Blog 6, Week 7

Chapter 6 Questions

List, describe, and provide an example of each of the five characteristics of high quality information.

The characteristics of high quality management include: 

Accuracy: data should be accurate and captured at the point of activity. 

Completeness: in order to add value to any organisation, information must be unique and distinctive.

Consistency: is key when entering data into a database.

Uniqueness: data should be captured as quickly as possible after the event or activity and must be available for the intended use within a reasonable time period.

Timeliness: data requirement should be clearly specified based on the information needs of the organisation and data collection processes matched to these requirements.

Define the relationship between a database and a database management system.

A database is the heart of an organisation, it stores key business information like; sales data, inventory data and student data. All businesses use a database of some type. Database management system (DMS) is the - software through which users and application programs interact with a database.

Describe the advantages an organisation can gain by using a database.

- Users will be able to access a large amount of information.

- This information can be used to solve problems, and it can also be used to increase profits in the company.

- Data is consistent

- The data is relevant and and organised in an efficient manner.

Define the fundamental concepts of the relational database model.

A relational database is a collection of tables from which data can be accessed in many different ways without having to recognise the database tables. That is, once relationships are created, tables can “talk” to eachother. We can link the tables to find for example, which students are in which class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2kbsG8zsLM

Describe the benefits of a data-driven website.

A data-driven-website is an interactive website kept constantly updated and relevant to the needs of its customers through the use of a database. Its benefits include:

- mimisation of human error

- future expandability

- An improved sustainablility

- Known to be more efficient

6. Describe the roles and purposes of data warehouses and data marts in an organisation.

Data warehouse is a logical collection of information, gathered from many different operational databases, that supports business analysis activities and decision-making tasks. Its purpose is: to aggregate information throughtout an organisation into single repository for decision making purposes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiRhRxPuEU8

A data mart is a subset of an organisational datastore, usually oriented to a specific purpose or major data subject, that may be distributed to support business needs.

Blog 5, Week 6

What is information architecture and what is information infrastructure and how do they differ and how to they relate to each other?

Information Architecture - Identifies where and how important information, such as customer records, is maintained and secured.

Infrastructure Architecure - Includes the hardware, software and telecommunications equipment.


Describe how an organisation can implement a solid information architecture
Backup and Recovery: Daily or hourly backups to storage servers.
Disaster Recovery: Plan for disasters so when they do occur the organisation is prepared. For example hot site or cold site.
Information Security: Managing users access, up to date antivirus software and patches.

List and Describe the five requirement characteristics of infrastructure architecture.

• 1. Flexibility - Ability to handle multiple currencies and languages
• 2. Scalability - Refers to how well a system can adapt to increased demands
• 3. Reliability - ensures all systems are functioning correctly and providing accurate information
• 4. Availablity - addresses when systems can be accessed by users
• 5. Performance - measures how quickly a system performs a certain process or transaction

Describe the business value in deploying a service oriented architecture

Service Orientated Architecture is a business driven IT architectural approac that supports integrating a business as linked, repeatable tasks or services.

It helps businesses innovate by ensuring that IT systems can adapt quickly, easily and economically to support rapidly changing business needs.

What is an event?

An event detects threats as well as opportunities while alerting those who can act on information.

What is a service? 

• Need to be reusable so it increases productivity
• Must find the right level of granularity
• Must appeal to a broad audience
• Loose Coupling - capability of services to be joined on demands to create composite services or disassembled just as easily into their functional components.
• Interoperability - capability of two or more computer systems to share data and resources.



What emerging technologies can companies use to increase performance and utilise their infrastructure more effectively?

Virtualisation - framework for dividing the resources of a computer into multiple execution environments.

It allows people, processes and technology to work together more efficiently

Grid Computing - is an aggregation of geographically dispersed computing, storage and network resources.

Blog 4, Week 5

Chapter 4 Questions

Explain the ethical issues surrounding information technology.

Privacy - one of the largest ethical issues that faces organisations today. Privacy is in the interest of a person in protecting their life from unwanted intrusion and public scrutiny.
Confidentiality - is the principle that certain information will remain outside the public domain.

             

Intellectual property: the right to do, or omit to do, certain acts with intangible propertyollection of rights that protect creative and intellectual effort.

Copyright: the exclusive right to do, or omit to do, certain acts with intangible property, such as song, video games and some types of propriety documents.

Fair use doctrine: in certain situations, it is illegal to use copyright material.

Pirated software: the unauthorised use of duplication, distribution, or sale of copyrighted software.

Couunterfeit Software: software that is manufactured that is look like the real thing and sold as such.

Baltzan, Phillips, Lynch, Blakey (2010)

 

Describe a situation involving technology that is ethical but illegal.

 

A pearson received an offer for a mobile phone service from AT&T Wireless. This offer revealed that AT&T Wireless had used Equifax, a credit reporting agency to identify Claire Pearson as a potential customer. The Fair Credit Reporting Act is the United States forbids repurposing credit information except when the information is used for “a firm offer or credit insurance”.

 

Describe and explain one of the computer use policies that a company might employee

Acceptable Use Policy: is a policy a user must agree to follow in order to be provided access to a network or to the internet. For example, school students or employees of a business.

Conditions are: Not using the service as part of violating any law

Not attempting to send junk email or spam to anyone who does not want to recieve it

Not attempting to break the security of the computer network or user

Not posting commercial messages to groups without prior permission

Not attempting to mail a bomb site.

 

What are the 5 main technology security risks?

Biometrics: Physical Characteristics

Tokens: Small electronic devices that change user passwords automatically.

Phishing: Fruadulent email that can gain personal information

Identity Theft: forging someone else's identity

Smart Card: Contains embedded technologies that can store information

Outline one way to reduce each risk.

• Encryption: scrambles information into an alternative form that requires a key or password to decrypt the information

What is a disaster recovery plan, what strategies might a firm employee?

A Disaster recovery plan is a detailed process for recovering information or an IT system in the event of a catastrophic disaster.

• Strategies:
• Business Continuity Planning (BCP) is a plan is a plan for how organisations will recover and restore their business after the disaster has occurred.
• Cold Site: does not have any any computer computer equipment, but employees can go there after the disaster has occurred. 
• Hot Site: separate and fully equipped facility where the company can go immediately after the disaster and resume their business.

Blog 3, Week 4

Chapter 3 Questions:

What is an IP Address?  What is it’s main function?

An Internet Protocol address (IP Address) is a numerical label that is assigned to any device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication between its nodes. An IP address serves two main function:

• host or network interface identification
• location addressing.

Internet Protocol is the basic communication language of the internet. It can also be used as a communications protocol in a private network. Each computer on the internet has an IP address, these can be private or public, however every address must be unique.



What is Web 2.0, how does it differ from 1.0?

Web 2.0 is a set of economic, social and technology trends that collectively form the basis for the next generation of the internet - a more mature, distinctive medium characterised by user participation openness and network effects. Web 2.0 differs from 1.0 as it has moved away from the limited only reading information to the read, write and publish era.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXFYkbQRgY4

What is Web 3.0?

Web 3.0 is the evolution of web usage and interaction among several separate paths. These include transforming the web into a database, a move towards making content accessible by multiple non-browser applications, the leveraging of artificial intelligence technologies, or the semantic web.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=off08As3siM&feature=related

What is eBusiness, how does it differ from eCommerce?
 

What is pure and partial eCommerce?

Pure eCommerce - concerns business whose transactions are largely carried out on the Internet. Partial eCommerce on the other hand concerns business in which a large part of the transaction takes place in the off-line real world.

 

List and describe the various eBusiness models?

Business to business (B2B): Applies to businesses buying from and selling to each other over the internet.

BusBusiness to consumer (B2C): Applies to any business that sells its products or services to consumers over the internet.

Consumer to business (C2B): Applies to any consumer that sells a product or service to a business over the internet.

Consumer to consumer (C2C): Applies to sites primarily offering goods and services to assist consumers interacting with each other over the internet.

List and describe the major B2B model?

Electronic marketplaces: are interactive business communities providing a central market where multiple buyers and sellers can engage in e-business activities. They present structures for conducting commercial exchange, consolidating supply chains and creating new sales channels.

Outline 2 opportunities and 2 challenges faced by companies doing business online?

                Opportunities:

• - Highly accessible
• - Improved information content and increased customer loyalty
• Challenges:

• - Protecting customers
• - Increasing liability

eCommerce is the buying and selling of good and services online. eBusiness on the other hand is the conducting of business on the internet, including buying and selling, serving customers and collaborating with business partners. The primary difference between the two is that eBusiness also refers to online exchanges of information.