Sunday, September 27, 2009
Nowadays, the rise of information technology plays a vital role in every organization and major businesses. Competition is indeed a mere challenge to all organizations. The use of the so-called technology brings life to them not just because they need to have one but also by showing to others what they’ve got. The fast growing technology ruled over the world and influenced the industry level of businesses. Information technology is a powerful tool for meeting environmental objectives and promoting sustainable development. Information technologies are unique not just because of their growing use in decision-making and knowledge management systems, important as that is. Their use has also yielded significant improvements in the efficiency of energy and materials used by certain companies. This has contributed to economic expansion without the increases in environmental impacts that would have resulted had the efficiency improvements not occurred.
Advances in information technology are likely to continue to provide opportunities for the development of improved and new products and services offered by some organizations. The advances of technology nowadays certainly help in building a skilled workforce within the organization that definitely makes the company grow and produced quality services to customers.
Due to the rapid development of technology, information is acquired anytime, anywhere and everywhere. Likewise, all medium to large organizations depend on Information technology for their continued survival. Information systems were developed simply to improve the efficiency of specific business functions. More recently information systems have been viewed as tools for obtaining
competitive advantage.
An information systems environment is an area in which professionals make use of the systems developed within the environment of the organization. An environment that doesn’t focused on one field but instead represents an ecosystem where information systems are employed and then used. The environment that both information systems and workforce work together to build a competitive and progressive organization they aim to have.
As an aspiring IT professional, soon I’ll be a part of the corporate world and prestigious IT environment or organization equipped with many knowledge. I take up IT because I want to be a part of the IT environment that is nowadays-latest trend. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish this course. The time I finished this course, I want to work in a big company such as Davao Light and Power Company, Ayala Group of Companies, PLDT, Philippine Airlines and San Miguel Corporations. The mentioned companies surely have the best job suited for me, I guess. I really dreamed of becoming a business analyst of one of the said companies. I want to become an Information Technology Business Analyst. IT business analyst plays a vital role in their organizations' technological direction. IT business analysis responsibilities can reside in various corporate functions and departments, such as operations, product development, information systems and finance. No matter what organization or title owns the function, the business analyst's primary responsibilities are gathering requirements for designing business information systems, modifying systems to improve production or workflow, deploying new applications or expanding systems to serve new purposes. The bottom line for business analysts is to help make the companies more efficient, effective and profitable. Being an IT business analyst soon, I must able to think logically and should probably work with many ideas since the work is dealing with number of tasks simultaneously. That’s really a challenging one, I guess. Another thing is that analyst often work independently since there are some cases that the work is done with a team for large projects. I must be able to communicate with technical personnel such as programmers, managers and clients who don’t have enough background with computers. My job is really important in the company. As what I’ve heard, IT business analyst is the brain of the company since the business relies on the technology.
Upon working in a company, there are lots of things to consider since we are not working alone. We will work and deal with different kinds of people, which is a means in creating a special workforce in a company that would surely help the organization. The time I’ll be working, I must also consider the ideas of my colleagues since we are the brain of the company. Doing that role requires great passion. The work is quiet challenging since it will be done under pressure. There are lots of challenges I may face in performing my role in that company. Managing the time, balance the work and the competition within the organization. That challenged me so much because that would probably an aid for me in becoming competent and effective personnel. Another thing is that the technology nowadays is fast moving and with that I must able to formulate some ideas that surely fit to what the technology had that moment of time. Facing those challenges would simply means that I have to be strong and competitive enough so that the role I’m portraying fit to what the organization wishes me to portray.
For now since I’m just a student, I would probably make sure that all my dreams will be come true. Though the pressure is there still I have to manage myself well so that the time I graduate, those I’ve mentioned will surely happen. Hopefully and in God’ time. 
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Information is the lifeblood of any organization. Damaged or lost data can cause disruptions in normal business activities leading to financial losses and lawsuits. Information systems, which comprise hardware, software, data, applications, communication and people, help an organization to better manage and secure its critical corporate, customer and employee data. Information systems also improve integration and work processes.
The role of information system in an organization is to monitor and document the operations of systems, which are called target systems. An information system owes its existence to the target system. For example, production activities would be the target system for a production scheduling information system; human resources would be the target system of a human resource information system. It could be that every reactive system may have a subsystem that can be considered as an information system whose objective is to monitor and control such a system. The main functions of an information system may be input, processing, output, storage and control.
Outsourcing vs. Insourcing:
Outsourcing began in the early eighties when organizations started delegating their non-core functions to an external organization that was specialized in providing a particular service, function or product. In outsourcing, the external organization would take on the management of the outsourced function.
Most organizations choose outsourcing because outsourcing offers a lot of advantages. When organizations outsource to countries like India, they benefit from lower costs and high-quality services. Moreover organizations can concentrate more on core functions once they outsource their non-core functions. Outsourcing can also help organizations make better use of their resources, time and infrastructure.
In outsourcing, the outsourcer and the outsourcing partner have a greater relationship when compared to the relationship between a buyer and a seller. In outsourcing, the outsourcer trusts the outsourcing partner with vital information. Outsourcing is no longer confined to the outsourcing of IT services. Most organizations are opting to outsource because outsourcing enables organizations to access intellectual capital, focus on core competencies, shorten the delivery cycle time and reduce costs significantly. Organizations feel outsourcing is an effective business strategy to help improve their business.
The opposite of outsourcing can be defined as Insourcing. When an organization delegates its work to another entity, which is internal yet not a part of the organization, it is termed as insourcing. The internal entity will usually have a specialized team who will be proficient in the providing the required services. Organizations sometimes opt for insourcing because it enables them to maintain a better control of what they outsource. Insourcing has also come to be defined as transferring work from one organization to another organization which is located within the same country. Insourcing can also mean an organization building a new business centre or facility which would specialize in a particular service or product.
Organizations involved in production usually opt for insourcing in order to cut down the cost of labor and taxes amongst others. Organizations who have been dissatisfied with outsourcing have moved towards insourcing. Some organizations feel that they can have better customer support and better control over the work outsourced by insourcing their work rather than outsourcing it. According to recent studies, there is more wok insourced than outsourced in the U.S and U.K. These countries are currently the largest outsourcers in the world. The U.S and U.K outsource and insource work equally.
If an organization has a number of non-core processes which are taking plenty of time, effort and resources to perform in-house, it would be wise to outsource these non-core functions. Outsourcing in this case, would help save on time, effort, and manpower and would also be aid in making quicker deliveries to customers. For reducing costs and making faster deliverables, outsourcing is again a good option.
If the work involves production, then it would be more ideal for the organization opt for insourcing, as it can save on transportation costs and exercise a better control over your project.
If given a chance to point out my opinion regarding outsourcing or insourcing in our university,I may choose to have it insource. We all know that the university is a public institution. Money is kinda a big issue when it comes to some implementations. Since outsourcing cost much, it would be a lot better if the university had an insource system since it lessens cost. . The university has good programmers that can do all the systems needed by the university. Why not give them the responsibility to do such system that definitely helps the university. They are competent enough and thus have enough knowledge when it comes in making and maintaining the Information Systems. They are definitely familiar with the flow of the system they come up with. So when problem arise, they can easily solve it since they are the ones who made it. They can always do better and develop their ideas. We all know that in outsourcing the time the system’s down, security and data integrity is then lost. Since the one using that system doesn’t have the knowledge to solve the problem, then it’s a hassle on their part because they cannot solve it alone. With in sourcing of course they surely deal with the problems easily and can secure the data thoroughly. 
Reference:
http://www.outsource2india.com/why_india/articles/outsourcing-versus-insourcing.asp
Last July 27, 2009 during the 2ndRegular Session of the 14th Congress, one lady declared her SONA (State of the Nation Address) that is something she had to stand for till the end. She is our incumbent president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Getting a country up and running requires years and money resources, including large sums of more from the international community. The basic structure of a country is the same: political, economic, taxation and judicial systems, infrastructure, cultural, educational and medical institutions, and more are one of the issues our president stated. Because these are interconnected, fitting them together into unified, organic whole is a complex undertaking.
She stated in her SONA some of her achievements this year. The vision of putting people first in her priorities is one key points.
In relation with ICT, she mentioned some areas about it.. These are the following:
Telecommunications
Developing the BPO
Automated Elections
Reference:
http://jlp-law.com/blog/state-of-the-nation-address-sona-2009/
Internet has been perhaps the most outstanding innovation in the field of communication in the history of mankind. As with every single innovation, internet has its own advantages and disadvantages. But usually, greater magnitude of advantages outweighs its disadvantages. Internet Today internet has brought a globe in a single room. Right from news across the corner of the world, wealth of knowledge to shopping, purchasing the tickets of your favorite movie-everything is at your finger tips. Internet has great potential and lot to offer. With that, its
really part of our daily lives. The foremost target of internet has always been the communication. And internet has excelled beyond the expectations .Still, innovations are going on to make it faster, more reliable. By the advent of computer’s Internet, our earth has reduced and has attained the form of a global village. By just clicking the mouse, we can now communicate in a fraction of second with a person who is sitting in the other part of the world. With the so-called emails and chat, we can get in touch with our loved ones. Another great advantage of internet is that it provides us the information we need in our daily lives. The Internet is a virtual treasure trove of information. Any kind of information on any topic under the sun is available on the Internet. The search engines like Google, yahoo is at your service on the Internet. You can almost find any type of data on almost any kind of subject that you are looking for. There is a huge amount of information available on the internet for just about every subject need to be searched. Students and children are among the top users who surf the Internet for research. Today, it is almost required that students should use the Internet for research for the purpose of gathering resources. Teachers have started giving assignments that require research on the Internet. It’s really an advantage to us students because it’s easy for us to find the information we need in our studies. On other way round, entertainment is another popular reason why people love to surf the internet. Games, chat, some networking sites are those popular demands of the users. The industry of online gaming has tasted dramatic and phenomenal attention by game lovers. Chat rooms are popular because users can meet new and interesting people. In fact, the Internet has been successfully used by people to find life long partners. When people surf the Web, there are numerous things that can be found. Music, hobbies, news and more can be found and shared on the Internet.
Slow internet connection problems are becoming more common. The speed of internet connection is based on several factors. If those factors are hampered, the internet connection will slows down.One of the major causes of slowdown on the net is spyware. So before you begin tweaking your setting. Make sure that your computer is free of spyware and other nasty.
If I’m hired as an IT consultant of the university, I would suggest to have a good infrastructure in order to improve the internet connection. We are all aware that the slow internet connection in our university is one of the problem our university has. Students keep on complaining on the slow internet connection. As an IT consultant, I do have lots of suggestions to improve the internet connectivity.
These are the following:
1. Broadband Router Settings
As the centerpiece of a network, a broadband router can be responsible for slow Internet connections if configured improperly. For example, the MTU setting of your router will lead to
performance issues if set too high or too low. Ensure your router's settings are all consistent with the manufacturer's and your Internet Service Provider (ISP) recommendations. Carefully record any changes you make to your router's configuration so that you can undo them later if necessary.
2. Wireless Signal Interference
Wi-Fi and other types of wireless connections may perform poorly due to signal interference, which requires computers to continually resend messages to overcome signal issues. To avoid slow Internet connections due to signal interference, reposition your router for better performance and change your Wi-Fi channel number.
3. Internet Worms
An Internet worm is a malicious software program that spreads through computer networks. If any of your computers are infected by an Internet worm, they may begin spontaneously generating network traffic without your knowledge, causing your Internet connection to appear slow. Run antivirus software regularly to diagnose and remove these worms from your computers.
4. Running Background Applications
Some software applications you install on a computer run in the background, quietly consuming network resources. Unlike worms, these are programs designed to do useful work. Peer to
peer (P2P) programs in particular can heavily utilize your network and cause connections to appear slow. It's easy to forget these applications are running. Always check computers for any programs running in the background when troubleshooting a slow network.
5. Faulty Network Equipment
When routers, modems or cables fail, they typically won't support connections. Certain technical glitches in network equipment, however, adversely affect performance even though connections are maintained. To troubleshoot potentially faulty equipment, temporarily re-arrange and re-configure your gear while experimenting with different configurations. Try bypassing the router, swapping cables and changing network adapters to isolate the slow performance to a specific
component of the system.
6. Service Provider Issues
Internet speed ultimately depends on the service provider. Your ISP may change their network's configuration, or suffer technical difficulties, that inadvertently cause your Internet connection to run slow. ISPs may also intentionally install filters or controls on the network that can lower your performance. Don't hesitate to contact your service provider if you suspect they are responsible for a slow Internet connection.
7. Reduce the Web Cache
The task here is to make your web cache as small as possible. The less disk space your reserve for your temporary files is less data that your computer needs to search through. This action can easily award you a faster connection on the net.
8. Clear Temp Files
Deleting web cache is a good way to speed up a slow internet connection. These files take up valuable resources that could be used to for a better net surfing experience. When we are online web cache are active. Cookies are loaded in your browsers and constantly update themselves.
Here how to delete your temporary internet files.
Manual steps to erase your temporary internet files.
1. Quit Internet Explorer, Firefox, or any other web browser
2. Click Start, click Control Panel and then double-click Internet Options.
3. On the General tab, click Delete Files under Temporary Internet Files.
4. In the Delete Files dialog box, click to select the Delete all offline content check box , and then click OK.
5. Click OK.
9. Speed Up Web Pages
When you log on to a web page, your computer is assaulted with data it needs to organize and present in an orderly manner. This information takes time to load. So, the more information the longer it takes to load. However you tweak a number of settings to decrease the time it takes to load a web page. By reducing the amount of animation and scripts.
10. Control Your AntiVirus
When your antivirus performs a scan. It produces a log. This log can be up to 100 megabytes of information each. The registry holds all this info. The addition of the info is not the major problem. Its that the information is placed in many places in your registry. This causes fragmentation of files. Your computer's operating system must search through the massive files in the registry constantly. If the registry is error-filled, fragmented, or bloated with unnecessary and duplicate files, you will have major slowdown. Organize and keep it maintained, the problem will most likely be solved.
Those mentioned suggestions is a great help not just to the students but all also to the faculty and staff of the university because they can make use of the internet properly without hassles. However, it would be a lot better if both students and staff cooperate in making the internet connection faster. It's not just for the good of oneself but also for the good of the institution.
Refernces:
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/speedtests/tp/slow-network-connections.htm
http://www.delete-computer-history.com/slow-internet-connection.html
Barriers in IT/IS Implementation
Our world today has changed a great deal with the aid of information technology. Things that were once done manually or by hand have now become computerized operating systems, which simply require a single click of a mouse to get a task completed. With the aid of IT we are not only able to streamline our business processes but we are also able to get constant information up to the minute and up to date.
The significance of IT can be seen from the fact that it has penetrated almost every aspect of our daily lives from business to leisure and even the society. Today personal computers, cell phones, fax machines, email and internet have all not only become an integral part of our very culture but also play an essential role in our day to day activities as well.
Today information technology involves more than just computer literacy; it also takes into account how computers work and how these computers can further be used not just for information processing but also for communications and problem solving tasks as well.
As we all know, all business processing units nowadays make use of the so-called technology we had now. It brings a lot of advantages for the company since it is an aid in achieving the company’s goal and to become globally competitive in so many ways. With information technology, computerize business process helped those companies in streamlining businesses to make them extremely cost effective money making machines. This in turn increases productivity that ultimately gives rise to profits that means better pay and less tough working conditions. IT has made it possible for businesses to be open 24 x7 all over the globe. This means that a business can be open anytime anywhere, making purchases from different countries easier and more convenient. It simply means money is always coming. Probably the best advantage of information technology is the creation of new and interesting jobs. Computer programmers, Systems analyzers, Hardware and Software developers and Web designers are just some of the many new employment opportunities created with the help of IT.
There are some barriers encountered when Information Technology or Information Systems is involved. Certain companies do have some systems that they use for the overall operation of the business. If we say computerized systems it means work is done easily but how about its disadvantages.
In our adopted company, which is the Davao International Airport, the barrier they stated is described as “Garbage in, Garbage out”. What does it mean? It is used primarily to call attention to the fact that computers will automatically process the most nonsensical of input data and produce nonsensical output. It was most popular in the early days of computing, but applies even more today, when powerful computers can spew out mountains of erroneous information in a short time.
Another barrier stated by the manager is the Budget Constraints and Ignorance. We all know that Davao International Airport is a big company but then in terms of the maintainance of their facilities they do lack of budget. They cannot come up to have a good information system since
money is barely involved. Ignorance on the other hand in a way that they dont have good facilities that are on the trend since they used the old versions of computer.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_In,_Garbage_Out