internet ("cloud") based development and use of computer technology ("computing"). It is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualised resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them
The concept incorporates infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) as well as Web 2.0 and other recent (ca. 2007–2009) technology trends that have the common theme of reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users. Examples of SaaS vendors include Salesforce.com and Google Apps which provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.
The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals.
ANSWER:2
1. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT:
Supply chain management is a cross-function approach to manage the movement of raw materials into an organization, certain aspects of the internal processing of materials into finished goods, and then the movement of finished goods out of the organization toward the end-consumer. As organizations strive to focus on core competencies and becoming more flexible, they have reduced their ownership of raw materials sources and distribution channels. These functions are increasingly being outsourced to other entities that can perform the activities better or more cost effectively. The effect is to increase the number of organizations involved in satisfying customer demand, while reducing management control of daily logistics operations. Less control and more supply chain partners led to the creation of supply chain management concepts. The purpose of supply chain management is to improve trust and collaboration among supply chain partners, thus improving inventory visibility and improving inventory velocity. Supply chain management (SCM) is the oversight of materials, information, and finances as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. Supply chain management involves coordinating and integrating these flows both within and among companies. It is said that the ultimate goal of any effective supply chain management system is to reduce inventory (with the assumption that products are available when needed). As a solution for successful supply chain management, sophisticated software systems with Web interfaces are competing with Web-based application service providers (ASP) who promise to provide part or all of the SCM service for companies who rent their service.
Several models have been proposed for understanding the activities required to manage material movements across organizational and functional boundaries.Supply chain management flows can be divided into three main flows:
The product flow
The information flow
The finances flow
The product flow includes the movement of goods from a supplier to a customer, as well as any customer returns or service needs. The information flow involves transmitting ordersand updating the status of delivery. The financial flow consists of credit terms, payment schedules, and consignment and title ownership arrangements.
There are two main types of SCM software: planning applications and execution applications. Planning applications use advanced algorithms to determine the best way to fill an order. Execution applications track the physical status of goods, the management of materials, and financial information involving all parties.
SCM) is a process used by company's to ensure that their supply chain is efficient and cost-effective. A supply chain is the collection of steps that a company takes to transform raw components into the final product. Typically, supply chain management is comprised of five stages: plan, develop, make, deliver, return.
2. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT:Customer relationship management (CRM) consists of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers. CRM software is used to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments. Typical CRM goals are to improve services provided to customers, and to use customer contact information for targeted marketing.
While the term CRM generally refers to a software-based approach to handling customer relationships, most CRM software vendors stress that a successful CRM effort requires a holistic approach. CRM initiatives often fail because implementation was limited to software installation, without providing the context, support and understanding for employees to learn, and take full advantage of the information systems. CRM can be implemented without major investments in software, but software is often neccessary to explore the full benefits of a CRM strategy.
Maximize the capabilities of your customer relationship management system with our software and consulting services. We serve small and medium-sized businesses across North America, helping them optimize their salesforce automation and contact management systems. Improve your customer relationship management capability with our proven Mobile CRM and small business CRM solutions. We offer effective CRM consulting services to help your business reach new levels of efficiency and efficacy.
Contact management software is ideal for individual or small groups of reps working together. As your salesforce expands, sales force automation software connects sales reps to one central prospect customer database for sales reporting. As a next level up, customer relationship management software brings marketing, sales, customer service, accounting and production together giving people all the information they need, anytime anywhere. Management profits from having an accurate holistic view to guide the enterprise and support better decisions.
Selecting and trying the wrong contact management, salesforce automation, and customer relationship management software can be very costly. Failing to use one at all will cost more lost relationships, activities and opportunities or when people leave your organization. Now is the time for small business CRM and Small business contact management software adoption.
3. ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a company-wide computer software system used to manage and coordinate all the resources, information, and functions of a business from shared data stores.
An ERP system has a service-oriented architecture with modular hardware and software units or "services" that communicate on a local area network. The modular design allows a business to add or reconfigure modules (perhaps from different vendors) while preserving data integrity in one shared database that may be centralized or distributed.ERP systems now attempt to cover all core functions of an enterprise, regardless of the organization's business or charter. These systems can now be found in non-manufacturing businesses, non-profit organizations and governments.
To be considered an ERP system, a software package must provide the function of at least two systems. For example, a software package that provides both payroll and accounting functions could technically be considered an ERP software package
ERP systems saw a large boost in sales in the 1990s as companies faced the Y2K problem in their legacy systems. Many companies took this opportunity to replace their legacy information systems with ERP systems. This rapid growth in sales was followed by a slump in 1999, at which time most companies had already implemented their Y2K solution.
ERPs are often incorrectly called back office systems indicating that customers and the general public are not directly involved. This is contrasted with front office systems like customer relationship management (CRM) systems that deal directly with the customers, or the eBusiness systems such as eCommerce, eGovernment, eTelecom, and eFinance, or supplier relationship management (SRM) systems.
ERPs are cross-functional and enterprise wide. All functional departments that are involved in operations or production are integrated in one system. In addition to manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and information technology, this would include accounting, human resources, marketing and strategic management.
--(ISHA SHARMA)
(SMU - 2ND SEM A)
ERP packages available in the market are as under.
Adempiere, a Java based ERP-System which started as a fork of Compiere
BlueErp, a PHP based ERP System
Compiere, a Java based ERP-System
Dolibarr, a PHP based ERP system
ERP5, a Python based ERP system
GNU Enterprise
GRR (software), a PHP/MySQL -based, web-accessed free ERP system
JFire, a Java based ERP-System from NightLabs
Kuali Foundation
LedgerSMB
OFBiz Apache Java based ERP-System
Omni, a plugin, web-accessed free ERP-System
Openbravo, a Java based ERP-System
OpenERP (formerly Tiny ERP)
Opentaps (Java based)
OrangeHRM
Postbooks from XTuple
SQL-Ledger uses Perl and PostgreSQL
WebERP is a LAMP based system
1C:Enterprise from 1C Company
24SevenOffice Start, Premium, Professional and Custom from 24SevenOffice
abas ERP from ABAS Software
Accpac from The Sage Group
Agresso Business World from Unit 4 Agresso
AMS Advantage from CGI Group (formerly American Management Systems)
BatchMaster ERP from BatchMaster Software
Bowen & Groves M1 by B&G
Business ByDesign from SAP
Business One from SAP
Comprehensive Patient Administrator
Consona Corporation - Intuitive; Made2manage; AXIS; Cimnet; Encompix; DTR
Epicor Enterprise from Epicor
FlexAccount from FlexSystem Limited
Global Shop Solutions One-System ERP Solutions
HansaWorld products
ERP Adage (aka Adage) from Infor Global Solutions
ERP LN (aka Baan) from Infor Global Solutions
ERP LX (aka BPCS) from Infor Global Solutions
ERP SL (aka SyteLine) from Infor Global Solutions
ERP SX.Enterprise (aka SX.Enterprise) from Infor Global Solutions
ERP VE (aka Visual Enterprise) Infor Global Solutions
ERP XA (aka MAPICS) from Infor Global Solutions
IFS Applications from Industrial and Financial Systems
JD Edwards EnterpriseOne & JD Edwards World from Oracle
kVASy4 from SIV.AG
Kingdee from Kingdee
Lawson M3 from Lawson Software earlier * Movex from Intentia
Lawson S3 from Lawson Software
Maximo (MRO) from IBM
MFG/PRO from QAD Inc
Microsoft Dynamics AX (formerly Axapta) from Microsoft
Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly Great Plains) from Microsoft
Microsoft Dynamics NAV (formerly Navision) from Microsoft
Microsoft Dynamics SL (formerly Solomon) from Microsoft
Momentum from CGI Group
NetERP from NetSuite Inc.
Openda QX from Openda
OpenMFG from xTuple
Oracle e-Business Suite from Oracle
Paradigm from Consona Corporation
PeopleSoft from Oracle
Ramco e.Applications from Ramco Systems
Ramco Ondemand erp from Ramco Systems
MAS 90, MAS 200 and MAS 500 from The Sage Group
SAGE ERP X3 from The Sage Group
SAP R/3 from SAP
TaskHub from Synergix Technologies
SYSPRO from Syspro
SYS-APPS from Exclusive Technologies
mySAP from SAP
Vantage from Epicor....
CRM Vendors
Siebel (Oracle)
SAP
Epiphany (Infor)
Oracle
PeopleSoft (Oracle)
salesforce.com
Amdocs
Chordiant
Microsoft
SAS
List of SCM packages
7Hills Business Solutions
I2 Technologies
SAP AG
Oracle Corporation
JDA
HighJump Software
Manhattan Associates
Industrial and Financial Systems
Infor
Management Dynamics Inc
Kewill
Beroe-inc
Kinaxis
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is internet (cloud) based development and use of computer technology (computing). It is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them. The concept incorporates Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) as well as Web 2.0 and other recent technology trends that have the common theme of reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users. Examples of SaaS vendors include salesforce.com and Google Apps which provide common business applications online that are accessed from a Web Browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.
Virtualization
In computing, virtualization means to create a virtual version of a device or resource, such as a server, storage device, network or even an operating system where the framework divides the resource into one or more execution environments. Even something as simple as partitioning a hard drive is considered virtualization because you take one drive and partition it to create two separate hard drives. Devices, applications and human users are able to interact with the virtual resource as if it were a real single logical resource. The term virtualization has become somewhat of a buzzword, and as a result the term is now associated with a number of computing technologies including the following:
• Storage virtualization: the amalgamation of multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage unit.
• Server virtualization: the partitioning a physical server into smaller virtual servers.
• Operating system-level virtualization: a type of server virtualization technology which works at the operating system (kernel) layer.
• Network virtualization: using network resources through a logical segmentation of a single physical network.
• Application virtualization
Green IT
Also called green computing it describes the study and the using of computer resources in an efficient way. Green IT starts with manufacturers producing environmentally friendly products and encouraging IT departments to consider more friendly options like virtualization, power management and proper recycling habits. The government has also recently proposed new compliance regulations which would work towards certifying data centers as green. Some criteria includes using low-emission building materials, recycling, using alternative energy technologies, and other green technologies.
Supply chain management
The definition one American professional association put forward is that Supply Chain Management encompasses the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing, procurement, conversion, and logistics management activities. Importantly, it also includes coordination and collaboration with channel partners, which can be suppliers, intermediaries, third-party service providers, and customers. In essence, Supply Chain Management integrates supply and demand management within and across companies. More recently, the loosely coupled, self-organizing network of businesses that cooperates to provide product and service offerings has been called the Extended Enterprise.
Supply Chain Management can also refer to Supply chain management software which are tools or modules used in executing supply chain transactions, managing supplier relationships and controlling associated business processes.
Supply chain event management (abbreviated as SCEM) is a consideration of all possible occurring events and factors that can cause a disruption in a supply chain. With SCEM possible scenarios can be created and solutions can be planned.
Database management system
A DBMS is a set of software programs that controls the organization, storage, management, and retrieval of data in a database. DBMS are categorized according to their data structures or types. It is a set of prewritten programs that are used to store, update and retrieve a Database. The DBMS accepts requests for data from the application program and instructs the operating system to transfer the appropriate data. When a DBMS is used, information systems can be changed much more easily as the organization's information requirements change. New categories of data can be added to the database without disruption to the existing system.
Organizations may use one kind of DBMS for daily transaction processing and then move the detail onto another computer that uses another DBMS better suited for random inquiries and analysis. Overall systems design decisions are performed by data administrators and systems analysts. Detailed database design is performed by database administrators.
Database servers are computers that hold the actual databases and run only the DBMS and related software. Database servers are usually multiprocessor computers, with generous memory and RAID disk arrays used for stable storage. Connected to one or more servers via a high-speed channel, hardware database accelerators are also used in large volume transaction processing environments. DBMSs are found at the heart of most database applications. Sometimes DBMSs are built around a private multitasking kernel with built-in networking support although nowadays these functions are left to the operating system.
History
Databases have been in use since the earliest days of electronic computing. Unlike modern systems which can be applied to widely different databases and needs, the vast majority of older systems were tightly linked to the custom databases in order to gain speed at the expense of flexibility. Originally DBMSs were found only in large organizations with the computer hardware needed to support large data sets.
Advantages
• Reduced data redundancy
• Reduced updating errors and increased consistency
• Greater data integrity and independence from applications programs
• Improved data access to users through use of host and query languages
• Improved data security
• Reduced data entry, storage, and retrieval costs
• Facilitated development of new applications program
Disadvantages
• Database systems are complex, difficult, and time-consuming to design
• Substantial hardware and software start-up costs
• Damage to database affects virtually all applications programs
• Extensive conversion costs in moving form a file-based system to a database system
• Initial training required for all programmers and users
Business analytics
History
Analytics been used in business since the time management exercises initiated by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the late 19th century. Henry Ford measured pacing of assembly line. But analytics began to command more attention in the late 1960s when computers were used in decision support systems. Since then, analytics have evolved with the development of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, data warehouses, and a wide variety of other hardware and software tools and applications.
According to Thomas Davenport, analytics are defined as the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive modeling [1], and fact-based management to drive decision making. Analytics may be used as input for human decisions or may drive fully automated decisions. According to Davenport, businesses analytics represent a subset of business intelligence. The other part of business intelligence is querying, reporting, and OLAP. The questions that business analytics can answer represent more proactive and higher value questions than questions data access and reporting can answer. In other words, querying, reporting, and OLAP tools can answer the questions: what happened; how many, how often, where; where exactly is the problem; what actions are needed. Business analytics can answer the questions: why is this happening; what if these trends continue; what will happen next; what is the best than can happen.
Enterprise Resource Planning
MRP vs. ERP — manufacturing management systems have evolved in stages over the past 30 years from a simple means of calculating materials requirements to the automation of an entire enterprise. Around 1980, over-frequent changes in sales forecasts, entailing continual readjustments in production, as well as inflexible fixed system parameters, led MRP (Material Requirement Planning) to evolve into a new concept : Manufacturing Resource Planning (or MRP3) and finally the generic concept Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
The initials ERP originated as an extension of MRP (material requirements planning; later manufacturing resource planning) and CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing). It was introduced by research and analysis firm Gartner in 1990. ERP systems now attempt to cover all core functions of an enterprise, regardless of the organization's business or charter. These systems can now be found in non-manufacturing businesses, non-profit organizations and governments.
To be considered an ERP system, a software package must provide the function of at least two systems. For example, a software package that provides both payroll and accounting functions could technically be considered an ERP software package
Examples of modules in an ERP which formerly would have been stand-alone applications include: Product lifecycle management, Supply chain management (e.g. Purchasing, Manufacturing and Distribution), Warehouse Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Sales Order Processing, Online Sales, Financials, Human Resources, and Decision Support System
GREEN IT:-
GreenIT provides services to enable clients to drive measurable financial and environmental benefits from programs for IT Eco-Efficiency and IT Eco-Innovation. It describes the study and the use of computer resources in an efficient way. It starts with manufacturers producing environmental friendly products and encouraging IT departments to consider more friendly options like virtualization, power management and proper recycling habits.
VIRTUALIZATION:-
Virtualization is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as an operating system, a server, a storage device or network resources.
o Platform virtualization, which separates an operating system from the underlying platform resources
o Full virtualization
o Hardware-assisted virtualization
o Partial virtualization
o Para virtualization
o Operating system-level virtualization
In 2005, virtualization software was adopted faster than anyone imagined, including the experts. There are three areas of IT where virtualization is making head roads, network virtualization, storage virtualization and server virtualization:
• Network virtualization is a method of combining the available resources in a network by splitting up the available bandwidth into channels, each of which is independent from the others, and each of which can be assigned (or reassigned) to a particular server or device in real time. The idea is that virtualization disguises the true complexity of the network by separating it into manageable parts, much like your partitioned hard drive makes it easier to manage your files.
• Storage virtualization is the pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console. Storage virtualization is commonly used in storage area networks (SANs).
• Server virtualization is the masking of server resources (including the number and identity of individual physical servers, processors, and operating systems) from server users. The intention is to spare the user from having to understand and manage complicated details of server resources while increasing resource sharing and utilization and maintaining the capacity to expand later.
CLOUD COMPUTING:-
• Cloud computing is Internet ("cloud") based development and use of computer technology ("computing"). It is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet.
• The concept incorporates infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) as well as Web 2.0 and other recent technology trends that have the common theme of reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users.
• The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals.
WEB 2.0:-
The term "Web 2.0" refers to a perceived second generation of web development and design, that aims to facilitate communication, secure information sharing and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications; such as social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, and blogs.
Web 2.0 encapsulates the idea of the proliferation of interconnectivity and interactivity of web-delivered content. The Web 2.0 as the way that business embraces the strengths of the web and uses it as a platform.
O'Reilly provided examples in his description of his four levels in the hierarchy of Web 2.0 sites:
• Level-3 applications, the most "Web 2.0"-oriented, exist only on the Internet, deriving their effectiveness from the inter-human connections and from the network effects that Web 2.0 makes possible, and growing in effectiveness in proportion as people make more use of them. O'Reilly gave eBay, Craigslist, Wikipedia, Skype, and AdSense as examples.
• Level-2 applications can operate offline but gain advantages from going online. O'Reilly cited Flickr, which benefits from its shared photo-database and from its community-generated tag database.
• Level-1 applications operate offline but gain features online. O'Reilly pointed to Writely (now Google Docs & Spreadsheets) and iTunes (because of its music-store portion).
• Level-0 applications work as well offline as online. O'Reilly gave the examples of MapQuest, Yahoo! Local, and Google Maps (mapping-applications using contributions from users to advantage could rank as "level 2", like Google Earth).
BUSINESS ANALYTICS:-
Analytics are defined as the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive modeling, and fact-based management to drive decision making. Analytics may be used as input for human decisions or may drive fully automated decisions. According to Davenport, businesses analytics represent a subset of business intelligence. The other part of business intelligence is data access and reporting. Analytics have evolved with the development of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, data warehouses, and a wide variety of other hardware and software tools and applications.
The most important factor in being prepared for analytics is the availability of sufficient volumes of high-quality data. The difficulty is primarily in ensuring data quality, integrating and reconciling it across different systems, and deciding what subsets of data to make easily available.
SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE:-
Software as a Service (SaaS,) is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand. SaaS software vendors may host the application on their own web-servers or download the application to the consumer device, disabling it after use or after the on-demand contract expires. The on-demand function may be handled internally to share licenses within a firm or by a third-party application service provider (ASP) sharing licenses between firms. SaaS can also conceivably reduce the up-front expense of software purchases, through less costly, on-demand pricing from hosting service providers. SaaS lets software vendors control and limit use, prohibits copies and distribution, and facilitates the control of all derivative versions of their software. Virtually all software fits the SaaS model well.
OPEN SOURCE :-
The Open Source Definition is used by the Open Source Initiative to determine whether or not a software license can be considered open source. The definition was based on the Debian Free Software Guidelines, written and adapted primarily by Bruce Perens. Open source describes a broad general type of software license that makes source code available to the general public with relaxed or non-existent copyright restrictions. The principles, as stated, say absolutely nothing about trademark or patent use and require absolutely no cooperation to ensure that any common audit or release regime applies to any derived works.
By Saurabh Shrivastava(SMU-2nd Sem)
Evolution of E commerce – Answer to the 3rd Question
Introduction
Commerce - the trading of goods, has been a major drive of human survival since the beginning of recorded history and beyond. The mass adoption of Internet has created a paradigm shift in the way businesses are conducted today. The past decade has seen an emergence of a new kind of commerce, the buying and selling of goods, through human-computer interaction over the Internet. Today, the line between e-commerce and traditional commerce is becoming more blurred as more businesses start and continue to intergrate the Internetand e-commerce technologies into their business processes.
What is E-commerce?
E-commerce can be defined as a modern business methodology that addresses the needs of organizations, merchants, and consumers to cut costs while improving the quality of goods and services and the increasing speed of service delivery, by using Internet.
The Evolution of E-Commerce
The evolution of e-commerce can be attributed to a combination regulatory reform and technological innovation. Through Internet (which played an important role in the evolution) appeared in the late 1960s, e-commerce now took off with the arrival of the World Wide Web and browsers in the 1990s.
E-Commerce were first developed in the early 1970s with innovations like:
• electronic funds transfer (EFT) - funds can be routed electronically from one organization to another.
• electronic data interchange (EDI) - used to electronically transfer routine documents, that expanded electronic transfers from financial transactions to other types of transaction processing.
• interorganizational system (IOS) - a system which allows the flow of information to be automated between organizations in order to reach a desired supply-chain management system, which enables the development of competitive organisations.
Year Event
1984 EDI, or electronic data interchange, was standardized through ASC X12. This guaranteed that companies would be able to complete transactions with one another reliably.
1992 CompuServe offers online retail products to its customers. This gives people the first chance to buy things off their computer.
1994 Netscape arrived. Providing users a simple browser to surf the Internet and a safe online transaction technology called Secure Sockets Layer.
1995 Two of the biggest names in e-commerce are launched: Amazon.com and eBay.com.
1998 SL, or Digital Subscriber Line, provides fast, always-on Internet service to subscribers across California. This prompts people to spend more time, and money, online.
1999 Retail spending over the Internet reaches $20 billion, according to Business.com.
2000 The U.S government extended the moratorium on Internet taxes until at least 2005.
The growth of Internet has a special significance in the growth of e-commerce. It has the potential to
involve general people into the process, thereby increasing its reach far beyond large companies.
Prashant Guha
Answer 1 :- A DBMS is a set of software programs that controls the organization, storage, management, and retrieval of data in a database. DBMS are categorized according to their data structures or types. It is a set of prewritten programs that are used to store, update and retrieve a Database. The DBMS accepts requests for data from the application program and instructs the operating system to transfer the appropriate data. When a DBMS is used, information systems can be changed much more easily as the organization's information requirements change. New categories of data can be added to the database without disruption to the existing system.
Organizations may use one kind of DBMS for daily transaction processing and then move the detail onto another computer that uses another DBMS better suited for random inquiries and analysis. Overall systems design decisions are performed by data administrators and systems analysts. Detailed database design is performed by database administrators.
Database servers are computers that hold the actual databases and run only the DBMS and related software. Database servers are usually multiprocessor computers, with generous memory and RAID disk arrays used for stable storage. Connected to one or more servers via a high-speed channel, hardware database accelerators are also used in large volume transaction processing environments. DBMSs are found at the heart of most database applications. Sometimes DBMSs are built around a private multitasking kernel with built-in networking support although nowadays these functions are left to the operating system.
MERITS:-
1. RESIST DATA REDUNDANCY.
2. RESIST DATA CONSISTENCY.
3. RESIST DATA INTEGRITY.
4. BECAUSE IT FOLLOWS THE 5NF'S + BCNF WHICH HELPS IT TO REDUCE ALL THE REDUNDANCY,INTEGRITY,CONSISTENCY OF DATA.
5. RETRIVAL OF DATA IS EASIER .
6. SHARING OF DATA IS EASIER.
7. STORAGE IS EASIER.
DEMERITS:-
1. DUE TO LINKED LIST THERE ARE LOT OF TABLES LINKED TOGETHER WHICH INCREASES THE COMPLEXITY.
2. COST IS HIGH.
3. SOME TIMES DATA FAILURE.
FUTURE:-
1. NEED OF THIS SOFTWARE WILL NEVER END.
2. SOME NEW ADD-INS IN THE SOFTWARE CAN COME IN FUTURE.
3. POWER OF ALL THE INDUSTRY WILL BE BASED ON ORACLE AS REQUIRED FOR EVERY PART OF A FIRM.
4. MAY THE COST OF THE SOFTWARE WILL INCREASE AS THE DEMAND WILL
ANSWER 2:-
ERP software combined the data of formerly separate applications. This simplified keeping data in synchronization across the enterprise as well as reducing the complexity of the required computer infrastructure. It also contributed to standardizing and reducing the number of software specialties required within IT departments.
ERPs are often incorrectly called back office systems indicating that customers and the general public are not directly involved. This is contrasted with front office systems like customer relationship management (CRM) systems that deal directly with the customers, or the eBusiness systems such as eCommerce, eGovernment, eTelecom, and eFinance, or supplier relationship management (SRM) systems.
Customer relationship management (CRM) consists of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers. CRM software is used to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments.
There are various types of customer realationship mngt.they are as follows:-
1. Operational CRM
2.Sales (SFA)
3. Analytical CRM
4. Sales Intelligence CRM
5.Campaign Management
6.Collaborative CRM
7.Consumer Relationship CRM
Supply chain management software is designed to capture data about events and produce information in the form of reports so supply managers can evaluate their inventory operations.Few of its types are:-
1.Inventory management software must also address the various functional areas of supply chain automation such as lot and serial number tracking, binning, blanket supply, annual demand forecasting, batch picking, and order and returns processing.
2.Optical character recognition (OCR) is an important feature of supply chain management software or SCM software. Inventory tracking involves the scanning of stock with a barcode reader during the different supply chain management events
3.Supply chain management software or SCM software may also include radio frequency identification (RFID) features. Inventory personnel attach RFID tags to large products or expensive assets, or in cases where some other type of inventory identification is impractical.
Answer 3:-
The meaning of electronic commerce has changed over the last 30 years. Originally, electronic commerce meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970s.
The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of electronic commerce.Another form of e-commerce was the airline reservation system typified by Sabre in the USA and Travicom in the UK. Online shopping was invented in the UK in 1979 by Michael Aldrich[citation needed] and during the 1980s it was used extensively particularly by auto manufacturers such as Ford,Peugeot-Talbot, General Motors and Nissan. From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing. And by the end of 2000, a lot of European and American business companies offered their services through the World Wide Web. Since then people began to associate a word "ecommerce" with the ability of purchasing various goods through the Internet using secure protocols and electronic payment services.
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily with wide-spread Internet usage. A wide variety of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.
A large percentage of electronic commerce is conducted entirely electronically for virtual items such as access to premium content on a website, but most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in some way. Online retailers are sometimes known as e-tailers and online retail is sometimes known as e-tail. Almost all big retailers have electronic commerce presence on the World Wide Web
Electronic commerce that is conducted between businesses is referred to as business-to-business or B2B. B2B can be open to all interested parties (e.g.commodity exchange) or limited to specific, pre-qualified participants (private electronic market). Electronic commerce that is conducted between businesses and consumers, on the other hand, is referred to as business-to-consumer or B2C. This is the type of electronic commerce conducted by companies such as Amazon.com.
Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of the business transactions.
ANSWER 4:-
Green IT:-GreenIT® is the leading advisor in sustainable Information and Communications Technology.
GreenIT® provides services to enable clients to drive measurable financial and environmental benefits from programs for IT Eco-Efficiency and IT Eco-Innovation.
GreenIT® is a progressive consultancy that serves clients in three primary markets:
* Leaders in IT, Finance, Marketing, and Corporate Social Responsibility actively involved in sustainability initiatives.
* Real Estate Professionals looking to make commercial property more competitive and environmentally responsible.
* IT System and Equipment Providers and Distributors seeking to understand and communicate the sustainability attributes of their products.
Because the world's appetite for energy is outpacing production of renewable and non-renewable resources. Because the world is too densely populated to escape the effects of Greenhouse gas emissions, electronic waste disposal and toxic production methods. Because ICT is both part of the problem and a key to the solution. Because to thrive requires combining social responsibility, smart resource use and technological innovation.
* Don’t get lost in the Greenwash
* ICT is the fastest growing sector of energy use
* Energy savings is the low-hanging fruit ready to be picked
* The days of unregulated energy waste are over
* Customers shop for Green Supply Chains
* EPP – Environmentally Preferred Purchasing – Sets the Bar
* Customers Demand Sustainable Behavior
* E-Waste and U-Waste reduction programs are no longer voluntary
* Green IT innovation leads the way to Sustainability.
The overuse of “Green” may have you seeing red, but hype is a normal part of the evolution of new technologies. The issues driving the need for Green ICT are real, and growing.
Virtualization:- In computing, virtualization is a broad term that refers to the abstraction of computer resources:
* Platform virtualization, which separates an operating system from the underlying platform resources[citation needed]
o Full virtualization
o Hardware-assisted virtualization
o Partial virtualization
o Paravirtualization
o Operating system-level virtualization
o Hosted environment[citation needed] (e.g. User-mode Linux)
* Computer clusters and grid computing, the combination of multiple discrete computers into larger metacomputers
* Application virtualization, the hosting of individual applications on alien hardware/software
* Virtualization Development, further work in this area
* Desktop virtualization, the remote manipulation of a computer desktop
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is giving a whole new dimension to online computing.
The Business Web has evolved from a static destination where businesses merely publish and search for information, into a set of dynamic virtual workplaces where employees create and share information in a flexible, continuously evolving way. This flexibility provided by the Internet is increasingly leading to applications being developed in the cloud. Players like IBM and Google have already positioned themselves strongly in this arena whereas others like Yahoo, Microsoft, eBay and Salesforce.com are not far behind. Wipro is also trying to leverage this lucrative opportunity and plans to start offering services around it.
Cloud computing go beyond convenience. A generation used to posting and sharing photos on orkut, instant messaging with friends and interacting online for a good chunk of its spare time is having an impact on expectations in the workplace. By reducing the traditional costs and labor associated with deploying, maintaining and upgrading business technology, IT departments are increasingly becoming free to devote their limited resources to projects more strategic to the business. And since software lives in the cloud, it can be improved as often as needed without tying up the IT department or inconveniencing users. This “versionless” software eliminates upgrade projects and helps technology keep pace with the speed of business, giving employees access to new technology early and often rather than forcing them to wait for a final, packaged product to be shipped.
Cloud computing is a computing paradigm in which tasks are assigned to a combination of connections, software and services accessed over a network. This network of servers and connections is collectively known as "the cloud." Computing at the scale of the cloud allows users to access supercomputer-level power. Users can access resources as they need them. (For this reason, cloud computing has also been described as "on-demand computing.")
This vast processing power is made possible though distributed, large-scale cluster computing, often in concert with server virtualization software, like Xen, and parallel processing. Cloud computing can be contrasted with the traditional desktop computing model, where the resources of a single desktop computer are used to complete tasks, and an expansion of the client/server model. To paraphrase Sun Microsystems' famous adage, in cloud computing the network becomes the supercomputer.
Cloud computing is often used to sort through enormous amounts of data. In fact, Google has an initial edge in cloud computing precisely because of its need to produce instant, accurate results for millions of incoming search inquries every day, parsing through the terabytes of Internet data cached on its servers. Google's approach has been to design and manufacture hundreds of thousands of its own servers from commodity components, connecting relatively inexpensive processors in parallel to create an immensely powerful, scalable system. Google Apps, Maps and Gmail are all based in the cloud. Other companies have already created Web-based operating systems that collect online applications into Flash-based graphic user interfaces (GUIs), often using a look and feel intentionally quite similar to Windows. Hundreds of organizations are already offering free Web services in the cloud.
In many ways, however, cloud computing is simply a buzzword used to repackage grid computing and utility computing, both of which have existed for decades. Like grid computing, cloud computing requires the use of software that can divide and distribute components of a program to thousands of computers. New advances in processors, virtualization technology, disk storage, broadband Internet access and fast, inexpensive servers have all combined to make cloud computing a compelling paradigm. Cloud computing allows users and companies to pay for and use the services and storage that they need, when they need them and, as wireless broadband connection options grow, where they need them. Customers can be billed based upon server utlilization, processing power used or bandwidth consumed. As a result, cloud computing has the potential to upend the software industry entirely, as applications are purchased, licensed and run over the network instead of a user's desktop. This shift will put data centers and their administrators at the center of the distributed network, as processing power, electricity, bandwidth and storage are all managed remotely.
ANSWER 5.:-
Electronic Commerce is merely a part of E-Business and is limited essentially to marketing and sales processes, and it uses digital technologies such as internet and bar-code scanners to enable the buying and selling process.
BI+ CRM+SCM+ERP+EC =EB
Today the emerging trends basically in consumer information technology is E-Commerce & M-Commerce. Now lets understand what is the defination of this E-commerce & M- commerce and how they together performed in C2C & B2B transactions.
E-commerce:- it is often referred as a business conducted over internet using any of the application that rely on internet such as E-mail, intant messaging,shopping carts,web services,EDI,UDDI & ftp and many more.ecommerce can be between two business firms or between two consumers and even between a business & consumer.
M=commerce:- m-commerce is called as mobile commerce that is now a days the consumer trend says that all most all the transactions/payment and placing orderand many more are done through mobile it also helps to transfer the ring tones vedios etc including the live alerts of news now a days which is very much popular trends for the professional who dont have time to read out news paper for half hr.
Now lets try to get in details of consumer information technology trends with respect to C2C transaction and its advantages:-
consumer to consumer transaction came into existence for span of recorded history in form of barter,flea market ,swap meet etc.most of the highly successful examples of C2C using the internet is of the corporate intermediary and are thus not strictly"pure play"eg of c2c.the best eg.venue for the consumer to consumer e-commerce is called EBAY OR AMAZON .
B2C and its advantages on consumer of it withthe new trends(e-commerce):- this type of E-commerce is basically for the transaction process between a consumer and a business firmand this transaction is done in 2 forms i,e.direct sales & online intermediary
Direct sales:- companie sthat provide product and services directly to the consumer is called the direct sales eg. the AMAZON.COM were the business let the product available directly to the consumer via internet .The goal is to remove intermediaries through
a process called disintermediation. One of the greatest following this rule is DELL.
Online intermediaries:- these are the companies that fascilitate transactions between buyers and sellersand recieve a percentage of the transactions value.these firms make the largest group of B2C companies today & the two famous intermediaries are brokers and infomediaries.
Here are some of the advantageswhich atracts the consumers attension towards information technology:-
1.shopping can be faster and more convenient .
2.offering and price can change instantaneously.
3. call center can be integrated with the website.
4.broadband telecommunication will enhance the buying experience.
HIMANSHU MATHPAL
(IPGP)
Answer-1: In the early days of computing,disk storage was extremely expensive.
Most application systems ran in batch mode using data that was stored on magnetic tape. Data had to be read sequentially from flat files.For performance reasons,the management of data was tightly integrated with the application system.As the cost of disk storage fell, opportunities to store data for real-time access arose.Specialized DBMS software emerged during the 1960s for the sole purpose of managing data.
Application systems were then able to focus on the user interface, screen navigation, data validations
etc. and could leave the data management tasks to the specialized DBMS technology. The application system simply had to call the DBMS when it needed to read or store data.Data was stored in database records that were linked to related data via "pointers". (i.e. hierarchical and network databases). Most DBMS databases today are relational.
MERITS:
1. Speed of access was good.
2. As the cost of data storage fell, it became feasible to store data in tables.
3. Much of the data redundancy was reduced.
4. It provided much more flexible data access.
DEMERITS:
1. Complexity of the program, makes it non-user friendly.
2. The system has no data integrity
3. There is data redundance problems
4. There is no relation between tables.
In order to overcome all these problems and faults, the RDBMS concept was introduced.
FUTURE OF DBMS:
Object-oriented databases are the next step in evolution of data management.The relational data model is dying, because it is too limited and non-intuitive for modern data needs.The industry is moving toward a more XML- or object-centric approach to data management viz. hierarchical, tree-structured, complex data types, instead of just columns and rows.DBMS technology and middleware will also evolve to support information fabric, virtualizing access to heterogeneous data. Both of these trends will combine to offer an evolutionary path to a future world of information management in which all forms of information will be much easier to access, integrate, and control, and this will all come at a lower cost, due to increased automation.
Answer-2:The various ERP,SCM,and CRM Packages are as follows:
1.Adempiere:
Adempiere (in italian means "to fulfil, to accomplish") is a community-driven project which develops and supports an open source business solution of the same name, that delivers Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management and Supply Chain Management functionality.The project name comes from the Italian word meaning 'to fulfill' but with additional context of "to complete, reach, practice, perform the duties of, or free (discharge), it also means to honor and respect".
2.Compiere:
Compiere ( meaning "to accomplish, complete, fulfill" in Italian) is an open source ERP and CRM business solution for the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) in distribution, retail, service and manufacturing. Compiere is distributed by Compiere, Inc. and through the Compiere Partner Network, a collection of trained and authorized business partners.
The application and source code is provided on the basis of the GNU General Public License version 2. A commercial license, documentation and support contracts are also available for a fee.
3.ERP5 :
It is a free Enterprise Resource Planning system based on the Zope application server. It is mainly
developed in the Python programming language and the source code is freely available under the GNU General Public License. ERP5 is developed by the French company Nexedi which also offers consulting, customizations and training for ERP5. There are currently two version of ERP5:
•ERP5 Enterprise is used in enterprise level customer projects which are mainly focused on custom development and customizations based on the individual business processes of the company.
•ERP5 Express is a hosted solution offered as Software as a Service for a monthly fee which is standardized for the typical needs of small companies. It offers HR and CRM functionality and Accounting and Document Management features will be added at the beginning of 2008.
4.GNU Enterprise:
(GNUe) is a meta-project and can be regarded as a sub-project of the GNU Project. GNUe's goal is to create free "enterprise-class data-aware applications" (enterprise resource planners etc.).GNUe is itself comprised of several subprojects-
i) GNUe is a set of tools, such as a data-aware user forms interface,
ii) a reporting system and an application server, which provide a development framework for enterprise information technology professionals to write or customise data-aware applications and deploy them effectively across large or small organizations.
iii) The GNUe platform boasts an open architecture and easy maintenance. It gives users a modular system and freedom from being stuck with a single-source vendor.
iv) GNUe supports multi-language interfaces, non-ASCII character sets, and most popular database systems.
Apart from these FBiz,OpenBlueLab,Opentaps,Tiny ERP,WebERP etcetra are also available in the market.
Some of the key trends in the space are :
In the SAP camp, users are watching the continuous emergence of NetWeaver as a platform and the continued evolution of their portfolio. Plus, the issue of upgrades is ongoing across the board; end-of-service dates are coming within the next two years. And major upgrades take time.Products are becoming more industry specific and there are different extensions in place for different industries.Finally, there is a high-level focus on business process fusion. SAP calls it xApps. It's all about assembling business processes via application components. Those components can come from many different vendors, which makes it easier for the customer to "fuse" the business process.
A blade server industry group founded by IBM and Intel is predicting three key trends that will reshape the datacentre: network convergence with Ethernet technology; advanced energy efficiency techniques such as water cooling; and "hyper consolidation" involving both virtualisation and blade servers.
Software as a Service (SaaS) applications continue to gain momentum in the enterprise:
•Nearly 90% of organizations surveyed expect to maintain or grow their usage of SaaS, with more than one-third transitioning from on-premises to SaaS.
•Key drivers of the transition include total cost of ownership (TCO) and unmet performance expectations.
•Growth is most significant in areas characterized by horizontal applications with common processes, among distributed virtual workforce teams and within Web 2.0 initiatives.
•Top reasons by far for SaaS adoption related to TCO and the ease and speed of implementing the solution compared with an on-premises application.
•In many cases, SaaS is funded by business units to address a specific pain point, and the business units use funds from their operating expenditure budget, over which they have more discretionary control.
•Answering the question whether organizations view SaaS as a short-term “band-aid” solution or a long-term strategy, the survey revealed that in most cases SaaS will be a feature of the company’s application strategy in the future …and that this sentiment is reflected across all sizes of business segments, from small businesses to large enterprises.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a computing paradigm in which tasks are assigned to a combination of connections, software and services accessed over a network. This network of servers and connections is collectively known as "the cloud." Computing at the scale of the cloud allows users to access supercomputer-level power. Users can access resources as they need them. (For this reason, cloud computing has also been described as "on-demand computing.")
This vast processing power is made possible though distributed, large-scale cluster computing, often in concert with server virtualization software, like Xen, and parallel processing. Cloud computing can be contrasted with the traditional desktop computing model, where the resources of a single desktop computer are used to complete tasks, and an expansion of the client/server model. To paraphrase Sun Microsystems' famous adage, in cloud computing the network becomes the supercomputer.
Cloud computing is often used to sort through enormous amounts of data. In fact, Google has an initial edge in cloud computing precisely because of its need to produce instant, accurate results for millions of incoming search inquries every day, parsing through the terabytes of Internet data cached on its servers. Google's approach has been to design and manufacture hundreds of thousands of its own servers from commodity components, connecting relatively inexpensive processors in parallel to create an immensely powerful, scalable system. Google Apps, Maps and Gmail are all based in the cloud. Other companies have already created Web-based operating systems that collect online applications into Flash-based graphic user interfaces (GUIs), often using a look and feel intentionally quite similar to Windows. Hundreds of organizations are already offering free Web services in the cloud.
In many ways, however, cloud computing is simply a buzzword used to repackage grid computing and utility computing, both of which have existed for decades. Like grid computing, cloud computing requires the use of software that can divide and distribute components of a program to thousands of computers. New advances in processors, virtualization technology, disk storage, broadband Internet access and fast, inexpensive servers have all combined to make cloud computing a compelling paradigm. Cloud computing allows users and companies to pay for and use the services and storage that they need, when they need them and, as wireless broadband connection options grow, where they need them. Customers can be billed based upon server utlilization, processing power used or bandwidth consumed. As a result, cloud computing has the potential to upend the software industry entirely, as applications are purchased, licensed and run over the network instead of a user's desktop. This shift will put data centers and their administrators at the center of the distributed network, as processing power, electricity, bandwidth and storage are all managed remotely.
Prashant Guha
Green IT
Also called green computing it describes the study and the using of computer resources in an efficient way. Green IT starts with manufacturers producing environmentally friendly products and encouraging IT departments to consider more friendly options like virtualization, power management and proper recycling habits. The government has also recently proposed new compliance regulations which would work towards certifying data centers as green. Some criteria includes using low-emission building materials, recycling, using alternative energy technologies, and other green technologies.
VIRTUALIZATION
Wikipedia uses the following definition: “In computing, virtualization is a broad term that refers to the abstraction of computer resources. Virtualization hides the physical characteristics of computing resources from their users, be they applications, or end users. This includes making a single physical resource (such as a server, an operating system, an application, or storage device) appear to function as multiple virtual resources; it can also include making multiple physical resources (such as storage devices or servers) appear as a single virtual resource...”
In layman’s terms virtualization is often:
1. The creation of many virtual resources from one physical resource.
2. The creation of one virtual resource from one or more physical resource.
The term is frequently used to convey one of these concepts in a variety of areas such as networking, storage, and hardware.
Today the term virtualization is widely applied to a number of concepts including:
• Server Virtualization
• Client / Desktop / Application Virtualization
• Network Virtualization
• Storage Virtualization
• Service / Application Infrastructure Virtualization
In most of these cases, either virtualizing one physical resource into many virtual resources or turning many physical resources into one virtual resource is occurring.
CLOUD COMPUTING
Cloud computing isn't a thing, it's a combination of underlying factors that are causing a transition in the information technology industry. We will eventually get a reasonable definition for this concept but it will be described in volumes and not a short snappy sentence. In other words; “Cloud computing” is a consequence of economic, commercial, cultural and technological conditions that have combined together to cause a disruptive shift in I.T. towards a service based economy.
Business Analytics
Business Analytics focuses on effective use of data and information to drive positive business actions. The body of knowledge for this area includes both business and technical topics, including concepts of performance management, definition and delivery of business metrics, data visualization, and deployment and use of technology solutions such as OLAP, dashboards, scorecards, analytic applications, and data mining.
Business intelligence roles that demand business analytics knowledge and skills include business sponsor, business subject expert, knowledge worker, data steward, business requirements analyst, and developer of business analytics systems. Roles with broad scope of responsibility such as business intelligence architect, metadata administrator, quality administrator, and customer service personnel also benefit from a solid foundation in business analytics.
SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE
Software as a Service (SaaS) is the most efficient and effective method for distributing state-of-the-art technology. SaaS saves your time and money: there are no servers or software to purchase, and we maintain the service for you. SaaS enables us to deliver daily knowledgebase updates so that you are always using the most up-to-date data. And it enables us to provide a steady flow of new features and functionality so that you are always using the latest software features.
SaaS exploits economies of scale to provide high performance software and hardware solutions while lowering your total cost of ownership. And our subscription service replaces long-term commitments with predictable annual expenses. With Serials Solutions you receive world-class services that you can afford.
WEB 2.0
"Web 2.0 is a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users. Ultimately Web 2.0 services are expected to replace desktop computing applications for many purposes."
This definition links to Wikipedia's Web 2.0 page, that further explains the term in more layman's terms as "a perceived second-generation of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites (wikis and folksonomies) which aim to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users."
In regards to its origin, Wikipedia states that the term's popularity arose from the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference held in 2004. Oreilynet.com gives some insight into the brainstorming session that hatched the conference, and offers a more in-depth definition for Web 2.0 in their online article, "What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software". Tim O'Reilly, the founder of O'Reilly Media, refers to Web 2.0 as "business embracing the web as a platform and utilizing its strengths", stating that "Eric Schmidt's abridged slogan, don't fight the Internet, encompasses the essence of Web 2.0- building applications and services around the unique features of the Internet, as opposed to building applications and expecting the Internet to suit as a platform."
OPEN SOURCE
Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a non-profit corporation formed to educate about and advocate for the benefits of open source and to build bridges among different constituencies in the open-source community.
One of our most important activities is as a standards body, maintaining the Open Source Definition for the good of the community. The Open Source Initiative Approved License trademark and program creates a nexus of trust around which developers, users, corporations and governments can organize open-source cooperation.
Open source software is distributed under a type of license that promotes sharing by preserving public availability of a source code and preventing restrictions on the software's use and distribution
Sayantan
Q.-5
Business-to-Consumer (B2C): – Businesses develop attractive electronic marketplaces to sell products and services to consumers. B2C describes activities of businesses serving end consumers with products and services. An example of a B2C transaction would be a person buying a pair of shoes from a retailer. The transactions that led to the shoes being available for purchase, that is the purchase of the leather, laces, rubber, etc. as well as the sale of the shoe from the shoemaker to the retailer would be considered (B2B) transactions.
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C): – C2C includes auction websites and electronic personal advertising. Electronic commerce involves the electronically-facilitated transactions between consumers through some third party. A common example is the online auction, in which a consumer posts an item for sale and other consumers bid to purchase it; the third party generally charges a flat fee or commission. The sites are only intermediaries, just there to match consumers. They do not have to check quality of the products being offered.
Example:
• eBay
• Craigslist
• Amazon.com
Q.-3
Electronic commerce(E-commerce) encompasses the entire online process of developing, marketing, selling, delivering, servicing, and paying for products and services transacted on internetworked, global marketplaces of customers, with the support of a worldwide network of business partners.
E-Commerce were first developed in the early 1970s with innovations like:
• electronic funds transfer (EFT) - funds can be routed electronically from one organization to another.
• electronic data interchange (EDI) - used to electronically transfer routine documents, that expanded electronic transfers from financial transactions to other types of transaction processing.
• interorganizational system (IOS) - a system which allows the flow of information to be automated between organizations in order to reach a desired supply-chain management system, which enables the development of competitive organizations.
1984 EDI, or electronic data interchange, was standardized through ASC X12. This guaranteed that companies would be able to complete transactions with one another reliably.
1992 Compuserve offers online retail products to its customers. This gives people the first chance to buy things off their computer.
1994 Netscape arrived. Providing users a simple browser to surf the Internet and a safe online transaction technology called Secure Sockets Layer.
1995 Two of the biggest names in e-commerce are launched: Amazon.com and eBay.com.
1998 DSL, or Digital Subscriber Line, provides fast, always-on Internet service to subscribers across California. This prompts people to spend more time, and money, online.
1999 Retail spending over the Internet reaches $20 billion, according to Business.com.
2000 The U.S government extended the moratorium on Internet taxes until at least 2005.
Categories of e-Commerce
• Business-to-Consumer (B2C) – businesses develop attractive electronic marketplaces to sell products and services to consumers
• Business-to-Business (B2B) – involves both electronic business marketplaces and direct market links between businesses
• Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) – includes auction websites and electronic personal advertising
By Saurabh Shrivastava(SMU-2nd Sem)
a database is a collection of related data ,the term data here mean that known facts that can be recorded and maintain its records and manage its record in systematic way called DBMS
merits of DBMS
1 controlling redundancy
2 restructuring unauthorized access
3 providing persistence storage of program object and data structuring
4 multiple user interface
5 provide backup and restore
demerit of DBMS
1 requirement of training
2 high cost
3 complexity
merits of DBMS
1 controlling redundancy
2 restructuring unauthorized access
3 providing persistence storage of program object and data structuring
4 multiple user interface
5 provide backup and restore
demerit of DBMS
1 requirement of training
2 high cost
3 complexity
The trend in consumer IT is changing at very fast speed in B2C and C2C and we can take an example of stock exchange at C2C prospective where one investor purchase share from the another investor with the help of IT( all computerize transaction through demate a/c). We take a another example of share market, where company can also sell its share in open market to investor with the help of computerized transaction.
Ans(3)Mention the ways E commerce has evolved the early adopters the benefit served and future of this technology
Use of E commerce has increased over decade it is benefiting to all the segment of the market and also to business to easy handle with customer, supplier and to dealt with each and every party who are directly or indirectly connected to the activities of the organization .
Online shopping is one aspect of e-commerce which is booming to a large extent before the companies use to have physical shop for trading purpose but now due to boom in internet the company can open its virtual shop which reduces the time and also saves cost and it also helps in not incurring inventory cost on maintaining stock because customer will buy online once the company receives the order he start manufacturing its like on demand service.
There are different kinds of software available which customizes the business of an organization like saas cots APS
Ans 1Database management is software which helps the companies to maintain all kinds of data regarding its customer, employee, supplier, and owner
It allows users and other software to store and retrieve data in a structured way.The Data Base Management
System accepts requests for data from the application program and instructs the operating system to transfer the appropriate
Advantage
1DataSaves cost : maintaining contacts with manually is more costlier than DBMS
2 It S more flexible, compact and faster.
3 Storage is easier.
4 Sharing of data easier.
Disadvantage:
1 cost is high.
2 Maintainence of DBMS is high
3 It has more complexities
Amit Singh
IPGP
Green IT:
Is it recycling redundant equipment responsibly? Is it switching equipment off at the plug to make huge energy savings? Well yes, it's all of that, but also much more.Green IT for The Ethical Property Company.A lot of organisations have yet to implement any really positive changes.We have adopted an approach whereby positive changes can be implemented with little cost and modest effort.
That's like leaving a lamp on every night and every weekend all the time. Multiply this by the number of workstations in an average building and it is apparent that a significant amount of energy is being wasted when the building in mostly unoccupied. The simple solution to this problem is to encourage people to switch off equipment at the plug before they leave the office.
Cloud Computing:
Cloud Computing is not necessarily for everyone
#But it is great for certain things
#It requires a different way of thinking about computing, and economics, and running your business
#Architecturally, it’s an extension of traditional client/server, but with more limitations
#You get certain advantages, but you give something up as wellRecommendations:
#Plan carefully!
#Get advice from those with more experience than you!
#Don’t risk more than you can afford to lose!
Rahul Dev Sharma
IPGP
ANSWER 1 :
A database management system (DBMS) is computer software that manages databases. DBMS may use any of a variety of database models, such as the network model. In large systems, a DBMS allows users and other software to store and retrieve data in a structured way. It is system software which is used to manage the organizational data storage, access, security and integrity in a structured database. The nature of database management systems has dramatically changed since the 1960 as the demand for data storage has increased and the techniques to store data has evolved. In the past, disk storage was very difficult and expensive. Most application systems ran in batch mode using data that was stored on magnetic tape. Data had to be read from flat files. For performance reasons, the management of data was tightly integrated with the application system.
As the cost of data storage fell and opportunities to store data for real-time access arose, various researches have been performed to develop this software to increase its efficiency and effectiveness. Specialized DBMS software emerged during the 1960s for the sole purpose of managing data. Application systems were then able to focus on the user interface, screen navigation, data validations etc. and could leave the data management tasks to the specialized DBMS technology. The application system simply had to call the DBMS when it needed to read or store data.
Organizations may use one kind of DBMS for daily transaction processing and then move the detail onto another computer that uses another DBMS better suited for random inquiries and analysis. Overall systems design decisions are performed by data administrators and systems analysts. Detailed database design is performed by database administrators.
As the cost of data storage fell, it became feasible to store data in tables. This eliminated much data redundancy and provided much more flexible data access. Most DBMS databases today are relational.
Merits of DBMS :
Database is flexible, compact, and faster. It reduces the probability of inconsistent data. When a database is teamed with a computer, many of the problems with a manual database are eliminated.
The unauthorized access and redundancies is controlled by DBMS .
It also provide back up and recovery setups.
Demerits of DBMS :
It is complex, difficult, and time-consuming in designing.
If the database is damaged by any chance, it affects all the application programs.
ANSWER 2:
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a company-wide computer software system used to manage and coordinate all the resources, information, and functions of a business from shared data stores.
An ERP system has a service-oriented architecture with modular hardware and software units or "services" that communicate on a local area network. The modular design allows a business to add or reconfigure modules while preserving data integrity in one shared database that may be centralized or distributed.
Some ERP software package systems are Compiere, Dolibarr, Python based ‘GNU Enterprise * GRR (software)’, a plugin Openbravo, JFire, etc.
Supply chain management (SCM) is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and services packages required by end customers. Supply Chain Management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point-of-origin to point-of-consumption. It is a network of facilities and distribution options that performs the functions of procurement of materials, transformation of these materials into intermediate and finished products, and the distribution of these finished products to customers. Supply chains exist in both service and manufacturing organizations, although the complexity of the chain may vary greatly from industry to industry and firm to firm.
SCM is all about anticipating and fulfilling customers needs.
Some types of SCM systems are inventory management software, Optical character recognition (OCR). SAP, BAAN, QAD, Peoplesoft, i2 and Manugistics are some of the companies providing supply-chain solutions.
Customers Relationship Management (CRM) consists of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers. CRM software is used to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments.
There are various organizations which have customer relationship management. They are as follows:-
CRM Vendors:
Siebel (Oracle) ,SAP ,Epiphany (Infor) ,Oracle, PeopleSoft (Oracle), Amdocs, Chordiant
SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE:-
Software as a Service (SaaS,) is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand. SaaS software vendors may host the application on their own web-servers or download the application to the consumer device, disabling it after use or after the on-demand contract expires. The on-demand function may be handled internally to share licenses within a firm or by a third-party application service provider (ASP) sharing licenses between firms. SaaS can also conceivably reduce the up-front expense of software purchases, through less costly, on-demand pricing from hosting service providers. SaaS lets software vendors control and limit use, prohibits copies and distribution, and facilitates the control of all derivative versions of their software. Virtually all software fits the SaaS model well.
OPEN SOURCE :-
The Open Source Definition is used by the Open Source Initiative to determine whether or not a software license can be considered open source. The definition was based on the Debian Free Software Guidelines, written and adapted primarily by Bruce Perens. Open source describes a broad general type of software license that makes source code available to the general public with relaxed or non-existent copyright restrictions. The principles, as stated, say absolutely nothing about trademark or patent use and require absolutely no cooperation to ensure that any common audit or release regime applies to any derived works.
ANSWER 3: Evolution of E commerce -
Commerce - the trading of goods, has been a major drive of human survival since the beginning of recorded history and beyond. The mass adoption of Internet has created a paradigm shift in the way businesses are conducted today. The past decade has seen an emergence of a new kind of commerce, the buying and selling of goods, through human-computer interaction over the Internet. Today, the line between e-commerce and traditional commerce is becoming more blurred as more businesses start and continue to integrate e-commerce technologies into their business processes.
E-commerce can be defined as a modern business methodology that addresses the needs of organizations, merchants, and consumers to cut costs while improving the quality of goods and services and the increasing speed of service delivery, by using Internet.
The Evolution of E-Commerce
The evolution of e-commerce can be attributed to a combination regulatory reform and technological innovation. Through Internet (which played an important role in the evolution) appeared in the late 1960s, e-commerce now took off with the arrival of the World Wide Web and browsers in the 1990s.
E-Commerce were first developed in the early 1970s with innovations like:
• electronic funds transfer (EFT) - funds can be routed electronically from one organization to another.
• electronic data interchange (EDI) - used to electronically transfer routine documents, that expanded electronic transfers from financial transactions to other types of transaction processing.
• inter-organizational system (IOS) - a system which allows the flow of information to be automated between organizations in order to reach a desired supply-chain management system, which enables the development of competitive organizations.
B2C (Business to Consumer) models have been tried and tested during the first generation of E-commerce boom, but the newer trends are toward B2B (Business to Business) and Click-and-Mortar models. B2B provides advantages of close integration and communication with partners and suppliers, Click-and-Mortar provide takes advantage of offline and online channels being established in physical store locations but at the same time offering online commerce convenience.
Companies have quickly realized that E-commerce sites are more than digital storefronts that display products and allow customers to place an order. Business processes should extend to the back-end with systems in place to optimize the company’s supply chain and distribution system. A holistic approach will offer the company insights on creating maximum efficiencies to support all business processes. E-commerce business models are more than technology solutions. The right strategy focuses on a company’s core services and products, and one that encompasses the entire e-business value chain. Although technology plays an important part in the business goals, technology by itself is a means to an end rather than the end itself. If used properly, technology can be used to leverage the e-marketplace for competitive advantage in today’s fast paced economy. The traditional model of Manufacturer -> Wholesaler/Distributor -> Retailer -> User is being dis intermediated by providing a direct link between Manufacturer and End User (e.g. Dell). Companies are extending E-commerce capabilities of electronic storefronts to back-end processes using Supply Chain Management and Enterprise Resource Planning software. Supply Chain Management is the process of tracking the availability, delivery, and pricing of supplies and materials required to meet customer demands for goods. Part of supply-chain management process includes forecasting which helps managers determine how quickly they can get necessary supplies and at what cost. Results are arrived at by looking at orders, inventories, production capacity, transportation availability, and other factors that affect cost of material. Enterprise Resource Planning is more complex and integrates order entry, monitoring inventory, and balancing financial records. Companies deploying ERP software that include functions of supply chain management, planning, warehousing, and transportation can make more knowledgeable decisions. Web based Supply Chain Management and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications are being deployed by corporations for significant cost savings. For companies that had operational centers all over the world, sharing data between facilities was a very complex task. The ubiquitous nature of Internet has provided an opportunity to share supply chain data by consolidating information and providing access to it in real-time for planning decisions. Online and offline business strategies differ significantly. Companies planning to enter the e-commerce arena must have proper strategies to ensure their profitability, growth, and survival in the electronic marketplace. The business plan must traverse all parts of the organization and systems must be in place to react quickly to changing market conditions. Stovepipe processes must be replaced by integrated and collaborative environment that generate more value. Outsourcing technology to Application Service Providers may be an option for companies whose core competencies lie in business and not in technology. Technology must be a support mechanism for business and optimize information flow internally and externally to leverage efficiencies and strategic advantage in every aspect of business. With new business models emerging (e.g. Priceline), companies should balance experimentation with risk-taking to achieve optimum efficiencies. A new way of presenting information to customers over a digital medium has also required companies to re-think ways of keeping customers loyal (“stickiness” of web sites) since competitors are only one click away.
ANSWER 4 :
GREEN IT:-
GreenIT provides services to enable clients to drive measurable financial and environmental benefits from programs for IT Eco-Efficiency and IT Eco-Innovation. It describes the study and the use of computer resources in an efficient way. It starts with manufacturers producing environmental friendly products and encouraging IT departments to consider more friendly options like virtualization, power management and proper recycling habits.
VIRTUALIZATION:-
Virtualization is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as an operating system, a server, a storage device or network resources.
o Platform virtualization, which separates an operating system from the underlying platform resources
o Full virtualization
o Hardware-assisted virtualization
o Partial virtualization
o Para virtualization
o Operating system-level virtualization
In 2005, virtualization software was adopted faster than anyone imagined, including the experts. There are three areas of IT where virtualization is making head roads, network virtualization, storage virtualization and server virtualization:
• Network virtualization is a method of combining the available resources in a network by splitting up the available bandwidth into channels, each of which is independent from the others, and each of which can be assigned (or reassigned) to a particular server or device in real time. The idea is that virtualization disguises the true complexity of the network by separating it into manageable parts, much like your partitioned hard drive makes it easier to manage your files.
• Storage virtualization is the pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console. Storage virtualization is commonly used in storage area networks (SANs).
• Server virtualization is the masking of server resources (including the number and identity of individual physical servers, processors, and operating systems) from server users. The intention is to spare the user from having to understand and manage complicated details of server resources while increasing resource sharing and utilization and maintaining the capacity to expand later.
CLOUD COMPUTING:-
• Cloud computing is Internet ("cloud") based development and use of computer technology ("computing"). It is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet.
• The concept incorporates infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) as well as Web 2.0 and other recent technology trends that have the common theme of reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users.
• The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals.
WEB 2.0:-
The term "Web 2.0" refers to a perceived second generation of web development and design, that aims to facilitate communication, secure information sharing and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications; such as social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, and blogs.
Web 2.0 encapsulates the idea of the proliferation of interconnectivity and interactivity of web-delivered content. The Web 2.0 as the way that business embraces the strengths of the web and uses it as a platform.
O'Reilly provided examples in his description of his four levels in the hierarchy of Web 2.0 sites:
• Level-3 applications, the most "Web 2.0"-oriented, exist only on the Internet, deriving their effectiveness from the inter-human connections and from the network effects that Web 2.0 makes possible, and growing in effectiveness in proportion as people make more use of them. O'Reilly gave eBay, Craigslist, Wikipedia, Skype, and AdSense as examples.
• Level-2 applications can operate offline but gain advantages from going online. O'Reilly cited Flickr, which benefits from its shared photo-database and from its community-generated tag database.
• Level-1 applications operate offline but gain features online. O'Reilly pointed to Writely (now Google Docs & Spreadsheets) and iTunes (because of its music-store portion).
• Level-0 applications work as well offline as online. O'Reilly gave the examples of MapQuest, Yahoo! Local, and Google Maps (mapping-applications using contributions from users to advantage could rank as "level 2", like Google Earth).
OPEN SOURCE:
Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a non-profit corporation formed to educate about and advocate for the benefits of open source and to build bridges among different constituencies in the open-source community.
One of our most important activities is as a standards body, maintaining the Open Source Definition for the good of the community. The Open Source Initiative Approved License trademark and program creates a nexus of trust around which developers, users, corporations and governments can organize open-source cooperation.
Open source software is distributed under a type of license that promotes sharing by preserving public availability of a source code and preventing restrictions on the software's use and distribution.
ANSWER 5 :
Electronic Commerce is merely a part of E-Business and is limited essentially to marketing and sales processes, and it uses digital technologies such as internet and bar-code scanners to enable the buying and selling process.
BI+ CRM+SCM+ERP+EC =EB
Today the emerging trends basically in consumer information technology is E-Commerce & M-Commerce.
E-commerce:- it is often referred as a business conducted over internet using any of the application that rely on internet such as E-mail, instant messaging, shopping carts, web services, EDI,UDDI & ftp and many more. E-commerce can be between two business firms or between two consumers and even between a business & consumer.
M=commerce:- m-commerce is called as mobile commerce that is now a days the consumer trend says that all most all the transactions/payment and placing order and many more are done through mobile it also helps to transfer the ring tones videos etc including the live alerts of news now a days which is very much popular trends for the professional who dont have time to read out news paper for half hr.
Now lets try to get in details of consumer information technology trends with respect to C2C transaction and its advantages:-
consumer to consumer transaction came into existence for span of recorded history in form of barter, flea market,swap meet etc. most of the highly successful examples of C2C using the internet is of the corporate intermediary and are thus not strictly "pure play" e.g. of c2c.the best e.g. venue for the consumer to consumer e-commerce is called EBAY OR AMAZON .
B2C and its advantages on consumer of it withthe new trends(e-commerce):- this type of E-commerce is basically for the transaction process between a consumer and a business firmand this transaction is done in 2 forms i,e.direct sales & online intermediary
Direct sales:- companie sthat provide product and services directly to the consumer is called the direct sales eg. the AMAZON.COM were the business let the product available directly to the consumer via internet .The goal is to remove intermediaries through
a process called disintermediation. One of the greatest following this rule is DELL.
Online intermediaries:- these are the companies that fascilitate transactions between buyers and sellersand recieve a percentage of the transactions value.these firms make the largest group of B2C companies today & the two famous intermediaries are brokers and infomediaries.
Here are some of the advantageswhich atracts the consumers attension towards information technology:-
1.shopping can be faster and more convenient .
2.offering and price can change instantaneously.
3. call center can be integrated with the website.
4.broadband telecommunication will enhance the buying experience.
submitted by
SHIRISH HARSHE
SMU sec B
DATABASE MANAGEMENT
Database management is software which helps the companies to maintain all kinds of data regarding its customer, employee, supplier, and owner. Database not only contain information about customer regarding its name address etc.. but also it contains the customer taste, preference, habits, customs, number of time he purchased goods and number of time he return goods it helps the company to deeply understand the customer and plan according to the customer. Through database company able to maintain regular relationship which inturn increases the morale of customer and customer can become loyal.
ADVANTAGES…
• Flexibility : DBMS is more flexible it is able to adapt changing taken place in the number of customer etc
• Saves time : it helps the company to save time in maintaining all information of customer, employee supplier with in a short duration
• Saves cost : maintaining contacts with manually is more costlier than DBMS
• Helps the company to access multiple data
DISADVATAGE….
• It does not suits to small company which may not afford to have DBMS
• Maintenance of DBMS is costly
• It require expertise and resource to administer
Mention the ways E commerce has evolved the early adopters the benefit served and future of this technology
Use of E commerce has increased over decade it is benefiting to all the segment of the market and also to business to easy handle with customer, supplier and to dealt with each and every party who are directly or indirectly connected to the activities of the organization .
Online shopping is one aspect of e-commerce which is booming to a large extent before the companies use to have physical shop for trading purpose but now due to boom in internet the company can open its virtual shop which reduces the time and also saves cost and it also helps in not incurring inventory cost on maintaining stock because customer will buy online once the company receives the order he start manufacturing its like on demand service…
There are different kinds of software available which customizes the business of an organization like saas cots APS
ANSWER:3
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily with wide-spread Internet usage. A wide variety of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.
A large percentage of electronic commerce is conducted entirely electronically for virtual items such as access to premium content on a website, but most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in some way. Online retailers are sometimes known as e-tailers and online retail is sometimes known as e-tail. Almost all big retailers have electronic commerce presence on the World Wide Web
Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of the business transactions.
WAYS IN WHICH IT IS EVOLVED:The meaning of electronic commerce has changed over the last 30 years. Originally, electronic commerce meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970s, allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of electronic commerce. Another form of e-commerce was the airline reservation system typified by Sabre in the USA and Travicom in the UK. Online shopping was invented in the UK in 1979 by Michael Aldrich[citation needed] and during the 1980s it was used extensively particularly by auto manufacturers such as Ford,Peugeot-Talbot, General Motors and Nissan. From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing.The earliest[citation needed] example of many-to-many electronic commerce in physical goods was the Boston Computer Exchange, a marketplace for used computers launched in 1982. The first online information marketplace, including online consulting, was likely the American Information Exchange, another pre-Internet (arification needed) online system introduced in 1991.Until 1991, commercial enterprise on the Internet was strictly prohibited. Although the Internet became popular worldwide around 1994, it took about five years to introduce security protocols and DSL allowing continual connection to the Internet. And by the end of 2000, a lot of European and American business companies offered their services through the World Wide Web. Since then people began to associate a word "ecommerce" with the ability of purchasing various goods through the Internet using secure protocols and electronic payment services.
E-Commerce was birth out of the World-Wide-Web (WWW). Although many people use the terms WWW and Internet interchangeably, the WWW is just one of the many services available on the Internet. The aspect of the WWW actually is a relatively new aspect of the Internet. While the Internet was developed in the late 1960s, the WWW came into existence more than a decade ago - in the early 1990s. Since then, however, it has grown phenomenally to become the most widely used service on the Internet.
Although the Web has made online shopping possible for many businesses and individuals, in a broader sense, e-commerce has existed for many years. For decades, banks have been using electronic funds transfer (EFT, also called wire transfer), which are electronic transmissions of account exchange information over private communication networks.
Businesses also have been engaging in a form of electronic commerce, known as electronic data interchange, for many years. Electronic Date Interchange (EDI) occurs when business transmits computer-readable data in a standard format to another business. In the 1960s, businesses realized that many of the documents they exchange related to the shipping of goods - such as invoices, purchase orders, and bills of lading - and included the same set of information for almost every transaction. They also realized that they were spending a good deal of time and money entering these data into their computers, printing paper forms, and then re-entering the data on the other side of the transaction. Although the purchase order, invoice, and bill of lading for each transaction contained much of the same information such as item numbers, descriptions, prices and quantities - each paper form had its own unique format for presenting that information. By creating a set of standard formats for tronically, businesses were able to reduce errors, avoid printing and mailing costs, and eliminate the need to re-enter the data.
ELEMENTS OF TRADITIONAL COMMERCE (seller side)
1. Conduct market research to identify customer needs.
2. Create product or service that will meet customer's needs.
3. Advertise and promote product or service.
4. Negotiate a sale transaction, including:
* Delivery logistics
* Inspection, testing and acceptance
5. Ship goods and Invoice customer
6. Receive and process customer payments
7. Provide after-sales support, maintenance and warranty service.
( ISHA SHARMA )
(SMU 2ND SEM A)
ANSWER:3
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily with wide-spread Internet usage. A wide variety of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.
A large percentage of electronic commerce is conducted entirely electronically for virtual items such as access to premium content on a website, but most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in some way. Online retailers are sometimes known as e-tailers and online retail is sometimes known as e-tail. Almost all big retailers have electronic commerce presence on the World Wide Web
Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of the business transactions.
WAYS IN WHICH IT IS EVOLVED:The meaning of electronic commerce has changed over the last 30 years. Originally, electronic commerce meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970s, allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of electronic commerce. Another form of e-commerce was the airline reservation system typified by Sabre in the USA and Travicom in the UK. Online shopping was invented in the UK in 1979 by Michael Aldrich[citation needed] and during the 1980s it was used extensively particularly by auto manufacturers such as Ford,Peugeot-Talbot, General Motors and Nissan. From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing.The earliest[citation needed] example of many-to-many electronic commerce in physical goods was the Boston Computer Exchange, a marketplace for used computers launched in 1982. The first online information marketplace, including online consulting, was likely the American Information Exchange, another pre-Internet (arification needed) online system introduced in 1991.Until 1991, commercial enterprise on the Internet was strictly prohibited. Although the Internet became popular worldwide around 1994, it took about five years to introduce security protocols and DSL allowing continual connection to the Internet. And by the end of 2000, a lot of European and American business companies offered their services through the World Wide Web. Since then people began to associate a word "ecommerce" with the ability of purchasing various goods through the Internet using secure protocols and electronic payment services.
E-Commerce was birth out of the World-Wide-Web (WWW). Although many people use the terms WWW and Internet interchangeably, the WWW is just one of the many services available on the Internet. The aspect of the WWW actually is a relatively new aspect of the Internet. While the Internet was developed in the late 1960s, the WWW came into existence more than a decade ago - in the early 1990s. Since then, however, it has grown phenomenally to become the most widely used service on the Internet.
Although the Web has made online shopping possible for many businesses and individuals, in a broader sense, e-commerce has existed for many years. For decades, banks have been using electronic funds transfer (EFT, also called wire transfer), which are electronic transmissions of account exchange information over private communication networks.
Businesses also have been engaging in a form of electronic commerce, known as electronic data interchange, for many years. Electronic Date Interchange (EDI) occurs when business transmits computer-readable data in a standard format to another business. In the 1960s, businesses realized that many of the documents they exchange related to the shipping of goods - such as invoices, purchase orders, and bills of lading - and included the same set of information for almost every transaction. They also realized that they were spending a good deal of time and money entering these data into their computers, printing paper forms, and then re-entering the data on the other side of the transaction. Although the purchase order, invoice, and bill of lading for each transaction contained much of the same information such as item numbers, descriptions, prices and quantities - each paper form had its own unique format for presenting that information. By creating a set of standard formats for tronically, businesses were able to reduce errors, avoid printing and mailing costs, and eliminate the need to re-enter the data.
ELEMENTS OF TRADITIONAL COMMERCE (seller side)
1. Conduct market research to identify customer needs.
2. Create product or service that will meet customer's needs.
3. Advertise and promote product or service.
4. Negotiate a sale transaction, including:
* Delivery logistics
* Inspection, testing and acceptance
5. Ship goods and Invoice customer
6. Receive and process customer payments
7. Provide after-sales support, maintenance and warranty service.
( ISHA SHARMA )
(SMU 2ND SEM A)
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily with wide-spread Internet usage. A wide variety of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems.
A large percentage of electronic commerce is conducted entirely electronically for virtual items such as access to premium content on a website, but most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in some way. Online retailers are sometimes known as e-tailers and online retail is sometimes known as e-tail.
Early development of E-Commerce:-
Initially electronic commerce meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970s, allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of electronic commerce. Another form of e-commerce was the airline reservation system typified by Sabre in the USA and Travicom in the UK. Online shopping was invented in the UK in 1979 by Michael Aldrich and during the 1980s it was used extensively particularly by auto manufacturers such as Ford,Peugeot-Talbot, General Motors and Nissan. From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing
The earliest example of electronic commerce in physical goods was the
Boston Computer Exchange, a marketplace for used computers launched in 1982.
The first online information marketplace, including online consulting, was likely the American Information Exchange, another pre-Internet online system introduced in 1991.
By the end of 2000, a lot of European and American business companies offered their services through the World Wide Web. Since then people began to associate a word "ecommerce" with the ability of purchasing various goods through the Internet using secure protocols and electronic payment services.
future of ECommerce:-
E-government
E-Business
Dot-com economy
these are the few future application of e-commerce
Ans-1
A database management system (DBMS) is computer software that manages databases. In large systems, a DBMS allows users and other software to store and retrieve data in a structured way.
DBMS may use any of the following database models:
Various database models
•File Management System
•Hierarchical database System
•Network Database System
•Relational Database System
Evolution of database:-
1960s navigational DBMS
1970s relational DBMS
End 1970s SQL DBMS
MERITS:-
1.Resist data redundancy,consistency and integrity
2.retrival of data is easier
3.storing and sharing of the data is also easier
DEMERITS:-
1. Linking of one or more tables makes it complex
ANSWER:4
VIRTUALIZATION:
Virtualization is a technology that can help customers reduce their IT infrastructure costs through server consolidation, disaster recovery, re-hosting of legacy applications and software test and development .Virtualization is software technology which uses a physical resource such as a server and divides it up into virtual resources called virtual machines . Virtualization allows users to consolidate physical resources, simplify deployment and administration, and reduce power and cooling requirements. While virtualization technology is most popular in the server world, virtualization technology is also being used in data storage such as Storage Area Networks, and inside of operating systems such as Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V.
virtualization is now becoming more broadly available and is supported in off-the-shelf systems based on Intel architecture (IA) hardware. This development is due in part to the steady performance improvements of IA-based systems, which mitigates traditional virtualization performance overheads. Intel virtualization technology provides hardware support for processor virtualization, enabling simplifications of virtual machine monitor software. Resulting VMMs can support a wider range of legacy and future operating systems while maintaining high performance.
Partitioning the computer's memory into separate and isolated "virtual machines" simulates multiple machines within one physical computer. It enables multiple copies of the same or different operating systems to run in the computer and also prevents applications from interfering with each other. In a network, virtualization consolidates multiple devices into a logical view so they can be managed from a single console . Virtualization also enables multiple storage devices to be accessed the same way no matter what their type or location.
Computer people love the word "virtualization," and vendors use the term for virtually anything. Numerous technologies fall under the umbrella of "application virtualization," some of which have been around for decades, while others are at the forefront. See application virtualization.
GREEN IT:
Green IT is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently. The primary objective of such a program is to account for the triple bottom line, an expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational (and societal) success. The goals are similar to green chemistry; reduce the use of hazardous materials, maximize energy efficiency during the product's lifetime, and promote recyclability or biodegradability of defunct products and factory waste.
Modern IT systems rely upon a complicated mix of people, networks and hardware; as such, a green computing initiative must be systemic in nature, and address increasingly sophisticated problems. Elements of such a solution may comprise items such as end user satisfaction, management restructuring, regulatory compliance, disposal of electronic waste, telecommuting, virtualization of server resources, energy use, thin client solutions, and return on investment (ROI).
The imperative for companies to take control of their power consumption, for technology and more generally, therefore remains acute. In 2009, of the power management tools available, one of the most powerful may still be simple, plain, common sense.
GreenIT is the leading advisor in sustainable Information and Communications Technology.
GreenIT provides services to enable clients to drive measurable financial and environmental benefits from programs for IT Eco-Efficiency and IT Eco-Innovation.
GreenIT is a progressive consultancy that serves clients in three primary markets:
Leaders in IT, Finance, Marketing, and Corporate Social Responsibility actively involved in sustainability initiatives.
Real Estate Professionals looking to make commercial property more competitive and environmentally responsible.
IT System and Equipment Providers and Distributors seeking to understand and communicate the sustainability attributes of their products.
CLOUD COMPUTING:
Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualised resources are provided as a service over the Internet.Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them
The concept incorporates infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) as well as Web 2.0 and other recent technology trends that have the common theme of reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users. Examples of SaaS vendors include Salesforce.com and Google Apps which provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.
The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals.
Cloud computing users can avoid capital expenditure (CapEx) on hardware, software and services, rather paying a provider only for what they use. Consumption is billed on a utility (e.g. resources consumed, like electricity) or subscription (e.g. time based, like a newspaper) basis with little or no upfront cost. Other benefits of this time sharing style approach are low barriers to entry, shared infrastructure and costs, low management overhead and immediate access to a broad range of applications. Users can generally terminate the contract at any time (thereby avoiding return on investment risk and uncertainty) and the services are often covered by service level agreements with financial penalties
BUSINESS ANALYTICS:
Business Analytics are defined as the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive modeling , and fact-based management to drive decision making. Analytics may be used as input for human decisions or may drive fully automated decisions.Businesses Analytics represent a subset of business intelligence. The other part of business intelligence is querying, reporting, OLAP, and "alerts". The questions that business analytics can answer represent more proactive and higher value questions than questions other business intelligence tools can answer. In other words, querying, reporting, OLAP, and "alert" tools can answer the questions: what happened; how many, how often, where; where exactly is the problem; what actions are needed. Business analytics can answer the questions: why is this happening; what if these trends continue; what will happen next; what is the best than can happpen.
OPEN SOURCE:
Open source is an approach to design, development, and distribution offering practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge). Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.
The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development. The principles and practices are commonly applied to the peer production development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration. The result of this peer-based collaboration is usually released as open-source software, however open source methods are increasingly being applied in other fields of endeavor, such as Biotechnology.
WEB 2.0:
The term "Web 2.0" refers to a perceived second generation of web development and design, that aims to facilitate communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications; such as social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies.
The term was first used by Dale Dougherty and Craig Cline and shortly after became notable after the O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004. Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but rather to changes in the ways software developers and end-users utilize the Web.
“ Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. ”
the "2.0" refers to the historical context of web businesses "coming back" after the 2001 collapse of the dot-com bubble, in addition to the distinguishing characteristics of the projects that survived the bust or thrived thereafter.
Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has questioned whether one can use the term in any meaningful way, since many of the technological components of Web 2.0 have existed since the early days of the Web.
(ISHA SHARMA)
SMU-2ND SEM A
Answer 1.
DBMS emerged during the 1960’s for the sole purpose of managing data. Since then DBMS have evolved fairly slowly over the last 30 years. A DBMS is more of a sophisticated and flexible form of file management together with a flexible tool for data extraction and often other “high level” tools.
A generalized chronological order of their development is as follows:
a) Hierarchical DBMS : they formed a relationship between the data
b) Network DBMS : allowed complex data structures. Describe the connections between data elements
c) Relational DBMS : use SQL to extract and update data and conform to the theoretical relational rules of normalization.
d) Nested DBMS : Derived from PICK system developed by Dick Pick and IBM in the late 60s to early 70s. Support multiplicity and variable lengths.
e) Proprietary DBMS : It may well be Relational, Network or Hierarchical . Custom built
f) Text Retrieval Systems or “Free Form” Databases : has power search and retrieval functions, and can be combined with a structured DBMS.
e) Object Oriented DBMS : They store and retrieve objects along with data.
Advantages
1. data is shared
2. centralized control
3. high data integrity
4. improved data security and database systems
5. flexible conceptual design
Disadvantages
1. requires multiple external databases
2. high DBMS acquisition cost
3. has a complex conceptual design process
4. highly dependent DBMS operations
5. potentially disastrous program failures
The Future :
The future of DBMS calls for efficient handling of objects and sophisticated Web Serving.
Also they can be more reliable by providing an early warning system in case of contingencies
Answer 3.
E-commerce one of the biggest revolutionary ides of the last century, created a paradigm shift in the way businesses are conducted today. E-commerce were first developed in the early 1970s including innovations like- electronic funds transfer, inter organizational system etc.
Year Innovation
1984 EDI (electronic data interchange), standardized through ASCX12.
1992 Compuserve started online retailing service
1994 Arrival of Netscape offering the technology Secure Sockets Layer
1995 Amazon.com and eBay.com launched
1999 Business.com reports online retail spending reaches $20 billion
2000 Moratorium on Internet taxes was extended by the U.S. government until 2005
The early users of the e-commerce who further popularized its use were Amazon, eBay and Dell Inc.
Future of the e-commerce may see the following things:
a) Flat-fee pricing structure gaining prominence declining the revenue-share business model
b) E-commerce through social networking sites
c) Small scale businesses might make use of business processes available on the Internet, streamline them and increase their profits.
1. Chalk out the evolution of Database Management Systems and their relative merits/ demerits. Also depict the future of Database Systems.
An information system provides its users with accurate and relevant data, i.e data which is free of errors, it is available to the users as and when it is necessary and it should be appropriate for the type of work that requires it. In the earlier days organizations had the traditional file systems. Here every department had its own systems. Each system in turn had certain files in it. Which were maintained by separate division. As years went by the programs started stacking up, with it started the problem of data redundancy and inconsistency, Program-data dependence, inflexibility, poor data security, and inability to share data among applications. Thus the concept of Database came into being. It is a software the allows an organization to keep all the data in one place so that it can be accessed by all, manage it easily and give access to stored data by application programs. It relives the user from the task of searching for the data.
Merits of DBMS:
• Data redundancy and inconsistency is reduced by isolating files which have the same data repeated.
• Access and availability of data is increased.
• It allows an organization to centrally manage their data, its use and security.
• It allows coupling of stored data with the programs
Demerits of DBMS:
• High cost for providing security.
• Multiple user access to data is not possible.
Future of DBMS: It is needed in all fields, in finance as financial transactions, in HR to maintain data on employees, in Information system to provide data management tools and expertise to the organization, in sales and marketing to track customer purchases.
3. Mention the ways in which the E-Commerce has evolved, the early adopters, the benefits served and the future of this technology (do mention corresponding names and years).
E-commerce refers to the use of internet and web to transact business. E-commerce began first in 1995 netscape.com accepted the first ads from major corporations and popularized the idea of using the net to advertise and sell. The dot-com bubble burst in March 2001.In 2007 the overall e-commerce revenues looked positive.
In the initial days it transformed the world of books, music and air travel. Then came the telephone, movies, television, jewelry, real estates, hotels etc.
Benefits:
• It is ubiquitous, it is available everywhere. We can shop from home, office, car etc.
• It allows commercial transaction to cross cultural and national boundaries conveniently and cost effectively.
• The technical standards for conducting e-commerce is universal since they are available to all. They are shared by all nations around the world.
• Richness: Video, audio and text messages are possible.
• Interactive , since it allows two way communication. Buyers can interact with the sellers.
• It reduces the information cost and increases quality.
• The technology allows personalized messages to be delivered to individuals as well as groups.
The e-commerce revolution has just begun. Individuals and organizations will increasingly use the internet to conduct commerce as more products come online and more households switch to broadband. User generated content in the form of blogs and social networks grow to form an entirely new self-publishing forum.
5. Identify the trends in Consumer IT (the IT used in a B2C and C2C context).
E-commerce process model works in four ways:
B2C: Business organization to customer
B2B: Business organization to Business
C2B: Customer to Business organization
C2C: Customer to customer.
The IT used in B2C: It involves retailing products and services to individual shoppers, Barnesandnoble.com, which sells books, software and music to individual customers is an example. The business organizations use the websites or portals to offer information about products, through multimedia clippings, catalogs, product configuration guidelines, customer histories, and so on. A new customer interacts with the site and uses interactive order processing system for order placement. On placement of order, secured payment systems comes into operation to authorize and authenticate payment to sellers. The delivery system the takes over to execute the delivery to customer.
The IT in C2C: It involves consumers selling directly to consumers. E-bay enables people to sell their goods to other customers by auctioning the merchandise off to the highest bidder. The website is used for personal advertisements of products or services. E news paper website is an example.
The other software used are Content and catalog management: Content management is used to help companies develop, generate, deliver, update, and archive text data and multimedia information at e-commerce websites.
Catalog management: it helps generate and manage catalog content.
Workflow management: Helps employee to electronically merge to accomplish structured work tasks.
Event Notification: It helps all those involved in the transaction about their status.
Collaboration and trading: It supports the vital collaboration arrangements and trading services needed by all those involved in the transaction.
Web Payment: credit card payment
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): Used to capture and process money and credit transfer.
Secure electronic payment: Encryption of the data passed between customer and vendor, and company authorizing the credit card transaction.
1) The Evolution of Database systems and their relative merits/ demerits are :-
a) File Management System ( FMS)
b) Hierarchical Database System
c) Network Database System
d) Relational Database System
a) File Management System :- It is the one in which all data is stored on a single large file and it takes long time to search a file.This lead to introduction of indexing in the system. But then also this system has lots of drawbacks and due to this the Hierarchical Hatabase System introduced.
b) Hierarchical Database System :- It has parent- child relationship between records in database.The origin is called as root from which several branches have data at different levels and the last level is called the leaf.the main drawback is if there was any modification has to made the whole structure has to alter therefore next level introduced.
c). Network Database System :- Its based on many-many relationships.But this also followed the same technology of pointers to define relationships with a difference in this made in the introduction if grouping of data items as sets.
d). Relational Database System :- In this data is organized as table and each record forms a row with many attributes in it and realtionships between tables are also formed in this system.its better than the all the above.
FUTURE DATABASE MANAGEMENT :- Disk becomes obsolete, and all Oracle database are solid-state. Hardware costs fall so much that 70 percent of the IT budget is spent on programmers and database administrator (DBA).
1) The Evolution of Database systems and their relative merits/ demerits are :-
a) File Management System ( FMS)
b) Hierarchical Database System
c) Network Database System
d) Relational Database System
a) File Management System :- It is the one in which all data is stored on a single large file and it takes long time to search a file.This lead to introduction of indexing in the system. But then also this system has lots of drawbacks and due to this the Hierarchical Hatabase System introduced.
b) Hierarchical Database System :- It has parent- child relationship between records in database.The origin is called as root from which several branches have data at different levels and the last level is called the leaf.the main drawback is if there was any modification has to made the whole structure has to alter therefore next level introduced.
c). Network Database System :- Its based on many-many relationships.But this also followed the same technology of pointers to define relationships with a difference in this made in the introduction if grouping of data items as sets.
d). Relational Database System :- In this data is organized as table and each record forms a row with many attributes in it and realtionships between tables are also formed in this system.its better than the all the above.
FUTURE DATABASE MANAGEMENT :- Disk becomes obsolete, and all Oracle database are solid-state. Hardware costs fall so much that 70 percent of the IT budget is spent on programmers and database administrator (DBA).
by RAHUL SHARMA
SMU - A
2).Various types of ERP packages are :-
a) BLUE ERP :- BlueERP is a double entry accounting application for small and medium business. Written in PHP, it is delivered through a LAMP environment to provide web access to your accounts.
b) COMPIERE :- It is an open source ERP and CRM business solution for the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) in distribution, retail, service and manufacturing.
c) DOLIBARR :- It is an open source/free software for small and medium companies, foundations or freelances. It includes different features for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) but also other features for different activities.
d) ERP5 :- is a free Enterprise Resource Planning system based on the Zope application server.
e) GRR SOFTWARE :- Management and Reservation of Resources is a PHP/MySQL -based, web-accessed free entreprise resources planning software.
f) JFIRE :- It is an Enterprise Resource Planning and Customer Relationship Management system.The system has been written entirely in Java and is based on the technologies Java EE 1.4 Hence, both client and server can easily be extended and it requires only a relatively low effort to customize it for specific sectors or companies.
g) OPEN ERP :- is an ERP/CRM system.The software is claimed to be a complete ERP and CRM system. It has separate client and server components.
Customer relationship management (CRM) consists of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers. CRM software is used to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments.
There are various types of customer realationship mngt.they are as follows:-
1. Operational CRM
2.Sales (SFA)
3. Analytical CRM
4. Sales Intelligence CRM
5.Campaign Management
6.Collaborative CRM
7.Consumer Relationship CRM
Supply chain management software is designed to capture data about events and produce information in the form of reports so supply managers can evaluate their inventory operations.Few of its types are:-
1.Inventory management software must also address the various functional areas of supply chain automation such as lot and serial number tracking, binning, blanket supply, annual demand forecasting, batch picking, and order and returns processing.
2.Optical character recognition (OCR) is an important feature of supply chain management software or SCM software. Inventory tracking involves the scanning of stock with a barcode reader during the different supply chain management events
3.Supply chain management software or SCM software may also include radio frequency identification (RFID) features. Inventory personnel attach RFID tags to large products or expensive assets, or in cases where some other type of inventory identification is impractical.
BY RAHUL SHARMA
SMU -A
ANS.1
EVOLUTION OF DBMS: In the early days of computing, disk storage was extremely expensive. Most application systems ran in batch mode using data that was stored on magnetic tape. Data had to be read sequentially from flat files. For performance reasons, the management of data was tightly integrated with the application system.
As the cost of disk storage fell, opportunities to store data for real-time access arose. Specialized DBMS software emerged during the 1960s for the sole purpose of managing data. Application systems were then able to focus on the user interface, screen navigation, data validations etc. and could leave the data management tasks to the specialized DBMS technology. The application system simply had to call the DBMS when it needed to read or store data.
The early DBMS systems required that data be structured if a manner that was conducive to how it would be stored and/or accessed. Data was stored in database records that were linked to related data via "pointers". (i.e. hierarchical and network databases). Although speed of access was good, flexible access to data was not.
As the cost of data storage fell, it became feasible to store data in tables. This eliminated much data redundancy and provided much more flexible data access. Most DBMS databases today are relational.
Merits:
Data Consistency:
By controlling the data redundancy, the data consistency is obtained. If a data item appears only once, any update to its value has to be performed only once and the updated value (new value of item) is immediately available to all users. If the DBMS has controlled redundancy, the database system enforces consistency. It means that when data item that appears more than once . In the database is updated, the DBMS automatically updates each occurrence of a data item in the database. However some database systems do not support enforce data consistency.
Integration of Data:
In DBMS, data in database is stored in tables. A single database contains multiple tables and relationships can be created between tables (or associated data entities). This makes easy to retrieve and update data.
Database Access Language
Many DBMSs provide SQL as database access language e.g., SQL to access data from multiple tables of a database. Every DBMS has its own version of SQL.
Development of Application
The cost and time for developing new applications is also reduced. The DBMS provides tools that can be used to develop application programs. For example, some wizards are available to generate Forms and Reports. Stored procedures (stored on server side) also reduce the size of application programs.
More Advantages:
Data sharing, Controlling Data Redundancy ,Data Security, Data Atomicity, Creating Forms, Control Over Concurrency, Backup and Recovery Procedures, Data Independence.
Demerits:
1. Files can be easily copied from the system to flash devices (USB) and hence can be given to people who don't have the correct access.
2. Typing mistakes can cause serious problems if not corrected.
3. A virus attack can edit, copy, delete data easily.
4. Computer can be hacked and sensitive data accessed.
5. If backups are not taken on regular intervals, an accident like fire, earthquake, etc will cause loss of data that may not be recovered.
6. A bug in a customized DBMS will effect business as the system can't be used until it is fixed.
7. Large DBMS will require constant maintenance which might be costly.
8. Important DBMS will require redundant connections and servers which are expensive to buy, setup and maintain.
Ans. 2
ERP: ERP system, a software package must provide the function of at least two systems. For example, a software package that provides both payroll and accounting functions could technically be considered an ERP software package.
The term is typically reserved for larger, more broadly based applications. The introduction of an ERP system to replace two or more independent applications eliminates the need for external interfaces previously required between systems, and provides additional benefits that range for standardization and lower maintenance to easier and/or greater reporting capabilities.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: Supply chain is a network of organizations and business processes for procuring raw materials, transforming these material into intermediate and finished products, and distributing the finished products to customers. It links suppliers, manufacturing plants, distribution centers, retail outlets, and customers to supply goods and services from source through consumption. Materials, information, and payments flow through the supply chain in both directions.
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: CRM capture and integrate customer data from all over the organization, consolidate the data, analyze the data, and then distribute the results to various systems and customer touch points across the enterprise. A touch point is a method of interaction with the customer, such as telephone, e-mail, customer service desk, conventional mail, Web site, wireless device, or retail store.
Ans. 4
GREEN IT: It describes the study and the using of computer resources in an efficient way. Green IT starts with manufacturers producing environmentally friendly products and encouraging IT departments to consider more friendly options like virtualization, power management and proper recycling habits. The government has also recently proposed new compliance regulations which would work towards certifying data centers as green. Some criteria include using low-emission building materials, recycling, using alternative energy technologies, and other green technologies.
VIRTUALIZATION: If we have ever divided our hard drive into different partitions. A partition is the logical division of a hard disk drive to create, in effect, two separate hard drives. Virtualization is the use of software to allow a piece of hardware to run multiple operating system images at the same time. The technology got its start on mainframes decades ago, allowing administrators to avoid wasting expensive processing power.
CLOUD COMPUTING: Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.
BUSINESS ANALYTICS: Business analytics are defined as the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive modeling, and fact-based management to drive decision making.
SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE: Software as a Service (SaaS) is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand. SaaS software vendors may host the application on their own web servers or download the application to the consumer device, disabling it after use or after the on-demand contract expires. The on-demand function may be handled internally to share licenses within a firm or by a third-party application service provider (ASP) sharing licenses between firms.
WEB 2.0: The term "Web 2.0" refers to a perceived second generation of web development and design, that aims to facilitate communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications; such as social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis and blogs.
OPEN SOURCE: Open source is an approach to design, development, and distribution offering practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge). Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.
ANS. 5
IT used in a B2C: Business organization uses websites or portals to offer information about product, through multimedia clippings, catalogues, product configuration guidelines, customer histories and so on. A new customer interacts with the site and uses interactive order processing system for order placement. On placement of order, secured payment systems comes into operation to authorize and authenticate payment to seller. The delivery system then takes over to execute the delivery to customer.
In this the participants in E-business are an organization, and customer as an individual. The customer is an individual consumer. The E-business applications in B2C are the following:
Information delivery and sharing application
Transaction Processing application
IT used in a C2C: In this model, customer participates in the process of selling and buying through the auction website. In this model, website is used for personal advertising of products or services. E-newspaper website is an example of advertising and selling of goods to the consumer.
In this both the parties are individuals and play the role of buyer/seller as the case may be.
Information delivery and sharing application
Transaction processing application
ANSWER 1:-
DBMS are a set of software programs that controls the storage,organization, management, and retrieval of data in a database. DBMS are categorized according to their data structures or types. It is a set of prewritten programs that are used to store, update and retrieve a Database.
Tracing the evolution of DBMS we can see :-
1.General purpose dbms emerged in the year 1960 by COBOL known as IDS (Integrated Data Store) but lacked search or find command
2.IBM came out with its own dbms in 1968 known as IMS. Both IDS and IMS came to be known as navigational DBMS.
3. The year 1970 saw the emergence of Relational DBMS first being introduced by E.Codd of IBM where the concept of tables were added along with their link lists which could be addressed by keys known as primary and foreign keys.
4. 1978-1979 saw the emergence of SQL known as structured query language where one can find and search the data according to the reuirements of the clients
5.Currently, ORACLE leads in the DBMS field.
Merits of DBMS
1. Shared Data
2. centralized control
3.no disadvantages of redundancy control;
4. improved data integrity;
5. improved data security, and database systems; and,
6. flexible conceptual design
Demerits of DBMS
1. a complex conceptual design process;
2. the need for multiple external databases;
3. the need to hire database-related employees;
4. high DBMS acquisition costs;
5. a more complex programmer environment;
6. potentially catastrophic program failures;
7. a longer running time for individual applications;
8. highly dependent DBMS operations
FUTURE of DBMS
a. there is a potential for much future innovation in integrating structured and unstructured data
b. virtualizing access to data, and simplifying data management through greater automation and intelligence
c.In the next four years, DBMS technology will also evolve to support information fabric, virtualizing access to heterogeneous data.
d. a huge opportunity to integrate different types of data and content — structured,unstructured, and semistructured — for enhanced information sharing and control.
ANSWER 2
ERP-Enterprise resource planning (ERP) could be defined as a company-wide computer software system which is used to manage and coordinate all the information, functions and resources of a business from shared data stores.
The types of ERP software packages can be broadly divided into the following categories :
1. Free And Open Source ERP softwares e.g.
a.ERP5 -a Python based ERP system
b.WebERP- LAMP based
c.Free and Open Source ERP software-Adempiere
d.Compiere- a PHP based ERP System
e.OrangeHRM
f.OpenERP
g.Postbooks
h.DoliBarr
i.OffBizz- Apache Java baes ERP system
j.SQL-Ledger- use PErl and PostgreSQL
2. Proprietary ERP sotfware
e.g.
a.mySAP from SAP
b.SYSPRO from syspro
c.Momentum from CGI group
d.Orcale E-Business suite from Oracle
e.Mircosoft Dynamics AX,NAV,SL,GP from Microsoft
f. Maximo(MRO) from IBM
Customer relationship management (CRM)
It consists of the methods a company uses to organize and track its contacts with its customers both current and future.
Unlike the ERP, CRM software is used to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments. Typical CRM goals are to improve services provided to customers, and to use customer contact information for targeted marketing.
Typically, there different approaches to CRM which are:-
Operational CRM, Customer relationship system(CRS),Campaign management, collaborative CRM, sales intelligence CRM, Analytical CRM and Sales Force automation to name a few.
Some of the most popular software packages in CRM include:
Name Platform
Opentaps Java
Ofbiz Java
Openbravo Java
CiviCRM php
EBI Neutrino Java
eWay .net
Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Supply Chain Management encompasses the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing, procurement, conversion, and logistics management activities. The following are few examples of the softwares on SCM that are available :-
Numbers Only - @Par (For Small to Medium Businesses)
Datex - 3PL Warehouse Management (For Small Businesses)
nMetric - 4C@SITE (For All Businesses)
nMetric - 4C@SITE (For All Businesses)
Active Web Services - ActiveWeb Parts (For All Businesses)
Asprova - APS System Asprova (For Medium to Enterprise Businesses)
Factory Logic - Factory Logic Supply Synchronizer (For All Businesses)
ANSWER 3
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks.
A wide variety of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.
A large percentage of electronic commerce is conducted entirely electronically for virtual items such as access to premium content on a website, but most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in some way. Online retailers are sometimes known as e-tailers and online retail is sometimes known as e-tail.
Electronic commerce that is conducted between businesses is referred to as business-to-business or B2B. B2B can be open to all interested parties (e.g. commodity exchange) or limited to specific, pre-qualified participants (private electronic market). Electronic commerce that is conducted between businesses and consumers, on the other hand, is referred to as business-to-consumer or B2C. This is the type of electronic commerce conducted by companies such as Amazon.com.
Development of ERP
Timeline
• 1990: Tim Berners-Lee writes the first web browser, WorldWideWeb, using a NeXT computer.
• 1992: J.H. Snider and Terra Ziporyn publish Future Shop: How New Technologies Will Change the Way We Shop and What We Buy. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312063598.
• 1994: Netscape releases the Navigator browser in October under the code name Mozilla. Pizza Hut offers pizza ordering on its Web page. The first online bank opens. Attempts to offer flower delivery and magazine subscriptions online. Adult materials also becomes commercially available, as do cars and bikes. Netscape 1.0 is introduced in late 1994 SSL encryption that made transactions secure.
• 1995: Jeff Bezos launches Amazon.com and the first commercial-free 24 hour, internet-only radio stations, Radio HK and Net Radio start broadcasting. Dell and Cisco begin to aggressively use Internet for commercial transactions. eBay is founded by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb.
• 1998: Electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing from the Web.
• 1999: Business.com sold for US $7.5 million to eCompanies, which was purchased in 1997 for US $149,000. The peer-to-peer filesharing software Napster launches.
• 2000: The dot-com bust.
• 2002: eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion. Niche retail companies CSN Stores and NetShops are founded with the concept of selling products through several targeted domains, rather than a central portal.
• 2003: Amazon.com posts first yearly profit.
• 2007: Business.com acquired by R.H. Donnelley for $345 million.
• 2008: US eCommerce and Online Retail sales projected to reach $204 billion, an increase of 17 percent over 2007.
FUTURE
1. Social Bookmarking & Sharing of Products - examples of this at places like Kaboodle where users clip things they’ve seen on the web and then can share those lists and discuss them with others.
2. Virtual Dressing Rooms - Sites like Zafu let you tell it your clothing size and then it shows a 3d model of you and issues personalized recommendations. Could work perhaps for outdoor clothing.
3. User Generated Content - There’s lots of research around showing how ecommerce reviews help people make buying decisions that translates into a conversion rate uplift - and this can be standard reviews, product videos (hundreds on youtube), and even q/a sessions.
4. Getting the Basics Right - which is probably the most important of them all, from having the ability to contact a physical person in multiple ways (email, skype, phone, live online chat), having a really usable and enjoyable site, and a smooth checkout process.
5. Better Delivery Options - Night time deliveries, ability to pick-up products from multiple drop off points and return them, paying a membership fee each year to get exclusive delivery options, and being able to choose times within 30 minute windows.
ANSWER 4
Green IT is the practice of using computing resources efficiently. The goals are similar to green chemistry; reduce the use of hazardous materials, maximize energy efficiency during the product's lifetime, and promote recyclability or biodegradability of defunct products and factory waste.
Modern IT systems rely upon a complicated mix of people, networks and hardware; as such, a green computing initiative must be systemic in nature, and address increasingly sophisticated problems. Elements of such a solution may comprise items such as end user satisfaction, management restructuring, regulatory compliance, disposal of electronic waste, telecommuting, virtualization of server resources, energy use, thin client solutions, and return on investment (ROI).The imperative for companies to take control of their power consumption, for technology and more generally, therefore remains acute. In 2009, of the power management tools available, one of the most powerful may still be simple, plain, common sense.
In 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched Energy Star, a voluntary labeling program which is designed to promote and recognize energy-efficiency in monitors, climate control equipment, and other technologies. This resulted in the widespread adoption of sleep mode among consumer electronics. The term "green computing" was probably coined shortly after the Energy Star program began; there are several USENET posts dating back to 1992 which use the term in this manner.[2] Concurrently, the Swedish organization TCO Development launched the TCO Certification program to promote low magnetic and electrical emissions from CRT-based computer displays; this program was later expanded to include criteria on energy consumption, ergonomics, and the use of hazardous materials in construction.
Approaches to Green IT
• Algorithmic efficiency
• Virtualization
• Storage
• Terminal servers
• Video Card
• Display
• Operating system issues
• Materials recycling
• Power management and Power Supply
VIRTUALIZATION
Virtualization is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as an operating system, a server, a storage device or network resources.
Operating system virtualization is the use of software to allow a piece of hardware to run multiple operating system images at the same time. The technology got its start on mainframes decades ago, allowing administrators to avoid wasting expensive processing power.
In 2005, virtualization software was adopted faster than anyone imagined, including the experts. There are three areas of IT where virtualization is making headroads, network virtualization, storage virtualization and server virtualization:
• Network virtualization is a method of combining the available resources in a network by splitting up the available bandwidth into channels, each of which is independent from the others, and each of which can be assigned (or reassigned) to a particular server or device in real time. The idea is that virtualization disguises the true complexity of the network by separating it into manageable parts, much like your partitioned hard drive makes it easier to manage your files.
• Storage virtualization is the pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console. Storage virtualization is commonly used in storage area networks (SANs).
• Server virtualization is the masking of server resources (including the number and identity of individual physical servers, processors, and operating systems) from server users. The intention is to spare the user from having to understand and manage complicated details of server resources while increasing resource sharing and utilization and maintaining the capacity to expand later.
Virtualization can be viewed as part of an overall trend in enterprise IT that includes autonomic computing, a scenario in which the IT environment will be able to manage itself based on perceived activity, and utility computing, in which computer processing power is seen as a utility that clients can pay for only as needed. The usual goal of virtualization is to centralize administrative tasks while improving scalability and workloads.
Cloud Computing
Here tasks are assigned to a combination of connections, software and services accessed over a network. This network of servers and connections is collectively known as "the cloud." Computing at the scale of the cloud allows users to access supercomputer-level power. Users can access resources as they need them. For this reason, cloud computing has also been described as "on-demand computing."
This vast processing power is made possible though distributed, large-scale cluster computing, often in concert with server virtualization software, like Xen, and parallel processing. Cloud computing can be contrasted with the traditional desktop computing model, where the resources of a single desktop computer are used to complete tasks, and an expansion of the client/server model.
Cloud computing is often used to sort through enormous amounts of data. Google has an initial edge in cloud computing precisely because of its need to produce instant, accurate results for millions of incoming search inquries every day, parsing through the terabytes of Internet data cached on its servers. Google's approach has been to design and manufacture hundreds of thousands of its own servers from commodity components, connecting relatively inexpensive processors in parallel to create an immensely powerful, scalable system. Google Apps, Maps and Gmail are all based in the cloud.
Cloud computing allows users and companies to pay for and use the services and storage that they need, when they need them and, as wireless broadband connection options grow, where they need them. Customers can be billed based upon server utilization, processing power used or bandwidth consumed. As a result, cloud computing has the potential to upend the software industry entirely, as applications are purchased, licensed and run over the network instead of a user's desktop. This shift will put data centers and their administrators at the center of the distributed network, as processing power, electricity, bandwidth and storage are all managed remotely.
Business Analytics
Businesses analytics represent a part of business intelligence. The other part of business intelligence is querying, reporting, OLAP, and "alerts". The questions that business analytics can answer represent more proactive and higher value questions than questions other business intelligence tools can answer. In other words, querying, reporting, OLAP, and "alert" tools can answer the questions: what happened; how many, how often, where; where exactly is the problem; what actions are needed.
Business analytics can answer the questions:
• why is this happening;
• what if these trends continue;
• what will happen next;
• what is the best that can happen?
Capital One uses data analysis to differentiate among customers based on credit risk, usage and other characteristics and then to match customer characteristics with appropriate product offerings. Harrah’s, the gaming firm, uses analytics in its customer loyalty programs. E & J Gallo Winery quantitatively analyzes and predicts the appeal of its wines. Between 2002 and 2005, Deere & Company saved more than $1 billion by employing a new analytical tool to better optimize inventory.
Analytics been used in business since the time management exercises initiated by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the late 19th century. Henry Ford measured pacing of assembly line. But analytics began to command more attention in the late 1960s when computers were used in decision support systems. Since then, analytics have evolved with the development of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, data warehouses, and a wide variety of other hardware and software tools and applications.
Software as a service
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network, typically the Internet.
SaaS is becoming an increasingly prevalent delivery model as underlying technologies that support Web services and service-oriented architecture (SOA) mature and new developmental approaches, such as Ajax, become popular. Meanwhile, broadband service has become increasingly available to support user access from more areas around the world.
SaaS is closely related to the ASP (application service provider) and On Demand Computing software delivery models. IDC identifies two slightly different delivery models for SaaS. The hosted application management (hosted AM) model is similar to ASP: a provider hosts commercially available software for customers and delivers it over the Web. In the software on demand model, the provider gives customers network-based access to a single copy of an application created specifically for SaaS distribution. IDC predicts that SaaS will make up 30 percent of the software market by 2007 and will be worth $10.7 billion by 2009.
Benefits of the SaaS model include:
• easier administration
• automatic updates and patch management
• compatibility: All users will have the same version of software.
• easier collaboration, for the same reason
• global accessibility.
WEB 2.0
Web 2.0 (or Web 2) is the popular term for advanced Internet technology and applications including blogs, wikis, RSS and social bookmarking. The two major components of Web 2.0 are the technological advances enabled by Ajax and other new applications such as RSS and Eclipse and the user empowerment that they support.
Tim O'Reilly is generally credited with inventing the term, following a conference dealing with next-generation Web concepts and issues held by O'Reilly Media and MediaLive International in 2004. O'Reilly Media has subsequently been energetic about trying to copyright "Web 2.0" and holds an annual conference of the same name.
One of the most significant differences between Web 2.0 and the traditional World Wide Web (retroactively referred to as Web 1.0) is greater collaboration among Internet users and other users, content providers, and enterprises.
Originally, data was posted on Web sites, and users simply viewed or downloaded the content. Increasingly, users have more input into the nature and scope of Web content and in some cases exert real-time control over it. For example, multiple-vendor online book outlets such as BookFinder4U make it possible for users to upload book reviews as well as find rare and out-of-print books at a minimum price, and dynamic encyclopedias such as Wikipedia allow users to create and edit the content of a worldwide information database in multiple languages. Internet forums have become more extensive and led to the proliferation of blogging. The dissemination of news evolved into RSS.
There is no clear-cut demarcation between Web 2.0 and Web 1.0 technologies, hardware and applications. The distinction is, to a large extent, subjective. Here are a few characteristics often noted as descriptive of Web 2.0:
• blogging
• Ajax and other new technologies
• Google Base and other free Web services
• RSS-generated syndication
• social bookmarking
• mash-ups
• wikis and other collaborative applications
• dynamic as opposed to static site content
• interactive encyclopedias and dictionaries
• ease of data creation, modification or deletion by individual users
• advanced gaming.
Critics of Web 2.0 maintain that it makes it too easy for the average person to affect online content and that, as a result, the credibility, ethics and even legality of Web content could suffer. Defenders of Web 2.0 point out that these problems have existed ever since the infancy of the medium and that the alternative -- widespread censorship based on ill-defined elitism -- would be far worse. The final judgment concerning any Web content, say the defenders, should be made by end users alone. Web 2.0 reflects evolution in that direction.
OPEN SOURCE
Open source is an approach to design, development, and distribution offering practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge). Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.
The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development. The principles and practices are commonly applied to the peer production development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration. The result of this peer-based collaboration is usually released as open-source software; however open source methods are increasingly being applied in other fields such as Biotechnology.
ANSWER5
IT and Business-to-Consumer (B2C): –B2C describes activities of businesses serving end consumers with products and services. Business organization uses websites or portals to offer information about product, through multimedia clippings, catalogues, product configuration guidelines, customer histories and so on. A new customer interacts with the site and uses interactive order processing system for order placement. On placement of order, secured payment systems comes into operation to authorize and authenticate payment to seller.
The delivery system then takes over to execute the delivery to customer. In this the participants in E-business are an organization, and customer as an individual. The customer is an individual consumer. The E-business applications in B2C are the following:
Information delivery and sharing application
Transaction processing application
IT and Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C): – C2C includes auction websites and electronic personal advertising. Electronic commerce involves the electronically-facilitated transactions between consumers through some third party.
A common example is the online auction, in which a consumer posts an item for sale and other consumers bid to purchase it; the third party generally charges a flat fee or commission. The sites are only intermediaries, just there to match consumers. They do not have to check quality of the products being offered.
Example:
The following are 10 best online sites as of 2009:
• ebay
• ebid
• online auction
• oZiton
• Overstock
• Webid
• CQout
• Ubid
• Epier
• Shopgoodwil
This are just the tip on the vast amount of sites that have grown in the past years thus showing the changing trends that how people are now willing to spend more of their time and money online.
CONSUMER IT
Information technology was once the exclusive realm of the IT professional. Users were concerned not with technology issues but with technology results. If I had to pinpoint when that changed, I’d say it was probably with the launch of Windows 95. The hype that surrounded Microsoft’s marketing blitz gave consumers their first real exposure to the world of technology. Among those waiting in line all night to buy a copy were people who didn’t even own a computer. If you can sell an operating system to someone without a CPU, you have reached the ultimate in marketing, as far as I’m concerned.
Today, consumers have taken on many of the same roles as IT professionals — in fact, they are often working on more complicated tasks, such as streaming live video feeds from their homes to their phones. Dad is the CIO, Mom runs the help desk, and the kids are doing technical support and stringing Cat 5 wire around the house. If users are feeling more comfortable with IT, it’s because they’ve been thrust into these roles at home, where they are keeping technology running without the benefit of a dedicated IT department. They’re also more interested in technology issues — just check how many technology sites users visit from work.
Now granted, there’s a big difference in the things consumers are doing and the challenges that IT managers face, but consumer familiarity with technical tasks means that more users are techno literate than ever before. And that means they’re going to want to express their opinions about how things should be done.
But users’ priorities are different from IT’s. For example, form factor is a major consideration for consumers. It was not that long ago that all PCs looked the same. PCs were PCs. If you wanted to market a server, you turned the PC on its side; if you needed a workstation, you painted it blue; and if you wanted a mobile computer, you just glued a handle on the top. Today, PCs are as much about fashion and style as they are about feeds and speeds.
This, of course, has ramifications for IT departments. IT is getting more requests for new laptops based on form and style, and not just from top executives. And increasingly, users are taking matters into their own hands and making technology purchases on their own. Whether it’s buying a cool new laptop to replace the organizational behemoth they were issued, installing a new operating system like Windows Vista, or purchasing a smart phone and asking IT to make it work with corporate e-mail, users are demanding more of a voice in IT decisions.
Yes, consumer technology is often unsuitable for business use, but IT organizations must begin to pay attention to what consumers want. The line that once existed between home and work is eroding, and people want to use personal devices to bridge that gap.
There is no one answer to how IT organizations will deal with this new reality. Different companies will exercise different degrees of control based on their comfort with the risks involved and the amount of individual device adoption they can absorb. But IT people need to not only recognize the changes in the landscape, but also remember whom they work for.
By definition, E-commerce involves carrying out commerce on the web, which includes buying and selling of products on the web. The term, e-business, is about carrying out any business on the web and is broader than e-commerce. Various types of corporations are now in ebusiness, including corporations that provide consulting as well as solutions and products such as IBM, and smaller corporations such as the Dot-Com companies. Some of these smaller corporations can connect consumers with healthcare providers, lawyers, real estate agents and other professionals who provide services of various kinds. Consulting companies may come in and assess the state of a corporation’s business practices, and advise it on how to develop ebusiness solutions. One of the latest trends is to provide fully integrated enterprise resource management and business process reengineering capabilities on the web. A strong business component is essential for e-business. Technology will provide only the tools to make e-business more efficient.
Business-to-consumer e-commerce is when a consumer such as a member of the mass population makes purchases on the web (see figure 2-3). In the toy manufacturer example, the purchase between the individual and the toy manufacturer is a business-to-consumer transaction.
Business-to-consumer e-commerce has grown tremendously during recent years. While computer hardware purchases still constitute the leading application for e-commerce transactions, purchasing toys, apparel, software, and even groceries via the web have also increased. But many experts believe that the real future will be in business-to-business transactions, as this will involve much greater amounts of transactions. Furthermore, for organizations to work across boundaries, we need effective business-to-business c-commerce.
Sayantan Dey
SMU Sem II
E-commerce refers to the use of the internet and the web to transact business. Its all about digital enabled commercial transaction between and among organization and individual. This means transaction that occurs over the internet and the web. E-commerce began in 1995 when one of the first internet portal, netscape.com, accepted the first ads from major corporation and popularized the idea that the web could be used as a new medium for advertising and sales. In this E-commerce revenues have grown exponentially since 1995 and have recently slowed down to a very rapid 25 percent annual increase, Which is projected to remain same in 2008.
BENEFITS
1. Business Transformation – The 1st thing in e-commerce transformed the business world of book , music, and air travel. Breadth of e-commerce offering grows ,especially in travel , information clearing house, entertainment, appliances, and home furnishing. Next the online demographic of shoppers matches that of ordinary shoppers.
2. Technology foundation – wireless internet connection such as wi-fi ,wimax and 3g mobile phone grow rapidly. Podcasting takes a new medium for distribution. Rich site summary grows to become a major new form of user controlled distribution. computing and networking component price continues to fall dramatically.
3. New Business Model Emerges.- blogs are formed for advertising. News papers and other traditional media adopt online, interactive model.
FUTURE OF THIS E-COMMERCE
1.market place is extended beyond its boundaries. Shoppin can take place any where . customer convenience is enhanced.
2.information will become more plentiful, cheap, accurate. Due to which currency , accuracy and timeliness improve greaterly.
3. Customization of product and services will be based on individual characteristic.
Virtualization
Virtualization is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as an operating system, a server, a storage device or network resources.
You probably know a little about virtualization if you have ever divided your hard drive into different partitions. A partition is the logical division of a hard disk drive to create, in effect, two separate hard drives.
Operating system virtualization is the use of software to allow a piece of hardware to run multiple operating system images at the same time. The technology got its start on mainframes decades ago, allowing administrators to avoid wasting expensive processing power.
In 2005, virtualization software was adopted faster than anyone imagined, including the experts. There are three areas of IT where virtualization is making headroads, network virtualization, storage virtualization and server virtualization:
• Network virtualization is a method of combining the available resources in a network by splitting up the available bandwidth into channels, each of which is independent from the others, and each of which can be assigned (or reassigned) to a particular server or device in real time. The idea is that virtualization disguises the true complexity of the network by separating it into manageable parts, much like your partitioned hard drive makes it easier to manage your files.
• Storage virtualization is the pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console. Storage virtualization is commonly used in storage area networks (SANs).
• Server virtualization is the masking of server resources (including the number and identity of individual physical servers, processors, and operating systems) from server users. The intention is to spare the user from having to understand and manage complicated details of server resources while increasing resource sharing and utilization and maintaining the capacity to expand later.
Virtualization can be viewed as part of an overall trend in enterprise IT that includes autonomic computing, a scenario in which the IT environment will be able to manage itself based on perceived activity, and utility computing, in which computer processing power is seen as a utility that clients can pay for only as needed. The usual goal of virtualization is to centralize administrative tasks while improving scalability and workloads.
Open Source
In general, open source refers to any program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit. (Historically, the makers of proprietary software have generally not made source code available.) Open source software is usually developed as a public collaboration and made freely available.
2) Open Source is a certification mark owned by the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Developers of software that is intended to be freely shared and possibly improved and redistributed by others can use the Open Source trademark if their distribution terms conform to the OSI's Open Source Definition. To summarize, the Definition model of distribution terms require that:
• The software being distributed must be redistributed to anyone else without any restriction
• The source code must be made available (so that the receiving party will be able to improve or modify it)
• The license can require improved versions of the software to carry a different name or version from the original software
The idea is very similar to that behind free software and the copyleft concept of the Free Software Foundation. Open Source is the result of a long-time movement toward software that is developed and improved by a group of volunteers cooperating together on a network. Many parts of the Unix operating system were developed this way, including today's most popular version, Linux. Linux uses applications from the GNU project, which was guided by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation. The Open Source Definition, spearheaded by Eric Raymond (editor of The New Hacker's Dictionary), is an effort to provide a branded model or guideline for this kind of software distribution and redistribution. The OSI considers the existing software distribution licenses used by GNU, BSD (a widely-distributed version of UNIX), X Window System, and Artistic to be conformant with the Open Source Definition.
Prior to its acquisition by AOL, Netscape, in an effort to stay viable in its browser competition with Microsoft, made its browser source code (codenamed Mozilla) freely available, encouraging hacker to improve it. Possible enhancements will presumably be incorporated into future versions. The open source movement has gained momentum as commercial enterprises have begun to consider Linux as an open alternative to Windows operating systems.
Prashant Guha
SMU Sem 2
Open Source
In general, open source refers to any program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit. (Historically, the makers of proprietary software have generally not made source code available.) Open source software is usually developed as a public collaboration and made freely available.
2) Open Source is a certification mark owned by the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Developers of software that is intended to be freely shared and possibly improved and redistributed by others can use the Open Source trademark if their distribution terms conform to the OSI's Open Source Definition. To summarize, the Definition model of distribution terms require that:
• The software being distributed must be redistributed to anyone else without any restriction
• The source code must be made available (so that the receiving party will be able to improve or modify it)
• The license can require improved versions of the software to carry a different name or version from the original software
The idea is very similar to that behind free software and the copyleft concept of the Free Software Foundation. Open Source is the result of a long-time movement toward software that is developed and improved by a group of volunteers cooperating together on a network. Many parts of the Unix operating system were developed this way, including today's most popular version, Linux. Linux uses applications from the GNU project, which was guided by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation. The Open Source Definition, spearheaded by Eric Raymond (editor of The New Hacker's Dictionary), is an effort to provide a branded model or guideline for this kind of software distribution and redistribution. The OSI considers the existing software distribution licenses used by GNU, BSD (a widely-distributed version of UNIX), X Window System, and Artistic to be conformant with the Open Source Definition.
Prior to its acquisition by AOL, Netscape, in an effort to stay viable in its browser competition with Microsoft, made its browser source code (codenamed Mozilla) freely available, encouraging hacker to improve it. Possible enhancements will presumably be incorporated into future versions. The open source movement has gained momentum as commercial enterprises have begun to consider Linux as an open alternative to Windows operating systems.
Virtualization
Virtualization is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as an operating system, a server, a storage device or network resources.
You probably know a little about virtualization if you have ever divided your hard drive into different partitions. A partition is the logical division of a hard disk drive to create, in effect, two separate hard drives.
Operating system virtualization is the use of software to allow a piece of hardware to run multiple operating system images at the same time. The technology got its start on mainframes decades ago, allowing administrators to avoid wasting expensive processing power.
In 2005, virtualization software was adopted faster than anyone imagined, including the experts. There are three areas of IT where virtualization is making headroads, network virtualization, storage virtualization and server virtualization:
• Network virtualization is a method of combining the available resources in a network by splitting up the available bandwidth into channels, each of which is independent from the others, and each of which can be assigned (or reassigned) to a particular server or device in real time. The idea is that virtualization disguises the true complexity of the network by separating it into manageable parts, much like your partitioned hard drive makes it easier to manage your files.
• Storage virtualization is the pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console. Storage virtualization is commonly used in storage area networks (SANs).
• Server virtualization is the masking of server resources (including the number and identity of individual physical servers, processors, and operating systems) from server users. The intention is to spare the user from having to understand and manage complicated details of server resources while increasing resource sharing and utilization and maintaining the capacity to expand later.
Virtualization can be viewed as part of an overall trend in enterprise IT that includes autonomic computing, a scenario in which the IT environment will be able to manage itself based on perceived activity, and utility computing, in which computer processing power is seen as a utility that clients can pay for only as needed. The usual goal of virtualization is to centralize administrative tasks while improving scalability and workloads.
Prashant Guha
SMU SEM 2
Q.2 –
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a company-wide computer software system used to manage and coordinate all the resources, information, and functions of a business from shared data stores.
OR
A cross-functional enterprise system driven by an integrated suite of software modules that supports the basic internal business processes of a company.
Some ERP Softwares are:-
• BlueErp, a PHP based ERP System
• Compiere, a Java based ERP-System
• Openbravo, a Java based ERP-System
• Oracle e-Business Suite from Oracle
• GRR (software), a PHP/MySQL -based, web-accessed free ERP system
• JFire, a Java based ERP-System from Night Labs
• PeopleSoft from Oracle
• SAP R/3 from SAP
Customer relationship management (CRM) consists of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers. CRM software is used to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments. The CRM goals are to improve services provided to customers, and to use customer contact information for targeted marketing.
OR
Customer relationship management is a cross-functional enterprise system that integrates and automates many of the customer-serving processes in sales, marketing, and customer services that interact with a company’s customers.
Some CRM Software Packages are:-
• EBI Neutrino R1 CRM java
• OpenERP - java
• Compiere - java
• Adempiere - java
• Openbravo - java
• Ofbiz - java
• xTuple - integrated ERP, C++
• Vtiger_CRM - php
• SugarCRM - php
• CiviCRM - php
• Opentaps - java
• eWay CRM - .NET (For single user only)
Supply chain management (SCM) is a cross-functional inter-enterprise system that integrates and automates the network of business processes and relationships between a company and its suppliers, customers, distributors, and other business partners.
Some SCM Software Packages include:-
• 7Hills Business Solutions
• I2 Technologies
• SAP AG
• Oracle Corporation
• JDA
• HighJump Software
• Manhattan Associates
• Industrial and Financial Systems
• Management Dynamics Inc
• Kewill
BY:-
SAURABH SHRIVASTAVA
(SMU 2nd Sem )
ANSWER NO . 6
TRENDS IN CONSUMER IT -
There are many ways to electronic commerce transaction.one is by lookin to the nature of the participatants in the electronic commerce transaction.There are 3 major trends in consumer it dat r as follows –
1. Business to-consumer electronic commerce (B2C) involves retailing products and services to individual shoppers. Barnesandnoble.com, which sell book, softhware , and music to individual consumers.
2. Business-to-business electronic commerce(B2B)involves sales of goods and services among businesses. ChemConnects web site for buying and selling natural gas liquids, refined and intermediate fuels, chemicals, and plastic
3. Consumer-to-consumer electronic commerce(C2C) involves consumer selling directly to consumers. For example eBay, the giant web auction site, enables people to sell their goods to other consumers by auctioning the merchandise off to the higgest bidder.
(4)
(a)Green IT:
Green IT provides services to enable clients to drive measurable financial and environmental benefits from programs for IT Eco-Efficiency and IT Eco-Innovation.
Green IT is a progressive consultancy that serves clients in three primary markets:
•Leaders in IT, Finance, Marketing, and Corporate Social Responsibility actively involved in sustainability initiatives.
•Real Estate Professionals looking to make commercial property more competitive and environmentally responsible.
•IT System and Equipment Providers and Distributors seeking to understand and communicate the sustainability attributes of their products.
(b)Virtualization:
It is a broad term that refers to the abstraction of computer resources.
•Platform virtualization, which separates an operating system from the underlying platform resources.
•Resource virtualization, the virtualization of specific system resources, such as storage volumes, name spaces, and network resources.
•Network virtualization, creation of a virtualized network addressing space within or across network subnets.
(c) Cloud Computing
It is Internet ("cloud") based development and use of computer technology ("computing"). It is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualised resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.
The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals.
(d) Business Analytics:
According to Thomas Davenport, analytics are defined as the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive modeling, and fact-based management to drive decision making. Analytics may be used as input for human decisions or may drive fully automated decisions. Businesses analytics represent a subset of business intelligence. The other part of business intelligence is data access and reporting. The questions that business analytics can answer represent more proactive and higher value questions than questions data access and reporting can answer. Business analytics can answer the questions: why is this happening; what if these trends continue; what will happen next; what is the best than can happpen.
(e) Software as a Service:
It is (SaaS, typically pronounced 'sass') is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand. SaaS software vendors may host the application on their own web-servers or download the application to the consumer device, disabling it after use or after the on-demand contract expires. The on-demand function may be handled internally to share licenses within a firm or by a third-party application service provider (ASP) sharing licenses between firms.
(f) Web 2.0 :
Web 2.0 encapsulates the idea of the proliferation of interconnectivity and interactivity of web-delivered content. Tim O'Reilly regards Web 2.0 as the way that business embraces the strengths of the web and uses it as a platform.
Web 2.0 technology encourages lightweight business models enabled by syndication of content and of service and by ease of picking-up by early adopters. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications; such as social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies.
(g) Open Source:
Open source is an approach to design, development, and distribution offering practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge). Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development.
1. Chalk out the evolution of Database Management Systems and their relative merits/ demerits. Also depict the future of Database Systems.
An information system provides its users with accurate and relevant data, i.e data which is free of errors, it is available to the users as and when it is necessary and it should be appropriate for the type of work that requires it. In the earlier days organizations had the traditional file systems. Here every department had its own systems. Each system in turn had certain files in it. Which were maintained by separate division. As years went by the programs started stacking up, with it started the problem of data redundancy and inconsistency, Program-data dependence, inflexibility, poor data security, and inability to share data among applications. Thus the concept of Database came into being. It is a software the allows an organization to keep all the data in one place so that it can be accessed by all, manage it easily and give access to stored data by application programs. It relives the user from the task of searching for the data.
Merits of DBMS:
• Data redundancy and inconsistency is reduced by isolating files which have the same data repeated.
• Access and availability of data is increased.
• It allows an organization to centrally manage their data, its use and security.
• It allows coupling of stored data with the programs
Demerits of DBMS:
• High cost for providing security.
• Multiple user access to data is not possible.
Future of DBMS: It is needed in all fields, in finance as financial transactions, in HR to maintain data on employees, in Information system to provide data management tools and expertise to the organization, in sales and marketing to track customer purchases.
2. Mention the ways in which the E-Commerce has evolved, the early adopters, the benefits served and the future of this technology (do mention corresponding names and years).
E-commerce began in 1995. It refers to the use of internet and web to transact business. Netscape.com accepted the first ads from major corporations and popularized the idea of using the net to advertise and sell. The dot-com bubble burst in March 2001.In 2007 the overall e-commerce revenues looked positive.
In the initial days it transformed the world of books, music and air travel. Then came the telephone, movies, television, jewelry, real estates, hotels etc.
Benefits:
• It is available everywhere. We can shop using it from home, office, car etc.
• It can be conveniently used for commercial transaction to cross cultural and national boundaries and cost effectively.
• The technical standards for conducting e-commerce are universal since they are available to all. They are shared by all nations around the world.
• Richness: Video, audio and text messages are possible.
• It allows two way communications. Buyers can interact with the sellers.
• It reduces the information cost and provides high quality.
• The technology allows personalized messages to be delivered to individuals as well as groups.
After the e-commerce revolution Individuals and organizations are increasingly using the internet to conduct commerce as more products come online and more households switch to broadband. User generated content in the form of blogs and social networks grow to form an entirely new self-publishing forum.
3. Identify the trends in Consumer IT (the IT used in a B2C and C2C context).
E-commerce process model works in four ways:
B2C: Business organization to customer
B2B: Business organization to Business
C2B: Customer to Business organization
C2C: Customer to customer.
The IT used in B2C: It involves retailing products and services to individual shoppers, Barnesandnoble.com, which sells books, software and music to individual customers is an example. The business organizations use the websites or portals to spread information about their products, through multimedia clippings, catalogs, product configuration guidelines. A new customer interacts with the site and uses interactive order processing system for order placement. On placement of order, secured payment systems comes into operation to authorize and permit payment to sellers. The delivery system the takes over to execute the delivery to customer.
The IT in C2C: It involves consumers selling directly to consumers. E-bay permits people to sell their goods to other customers through auctions & the merchandise off to the highest bidder. Personal advertisements of products or services can be done. E news paper website is an example.
ROBINSON JACOB
SMU-“A”SEC
I.S.B.R
3. E-Commerce was birth out of the World-Wide-Web (WWW).In the 1960s, businesses realized that many of the documents they exchange
related to the shipping of goods - such as invoices, purchase orders,
and bills of lading - and included the same set of information for almost
every transaction. They also realized that they were spending a good deal
of time and money entering these data into their computers, printing paper forms,
and then re-entering the data on the other side of the transaction. Although the
purchase order, invoice, and bill of lading for each transaction contained much of
the same information such as item numbers, descriptions, prices and quantities -
each paper form had its own unique format for presenting that information.
By creating a set of standard formats for transmitting that information electronically,
businesses were able to reduce errors, avoid printing and mailing costs, and eliminate
the need to re-enter the data.
Benefits of E-Commerce-
Expanded Geographical Reach
Expanded Customer Base
Increase Visibility through Search Engine Marketing
Provide Customers valuable information about your business
Build Customer Loyalty
Reduction of Marketing and Advertising Costs
Collection of Customer Data
Future of E-Commerce-
Despite the fact that online sales are growing exponentially, some analysts believe that e-commerce is heading for a fall. Laurie Windham justifies her belief that as time goes on, sales will decrease instead of increasing. Windham believes that net consumers are very different than mall shoppers and catalog shoppers. Furthermore, she says that dot-coms are responsible for ruining their own chances to sell because they have spoiled customers to the point that consumers expect cheap prices and freebies and if they don't get them, they just move on to another site. E-commerce, Windham says, is a fickle world with little, if any, customer loyalty (Fortune, 2000).
Web 2.0
The bursting of the dot-com bubble in the fall of 2001 marked a turning point for the web. Many people concluded that the web was overhyped, when in fact bubbles and consequent shakeouts appear to be a common feature of all technological revolutions. Shakeouts typically mark the point at which an ascendant technology is ready to take its place at center stage. The pretenders are given the bum's rush, the real success stories show their strength, and there begins to be an understanding of what separates one from the other.
The concept of "Web 2.0" began with a conference brainstorming session between O'Reilly and MediaLive International. Dale Dougherty, web pioneer and O'Reilly VP, noted that far from having "crashed", the web was more important than ever, with exciting new applications and sites popping up with surprising regularity. What's more, the companies that had survived the collapse seemed to have some things in common. Could it be that the dot-com collapse marked some kind of turning point for the web, such that a call to action such as "Web 2.0" might make sense? We agreed that it did, and so the Web 2.0 Conference was born.
In the year and a half since, the term "Web 2.0" has clearly taken hold, with more than 9.5 million citations in Google. But there's still a huge amount of disagreement about just what Web 2.0 means, with some people decrying it as a meaningless marketing buzzword, and others accepting it as the new conventional wisdom.
This article is an attempt to clarify just what we mean by Web 2.0.
In our initial brainstorming, we formulated our sense of Web 2.0 by example:
Web 1.0 Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> Napster
Britannica Online --> Wikipedia
personal websites --> blogging
evite --> upcoming.org and EVDB
domain name speculation --> search engine optimization
page views --> cost per click
screen scraping --> web services
publishing --> participation
content management systems --> wikis
directories (taxonomy) --> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness --> syndication
The list went on and on. But what was it that made us identify one application or approach as "Web 1.0" and another as "Web 2.0"? (The question is particularly urgent because the Web 2.0 meme has become so widespread that companies are now pasting it on as a marketing buzzword, with no real understanding of just what it means. The question is particularly difficult because many of those buzzword-addicted startups are definitely not Web 2.0, while some of the applications we identified as Web 2.0, like Napster and BitTorrent, are not even properly web applications!) We began trying to tease out the principles that are demonstrated in one way or another by the success stories of web 1.0 and by the most interesting of the new applications.
Prashant Guha
www.enigmaticpieces.blogspot.com
1. Database management system:
A collection of programs that enables you to store, modify, and extract information from a database. There are many different types of DBMSs, ranging from small systems that run on personal computers to huge systems that run on mainframes. The following are examples of database applications:
• computerized library systems
• automated teller machines
• flight reservation systems
• computerized parts inventory systems
From a technical standpoint, DBMSs can differ widely. The terms relational, network, flat, and hierarchical all refer to the way a DBMS organizes information internally. The internal organization can affect how quickly and flexibly you can extract information.
Requests for information from a database are made in the form of a query, which is a stylized question. For example, the query
SELECT ALL WHERE NAME = "SMITH" AND AGE > 35
requests all records in which the NAME field is SMITH and the AGE field is greater than 35. The set of rules for constructing queries is known as a query language. Different DBMSs support different query languages, although there is a semi-standardized query language called SQL (structured query language). Sophisticated languages for managing database systems are called fourth-generation languages, or 4GLs for short.
The information from a database can be presented in a variety of formats. Most DBMSs include a report writer program that enables you to output data in the form of a report. Many DBMSs also include a graphics component that enables you to output information in the form of graphs and charts.
Future of Database Systems:
Database management systems (DBMSs) are at a crossroads, perhaps the first since their successful entry into the information-processing marketplace. On the one hand, relational systems have been enormously successful, creating a multibillion-dollar industry over the last two decades. On the other, current technological developments and application demands are severely testing the limits of current commercial systems. Failure to address these changes and demands may result in the marginalization of database management with more and more data stored elsewhere and managed by systems without typical database functionality (e.g., querying, transactional support, integrity enforcement). The following are some of my views on the challenges and the directions that seem to be important to investigate.
Changing Applications
The unsuitability of the existing (relational) DBMSs in servicing the data management requirements of complex (aka `advanced') application domains is a well known (and much repeated) fact. Most of the problems arise from the multiplicity and complexity of data types and the uncertainty of accessing them. Existing systems are optimized to manage structured data of a few relatively simple types. Users are expected to pose well-formed queries and/or simple transactions to access the database. All of these issues change in new applications that now demand DBMS services. Most of these applications deal with multiple types of quite complex data that are not well structured; user access to these data is ill-defined, requiring partial match searches, and the transactional access to the data is at workflow complexity. Since many of these applications exhibit multimedia characteristics, I ll use multimedia information systems to demonstrate some of the issues. What are the characteristics of multimedia data that differentiate these databases from traditional ones?
• Multimedia objects are diverse with differing characteristics. The storage and access requirements of text, for example, are quite different from those of audio and video. Furthermore, some of these data have real-time constraints in their delivery to client stations.
• Multimedia objects are large. For example, each of the following takes 1 Mbytes of storage in uncompressed form [1]: six seconds of CD-quality audio, a single 640x480 color image with 24 bits/pixel, a single frame of (1/30 second) CIF video, or one digital X-ray image (1024x1024) with 8 bits/pixel.
• Multimedia objects are complex in their structure. The primitive objects are not simple structured data (eg, names, addresses, and salaries of employees), but rather consist of digitized voice and images. Multimedia documents are structured complex objects containing a number of these primitive objects. There should be facilities available for (a) accessing this information based on the semantic content of the objects, and (b) accessing different components of these objects. Furthermore, there are relationships among multimedia objects (i.e., classification, specialization/generalization, and aggregation hierarchies) that need to be modeled.
• Multimedia objects have temporal and spatial relationships to each other in addition to the structural relationships described above. These relationships should be modeled explicitly as part of the stored data.
• Multimedia applications require users to be able to define new data types as part of the schema. This points to the need for extensible DBMSs. Furthermore, these applications add and delete new object types dynamically. Therefore, multimedia systems do not have static schemas and the data management system needs to be able to handle dynamic schema changes.
• User access to multimedia databases is complex and possibly ill-defined. This requires query models and languages that can deal with incomplete information and fuzzy specification.
• The processing of individual multimedia objects in composing multimedia documents is a complex process that can be specified as a workflow and managed by the system. Furthermore, some multimedia applications are collaborative (e.g., authoring systems, design environments) and require collaborative transaction processing capability.
Current relational DBMSs cannot meet these requirements for a number of model and architectural reasons. This is perhaps why DBMS technology has not had a significant impact on data management requirements of applications with similar requirements. The main use of database technology has been as the holder of metadata, but the actual multimedia data, in particular continuous-media data such as audio and video, are stored in ordinary files. This unfortunately eliminates the possibility of posing queries on these data. Ultimately, we would should be able to pose queries such as ``Find all multimedia documents that show Bill Clinton standing next to John Chretien and uttering the words `Canada is our best neighbor''' or ``Show me all the images that contain an object that looks like O (depicting a shape)'' and have these queries executed efficiently.
What needs to be done to let DBMSs fulfill the requirements of these applications? The needs are both architectural and model-dependent. For example, since the delivery of audio and video streams (assuming they are delivered on different streams) are both time-dependent and need to be synchronized with each other, either the communication between the client and the server has to be adjusted to meet these real-time synchronization requirements, or the server interface of the systems needs to be opened to enable syncronization routines to access multimedia objects at the server buffer. From a modeling perspective, more sophisticated models are necessary to capture the application objects properly. Object DBMSs are, in my view, the most promising systems for meeting these requirements. However, many problems in engineering high-performance, full-functionality object DBMSs have yet to be resolved. Existing systems, by and large, are persistent object repositories with limited DBMS functionality following simple distribution strategies. It is hard to extend them (how do you store JPEG encoded images in native mode in an object DBMS so that you can interpret the encoded images?), they don't offer query models that can be extended with multimedia constructs, their query-optimization capabilities are severely limited, and I don't know how they would scale with increasing data volume and user community. Furthermore, querying these databases is significantly more complicated as one has to deal with quality-of-service concerns and handle fuzzy queries that can be answered by partial matches and those that need the discovery of ill-defined (or undefined) patterns in the data. Thus, for example, data-mining techniques can be used on image databases to answer some of the queries.
As indicated above, multimedia systems are representative (in terms of their data management requirements) of many other applications such as electronic commerce, digital libraries, and engineering design environments. I believe distributed object management [2,3] will be the major technology in addressing these requirements and R&D in this technology is a fundamental strategic direction. Research in this area is in its infancy.
The foregoing discussion may have left the impression that it is essential (or, at least, desirable) to collect all of this data under the control of a DBMS. This is not my claim, since I recognize that most of this data is already stored in various other places. What I propose, however, is that DBMS-like access to this data be provided in an interoperable environment. This raises the second important strategic issue, namely interoperable systems. Early research in this area concentrated on multidatabases (or federated databases). More recent research has started to address the problem in more generality with emphasis on wrapper-mediator systems [4]. The wrapper-mediator approach, coupled with object orientation, seems to be the correct paradigm to deal with interoperability. However, there is currently no well-defined methodology for constructing these systems and there is little or no support for (semi-)automatic generation of wrappers and mediators for different functions.
Technological Developments
Perhaps the most important technological development that is affecting database management is the emergence of distributed and parallel computing as a mainstream computing paradigm. Stonebraker claimed in 1988 that in the subsequent decade centralized database managers would become an antique curiosity as more organizations move toward distributed database managers [5]. By and large, this turned out to be an accurate forecast. Most, if not all, of the commercial DBMSs provide some sort of distribution. Practically every product can be configured as a single server client-server system and some go beyond that as well. In my view, this trend will continue at an accelerated pace in the future and the only obstacle to this growth that I can see is our inability to manage highly distributed systems effectively. One might question whether this is a computer science problem or an issue that organizational and management science should tackle, but it remains an issue.
We claimed in a 1991 paper [6] that we do not have a handle on the effects of computer network protocols on the performance of distributed DBMSs. This remains largely true today as well, and the problem is becoming more serious. There is a convergence of communications and data management whose synergistic effect provides both challenges and opportunities. There are three major developments in networking that will have profound effects on database management, and I am not convinced that we know how to deal with the effects of these developments. These are (1) the emergence of high-bandwidth, high-speed broadband networks, (2) mobile computing environments, and (3) the explosion of the Internet.
Broadband networks violate almost all of the assumptions that we used to make in designing distributed database systems. The network is no longer the bottleneck, since network speeds can exceed I/O speeds. Some have suggested that the emergence of broadband networks signals the death of distributed databases by making access to a remote centralized database feasible. These arguments miss the point, in my view, since bandwidth and latency are different things and there are motivating factors other than bandwidth and speed for distribution of storage and maintenance of data. However, there is no question that important architectural reevaluation is necessary. There is some work, for example, that investigates the tradeoffs of accessing data from a `neighbor's' cache rather than retrieving it from disk if network speeds make this advantageous. More work on issues such as this, which might turn some of the underlying assumptions of DBMSs on their heads, is necessary.
Mobility is emerging as a major force in the marketplace. Most mobile data management research assumes an environment where data are located in computers on the wireline network with the mobile stations, with limited capabilities, `downloading' data as needed. This is a realistic scenario for a limited number of applications and one that poses no major challenges for data management, since data resides primarily on wireline computers. What is more interesting is the environment in which mobile stations are more powerful and store native data that may need to be shared by others (the so-called `walkstation' case [7]). This case poses significant data management difficulties due to the characteristics of the mobile environment. Mobile computing environments are characterized by three issues [8]: communication characteristics, mobility and portability. Communication is over wireless networks that are prone to disconnections, noise, echo, and low bandwidth. Mobility of some of the equipment on the network causes static data in wireline networks to become dynamic and volatile in wireless networks. Mobility raises issues such as address migration, maintenance of directories and difficulty in locating stations. Finally, portability places restrictions on the type of equipment that can be used in these environments. For example, easy portability and the desire for long operation between battery recharges usually restrict the possible type and size of storage. Dealing with the effects of these is a major R&D issue.
A particular difficulty to be handled is that these two technologies are entering the fray at the same time. Thus, networks of tomorrow will likely be broadband backbones with wireless networks connected to it. Furthermore, some of the broadband backbone may be wireless, going over satellite channels. These networks pose other difficulties since the bandwidth availability is offset by communication latency between earth stations and satellites. In this case, query processing, for example, must take into account quality-of-service considerations. This evironment is not too far in the future; even today, Canada is equipped with a country-wide ATM-based broadband test network. There are many such trials all over the world and the large-scale emergence of these networks will make distributed data management over wide-area networks both feasible and an R&D challenge.
The explosion of the Internet is now the topic of daily newspaper articles and TV programs. Putting aside the hype, the Internet activity is important from a database management perspective simply because of the diversity of repositories that it introduces. Most existing Internet access tools are browsing-based. However, there is a demand to perform complex queries over Internet sites and this poses significant challenges. One of the fundamental problems is the inherent heterogeneity of the information sources and the lack of a schema to guide the querying process. The other difficulty is the variance in the capabilities of the various sites in processing these queries.
Conclusion
In my view, strategic directions for database system research and development efforts can be summarized as follows: We should be addressing the requirements of new application domains by building DBMSs with sufficiently powerful models and flexible and extensible architectures that can exploit and adapt to the technological changes. This is a generic statement that requires fleshing out. The specifics of an R&D agenda along these lines should in my view include the following:
1. We should be spending time learning the specific requirements of the application domains whose needs we try to serve with our systems. These requirements will, we hope, be generalizable and abstractable to a certain extent, allowing the development of generalized systems. I believe distributed object technology provides a significant handle on the problem. However, this technology needs to be extended to provide full DBMS functionality.
2. Systems need to be developed with an open architecture that allows for `easy' extension and fine-tuning as well as scalability. The extensibility property is essential to being able to incorporate into a base system the specific requirements of application domains in which they will be deployed (e.g., temporality, new query primitives, etc). Scalability is one of the fundamental concerns in meeting the challenges of increasing volumes of data and increasing numbers of users.
3. Systems need to be developed to exploit high-speed/high-bandwidth networks and need to incorporate mobility as a fundamental design criterion.
4. Methodologies for interoperability need to be developed. In this regard, distributed object technology can again provide some solutions via industry standards such as CORBA and OLE.
3.Mention the ways in which the E-Commerce has evolved, the early adopters, the benefits served and the future of this technology (do mention corresponding names and years).
Information technology was once the exclusive realm of the IT professional. Users were concerned not with technology issues but with technology results. If I had to pinpoint when that changed, I’d say it was probably with the launch of Windows 95. The hype that surrounded Microsoft’s marketing blitz gave consumers their first real exposure to the world of technology. Among those waiting in line all night to buy a copy were people who didn’t even own a computer. If you can sell an operating system to someone without a CPU, you have reached the ultimate in marketing, as far as I’m concerned.
Today, consumers have taken on many of the same roles as IT professionals — in fact, they are often working on more complicated tasks, such as streaming live video feeds from their homes to their phones. Dad is the CIO, Mom runs the help desk, and the kids are doing technical support and stringing Cat 5 wire around the house. If users are feeling more comfortable with IT, it’s because they’ve been thrust into these roles at home, where they are keeping technology running without the benefit of a dedicated IT department. They’re also more interested in technology issues — just check how many technology sites users visit from work.
Now granted, there’s a big difference in the things consumers are doing and the challenges that IT managers face, but consumer familiarity with technical tasks means that more users are techno literate than ever before. And that means they’re going to want to express their opinions about how things should be done.
But users’ priorities are different from IT’s. For example, form factor is a major consideration for consumers. It was not that long ago that all PCs looked the same. PCs were PCs. If you wanted to market a server, you turned the PC on its side; if you needed a workstation, you painted it blue; and if you wanted a mobile computer, you just glued a handle on the top. Today, PCs are as much about fashion and style as they are about feeds and speeds.
This, of course, has ramifications for IT departments. IT is getting more requests for new laptops based on form and style, and not just from top executives. And increasingly, users are taking matters into their own hands and making technology purchases on their own. Whether it’s buying a cool new laptop to replace the organizational behemoth they were issued, installing a new operating system like Windows Vista, or purchasing a smart phone and asking IT to make it work with corporate e-mail, users are demanding more of a voice in IT decisions.
Yes, consumer technology is often unsuitable for business use, but IT organizations must begin to pay attention to what consumers want. The line that once existed between home and work is eroding, and people want to use personal devices to bridge that gap.
There is no one answer to how IT organizations will deal with this new reality. Different companies will exercise different degrees of control based on their comfort with the risks involved and the amount of individual device adoption they can absorb. But IT people need to not only recognize the changes in the landscape, but also remember whom they work for.
By definition, E-commerce involves carrying out commerce on the web, which includes buying and selling of products on the web. The term, e-business, is about carrying out any business on the web and is broader than e-commerce. Various types of corporations are now in ebusiness, including corporations that provide consulting as well as solutions and products such as IBM, and smaller corporations such as the Dot-Com companies. Some of these smaller corporations can connect consumers with healthcare providers, lawyers, real estate agents and other professionals who provide services of various kinds. Consulting companies may come in and assess the state of a corporation’s business practices, and advise it on how to develop ebusiness solutions. One of the latest trends is to provide fully integrated enterprise resource management and business process reengineering capabilities on the web. A strong business component is essential for e-business. Technology will provide only the tools to make e-business more efficient.
Business-to-consumer e-commerce is when a consumer such as a member of the mass population makes purchases on the web (see figure 2-3). In the toy manufacturer example, the purchase between the individual and the toy manufacturer is a business-to-consumer transaction.
Business-to-consumer e-commerce has grown tremendously during recent years. While computer hardware purchases still constitute the leading application for e-commerce transactions, purchasing toys, apparel, software, and even groceries via the web have also increased. But many experts believe that the real future will be in business-to-business transactions, as this will involve much greater amounts of transactions. Furthermore, for organizations to work across boundaries, we need effective business-to-business c-commerce.
There are two main types of e-commerce. The first, and most common, is business to consumer (B2C), which as the name implies, involves e-businesses providing goods and/or services to end consumers. Common examples of popular B2C e-commerce include Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, and NewEgg.com. On the other side of the e-commerce spectrum, we have business to business (B2B) e-commerce, which is the electronic transactions between multiple businesses, and does not involve common products or consumers. B2C e-commerce has been changing the way people shop and conduct business online for well over ten years, and has become a significant staple in the way modern retail giants attract and maintain loyal consumers from all over the globe. The number of online e-tailers (electronic retailers) continues to grow each and every year, and new marketing strategies are constantly being developed by businesses to ensure that their products are ultimately being found online and purchased by the end-user.
This growth is being spawned by the mere fact that more and more people are buying online each year. Looking back at the first quarter of 2004, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that $15.5 billion was spent online, an increase of 28.1% from the first quarter of 2003. This sales figure accounted for 1.9% of total retail sales that quarter. Going forward, the progress of retail e-commerce has all but slowed, with online sales increasing no less that 25% each year until the first quarter of 2007, where an estimated $31.5 billion in online spending was reported. Worth noting, however, is that while total e-commerce sales increase, also increasing is total retail spending as a whole. Keeping this in mind, the most effective way to gauge the increasing impact of e-commerce on retail is to look at the percent of total retail that was conducted online. As previously mentioned, 1.9% of retail sales were made online in the first quarter of 2004. This number increases in each first quarter over the next 3 years: 2.2% in 2005, 2.7% in 2006, and 3.2% in 2007. At this rate of increase, one can only assume that by the year 2020, roughly 10% of all retail business will be conducted online.
As a result of this online shopping phenomenon, both commercial and independent brick and mortar shops are looking to integrate e-commerce solutions into their business models in an attempt to compete with the evolving marketplace, yet are falling behind as a result of poor site design, faulty programming and functionality, or weak marketing efforts. In order to effectively sell online, e-tailers need to be able to look at what their site offers through the eyes of the average consumer and come to grips with the fact that running a store online is essentially no different than a physical brick and mortar shop.
Sayantan Dey
SMU Sem II
2. ERP:
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP is a way to integrate the data and processes of an organization into one single system. Usually ERP systems will have many components including hardware and software, in order to achieve integration, most ERP systems use a unified database to store data for various functions found throughout the organization.
The term ERP originally referred to how a large organization planned to use organizational wide resources. In the past, ERP systems were used in larger more industrial types of companies. However, the use of ERP has changed and is extremely comprehensive, today the term can refer to any type of company, no matter what industry it falls in. In fact, ERP systems are used in almost any type of organization - large or small.
In order for a software system to be considered ERP, it must provide an organization with functionality for two or more systems. While some ERP packages exist that only cover two functions for an organization (QuickBooks: Payroll & Accounting), most ERP systems cover several functions.
Today's ERP systems can cover a wide range of functions and integrate them into one unified database. For instance, functions such as Human Resources, Supply Chain Management, Customer Relations Management, Financials, Manufacturing functions and Warehouse Management functions were all once stand alone software applications, usually housed with their own database and network, today, they can all fit under one umbrella - the ERP system.
Integration is Key to ERP
Integration is an extremely important part to ERP's. ERP's main goal is to integrate data and processes from all areas of an organization and unify it for easy access and work flow. ERP's usually accomplish integration by creating one single database that employs multiple software modules providing different areas of an organization with various business functions.
Although the ideal configuration would be one ERP system for an entire organization, many larger organizations usually create and ERP system and then build upon the system and external interface for other stand alone systems which might be more powerful and perform better in fulfilling an organizations needs. Usually this type of configuration can be time consuming and does require lots of labor hours.
The Ideal ERP System
An ideal ERP system is when a single database is utilized and contains all data for various software modules. These software modules can include:
Manufacturing: Some of the functions include; engineering, capacity, workflow management, quality control, bills of material, manufacturing process, etc.
Financials: Accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets, general ledger and cash management, etc.
Human Resources: Benefits, training, payroll, time and attendance, etc
Supply Chain Management: Inventory, supply chain planning, supplier scheduling, claim processing, order entry, purchasing, etc.
Projects: Costing, billing, activity management, time and expense, etc.
Customer Relationship Management: sales and marketing, service, commissions, customer contact, calls center support, etc.
Data Warehouse: Usually this is a module that can be accessed by an organizations customers, suppliers and employees.
ERP Improves Productivity
Before ERP systems, each department in an organization would most likely have their own computer system, data and database. Unfortunately, many of these systems would not be able to communicate with one another or need to store or rewrite data to make it possible for cross computer system communication. For instance, the financials of a company were on a separate computer system than the HR system, making it more intensive and complicated to process certain functions.
Once an ERP system is in place, usually all aspects of an organization can work in harmony instead of every single system needing to be compatible with each other. For large organizations, increased productivity and less types of software are a result.
Implementation of an ERP System
Implementing an ERP system is not an easy task to achieve, in fact it takes lots of planning, consulting and in most cases 3 months to 1 year +. ERP systems are extraordinary wide in scope and for many larger organizations can be extremely complex. Implementing an ERP system will ultimately require significant changes on staff and work practices. While it may seem reasonable for an in house IT staff to head the project, it is widely advised that ERP implementation consultants be used, due to the fact that consultants are usually more cost effective and are specifically trained in implementing these types of systems.
One of the most important traits that an organization should have when implementing an ERP system is ownership of the project. Because so many changes take place and its broad effect on almost every individual in the organization, it is important to make sure that everyone is on board and will help make the project and using the new ERP system a success.
Usually organizations use ERP vendors or consulting companies to implement their customized ERP system. There are three types of professional services that are provided when implementing an ERP system, they are Consulting, Customization and Support.
Consulting Services - usually consulting services are responsible for the initial stages of ERP implementation, they help an organization go live with their new system, with product training, workflow, improve ERP's use in the specific organization, etc.
Customization Services - Customization services work by extending the use of the new ERP system or changing its use by creating customized interfaces and/or underlying application code. While ERP systems are made for many core routines, there are still some needs that need to be built or customized for an organization.
Support Services- Support services include both support and maintenance of ERP systems. For instance, trouble shooting and assistance with ERP issues.
Advantages of ERP Systems
There are many advantages of implementing an EPR system; here are a few of them:
• A totally integrated system
• The ability to streamline different processes and workflows
• The ability to easily share data across various departments in an organization
• Improved efficiency and productivity levels
• Better tracking and forecasting
• Lower costs
• Improved customer service
Disadvantages of ERP Systems
While advantages usually outweigh disadvantages for most organizations implementing an ERP system, here are some of the most common obstacles experienced:
Usually many obstacles can be prevented if adequate investment is made and adequate training is involved, however, success does depend on skills and the experience of the workforce to quickly adapt to the new system.
• Customization in many situations is limited
• The need to reengineer business processes
• ERP systems can be cost prohibitive to install and run
• Technical support can be shoddy
• ERP's may be too rigid for specific organizations that are either new or want to move in a new direction in the near future.
SCM:
Introduction to Supply Chain Management
If your company makes a product from parts purchased from suppliers, and those products are sold to customers, then you have a supply chain. Some supply chains are simple, while others are rather complicated. The complexity of the supply chain will vary with the size of the business and the intricacy and numbers of items that are manufactured.
Elements of the Supply Chain
A simple supply chain is made up of several elements that are linked by the movement of products along it. The supply chain starts and ends with the customer.
• Customer: The customer starts the chain of events when they decide to purchase a product that has been offered for sale by a company. The customer contacts the sales department of the company, which enters the sales order for a specific quantity to be delivered on a specific date. If the product has to be manufactured, the sales order will include a requirement that needs to be fulfilled by the production facility.
• Planning: The requirement triggered by the customers sales order will be combined with other orders. The planning department will create a production plan to produce the products to fulfill the customers orders. To manufacture the products the company will then have to purchase the raw materials needed.
• Purchasing: The purchasing department receives a list of raw materials and services required by the production department to complete the customers orders. The purchasing department sends purchase orders to selected suppliers to deliver the necessary raw materials to the manufacturing site on the required date.
• Inventory: The raw materials are received from the suppliers, checked for quality and accuracy and moved into the warehouse. The supplier will then send an invoice to the company for the items they delivered. The raw materials are stored until they are required by the production department.
• Production: Based on a production plan, the raw materials are moved inventory to the production area. The finished products ordered by the customer are manufactured using the raw materials purchased from suppliers. After the items have been completed and tested, they are stored back in the warehouse prior to delivery to the customer.
• Transportation: When the finished product arrives in the warehouse, the shipping department determines the most efficient method to ship the products so that they are delivered on or before the date specified by the customer. When the goods are received by the customer, the company will send an invoice for the delivered products.
Supply Chain Management
To ensure that the supply chain is operating as efficient as possible and generating the highest level of customer satisfaction at the lowest cost, companies have adopted Supply Chain Management processes and associated technology. Supply Chain Management has three levels of activities that different parts of the company will focus on: strategic; tactical; and operational.
• Strategic: At this level, company management will be looking to high level strategic decisions concerning the whole organization, such as the size and location of manufacturing sites, partnerships with suppliers, products to be manufactured and sales markets.
• Tactical: Tactical decisions focus on adopting measures that will produce cost benefits such as using industry best practices, developing a purchasing strategy with favored suppliers, working with logistics companies to develop cost effect transportation and developing warehouse strategies to reduce the cost of storing inventory.
• Operational: Decisions at this level are made each day in businesses that affect how the products move along the supply chain. Operational decisions involve making schedule changes to production, purchasing agreements with suppliers, taking orders from customers and moving products in the warehouse.
Supply Chain Management Technology
If a company expects to achieve benefits from their supply chain management process, they will require some level of investment in technology. The backbone for many large companies has been the vastly expensive Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) suites, such as SAP and Oracle.
Since the wide adoption of Internet technologies, all businesses can take advantage of Web-based software and Internet communications. Instant communication between vendors and customers allows for timely updates of information, which is key in management of the supply chain.
CRM:
CRM (customer relationship management) is an information industry term for methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way. For example, an enterprise might build a database about its customers that described relationships in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, people providing service, and perhaps the customer directly could access information, match customer needs with product plans and offerings, remind customers of service requirements, know what other products a customer had purchased, and so forth.
According to one industry view, CRM consists of:
• Helping an enterprise to enable its marketing departments to identify and target their best customers, manage marketing campaigns and generate quality leads for the sales team.
• Assisting the organization to improve telesales, account, and sales management by optimizing information shared by multiple employees, and streamlining existing processes (for example, taking orders using mobile devices)
• Allowing the formation of individualized relationships with customers, with the aim of improving customer satisfaction and maximizing profits; identifying the most profitable customers and providing them the highest level of service.
• Providing employees with the information and processes necessary to know their customers, understand and identify customer needs and effectively build relationships between the company, its customer base, and distribution partners.
Many organizations turn to CRM software to help them manage their customer relationships. CRM technology is offered on-premise, on-demand or through Software as a Service (SaaS) CRM, depending on the vendor. Recently, mobile CRM and the open source CRM software model have also become more popular.
Software as A Service
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network, typically the Internet.
SaaS is becoming an increasingly prevalent delivery model as underlying technologies that support Web services and service-oriented architecture (SOA) mature and new developmental approaches, such as Ajax, become popular. Meanwhile, broadband service has become increasingly available to support user access from more areas around the world.
SaaS is closely related to the ASP (application service provider) and On Demand Computing software delivery models. IDC identifies two slightly different delivery models for SaaS. The hosted application management (hosted AM) model is similar to ASP: a provider hosts commercially available software for customers and delivers it over the Web. In the software on demand model, the provider gives customers network-based access to a single copy of an application created specifically for SaaS distribution. IDC predicts that SaaS will make up 30 percent of the software market by 2007 and will be worth $10.7 billion by 2009.
Benefits of the SaaS model include:
• easier administration
• automatic updates and patch management
• compatibility: All users will have the same version of software.
• easier collaboration, for the same reason
• global accessibility.
The traditional model of software distribution, in which software is purchased for and installed on personal computers, is sometimes referred to as software as a product.
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SMU SEM 2
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Answer 3:
Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is the process of trading across the Internet, i.e. a buyer visits a seller's website and makes a transaction there. Basically it includes deals where the Internet plays some role, e.g. assisting the buyer in locating or comparing
products and/or sellers.
Evolution:
Matthew Gray, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, estimated there were a mere 130 web sites in June 1993, which had risen to 650,000 by January 1997. Leading search engine Google now claims to index 1,346,966,000 web pages.
Global Reach placed the worldwide number of Internet users at 369,400,000 in Sept 2000. The Electronic Telegraph quoted a survey by MMXI Europe in July 2000, which found that nearly one in five people in Britain uses the Internet from home. Many more have access to the 'net at work or school, or from public libraries and Cybercafes.The largely academic roots of Cyberspace meant the commercial exploitation of the 'net was initially viewed with hostility. In 1994 two Arizona lawyers, Laurence Canter and Martha Siegal, posted advertisements to a large number of newsgroups offering legal help to foreigners seeking U.S. work permits. Their act caused outrage, resulting in thousands of complaints including death threats. Since then attitudes have changed with most users accepting most forms of 'net advertising as a means of paying for the huge amount of valuable free content available, just as television advertising pays for the program mes. However, the non-commercial ethos of the web remains evident in the vast quantity of valuable content which is still freely available, including daily newspapers such as the Times and the entire contents of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. This is significant for the contemporary e-commerce enterprise.
The Early Adopters:
Although companies have been doing business electronically for many years using proprietary EDI systems, B2B commerce over the Internet remained in the early adopter stage at the start of the 2000s. The notion of an early adopter comes from a popular marketing theory which holds that buyers of a new product enter the market in several stages, starting with the early adopters who set the trends and ending with so-called laggards who purchase only after the vast majority has already bought. If B2B is still attracting mainly the early crowd, it suggests great potential for growth, as do the figures from the Census Bureau and private firms.
In May 2001 Accenture, a large consulting firm, released a study of B2B buyers that categorized them into five types:
1.Traditionalists (28 percent), who were principally brand sensitive but also valued customer service and good prices
2.eService Seekers (23 percent), for whom customer service was the most important
3.Price Sensitives (21 percent), for whom value lay in the price
4.eSkeptics (17 percent), who valued brand above all
5.and eVanguard (17 percent), who were comparison buyers.
The study aimed to help sellers understand online B2B buyers and help them market to companies that were or could be potentially involved in online buying.
In April 2001 InfoWorld reported that "fizzling interest in public [B2B] exchanges, coupled with the general slowdown, is forcing e-business vendors to refocus their development energies." The IT periodical noted that B2B technology vendors were shifting their focus away from building public supplier marketplaces to integration technologies and getting suppliers' content online. While some businesses began to question the value of public B2B marketplaces, claiming they would lose their competitive advantage by participating in a public exchange, private exchanges and highly focused public exchanges were being developed. One example of a specialty public exchange was eScout.com, which worked with regional banks to help small businesses make online purchases. Trade Matrix Network was a series of private exchanges that focused on vertical industries and offered a range of services, including financial settlement, collaboration, catalog management, and fulfillment and logistics.
Benefits of E-Commerce:
Some of the benefits served by e-commerce include:
•Being able to conduct business 24 x 7 x 365 . E-commerce systems can operate all day every day. Your physical storefront does not need to be open in order for customers and suppliers to be doing business with you electronically.
•Access the global marketplace . The Internet spans the world, and it is possible to do business with any business or person who is connected to the Internet. Simple local businesses such as specialist record stores are able to market and sell their offerings internationally using e-commerce. This global opportunity is assisted by the fact that, unlike traditional communications methods, users are not charged according to the distance over which they are communicating.
•Speed. Electronic communications allow messages to traverse the world almost instantaneously. There is no need to wait weeks for a catalogue to arrive by post: that communications delay is not a part of the Internet / e-commerce world.
•Marketspace. The market in which web-based businesses operate is the global market. It may not be evident to them, but many businesses are already facing international competition from web-enabled businesses.
•Opportunity to reduce costs. The Internet makes it very easy to 'shop around' for products and services that may be cheaper or more effective than we might otherwise settle for. It is sometimes possible to, through some online research, identify original manufacturers for some goods - thereby bypassing wholesalers and achieving a cheaper price.
•Computer platform-independent . 'Many, if not most, computers have the ability to communicate via the Internet independent of operating systems and hardware. Customers are not limited by existing hardware systems'.
•Efficient applications development environment - 'In many respects, applications can be more efficiently developed and distributed because the can be built without regard to the customer's or the business partner's technology platform. Application updates do not have to be manually installed on computers.
•Allowing customer self service and 'customer outsourcing'. People can interact with businesses at any hour of the day that it is convenient to them, and because these interactions are initiated by customers, the customers also provide a lot of the data for the transaction that may otherwise need to be entered by business staff. This means that some of the work and costs are effectively shifted to customers; this is referred to as 'customer outsourcing'.
•Stepping beyond borders to a global view. Using aspects of e-commerce technology can mean your business can source and use products and services provided by other businesses in other countries.
The Future:
E-commerce has experienced phenomenal growth in the last five years both in terms of the number of participants and the variety and sophistication of features which e-tailers can use to promote their product. Continuing improvements in communications technology and access devices coupled with an ever richer array of software tools which designers can employ to convey their message across the 'net suggest the impact of e-commerce is set to increase unabated for the foreseeable future. The momentum acquired thus far is likely to inspire innovative solutions to remaining problems such as security issues and representational difficulties.
As intelligent agents become more sophisticated and more widely deployed it would appear that profit through artificially high prices will cease to be feasible. Merchants of near-identical goods and services will need to provide some form of added value to their core purpose in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors and earn a share of the market. For those that can successfully achieve this the potential rewards are enormous.
e-commerce promises to liberate business, consumers and workers alike but is set to impact widely on the existing economy forcing traditional businesses to adapt and creating numerous
opportunities for new entrants.
Answer 4:Short Essays-
Green IT:-
Concerns over global warming, energy conservation, and social responsibility are leading to an unprecedented amount of media coverage about all things that need to go “Green”. Not only is there increased press coverage, but environmental protection issues are also gaining much more visibility with IT managers too.
IT has been on an unsustainable path for years. Huge data centers feeding on electricity; millions of computers burn up processor power performing background processes, many a times while their users are in meetings; add to it piles of emails, and documents are needlessly printed off and never read.
If these factors alone are not reason enough to sign up to Green IT, there are countless more. Many UK and EU regulations and campaigns demand greener businesses. Employees are increasingly ‘Green aware’ and want to see their company contributing to the solution, rather than exacerbating the problem. Sooner rather than later, someone—your boss, a big customer or a government agency—is going to want to know what you’re doing to comply with, support or advance your company’s efforts to become more environmentally responsible.
Defining Green IT:Green IT as means of increasing energy efficiency of the IT hardware, IT Data Centers and other assets. Since IT consumes very large quantities of renewable and not so renewable resources like silicon, platinum and others, a big part of Green IT also implies reducing electronic parts waste. IT also consumes space on the planet and data centers. Thus, Green IT also means reducing the data center footprint on the environment.
Datacenter is at the heart of Green IT: While ‘Green’ IT is a discussion that merits a long discussion, for the want of time and space we can perhaps focus on the heart of the issue today, which lies inside the datacenter of an enterprise.The Data Center is often the engine that drives the growth of the enterprise, and energy efficiency is the key there. According to recent AFCOM Data Center Institute survey, 50% of every dollar spent on a new server goes into the energy to power and cool it. The Lean & Green consortium predicts that by the end of 2008, the cost of powering a server may even exceed the cost of the server itself.
In fact, as per some reports Data centers consume between 1.5 percent and 3 percent of all the power generated annually in the United States— at the high end, that’s equivalent to the electricity needed to power the state of Michigan for one year.
Therefore, power management is a key aspect to achieving a Green Data Center. Simple acts such as turning off unused lights, PCs and other devices are powerful and strikingly easy changes. Furthermore, in many organizations the ‘power save’ features do exist, but have not been activated. Energy Star standards also enable us to determine what the impact of various equipments is before we buy it. At the next level, is to ensure an equipment layout that optimizes cooling.
But when considering using environmentally friendly techniques, companies should take the Green effort beyond power saving through the tactical ways. Today the need is to transform the Data Center footprints through more sustainable strategies like consolidation and virtualization which offer a more long-term solution to the problem.
Virtualization:
virtualization is a framework or methodology of dividing the resources of a computer into multiple execution environments, by applying one or more concepts or technologies such as hardware and software partitioning, time-sharing, partial or complete machine simulation, emulation, quality of service, and many others. Note that this definition includes concepts such as quality of service, which, even though being a separate field of study, is often used alongside virtualization. Often, such technologies come together in intricate ways to form interesting systems, one of whose properties is virtualization. In other words, the concept of virtualization is related to, or more appropriately synergistic with various paradigms. Consider the multi-programming paradigm: applications on 'nix' systems (actually almost all modern systems) run within a virtual machine model of some kind.The term "virtualization" is not always used to imply partitioning - breaking something down into multiple entities.
Grid computing enables the "virtualization" (ad hoc provisioning, on-demand deployment, decentralized, etc.) of distributed computing: IT resources such as storage, bandwidth, CPU cycles, PVM (Parallel Virtual Machine) is a software package that permits a heterogeneous collection of Unix and/or Windows computers hooked together by a network to be used as a single large parallel computer. PVM is widely used in distributed computing.Following are some (possibly overlapping) representative reasons for and benefits of virtualization:
• Virtual machines can be used to consolidate the workloads of several under-utilized servers to fewer machines, perhaps a single machine (server consolidation). Related benefits (perceived or real, but often cited by vendors) are savings on hardware, environmental costs, management, and administration of the server infrastructure.
• The need to run legacy applications is served well by virtual machines. A legacy application might simply not run on newer hardware and/or operating systems. Even if it does, if may under-utilize the server, so as above, it makes sense to consolidate several applications. This may be difficult without virtualization as such applications are usually not written to co-exist within a single execution environment (consider applications with hard-coded System V IPC keys, as a trivial example).
• Virtual machines can be used to provide secure, isolated sandboxes for running untrusted applications. You could even create such an execution environment dynamically - on the fly - as you download something from the Internet and run it. You can think of creative schemes, such as those involving address obfuscation. Virtualization is an important concept in building secure computing platforms.
• Virtual machines can be used to create operating systems, or execution environments with resource limits, and given the right schedulers, resource guarantees. Partitioning usually goes hand-in-hand with quality of service in the creation of QoS-enabled operating systems.
• Virtual machines can provide the illusion of hardware, or hardware configuration that you do not have (such as SCSI devices, multiple processors,) Virtualization can also be used to simulate networks of independent computers.
• Virtual machines can be used to run multiple operating systems simultaneously: different versions, or even entirely different systems, which can be on hot standby. Some such systems may be hard or impossible to run on newer real hardware.
• Virtual machines allow for powerful debugging and performance monitoring. You can put such tools in the virtual machine monitor, for example. Operating systems can be debugged without losing productivity, or setting up more complicated debugging scenarios.
• Virtual machines can isolate what they run, so they provide fault and error containment. You can inject faults proactively into software to study its subsequent behavior.
• Virtual machines make software easier to migrate, thus aiding application and system mobility.
• You can treat application suites as appliances by "packaging" and running each in a virtual machine.
• Virtual machines are great tools for research and academic experiments. Since they provide isolation, they are safer to work with. They encapsulate the entire state of a running system: you can save the state, examine it, modify it, reload it, and so on. The state also provides an abstraction of the workload being run.
• Virtualization can enable existing operating systems to run on shared memory multiprocessors.
• Virtual machines can be used to create arbitrary test scenarios, and can lead to some very imaginative, effective quality assurance.
• Virtualization can be used to retrofit new features in existing operating systems without "too much" work.
• Virtualization can make tasks such as system migration, backup, and recovery easier and more manageable.
• Virtualization can be an effective means of providing binary compatibility.
• Virtualization on commodity hardware has been popular in co-located hosting. Many of the above benefits make such hosting secure, cost-effective, and appealing in general.
• Virtualization is fun.
Cloud Computing:
Cloud computing is a computing paradigm in which tasks are assigned to a combination of connections, software and services accessed over a network. This network of servers and connections is collectively known as "the cloud." Computing at the scale of the cloud allows users to access supercomputer-level power. Users can access resources as they need them. (For this reason, cloud computing has also been described as "on-demand computing.")
This vast processing power is made possible though distributed, large-scale cluster computing, often in concert with server virtualization software, like Xen, and parallel processing. Cloud computing can be contrasted with the traditional desktop computing model, where the resources of a single desktop computer are used to complete tasks, and an expansion of the client/server model. To paraphrase Sun Microsystems' famous adage, in cloud computing the network becomes the supercomputer.
Cloud computing is often used to sort through enormous amounts of data. In fact, Google has an initial edge in cloud computing precisely because of its need to produce instant, accurate results for millions of incoming search inquries every day, parsing through the terabytes of Internet data cached on its servers. Google's approach has been to design and manufacture hundreds of thousands of its own servers from commodity components, connecting relatively inexpensive processors in parallel to create an immensely powerful, scalable system. Google Apps, Maps and Gmail are all based in the cloud. Other companies have already created Web-based operating systems that collect online applications into Flash-based graphic user interfaces (GUIs), often using a look and feel intentionally quite similar to Windows. Hundreds of organizations are already offering free Web services in the cloud.
In many ways, however, cloud computing is simply a buzzword used to repackage grid computing and utility computing, both of which have existed for decades. Like grid computing, cloud computing requires the use of software that can divide and distribute components of a program to thousands of computers. New advances in processors, virtualization technology, disk storage, broadband Internet access and fast, inexpensive servers have all combined to make cloud computing a compelling paradigm. Cloud computing allows users and companies to pay for and use the services and storage that they need, when they need them and, as wireless broadband connection options grow, where they need them. Customers can be billed based upon server utlilization, processing power used or bandwidth consumed. As a result, cloud computing has the potential to up end the software industry entirely, as applications are purchased, licensed and run over the network instead of a user's desktop. This shift will put data centers and their administrators at the center of the distributed network, as processing power, electricity, bandwidth and storage are all managed remotely.
Business Analytics:
Business Analytics focuses on effective use of data and information to drive positive business actions. The body of knowledge for this area includes both business and technical topics, including concepts of performance management, definition and delivery of business metrics, data visualization, and deployment and use of technology solutions such as OLAP, dashboards, scorecards, analytic applications, and data mining. Business intelligence roles that demand business analytics knowledge and skills include business sponsor, business subject expert, knowledge worker, data steward, business requirements analyst, and developer of business analytics systems. Roles with broad scope of responsibility such as business intelligence architect, metadata administrator, quality administrator, and customer service personnel also benefit from a solid foundation in business
analytics. In addition to the Core and Data Warehousing exams, the Business Analytics exam is required for certification in Business Analytics.
According to Thomas Davenport, analytics are defined as the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive modeling, and fact-based management to drive decision making. Analytics may be used as input for human decisions or may drive fully automated decisions. According to Davenport,businesses analytics represent a subset of business intelligence. The other part of business intelligence is data access and reporting. The questions that business analytics can answer represent more proactive and higher value questions than questions data access and reporting can answer. In other words, data and access tools can answer the questions: what happened; how many, how often, where; where exactly is the problem; what actions are needed. Business analytics can answer the questions: why is this happening; what if these trends continue; what will happen next; what is the best than can happpen.
Software as a Service(SaaS):
SaaS is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network, typically the Internet. SaaS is becoming an increasingly prevalent delivery model as underlying technologies that support Web services and service-oriented architecture (SOA) mature and new developmental approaches, such as Ajax, become popular. Meanwhile, broadband service has become increasingly available to support user access from more areas around the world.SaaS is closely related to the ASP (application service provider) and On Demand Computing software delivery models. IDC identifies two slightly different delivery models for SaaS. The hosted application management (hosted AM) model is similar to ASP: a provider hosts commercially available software for customers and delivers it over the Web. In the software on demand model, the provider gives customers network-based access to a single copy of an application created specifically for SaaS distribution. IDC predicts that SaaS will make up 30 percent of the software market by 2007 and will be worth $10.7 billion by 2009.
Benefits of the SaaS model include:
•easier administration
•automatic updates and patch management
•compatibility: All users will have the same version of software.
•easier collaboration, for the same reason
•global accessibility.
The traditional model of software distribution, in which software is purchased for and installed on personal computers, is sometimes referred to as software as a product.
Web 2.0:
Within 15 years the Web has grown from a group work tool for scientists at CERN into a global
information space with more than a billion users. Currently, it is both returning to its roots as a read/write tool and also entering a new, more social and participatory phase. These trends have led to a feeling that the Web is entering a ‘second phase’—a new, ‘improved’ Web version 2.0.Web 2.0 is more than a set of ‘cool’ and new technologies and services. It has, at its heart, a set of at least six powerful ideas that are changing the way some people interact. Secondly, it is also important to acknowledge that these ideas are not necessarily the preserve of ‘Web 2.0’, but are, in fact, direct or indirect reflections of the power
of the network: the strange effects and topologies at the micro and macro level that a billion Internet users produce. This might well be why Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, maintains that Web 2.0 is really just an extension of the original ideals of the Web that does not warrant a special moniker.
Open Source:
Open source is an approach to design, development, and distribution offering practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge). Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development. The principles and practices are commonly applied to the peer production development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration. The result of this peer-based collaboration is usually released as open-source software, however open source methods are increasingly being applied in other fields of endeavor, such as Biotechnology. The FOSS (free and open-source software) community is often too busy coding and testing to bother with marketing, even when the new "point release" of the software is really remarkable.
And there are plenty of remarkable open-source applications on the way this year. Quite a few projects are quietly (or not so quietly) working on major releases or significant upgrades that they aim to make available sometime during 2009. Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox 3.5 promises a native parser for JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), a data exchange format frequently used in Web apps, and several features to enhance rich media Web content, including support for the HTML 5 video element and the Ogg Vorbis and Theora open audio and video codecs.
And then there's whatever Google Inc. is planning for its Chrome browser, based on the open-source WebKit engine. The company is playing it close to the vest, but we do know Mac and Linux versions of the browser are in development.
Linux fans have much to look forward to, too. Following the release of Ubuntu 9.04, the "Jaunty Jackalope," in April, the Ubuntu team is planning for Ubuntu 9.10, the "Karmic Koala," to see the light of day in October 2009. Among the promised new features are integration with the Amazon EC2 APIs, so users can set up their own cloud using entirely open tools, and a kernel mode setting for a smooth and flicker-free start-up. The Ubuntu Netbook Edition will get the latest technology from the mobile Internet project Moblin, including better screen support.
Every other Linux distribution is sure to get better, too, along with associated operating system components. For example, Novell openSUSE 11.2, scheduled for November, should include KDE 4.3, GNOME 2.28, Linux kernel 2.6.30 (or higher), a Web-based YaST interface and netbook support.
Mac OS X is fully-conformant UNIX operating system—built on Mach 3.0 and FreeBSD 5—bundles over a hundred of the most popular Open Source products. You can shell out with bash, tcsh, ksh, and zsh; edit your code with emacs, vim, and nano; and build your projects using gcc, make, and autoconf.For a little higher-level you can Run your X11 apps side-by-side with native apps using X11R7 from X.org. Serve your web site with Apache 2.0 and PHP 5. Start scripting with Ruby and Python, and build web applications with the Ruby on Rails framework. You can even measure your application's performance using DTrace from OpenSolaris.
Answer 5:
The Trends in Consumer IT
To stick with the online revolution: if you feel the online world is evolving so fast that it’s hard to tell your web 0.2 from your web 2.0— tough luck! 2007 will see a broad debate on what constitutes web 3.0, web 4.0 and who knows, even web 5.0. So while the web 2.0’s user-generated avalanche will continue, we’re going to hear and obsess (again) about the Mobile Web, the Internet of Things, INFOLUST, Exploding TV, the Metaverse and so on.So instead of logging off, grab the online bull by the horns and educate yourself about as many WEB N+1s as you can. Quick tip: start by (re)reading everything by Kevin Kelly, who has been correct in predicting the Next Big Online Thing over and over again. When it comes to the shift from offline to online, the predications are out there, we haven’t seen anything yet, and you have no excuse not to know about it.
While the last few years didn’t disappoint (consumers are already enjoying near-full transparency of prices and, in categories like travel and music, near-full transparency of opinions as well), 2007 could be the year in which TRANSPARENCY TYRANNY really starts scaring the shit out of non-performing brands.
Why? For one, 1+ billion consumers are now online, and the majority of them have been online for years. They're skilled bargain seekers and ‘best of the best’ hunters, they're avid online networkers and they're opinionated reviewers and advisors (tripadvisor.com now boasts 5,000,000+ travel reviews). Now, for 2007, add the following:
As camera and video phones are becoming both ubiquitous and more powerful, reviews of anything and everything will go multimedia.EVERYTHING brands do or don’t do will end up on youtube.com, or on an undoubtedly soon to be launched youtube-clone dedicated to product reviews.
More on those camera-phones: as they’re bound to eventually go online on a global scale (for early learnings, Japan and South Korea are the place to be, see also WEB N+1 below), consumer reviews will increasingly become real time and on the spot, i.e. expect ever shorter gaps between a consumer experience (good or bad) and the rest of the world knowing about it. And those web-enabled phones will also come in handy for in-store price comparisons. Real-time TRANSPARENCY TYRANNY is on the rise for another reason as well: as more people are contributing, the sheer mass of reviews will lead to daily and who knows, hourly reviews on any topic imaginable. (The image above shows
three Tripadvisor members reviewing the Hilton Millenium in 24 hours, whereas a few years ago, one review per month was deemed frequent.) Pleasant side-effect: mass postings will also unmask, outnumber and neutralize any fake reviews posted by desperate brands trying to piggyback on the powers of transparency.
However, the missing link in the above is profiles: the onslaught of recommendations needs some transparency of its own. After all, what good is a recommendation if it’s from someone leading a different STATUS LIFESTYLE than your own? Expect a host of new TWINSUMER ventures to monetize collaborative filtering and profile matching in 2007, most likely by partnering with sites that are already centered around profiles, like MySpace and Bebo.com. Collaborative filtering and profile matching ranges from social shopping (check out Crowdstorm, ThisNext and Stylehive on Springwise) to the Last.fms and Yoonos of this world.
Once this PROFILE MANIA reaches its zenith, and even more purchase decisions will be influenced by fellow, likeminded consumers, expect star contributors/reviewers to demand a piece of the action. Re-read our GENERATION C(ASH) briefing for a taste of things to come. Smart 'participants' will want to get paid in 2007. As everything that becomes mass always paves the way for niche, expect more niche price comparison sites like Red Roller, which compares shipping prices for small businesses.And transparency is not just consumer-driven: count on your own employees and colleagues to add to the fun too. Here’s to employee-generated videos stirring things up in 2007.
The list of observations goes on:
Quality is hygiene these days: even TV sets or irons from obscure brands found at WalMart work flawlessly. Another incentive to try out the unknown.
An entire generation is growing up as gamers, and games are nothing but invitations to be daring, and try, try, try until you find a solution and succeed.
Building on the disappointment theme: as we pointed out in our TRANSUMERISM briefing, a global C2C infrastructure is now in place, from eBay to classifieds, enabling (or even encouraging) TRYSUMERS to quickly dispose of what's no longer needed. From Daniel Nissanoff, author of FutureShop: "An interesting phenomenon that somebody shared with me was that, as eBay began to grow, people began to buy musical instruments, especially guitars, much more frequently, because they weren't as worried about taking up the wrong instrument or buying the wrong instrument and getting stuck with it.The auction culture is beginning to empower the consumer to reach because they can afford better items since they're not paying the whole ticket for them. They know there's going to be residual value at the end of the day and they're willing to take more chances because they know there's an exit if they made a mistake.
* The Plantronics Voyager 855 is the first two-in-one stereo bluetooth headset with "exclusive AudioIQ technology for crystal clear wireless sound."
* Lenovo now offers the ThinkPad Reserve Edition laptop, encased in leather. The Reserve Edition is based on the recently released 12.1-inch Lenovo ThinkPad X61s, and comes with 'Blue-Button Instant Access' for instant messaging with dedicated support staff
* SNACK CULTURE meets 'Instant Gratification 2.0': the growing number of sophisticated SEE-HEAR-BUY services that enable consumers to instantly purchase anything virtual they see or hear. Best example to watch in 2008: the iTunes WiFi Music Store. How it works: when a user hears a particular song playing at his or her local Starbucks, he/she can instantly find the artist, album and name of the track on his iPhone or iPod Touch. By tapping the Starbucks button in either device's main menu, the current song shows up, as well as the last ten songs played. They can be purchased and downloaded instantly via Starbucks' wifi connection.
* Amazon.com's just-launched Kindle, a digital book reading device, is going after the same market for the written word, with books and (international or niche) paper-based magazines as the most desirable 'must have right now' items.
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Evolution of DBMS-
1st Generation: Early Database Applications
-1960s:The Hierarchical and Network Models were introduced
-1970s: They became dominated.
A bulk of the worldwide database processing still occurs using these models, particularly, the hierarchical model.
2nd Generation: Relational Model based Systems
Originally introduced in 1970, a paper by E. F. Codd
IBM Research and several universities.
-1980s: Relational DBMS Products emerged.
3rd Generation: Object-oriented Applications
-1990s: Object-Oriented Database Management Systems (OODBMSs) for complex data processing in CAD and other applications.
Realative merits and demerits of DBMS-
Merits/Advantages
-Program-data independence
-Planned data redundancy
-Improved
Data quality.
data consistency.
data sharing.
Data accessibility and responsiveness
-development productivity.
-Enforcement of standards.
-Improved decision support.
Demerits/Disadvantages
-New, specialized personnel.
-Installation and management cost and complexity.
-Conversion costs.
-Need for explicit backup and recovery.
-Organizational conflict.
Future of DBMS
-Something radically different is going to emerge.
-Orders of magnitude more data is going to be stored on the net in the near future and the expectation is going to be that we can find and possibly modify it from anywhere.
-Matching will result not from a worldwide standardization of data or a “semantic web”, but from stupid but powerful algorithms (similar to Google spell check)
Ans 1 >>>>>
Databases have been in use since the earliest days of electronic computing. Unlike modern systems which can be applied to widely different databases and needs, the vast majority of older systems were tightly linked to the custom databases in order to gain speed at the expense of flexibility. Originally DBMSs were found only in large organizations with the computer hardware needed to support large data sets.
1960s Navigational DBMS
As computers grew in capability, this trade-off became increasingly unnecessary and a number of general-purpose database systems emerged; by the mid-1960s there were a number of such systems in commercial use. Interest in a standard began to grow, and Charles Bachman, author of one such product, Integrated Data Store (IDS), founded the "Database Task Group" within CODASYL, the group responsible for the creation and standardization of COBOL. In 1971 they delivered their standard, which generally became known as the "Codasyl approach", and soon there were a number of commercial products based on it available.
The Codasyl approach was based on the "manual" navigation of a linked data set which was formed into a large network. When the database was first opened, the program was handed back a link to the first record in the database, which also contained pointers to other pieces of data. To find any particular record the programmer had to step through these pointers one at a time until the required record was returned. Simple queries like "find all the people in India" required the program to walk the entire data set and collect the matching results. There was, essentially, no concept of "find" or "search". This might sound like a serious limitation today, but in an era when the data was most often stored on magnetic tape such operations were too expensive to contemplate anyway.
1970s Relational DBMS
Edgar Codd worked at IBM in San Jose, California, in one of their offshoot offices that was primarily involved in the development of hard disk systems. He was unhappy with the navigational model of the Codasyl approach, notably the lack of a "search" facility which was becoming increasingly useful. In 1970, he wrote a number of papers that outlined a new approach to database construction that eventually culminated in the groundbreaking A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks.
Linking the information back together is the key to this system. In the relational model, some bit of information was used as a "key", uniquely defining a particular record. When information was being collected about a user, information stored in the optional (or related) tables would be found by searching for this key. For instance, if the login name of a user is unique, addresses and phone numbers for that user would be recorded with the login name as its key. This "re-linking" of related data back into a single collection is something that traditional computer languages are not designed for.
End 1970s SQL DBMS
IBM started working on a prototype system loosely based on Codd's concepts as System R in the early 1970s. The first "quickie" version was ready in 1974/5, and work then started on multi-table systems in which the data could be broken down so that all of the data for a record (much of which is often optional) did not have to be stored in a single large "chunk". Subsequent multi-user versions were tested by customers in 1978 and 1979, by which time a standardized query language, SQL, had been added. Codd's ideas were establishing themselves as both workable and superior to Codasyl, pushing IBM to develop a true production version of System R, known as SQL/DS, and, later, Database 2 (DB2).
Ans 2 >>>>>
ERP
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software attempts to integrate all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve all those different departments' particular needs.
ERP combines all departments within an organization (HR, Manufacturing) together into a single, integrated software program that runs off a single database. In turn, the various departments can more easily share information and communicate with each other.
When one department finishes with an order, it is automatically routed via the ERP system to the next department. To find out where the order is at any point, you need only log in to the ERP system and track it down.
Segments within the ERP software Market
The ERP applications market falls into three primary segments by customer size: Enterprises, Mid-Market and Small Companies. The major ERP application vendors to each segment group are illustrated below.
Market Segment ERP Vendor
Enterprise: SAP, Oracle/PeopleSoft
Upper Mid-Market: Microsoft, Lawson, SSA Global, Geac, SAP, Oracle/PeopleSoft
Lower Mid-Market: Microsoft, Epicor, Exacta, Sage, NetSuite, SPA BusinessOne
Small Companies: Sage, Intuit, ACCPAC, NetSuite
Key Players
SAP is the market leader in the ERP applications market. SAP and Oracle have been in intense competition for customers in recent years. After Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft, they are now ranked as the second leader of the ERP software market. SAP is holding the leadership within vertical sectors such as Government, Financial Services, Healthcare and Education across the European countries.
When looking at the leading ERP vendors for the European countries, SAP is the market leader in Germany, Spain and Italy. Oracle, on the other hand, has a strong market leadership in certain segments within the UK and France.
Most industry analysts are watching i2 Technologies, Siebel Systems, Broadvision, Ariba and CommerceOne as ERP solution providers that would like to have their share of the market.
In addition, there are also predictions that the ERP battle amongst ERP solution providers will move rapidly to the mid-market as Microsoft begins to actively compete with vendors such as SAP and Oracle for market share.
Benefits of implementation of ERP solutions
Integrate financial information - To avoid receiving conflicting information from the Finance-, HR- or Manufacturing Department, the ERP system creates a single version of the truth that cannot be questioned because everyone is using the same system.
Integrate customer order information - ERP systems can become the place where the customer order lives from the time a customer service representative receives it until the loading dock ships the merchandise and finance sends an invoice. By having this information in one software system, organizations can keep track of orders more easily, and coordinate manufacturing, inventory and shipping among many different locations at the same time.
Standardize and speed up manufacturing processes - Standardizing a company's processes using a single, integrated computer system can save time, increase productivity and reduce head count.
Reduce inventory - ERP helps the business process flow more smoothly, and it improves visibility of the order fulfilment process inside the company. In turn, this may lead to reduced inventories of the stuff used to make products (work-in-progress inventory).
Standardize HR information - Especially in companies with multiple business units, HR may not have a unified, simple method for tracking employees' time and communicating with them about benefits and services.
ERP software challenges
•There is often a gap between package functionality and business needs
•ERP environments are costly to maintain
•ERP Implementation is costly and time consuming
•Larger companies typically have multiple ERP packages and vendors
•Integration of systems is complex
•Companies Are Simplifying Their ERP Environments
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
The worldwide market for supply chain management (SCM) software topped an estimated $6 billion last year, and is expected to reach or exceed $8 billion by 2010, according to the most current estimates from AMR Research (617-542-6600) and ARC Advisory Group (781-471-1000).
That’s a segment that includes supply chain planning (SCP) applications as well as supply chain execution systems including transportation management (TMS), warehouse management (WMS), and manufacturing execution (MES).
The upsurge marks a significant rebound from recent years, when the SCM market was merely keeping pace with inflation. AMR estimates that spending on SCM solutions increased by 7% last year, up from an increase of just 3% in 2005. And ARC sees the market growing at a compound annual growth rate of 8.6% through 2010.
Leading the top 20 list of providers is three enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors, SAP at $735 million, Oracle at $585 million, and Infor at $348 million. Others include two best-of-breed suppliers, Manhattan Associates with $289 million and i2 Technologies with $280 million, both providers of supply chain planning and execution solutions.
Driving that growth, according to John Fontanella, AMR’s vice president of research, is the need to manage complex, global supply chains that include a mix of global suppliers, contract manufacturers as well as company-owned plants, third-party logistics providers and a network of transportation providers.
In fact, AMR’s research found that the typical U.S. manufacturer is managing on average more than 30 contract relationships. Supply chain management solutions allow enterprises to handle that complexity while still responding to increasingly demanding customers.
New direction
Listing the top 20 SCM providers marks a new direction for Modern’s annual look at the top providers of execution and planning software. In 2001, the first year we surveyed the industry, our focus was on top providers of warehouse management systems (WMS) in North America. The focus shifted slightly to supply chain execution providers with last year’s list.
Supply chain execution and warehouse management reflected our readers’ interests and responsibilities at the time. Manufacturing and distribution processes had taken place primarily inside the four walls and were managed by people whose view of their business was restricted to those facilities. And what went on in facilities was often not reported to the enterprise at the end of the day, or even at the end of the week.
Today, manufacturing plants and distribution centers are at the center of global businesses, and not an afterthought. How well a company manages its supply chain processes can determine its market position.
And, products that used to be manufactured from start to finish in one plant, now may begin the process in one location, travel to another for further assembly, and be finalized in yet a third facility.
For proof, look no further than recent stories from Modern about Sun Microsystems , Delphi and C.R. Bard. Each relies on sophisticated supply chain management solutions to manage processes that span not just multiple factories and distribution centers, but multiple countries.
Our readers’ titles and responsibilities have changed, too—with more supply chain and logistics titles than ever. And as business goes global, so have our Web readers, with a significant portion coming from outside the United States.
Finally, not only have our readers broadened their outlook and responsibilities, so have the suppliers of supply chain solutions.
For example, in 2001 Manhattan Associates was the No. 1 provider of warehouse management systems, with just more than $100 million in revenue. Today, Manhattan is a nearly $300 million company, offering transportation management, supplier collaboration and supply chain planning.
Meanwhile, RedPrairie, the next largest best-of-breed provider of warehouse management systems with $189 million in revenue last year, also offers just-in-time, just-in-sequence manufacturing solutions and applications to plan, schedule and manage labor inside big box retail stores. Limiting the list to WMS providers no longer reflects the world of supply chain software.
The criteria
To make the list this year, a company had to meet the following criteria. It must supply more than one of the major categories of supply chain management software—planning solutions along with WMS, TMS and MES execution systems. That’s why a company like Dematic, which only provides warehouse management systems, is on our list of top supply chain execution providers (p. 51) but not on the “Top 20 supply chain management providers” (p. 49) list despite software revenues of $60 million. All rankings are determined by worldwide revenue numbers.
Here’s a look at the leading trends in each of the prime categories for supply chain management.
ERP systems
Last year saw a continuation of the consolidation in the supply chain management and planning space, according to Fontanella. This trend was best illustrated by the purchase of Provia Software by SSA Global, only to see SSA swallowed up by Infor, now the third-largest ERP provider.
Last year also saw JDA Software, No. 6 on the list with $277 million in combined revenue, purchase Manugistics.
“The ERP companies have re-asserted themselves in the supply chain market,” says Fontanella. “But consolidation doesn’t mean we’ll be lacking for innovation because new companies continually pop up in this field with new approaches.”
Fontanella has noticed two trends in the ERP companies that top our list.
1) While CIO’s would like to standardize applications under one application vendor, Fontanella says “companies recognize that there’s a certain amount of risk to building your whole application portfolio around one vendor.” At the same time, Fontanella says he’s seeing ERP vendors like Infor and Oracle compete with best-of-breed providers in areas where they have deep functionality in an application.
2) Fontanella sees an opportunity for providers of multi-enterprise collaborative platforms that link trading partners together to make their presence felt in the market. “With the emphasis on doing business globally, there’s an opportunity for collaborative commerce if companies can implement a solution and begin to get an ROI (return on investment),” says Fontanella. “If that happens, today’s leaders will have to rethink how they approach the market.”
Transportation management systems
The market for transportation management systems (TMS) continues to grow at an accelerating pace, according to Adrian Gonzalez, director of the logistics executive council for ARC Advisory. “Last year, I forecasted that the market would grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.9%, and when all the numbers are in, I believe we’re going to find that it grew faster than that in 2006,” says Gonzalez.
One of the biggest areas of growth is the on-demand market TMS. “On-demand TMS is now an estimated 33% of revenue for all of TMS, and over the next five years, two-thirds of the vendors expect that to be the fastest-growing segment of the market,” Gonzalez says.
In addition, Gonzalez says TMS suppliers are expanding their footprint, much as WMS providers have by adding solutions for global trade management, which facilitate international shipping and fleet management solutions like route management and scheduling.
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
The past 3 years have seen much consolidation in the customer relationship management (CRM) industry, with some of the large CRM players being acquired by even larger software development companies. The divide between enterprise resource planning (ERP) software developers and CRM software developers has closed, as all software developers have extended their product ranges to provide total business-management solutions for their customers and have either acquired the technologies to integrate the functions provided by different software solutions or have developed them themselves.
True to its early promise, CRM has turned out not to be a passing fad, but rather an essential way for organisations to understand their customers and, in the words of one of the respondents to the CRM roundtable discussion in this report, `sell more now!' Technological advances have allowed organisations to link their `front-office' functions (i.e. customer contact centre operations, marketing and sales) to their `back-office' enterprise solutions (i.e. accounting, inventory, payroll and personnel, stock control, etc.). This was, after the initial euphoria from CRM early adopters, the big issue, and one that barred companies without huge IT resources — and huge development budgets — from entering the CRM arena.
This has changed: CRM products, understanding of these products, and the technology involved have all improved, allowing vendors to begin marketing their products to small to medium businesses (SMBs).
At the same time, Web 2.0 — the much vaunted new era of Internet usage enabled by the widespread availability of broadband for greater access — has given rise to a new generation of Internet users, both developers and consumers, who use open-source technology and the Internet to collaborate and network online.
Users have become more mobile. CRM systems had already developed Web-based accessibility, enabling sales and other personnel access to the system via a Web browser, so it has been a small step for vendors to make the entire system available to the whole organisation this way but by hosting it themselves.
Hosted solutions provide a relatively low-cost entry for SMBs and, with this sector being increasingly targeted by vendors, the case for developing their own hosted offerings has proven irresistible: almost all of the major CRM (and ERP) vendors now offer hosted solutions.
Nonetheless, these companies face competition; there are a number of software companies, backed by the venture capital that has fuelled so much of the economic growth seen in recent years, that have entered the hosted CRM market, designing their products largely around sales and marketing processes.
For SMBs, facing up to a decline in economic growth, and increasing costs, the attraction of being able to increase productivity and to generate better-quality leads for a low monthly subscription fee is attractive. It is likely that vendors offering basic CRM functionality to SMBs will enjoy some growth during the next 2 to 3 years (i.e up to 2010 or 2011).
The question is whether or