Homework #6

Paul Trant
Homework Assignment #6
March 12, 2012

MIS

Article Announcing YouTube Analytics – the next generation in Insight
Publisher: YouTube

Published Date: Wednesday, November 30, 2011

YouTube Analytics is replacing YouTube Insight. The purpose of the switch is to make it easier to learn about the people watching your videos. Some of the latest features in Analytics include:

*A Quick Overview: This allows for a quick was to scan through information and also allows for easier navigation throughout the site.

*More Detailed Reports: The statistics about your audience goes into greater detail, and gives you a better understanding of who they are and what their watching and looking for.

*Audience Builders: This allows you to see what videos are being viewed the most, and what kinds of things people are subscribing too.

*Audience Retention: This allows you to see how long into a video your viewer has watched. With this information you can get a grasp of their attention span, their intent of watching the video, if something was humorous and they specifically skip right to that part to focus in on that.

In the past I have used something similar through Google for a website I had build. Google’s form of this is called “Google Analytics.” Their Analytics allow you to see demographics, page visits and so forth. I’m in favor of the switch for YouTube, because like most, I find myself searching for videos regularly. If video creators had a better idea of what people wanted then the quality of the videos being produced would increase.

A big part of why I feel YouTube is changing over to this is to give users more power and control. People want to know all the hard hitting questions such as what can I do better? Who’s viewing my page? Where are they viewing my page? Some people use YouTube as a way of making money. Therefore with this type of information they can financially prosper. For those who just make videos for fun, they can attract a wider audience and gain more page views.

Homework #5

Paul Trant
Homework #6
MIS
March 12, 2012

Article: Drug makers Mine Data for Trial Patients
Publisher: Business week
Published Date: November 3, 2011

The article “Drug Makers Mine Data for Trial Patients” discusses how pharmaceutical companies are going to use electronic health data gained from patients from 13 hospitals across New York State. The purpose of this is to identify and enroll participants in drug studies. This program is called the Partnership to Advance Clinical Electronic Research.

I believe this is a good cause, because it will allow for money to be spent smarter instead of test and retest. New products won’t have to continually be made if tests can be done ahead of time. By implementing an electronic health data system, it will be able to pinpoint and sort records quickly and efficiently. Also, the article said that hospitals are projected to make $75 million.

Continuing on into the article, it discusses how federal law bars medical providers, hospitals and insurers from disclosing the types of information Drug Company’s are looking to seek. The records would have to be queried and each one costs between $50,000 and $200,000. I think that this is a lot of money, but at the same time if it can help people and prevent future illnesses then it’s definitely worth the investment.

Arguments were raised about the information being leaked to third parties and flaws in the system. Lillie Coney the associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center was quoted for saying, “In a world where so much data is being retained, exchanged and sold, being able to protect the privacy of individuals is a lot more difficult.” I absolutely agree with her point. There are all kinds of viruses and programs, where people try to steal personal information, and commit crimes such as credit card fraud and identity fraud.

However, nothing is being done without the signed consent of the patient. Therefore the pharmaceutical companies are legally protected. One the patient signs their consent; they are legally allowing their personal records to be viewed for research purposes. Where it cost’s so much money for the query, it is almost certain the right protective measures would be taken to protect the information of the patient. 

Homework #4

Paul Trant
Homework #4
MIS
February 13, 2012

New Database Search Tool Will Aid Bureau Investigations

Midway through the semester thus far, we have covered a variety of interesting topics. One of the topics that stood out to me was databases and search engine optimization. By search engine optimization, I’m referring to websites such as Google and Yahoo. In my winter intersession course this past winter break; we used Google much more in depth. Most people just use Google to look up something quick, or possibly to find the hours of a popular restaurant. However, I learned such features as Google Analytics, which allows you to track statistics for a website you own. For example, it will track how many people visited your site, and where they were when they looked at your site.

The article I selected to read discussed the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the use of their databases. For the FBI to find missing information, it can require searching through hundreds of different databases with individual passwords. The new tool the Bureau has released makes it capable to search the most used databases with a single search capability. This process is called Data Integration and Visualization System.

The article also went on to discuss the future of DIVS. They are hoping to come up with a way that can use cross-case correlation and geospatial tools. This makes it possible to search a person by their name, or other offenders in the case. Our court system is so complex that multiple databases exist to accommodate all of its components.

I feel that more businesses are also following this particular trend. Larger corporations that have to assess multiple databases are trying to simplify their process. By doing this, they are maximizing their resources, as well as making it quicker to reference records. Banks may be one of the last businesses to consider changing DIVS. I personally have to login through three different pages answering a variety of security questions to access my banking information.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/itb/news-features/new-database-search-tool-will-aid-bureau-investigations

Homework 2

Paul Trant
Homework # 2

Tom Freidman’s Flatteners

One of the first flattener’s I considered to be significant was In-Forming: Google, Yahoo and MSN Web Search. Without any of these search engines, navigating throughout the online world would be next to impossible. Companies will invest large sums of money just so their company name can appear first or in the top searches.

The next flattener in which I feel was significant was when Netscape went public, and shifted from a PC based platform to an Internet-based platform. The Internet is a quick growing form of technology. It has become so complex, that it is nearly impossible to not find what your looking for on the internet.

One of the flatteners I found to be very interesting was the one that pertained to FedEx and UPS. They went on to discuss if you owned a Toshiba laptop and it broke and was under warranty that it was sent to a UPS workshop that specialized on computers. Another interesting point that was made, was that UPS also dispatches the drivers and schedules supply pickup and deliver for Papa John’s Pizza.  When people hear about UPS or FedEx, they merely think that all they do is deliver packages.

Under the 10^th flattener, “The Steroids: Digital, Mobile, Personal and Virtual” the fifth steroid talks about the advancement of computer graphics. I have been playing video games pretty much all my life, so I have seen first hand how the graphics have become far more advanced. Technology is increasing so rapidly, that they have begun creating video games in 3-D.

Also, the fourth steroid discusses videoconferencing. I personally feel that videoconferencing is still coming into its own, primarily through Skype. However, it has lead to positive mock interview simulations, which help in the business world. The simulations act as if you are in a real life meeting for a potential job, and you are asked simulated interview questions, in order to prepare you for the real deal. 

HW#6

Scott Palmerino

Professor Lawson

M.I.S

March 18, 2012

Twitter becomes Surprisingly Useful

            Twitter these days aren’t just for tweeting or expressing what’s on your mind but to reveal and accommodate customers’ needs and satisfaction towards a product. An example of this is through Dell and Starbucks. They put themselves out there to see what customers said about their products. For example Dell got a review saying that the apostrophe key was too close to the return key so what Dell did was fix it in the new computer that had come out. Starbucks did the same thing only this time dealing with coffee. It doesn’t just work for customer reviews but it can be used in the medical field also. Twitter is linking with smartphones to alert doctors when a patient’s blood pressure is too high or if their heart rate is unstable. There also asking Twitter for help to share information about procedures that they do. Twitter is so popular these days the news are using it too. Back in 2009 when opposition parties in the Republic of Moldova organized a protest, accusing the Communist government of electoral fraud. Twitter helped riot the presidential offices by rallying up people from twitter to take action. These are just a few examples of why Twitter is useful. Twitter can be used personally to connect with friends family people you don’t see that much, also just to leave comments of what s on your mind that day. Overall Twitter can be useful in any way that it affects you. Personally, business wise, health wise, product wise, and even tracking wise, it’s all there just have to look for it.

10 Ways to Build a Business Culture Like Apple

Apple is such a large company that everyone wants to be like them, and wants to know their ways of making millions. One of the big advantages of being an entrepreneur and starting your company from scratch is that you get to set the culture, which is much easier than changing the culture of an existing business. Some of the ways to build up a culture would be to communicate your dreams and operationalize it. Your dream and your company culture needs to be outward focused with a higher good, extending beyond the company’s financial interests. Your personal priorities, values, and principles set the culture. The best way to be clear about them is to regularly engage team members, customers, and suppliers. People follow what you do, not what you say. Set your standards very high. You tell people every day what meets your standards when you agree or disagree with recommendations from your team. Every interaction every day is a training event, and you can capitalize on it or not. Customers can sense how motivated a business’s people are just from seeing the product and how it’s presented to them. With these great ideas, hopefully we can all learn from this to grow.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2012/02/21/why-pinterest-trumps-facebook-at-social-commerce-for-now/ 

“Why Pinterest Trumps Facebook at Social Commerce, For Now” was the article I picked to read and blog about. This article was written by Jeff Bercovici of Forbes Magazine . The article discusses how Facebook will get surpassed by Pinterest as a higher well-being social media site for e-commerce. However, The article states that Facebook was more social then e-commerce as it quoted in the article that “There was a lot of anticipation that Facebook would turn into a new destination, a store, and a place where people would shop. But it was like trying to sell stuff to people while they’re hanging out with their friends at the bar” According to the article it also states that Pinterest is being called a “craft fair” Facebook did take a surprise turn to its consumers, with their ability to impact the market as well as it did. To me I feel Facebook is too focused on “creeping” and communicating with friends instead of being a tool do make money and advertise. People of Facebook aren’t online to look for products and this is where Pininterest will overlap Facebook. However, I was surprised with this statistic, “Facebook dominates the display ad market and is projected to claim about 20% of the pie this year, according to eMarketer”. I was shocked and wasn’t aware of the ability to be able to shop through Facebook, I have seen ads pop up here and there but I would never consider clicking on them for two reasons. Reason 1 fear of getting a virus and reason 2 is I only go on Facebook to keep up to date with my friends and not to shop. Reading this article made me aware of Pininterst because until I read this I was unaware of Pininterest and its capabilities. It’s great that there is a website devoted to ads as I don’t know any others that are. It being unique, Allows its consumers to find what they are looking with no hassle or distractions.  Im anxious to see how this company will do in time. With a blink of an eye it can grow to the likes of any other social media website out there. The skies the limit for Pininterest and I recommend checking it out.

FedEx on e-commerce

FedEx And The Power Of E-Commerce And Holiday Shopping

FedEx posted fiscal second quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday, beating the expectations as being a global delivery company capitalized on strong e-commerce trends online shopping during the holiday season. This led to the helping of the shares expanding and is a positive overall. This represents the benefits of a powerful e-commerce when it comes to global transactions. Net income jumped 75.6% to $497 million in the second quarter, and in a per share basis, FedEx earned $1.57 beating average Wall Street estimates that called for $1.53. This is a very significant aspect of the company as a whole representing its power during the holiday season. This now allows for adjusting the Q2 2010 EPS to exclude one-time charges, FedEx grew its earnings to 35.3% this year. With statistics like these, FedEx has to be doing something right. The revenues from FedEx also rose 10 percent as well. “Our improved performance was largely a result of effective yeild management programs and strong demand for FedEx Home Delivery and FedEx SmartPost services,” said Frederick W. Smith, FedEc Corp. chairman, president and chief executive officer. As online shopping grows more and more at a diligent pace, FedEx during the holiday season will continue to thrive in these types of situations. Also, their  operating income rose as well. Operating income surged 66% to 780 mil helping FedEx stretch its operating margin to 7.4%, from 4.9% in the same quarter in 2010. The company highlighted higher yields and volumes, but saw raw rising levels in fuel prices which would cause to be a small obstacle to face in keeping a steady increase of income. The economy will always be a variable in the business world and I feel that it is far from predictable from day to day.

           

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2010

 

Microsoft ERP Release Streamlines Retailing

http://informationweek.com/news/software/enterprise_apps/232600107?queryText=e-commerce

By: Doug Henschen

            Microsoft released Dynamics AX 2012 on February 1, 2012, an industry-specific version of the vendor's flagship ERP system that's designed to eliminate barriers that are holding many retailers back. Enterprise resource planning or ERP systems are integrate internal and external management information across an entire organization, embracing finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer relationship management, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application. Their purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders. This software eliminates data silos by combining point-of-sale (POS), inventory, supply chain, and financials in one application. “AX 2012 for Retail eliminates the back-end silo problem and provides built-in business intelligence capabilities so you can analyze inventory trends and easily move stock among distribution centers and stores,” Microsoft said. “The ERP system also delivers a consistent customer experience,” says Michael Griffiths the global director of retail and distribution for Microsoft Dynamics. “For example, many customers would expect to be able to order items online and pick them up in a local store, yet many retailers can't offer this option because their systems lack visibility and recognition of sales orders across multiple channels," Griffiths added. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is a global software, as of now it is available in 25 countries, so retailers can support stores and e-commerce activities with support for 23 local languages, local currencies, local tax codes and local measurement standards. "Dynamics does the heavy lifting behind the scenes to apply those changes, so you can move into new markets or add new store formats much more quickly and at a lower cost," Griffiths said. Dynamics AX 2012 the core ERP platform behind the retail edition is based on a model-driven architecture that all but eliminates coding, according to Microsoft. Dynamics “AX 2012 also has embedded business intelligence and analytics capabilities that can be used to deliver dashboards and reports with the aid of Microsoft's SQL Server Reporting Services. The application is Windows-based and runs exclusively on the Microsoft SQL Server database. The vendor does not offer Apple iOS or Android-native apps, but Web-based access is supported on a variety of tablets,” Griffiths said.

HW #6

In the article “FedEx And The Power Of E-Commerce And Holiday Shopping” which was written by Agustino Fontevecchia of Forbes Magazine talks about how “FedEx posted fiscal second quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday, beating analysts’ expectations as the global delivery company capitalized on strong e-commerce trends and online shopping during the holiday season.” With this new information coming to the fore front FedEx has been able to notice how successful they truly are during the holiday grind. Because of this information about E-Commerce and E- Business FedEx as a company can do things differently than other companies because of how successful they are in the second quarter. “FedEx’s net income jumped 75.6% to $497 million in the second quarter.” This goes to show that FedEx is in the black easily because of the holiday season.

The Holiday season is a time for buying lots of presents which means that people are going to go to the stores to get the best deals but with E-business and the E-Commerce that today’s society has makes it much easier for people to just go online and buy it, and then have it shipped by FedEx. I know that I use this a lot because during the holiday season and the time leading up to the holidays I am a very busy person in terms of school and work and other stuff that I tend to go online and buy my gifts because of how easy it is and time saving it is. You may have to pay a few extra bucks for shipping but when it comes to $5 and doing it on your time or spend hrs on hrs in a mall parking lot trying to find a parking spot to go buy that same thing you could online for $5 more. To me and I know using E-businesses to my advantage is definitely working out for companies such as FedEx and UPS because they get a certain percentage of everything they ship.

FedEx also has plans in the future to enhance the turnaround time on delivering. As stated in the article “FedEx also announced it reached an agreement with Boeing to buy 27 new 767-300F to replace its old MD10 fleet. The planes, set to arrive between 2014 and 2018, will provide improved reliability, a 30% increase in fuel efficiency, and a 20% reduction in unit operating costs.”

Homework 6

Chris Barchard
Professor Fleury-Lawson
Homework 6


I chose the article, "Google Analytics Shows How Customers Travel Your Site", by David F. Carr on October 19, 2011. This article is about more improvements made to Google Analytics. In Google's equivalent, the new user flow feature of Google Analytics, you're seeing how many visitors to an online store complete the march to the shopping cart, or whatever the equivalent is for your business in converting site visitors to customers. Google has also improved on Minard by making the visualization interactive, so you can drill down for more detail at any point on the graphic. Google decided the upgrade was needed because site owners wanted to see how users moved around their website and if there were any problems at certain parts of the site. Google began enabling this capability across Google Analytics accounts in the coming weeks with a beta version of a realtime data analytics capability that lets you see how many people are looking at your website at any given moment and what they are looking at. User counts and the corresponding graphics update in realtime as users come to the site and leave. This is a particularly important capability for websites promoting themselves with social media campaigns, who want to be able to see whether they are getting the response they want. 

Overall, I believe that the steps Google made in improving Google Analytics was a very important one. There are so many more possibilities with the use of Web 2.0, and Google is taking advantage of them. I also find that the improvements Google has made will make finding problems on other sites a lot easier and smoother. Now site owners can see if there is a spot on their site that lags or doesn't load for some reason just by looking over how their users move on the site. With Google's improvements come improvements from all other websites which will going on the web a lot faster and people will complain about less problems. We have already seen what Web 2.0 can bring to the table with the realtime updating on social network sites like Twitter and Facebook, but I think we are just scraping the surface on the possibilities that can be had. 


Below is a video of Susan Wojcicki, senior vice president of advertising at Google, at Web 2.0 Summit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MuWSPux6lo

HW #6

The Even Spookier Side of Data Analytics

With the government always trying to find new ways to monitor activity they are now beginning to turn their attention to social networking websites. The agencies are beginning to fund analytical startups, "especially those using a kind of software called hardoop", to track the ideas and trends spreading on social networking sites. More specifically the article mentions the government trying to spot "persuasion campaigns" so they can begin to plan counter measures. The article made me think how social networking sites are not as private as some would like you to believe. This is just another article bringing up how social networking sites provide little, if none, privacy to its millions of users. The governments new attempts to monitor activity on social networking sites is a decision that could affect much of this countries citizens and should be passed around as a warning to all to consider before their next decision to post something online.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/the-even-spookier-side-of-data-analytics-09082011.html

Homework # 6

"FedEx and The Power Of E-commerce and Holiday Shopping"

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/283368

“FedEx posted fiscal second quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday, beating analysts’ expectations as the global delivery company capitalized on strong e-commerce trends and online shopping during the holiday season.  The company reaffirmed its full-year outlook, helping the shares pop.”

E-Commerce has helped FedEx boost revenue. With in the last few years, the economy has been in a downfall. Many companies are offering better deals online than you can receive in store. Cyber Monday, black Friday, Amazon and Wal-Mart. “These provide a big boost for retailers and companies like FedEx and UPS.” “Operating income surged 66% to $780 million helping FedEx stretch its operating margin to 7.4%, from 4.9% in the same quarter in 2010.  The company highlighted higher yields and volumes, but saw rising fuel prices and input costs as a possible obstacle going forward.” “On that note, the company said it expects to earn between $1.25 and $1.35 per share in their fiscal third quarter, while reaffirming its fiscal 2012 outlook of $6.25 to $6.75, despite a weak global economy, increased volatility, and rapidly fluctuating fuel and input prices.” This has allowed FedEx to expand purchasing new equipment such as transportation methods and increase fuel efficiency. FedEx has big plans.” FedEx also announced it reached an agreement with Boeing to buy 27 new 767-300F to replace its old MD10 fleet.  The planes, set to arrive between 2014 and 2018, will provide improved reliability, a 30% increase in fuel efficiency, and a 20% reduction in unit operating costs.  But FedEx also said it was delaying the delivery of 11 777 aircraft given adjustments to its network, particularly in Asia, in response to recent inventory destocking trends.” This article states that even though e-commerce can hurt some businesses by online buying, it also helps other companies like UPS and FedEx. Many companies do have online shopping sites. This allows them to hold a special promotion, or even a deal only online. Also you may find that the product is not stocked in stores which makes it only available online. I feel e-commerce is not necessary the way of the future but is very influential in sales and promotion.