MIS ITpako??...^^

Advantages of Hiring BPO Companies in the Philippines

2012-02-13T00:15:00.000-08:00

Advantages of Hiring BPO Companies in the Philippines

Recently, the Philippines have been governing the business process outsourcing industry in whole Asia. In year 2004, the Philippines declared 20% distribution to the market. And just about 5 years after the declaration, the Philippines shared 54% in the market in the whole world. The country also offers services to other biggest companies and countries. These companies are from U.S., Australia, U.K. and other European countries. Because of this good reputation, a lot of investor invested on the service of BPO in the Philippines.

Companies find many advantages in dealing with the Philippine call centers. Philippine services can attain the kind of service and level of excellence they are looking for. Offshore business process outsourcing companies in the country offer services that are associated with their customer’s business targets. And unlike in India whose services are generic, Philippine BPO firms attract investors by giving customized service to fit the demand of the business.

Business Process Outsourcing services offered by the Philippine employees have also been much acceptable to other country because of its human resources and hard works. English is the second verbal communication language of the Philippines. Because of that fact, investors save a lot of training cost. The agents who applied are firmly screened for language expertise. The screening procedure shows that of global standards to give customers globally competitive service.

Firms regularly evaluate applicants to make sure that their capability meets the particular requirements ask by the client. And at the same time, the clients are one of the panels who will judge the applicants. They also state their comments and suggestions to ensure the quality they want.

Another outstanding advantage that the industry would get out of this business commitment is the client perseverance. A top call center in the Philippines brings bundle advantages to any industry anywhere in the world. Business Process Outsourcing in the Philippines ranked 85% more inexpensive and commercial.

International clients coming from the large variety of businesses have been undertaking business with call centers in the Philippines for a long time. Almost half of the major industries in the Philippines were part of the Fortune 50.

The above informations are just few of the advantages that international clients can get though. Making business with the call center industry is kind of a hard thing but with the help of Philippine BPO services, you can make it easier. But at the end of the day, the distributable and the service provided are summed up to hoist the client's return of funds and proceeds.

What Is Web Development?

2012-02-12T23:56:00.001-08:00

What Is Web Development?

Nowadays, people are more exposed to the computers and electronic gadgets that are very helpful. This help implies proper management in business, helpful resources in studies, enchant networking, updates of games for the gamers, socializations and even the news updates for what happening.

When searching in the internet, you should know the Web sites and the keywords of what you are looking for. But wait, what is Web site? According to the Wikipedia, Website is a set of wed pages containing media content which includes the video, music, text, images and business works. Webpage is a document usually written in plain text scattered with formatting information of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). A webpage may integrate elements from other websites with proper markup anchors.

To relate with, we people are fond of reading and it’ll be better for us if we find the reading material more attractive. Even the young ones preferred when the books they are reading are livelier and pleasant to the eyes. With this reason, website works for it. The website is nothing if there are no set of web pages. Web pages are dead if it is very monotonous and dreary. Because of this, they introduced the Web development.

What Does the Web Development Means?

Web development is a lane term for the exertion implicated in developing a web site for the network. This network is composed of two kinds: the Internet or the World Wide Web and an intranet or the private network.

According to some web professionals, "web development usually refers to the main non-design aspects of building web sites: writing markup and coding. Web development can range from developing the simplest static single page of plain text to the most complex web-based internet applications, electronic businesses, or social network services.”

“Two heads are better than one” – Peter Warnock

Two or hundreds of people are needed in the web development team in a large organizations and big businesses. Smaller organizations may only require a single permanent or contracting webmaster. The related courses to this kind of job are graphic designer and information systems technician. Web development is simply the combined effort between departments rather than the domain of a designated department.

History of Web Development

In the world of wed development, developers are the one who create “HTML” or the “HyperText Markup Language”. They are the one who code for each created pages. These pages are the important part of the website. Credited this example from techumbrella group,

hello world would result in "hello world".

“HTML editors such as Dreamweaver came on the scene and creating code became much easier: a developer could highlight "hello world," click on the bold icon in the editor, and get "hello world" While this saved time, web code editing software were stand-alone purchases that cost hundreds of dollars and had to be installed on high performance computers.”

And aside from that, there is also a system that provides an action used to handle work surge in a concerted environment. This action is called Content Management Systems (CMS).

Social Networking: It’s Contribution to Humans

2012-02-12T23:53:00.000-08:00

Social Networking: It’s Contribution to Humans

Humans are social being.

Human has been socializing with other human beings as part of their daily lives. Sometimes, we exert much effort to move from one place to another just to communicate and socialize with other cultures and races.

Human has started socializing and communicating from other places in many different ways, as time pass by. It started with the use of telegrams followed by mailing letters to different people around the world which became a hit in early 80’s and was popularized as “pen-pal” communication.

A system architect revolutionized communication through the discovery of the internet allowing various computer networks around the globe to interconnect. The internet provides capability to be of use in any purpose depending on the information needed and is accessible by every individual who connects online. It supports access to digital information by many applicants including the World Wide Web.

Through the advancement of technology, we are now able to socialize with people from different places without moving out from regency. This is made possible through the internet-based Social Networking Sites.

Social networking sites enable people to connect to one another. Sharing methods of trade and commerce are just a few activities that people can do online.

Social networking sites are now growing rapidly and almost all people are using it. This has become somewhat, a need for every person to have in this generation because it would make you “in” with today’s trend.

Social Networking refers to the practice of expanding the number of one’s business and/or social contacts by making connections through individuals. While social networking has gone on almost as long as societies themselves have existed, the unparalleled potential of the internet to promote such connections has just been fully recognized and exploited, through Web-based groups established for that purpose.

Social networking provides online services that focus on reflecting and building social networks and social relations among people online, who are of common interests and activities.

Social networking nowadays is popular. There are social networking sites that have been established to give the best features in terms of socialization, privacy, interaction and even entertainment. It is free and accessible that is why many people now opt to use these sites.

Social networking also affects the interpersonal communication of people. Through social networking sites, user meets other people worldwide. These people can affect the user’s interpersonal relationship with other people close to him or her. The influences are either good or bad.

Although there are negative or bad effects in using social networking sites, we cannot deny the fact that it greatly helped our lives to become more at ease and comfortable. We just have to use it properly. There is no harm in engaging with social networking sites. The only harm is when we don’t use it the right way.

Graphic Designs and Applications

2012-02-12T23:50:00.000-08:00

Graphic Designs and Applications

From different road signs to technical schematics diagrams, from internal office memorandums to reference manuals, graphic design is used to convey knowledge through visual messages.

Graphic design is a creative process undertaken in order to convey a specific message or messages to a targeted audience. It dwells more on visual communication and presentation.

Graphic design is commonly used in identity such as logos and branding, publications, magazines, newspapers, and books, advertisements and in product packaging.

If you want to sell product or announce something, and you want to amuse and persuade your target audience, explain or illustrate a complicated process, or just a message you want to convey, you can send it to your audience by the use of visual communication called graphic design.

Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. The designer works with different kinds of communication tools in order to deliver a message from a client to a specific audience. The main tools are image and typography.

Graphic designer works with drawn, photographed, painted or computer-generated images but they also design the letterforms that composes typefaces found in movie credits and TV ads; in books, magazines, and menus; and even on computer screens. Designers create, choose, and organize these elements-typography, images, and the so-called “white space” around them-to communicate a message.

Image-based design

Graphic designers improve images or pictures to illustrate the ideas of their clients. Images are powerful medium of communication, it does not only show and convey words and thoughts but also, it conveys emotions. People, especially your target audience can respond immediately to the image or picture in different ways, depending on their character, experience, personalities or etc. In this case, the picture is really indeed worth a thousand words. And the image produced by the graphic designers carries already the entire meaning of what they are trying to convey, if a picture is not enough, it can also be accompanied by words but only few.

Type-based design

Graphic designers also consider the words they make in a design. How the words look like explains its meaning. Graphic designers would also prioritize the effects of using an element in the words of their design and how would their target audience understand the design.

Image and Type

Graphic designers combine these two to communicate with the audience and convey the client’s ideas. The designers give balance between the usage of image and words.

Short Cute Quotes: Quote for Everybody

2012-02-12T23:47:00.000-08:00

Short Cute Quotes: Quote for Everybody

For over 100 years, people have used quote to shorten the word Quotation. According to Wikipedia, quotation is the repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. Quotation marks are punctuation marks used in text to indicate the words of another speaker or writer. Both of these words are sometimes abbreviated as "quote(s)".

Short means precise and brief. Cute means clever and girly. To sum it up, Short Cute Quotes can be defined as a brief clever story that someone has thought or has told.

Short Cute Quotes normally relate on different situations. In each and every short cute quote you can present and also find various understandings.

Where Can I Find Short Cute Quotes?

Through the use of internet, you can easily point out the quotes you need efficiently. You can specify important messages one at a time. You don’t need to waste your time to search quotes in the volumes of books in the library. Having an internet connection is very helpful. They can provide you entries consist of short cute quotes to pick from. If you are looking for cute quotes, the World Wide Web is your best option.

However, books are still much helpful especially when looking for a hardcopy. A book is a cabinet of knowledge that contains a lot of idea and facts. Quotes are just one part of these ideas. Books are also called works of literature. As an illustration, by Connie Willis "One never gets used to the idea that there is nothing one can do." Words first originated in books and later transferred in internet based programs.

Example for Quotes that are taken from famous books:

· "If it is bitter, I don't want it." – Pinocchio

· "...milliseconds influence centuries." - What If by Robert Cowley

· "A Salt is a small but perfect thing." - Salt A World History by Mark Kurlansky

· "Software development, like professional sports, has a way of making 3O year old men feel decrepit." - Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

· "We think we know what we are doing. We have always thought so. We never seem to acknowledge that we have been wrong in the past, and so might be wrong in the future. Instead, each generation writes off earlier errors as the result of bad thinking by less able minds - and then confidently embarks on fresh errors of its own." - Prey by Michael Crichton

Kinds of Short Cute Quotes:

The thing called love is the most famous topic in all kind of quotes. You can find extraordinary quotes that suits different areas of a relationships. You can find quotes that can help you show your feelings to a certain person. There are also quotes that can help you find and fix lost and damaged heart. However, if you want a longer message to meditate, consider the poems.

These quotes are examples of short cute quotes for your longing heart:

Ø “The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.” - Maureen Duffy

Ø “The secret of love is seeking variety in your life together, and never letting routine chords dull the melody of your romance.” – Unknown

Ø “The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” –

Allan K. Chalmers

Ø “The most important things to do in the world are to get something to eat, something to drink and somebody to love you.” - Brandan Behan

Ø “Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get, it's what you are expected to give — which is everything” – Unknown

The quote writers can be anyone else. Well-known people or ordinary people can do these things. However, sometimes the author or the writer chose to put “Unknown” or “Anonymous” instead of their names.

Well-known quotes made by some of the well-known personality are being published in the internet and books. Examples are:

· “Where does the family unit begin? It starts with an adolescent man falling in love with a girl-no exceptional choice has yet been identified”. – Winston Churchill

· “I am easily satisfied with the very best.” – Winston Churchill

· “If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone.” – John Maxwell

· “Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is.” – Gary Zukav

· “Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

There are also quotes right from philosophers. Examples are:

· “Love is known as a single must inhabiting two bodies” – Aristotle

· “Whenever you're in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.” – William James

· “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence” – Aristotle

· “Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.” – Blaise Pascal

· “Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.” – Plato

There are also quotes from quite famous celebrities. Nevertheless, many stars from entertainment world shared their few quotes. Several of the famous quotes that we can find from the many resources are obtained from the celebrity stars. As an illustration, Marilyn Monroe who has been known as a showgirl who became a major sex symbol and a successful star features several love quotes. Among her famous quotes, she includes the reality and also sense of her being with somebody. For instance, a quote by Marilyn Monroe that is surely very remarkable is “No person actually explained I was beautiful when I was a young girl. All little girls must be told that they’re beautiful even if they aren’t”.

Aside from love quotes there are also short cute quotes concerning life. Short cute quotes about life are also obtainable in the internet and books. Generally speaking, short quotes regarding life can motivate individual to save their lives and live the life they have to the fullest. In addition, there are quotes that deal with all areas in life. You will also find quotes that motivate anyone. There are also quotes that gives humour and some gives warning.

Another popular kind of quotes is absolutely the quotes for friendship. These quotes eventually talks or celebrates friendships. As an illustration, here is a friendship quote from Elbert Hubbard “A friend is one who knows you and loves you all the same”. There are also quotes that warn people about what kind of friends they should choose. Example of George Washington “Be Courteous to all, but intimate to a few and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.”

Aside from love quotes, life quotes, and friendship quotes, you can also find motivational or inspirational quotes, humorous quotes, or authority quotes. When looking for the best quote to uplift your own feelings, reflect to the message that you are looking for. This will allow you to select the perfect kind of quotes you want. To be more convincing, always make sure that the quotes you chose express what you really feel inside.

2012-02-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

What is Cloud Computing?

According to Wikipedia, Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a metered service over a network (typically the Internet).

Computing cloud provides software, computation, and storage resources and data access without even requiring the users to know the location and other details of the computing infrastructure.

It was also mentioned in Wikipedia that the end users of cloud computing uses web browser or mobile application while the software is stored and is accessible to servers at a remote location.

Some of the characteristics that a cloud computing have are:

1. Empowerment. It is the empowerment of the end users that has full control over the provisioning of the resources.

2. Agility. It is improved when the user has the ability to re-provision immediately the technological infrastructure resources.

3. Application programming interface (API). The ability to access software that enables machines to interact with cloud software in the same way, the computer facilitates the interaction between the human and computers. Cloud computing is considered REST-based APIs.

4. Cost. Cost is reduced. In public cloud delivery model, the so-called capital expenditure is transformed to operational expenditure.

5. Device and Location independence. It is enabling the users to use any device in any location to access systems.

6. Virtualization. The sharing and utilization is increased. The applications can be migrated from one server to another.

7. Muti-tenancy. There is sharing of resources and costs.

8. Reliability. It will be improved if multiple sites have been used already.

9. Scalability and Elasticity. Provisioning of resources without much hassle.

10. Performance. It will be monitored. And it is consistent using web services.

11. Security. It could be improved due to, increased security-focused resources, centralization of data, etc., but concerns can persist about loss of control over some sensitive data. Security is often as good as or better than other traditional systems, in part because providers are able to devote resources to solving security issues that many customers cannot afford.

12. Maintenance. Maintaining cloud computing applications is easier because there is no need to go somewhere else, or to any far places and there is no need for installation on the computer.

Short History

The term “cloud” was described like the internet, and it represents like telephone network.

John McCarthy during 1960s spoke out about cloud computing, he said that someday computation will soon be a public utility.

2012-01-16T23:54:00.001-08:00

Why Do We Need Coaching?
If you have seen any sports event, you’ll notice that the coaches are one of main personalities out there. They have as much effect on winning or losing as the players. What do these coaches have that make them so important that even the most talented players heed to their instruction? The simple answer is that they are able to see what’s happening in the game from a different angle. That’s why they are able to see the hurdles and the mistakes that the players on the court or on the field just can’t see.
What happens with the players on the court also happens to us as we go through with our lives. We encounter problems that seem to be insurmountable and leaves us stumped and unable to move forward to reach the success that we’re aspiring for.
It is in these cases in which having a life coach can be very important. Just like with those coaches from professional sports teams, a good life coach can help evaluate your mistakes as well as your strengths and weaknesses. They can provide an unbiased take on what you are doing wrong and help develop the necessary skills to overcome the hurdles that you encounter. With these, you’ll be able to be the best that you can be and reach the success that you’ve been aspiring for.

2012-01-16T23:51:00.000-08:00

What is Coaching?
In its most basic sense, the aim of coaching is to improve the performance of an individual in an aspect wherein there is a need for improvement. It is one of the several types of support that is intended to help an individual reach his or her maximum potential or to overcome problems and challenges in life.
Although the purpose may sound similar as to those of consulting, counseling and mentoring, the method and focus of coaching couldn’t be more different. Coaching is more personality oriented compared to all of the other styles of support. For this style of support to work, there is a need to know about the individual’s strengths and weaknesses as well as the overall behavior.
The role of a coach is to observe and evaluate how an individual deals with the problem or how he or she goes with a specific aspect of his or her life. After that a coach must then facilitate a learning process wherein the individual can acquire the knowledge and skills needed to improve in that aspect. Several options might be presented to deal with the hurdle, but the power to make a choice will rest solely on the individual so that he or she can make a decision wherein he or she is most comfortable with.

2011-11-21T07:49:00.000-08:00

Oscar Wilde: The Story of a Playwright

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wildee or known as Oscar Wilde was an Irishman born on October 16, 1854 at Dublin, Ireland and died on November 30, 1900 at Paris, France. He was a writer and a famous poet in London. Oscar Wilde graduated at Trinity College, Dublin. He can speak and understand French as well as English. In 1890`s, Oscar was also a very famous playwright in London. Nowadays, people recognize him because of his epigrams, plays and the conditions of his imprisonment along with his early death.

He’s a son of both successful Dublin intellectuals. Wilde became a fluent speaker in French and German language early in his life. Oscar Wilde proved himself that he was an outstanding classicist in his university through reading, first at Dublin then at Oxford. Walter Pater and John Ruskin were Wilde’s tutors who led him to be famous in his involvement in the rising philosophy of aestheticism. He deeply explored Roman Catholicism to which he alters on his deathbed afterwards. Wilde transferred to London into fashionable cultural and social circles after taking up his college. He was a spokesperson for aestheticism. He practiced different literary activities like publishing, and then returned to London where he worked freely as a journalist. He had a book of poems which was released as a lectured in the United States of America and Canada on the new "English Renaissance in Art”. Wilde became one of the most well-known personalities of his time and he was known for his piercing humour, glitzy dress, and magnificent conversation.

He developed his ideas regarding the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, beauty into his only novel and The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890s. The chance to create exactly aesthetic details and merge them with larger social themes inspired Wilde to write drama. In 1891 at Paris, he wrote Salome in French but it was rejected to have a licence. In the early 1890s, he also produced four society comedies. His production of those play made him one of the most successful playwrights in late Victorian London.

At the peak of his fame and success, Wilde prosecutes Lord Alfred Douglas, the father of his lover which was the Marquess of Queensberry for libelling, although his masterpiece which was “The Importance of Being Earnest” in the year 1895 was still on theatre in London. The trial exposed evidence that caused Wilde to fall his accuses and led to his own arrest, tried for unpleasant offensiveness with other men. Wilde after two more trials had convicted and imprisoned him for two years of hard labour. While he is in the jail he wrote “De Profundis” in 1897 & published in 1905. This letter discusses his spiritual journey throughout his trials in his life, forming a mysterious counterpoint to his prior philosophy of happiness. Upon his release, he wrote his last work which was the “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” (1898) after that he left right away for France and decided never to return to Ireland or Britain. The poem he wrote honoured the harsh pace of prison life. He died deprived in Paris at the age of forty-six.

The Playwrights Theatre life

In 1891, a survey records the Wildes' residence at 16 Tite Street; this is where he lived with his wife Constance and sons. However, Wilde was not contented being popular just in London. In October 1891, he returned to Paris as a respected writer. He was awarded as a renowned symbolist poet at the salons littéraires, including the famous mardis of Stéphane Mallarmé. During 1880`s, the two plays of Wilde namely Vera; or, “The Nihilists” and The Duchess of Padua was not that successful. Wilde continued his interest in theatre and now, after discovering his skills in writing style, his idea turned once more to the dramatic type as he thought of the biblical iconography of Salome. One night, after discussing the background of Salome all through history, he saw a blank copybook lying on his desk and it immediately came to his mind to record what he had been saying. He rapidly wrote a new play entitled Salome which was written in French.

Oscar Wilde`s Salome

Salome is a story of tragedy. The story goes like this, the stepdaughter of the tetrarch Herod Antipas who to her stepfather's dismay but mother's delight, requests the head of Jokanaan (John the Baptist) on a silver platter as a reward for dancing the Dance of the Seven Veils. Wilde returned to London before Christmas, the Paris Echo newspaper referred to him as "le great event" of the period. The rehearsals of the play including Sarah Bernhardt started but the play was declined a licence by Lord Chamberlain since it portrays biblical characters in the play. In the year 1893, Salome was published with the partnership in Paris and London but it was not executed until Wilde's later incarceration in the year 1896 in Paris.

Friends turned to Lovers

"It was like feasting with panthers; the danger was half the excitement… I did not know that when they were to strike at me it was to be at another's piping and at another's pay." - Oscar Wilde

In the middle of 1891, Lionel Johnson introduced Wilde to an undergraduate at Oxford named Alfred Douglas. His family and friends call him "Bosie" because he was handsome but a spoilt young man. A close friendship bloomed between Wilde and Douglas and by 1893 Wilde was obsessed with Douglas and they both agreed to have a passionate affair. If Wilde was relatively careless and showy, Douglas was as well reckless in public. Wilde, who was earning up to £100 a week from his plays (his salary at The Woman's World had been £6), always give what Douglas wants: material, artistic or sexual.

Douglas soon encouraged Wilde into the Victorian underground of gay prostitution and Alfred Taylor introduced cycle of young, working class, male prostitutes from 1892 onwards to Wilde. Wilde meets the boy, offer him gifts, dine him privately and then take him to a hotel room. This rare date regularly took the same form to him. Contrasting Wilde's idealised, pederast dealings with John Gray, Ross, and Douglas, all of whom remained part of his aesthetic circle, these companion were uneducated and knew nothing of literature. "It was like feasting with panthers; the danger was half the excitement… I did not know that when they were to strike at me it was to be at another's piping and at another's pay." He wrote this quote to Douglas and soon his public and private lives had become rudely separated.

Douglas and some Oxford friends founded an Oxford journal entitled The Chameleon, to which Wilde “sent a page of paradoxes originally destined for the Saturday Review” .But yet The Chameleon was not published again."Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young" was to come under assault six months later at Wilde's trial, where he was strained to defend the magazine to which he had sent his work.

Wilde was a good man but because of the influence of a friend (now his lover) he became a man where he did not imagined. A man will always be deceived by others however, you can always choose to whom you will be deceived; the right person or the wrong one.

journal_14

2009-10-20T03:01:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

SECOND INTERVIEW…

The interview today is focused on rudimentary SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) and STEEP (Sociological, Technological, Economic, Environmental and Political) analysis.

The analysis was focused on their IS but we also asked the SWOT and STEEP of the company as a whole.
During this interview we also did some observation on their company transaction and took a look at their current system. The MIS officer also showed us their computers and server.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

We divided our task and started organizing the data we gathered from our interviews and observations. Each one of us is assigned to a certain topic and designated to start drafting his/her part in the paper.

We also did some research to help us in our task.
^^

journal_13

2009-10-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

FIRST INTERVIEW…

Upon our arrival at Wilcon Builder’s Supply, we were referred to their MIS officer/technician for our interview.
The focus of our interview today is about the basic information of their company like their basic elements (products, services, competitors, etc.), the basic of their MIS such as software and hardware components.
We also get to know each other and we explained the purpose of our interviews.

He (MIS officer) gladly told us that he is willing to help us in our paper and we just have to call if ever we need more information so that he could schedule our interview.

…thank you so much!
^^

Assignment #9

2009-10-14T21:04:00.000-07:00

Information Environment

Information is a definite knowledge acquired or supplied about something or somebody.

Environment is the surrounding influences or all the external factors influencing the life and activities.

- - - - -

Having defined the terms we can say that information environment is a surrounding wherein a definite knowledge is acquired and supplied.

There are many kinds of information environment wherein information is being gathered, processed, used, stored, and updated according to the specifications of the one in need of the information. Classic example of this information environment is the internet.

Presently, I am part of the information environment of the University of Southeastern Philippines. My role in this environment is a student learning and aiming to gather skills and information I could use when I graduate (hopefully…). In this information environment I gather information through the aid of my instructors and classmates. Gathering the said information and knowledge is very tough…
And to address these challenges I use more information environment. For my assignments and projects I consult the library and internet. As a user of this information I will set a better example for the students to follow. Libraries are a really great place it has been my solace since elementary. When you are in the library you can be anyone or anywhere you want. It took you places you’ve never been. Information’s are flowing in the library all you have to do is grab a book and read. Because of my attachment to the library it really took a long time for me to trust information from the internet. It is because news spread that there are many fraud information placed in there. Other than that wikipedia does strike me because in there information could be edited, so we student are not certain if the information is correct and accurate. We students could prevent this happening by posting only credible information and avoid distorting the information in the page.

Another challenge in this information environment is the difficulty of subjects and tasks. To address this challenge is a tough fight indeed. Personally just being in USEP is a challenge and at the same time pressure. Since difficulty in the subjects cannot be helped I just study harder to get a passing grade. Part of this study is the tutorials me and my classmates attended. From time to time we also did some group study to understand recent mind puzzling lessons. In this way we share information and learning’s providing more areas in development.

Facilities have also become a challenge for me in this information environment. On my first arrival here in the university we are so many in the section therefore the computer units available do not suffice our number. Also we don’t have our own building and it’s difficult for us student to look for a room where we can stay or have classes.

But recently problems in the facilities have been addressed in terms of additional and new computer units. Now we could use a computer one by one during laboratories (I think its because almost one fourth of our population is gone…bwahaha…).

Information environment is made up of three interrelated dimensions: physical, informational, and cognitive. The physical dimension is composed of the command and control systems, and supporting infrastructures that enable individuals and organizations to conduct operations. In the university physical dimension includes the equipments we use in learning such as the monitor, system units, mouse, keyboard and programs. The informational dimension is where the information is collected, processed, stored, displayed and protected. In addition, in Informational Dimension it is where the automated decision takes place. The Informational dimension links physical and cognitive dimensions. So in short, the informational dimension serves as the medium for the first and the third dimension. The key characteristics are as follows: information content and information quality. Information has its own criteria to ensure its quality and validity. Example of which is accuracy, whether the information given is expressing the true situation. Next will be the relevance of the information, this will answer the question of whether the information can be applied or used in the current situation. Then, usability, it refers to the information that is in common and easily understood. Completeness refers to the information that provides the decision maker with all the date needed. And lastly security, it refers to the information that has been afforded adequate protection when required. Last dimension is cognitive this the period wherein we apply our learnings through making programs, implementing it and developing our critical thinking skills.

After graduation hopefully, I really want to pursue art. I think most likely this is the information environment I will and want to be in. Since art is very broad I would like to define that I’m more interested in designing. True I could use what I’ve learned from IT in designing and developing web sites. Fusing art and information technology I could apply it in multimedia industry. I could create and innovate new forms of showcasing interior designing which I would really love to do. Multimedia industry also includes advertisement, graphics, audio and video, and most especially animations. Back then I really wanted to be an anime artist and I believed that nowadays creating anime uses new technologies and animations. I’m still not definite on what I will specialize in this type of information environment but I want to learn more and grow in art with the aid of information technology.

I hope that everyone will be successful in their chosen information environment.^^

Assignment #8

2009-10-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

OUTSOURCING FOR THE UNIVERSITY

Actually, I’m a little torn between insourcing and outsourcing for the university.

It’s very difficult to take a stand on the issue since I have a very limited knowledge on what is the present and real situation of the university’s information system. Other than that there are many factors involved in the decision that I do not grasp.

In this case a thorough and extensive study must be done on which action the university must do in order to maximize benefits.

I mean, at a given time insourcing could be more advantageous and beneficial than outsourcing, at another situation it could be another way around.

With my position right now I think the university should outsource its Information System.
Why?

First, outsourcing is cheaper than insourcing.
While insourcing has the advantage of high degree control over system since the developer is insource. Aside from the fact that insource programmer knows the requirement and just what the university exactly needs, I don’t think that the administration is willing to spend more money in this particular matter. If we do the system insource it means that the university will provide all the necessary needs in completing the project.
If we outsource it will be less costly since we have different options in the market and system vendors nowadays competes. Commonly systems are now package complete with support.
In the light of the university’s recent event insourcing, (I think…) it causes resistance from some of the high ranking officials in the school.

Second, while insourcing boost the morale of the faculty the extra work distracts them from teaching.
The university is a learning institution therefore it must prioritize the students. If we insource and something went wrong with the system the faculty are pulled out from their classes to attend the problem leaving the student hanging. This practice is really not good in learning. Whereas if we outsource, all the troubleshooting, maintenance and check up of the hardware and software (the likes…) will be the problem of the provider this also means that with outsourcing we get support for the IS.

With outsourcing the professor can perform their primary role which is teaching in the university.

on the other hand…

About insourcing…
Insourcing is also a good option for the university, since we have competent faculty for the job why not use our resources. With insource the system is more secured and the university can have high degree of control over it.

In the end the final decision is still in the hands of the university administration. Presently, I think we are insourcing…but I don’t know what’s happening now with the system.

According to last update about the information sytem which was used last semesters enrollment, it is being modified for errors…(from what I’ve heard…)

We hope for a better enrollment next sem…^^

Assignment #7

2009-10-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

Identify at least three areas related to ICT and identify how these areas can improve our quality of life.

- - - - -

State Of the Nation Address

After reading the SONA of our president here are the three areas related to ICT that I found:

TELECOMMUNICATIONS
"Sa telecommunications naman, inatasan ko ang Telecommunications Commission na kumilos na tungkol sa mga sumbong na dropped calls at mga nawawalang load sa cellphone. "

Telecommunication is used to transmit information electronically. One of the most important medium of telecommunication today is through cell phones using load. However, some telecommunication network steal load and dropped calls. I know some people think that cell phone load is not as important as education or crisis (so why would the President mention this?...) ...but still every Filipino uses cell phone load .We paid for the cell phone loads therefore it is only right that we get the value of our money.
So how can telecommunication improve our quality of life?
Telecommunication bridges our gap, through this we could get in touch to people in the fastest and efficient way possible.

ICT DEPARTMENT
"Kung noong nakaraan, lumakas ang electronics, today we are creating wealth by developing the BPO and tourism sectors as additional engines of growth. Electronics and other manufactured exports rise and fall in accordance with the state of the world economy. But BPO remains resilient. With earnings of $6 billion and employment of 600,000, the BPO phenomenon speaks eloquently of our competitiveness and productivity. Let us have a Department of ICT…"

Having a government sector intended for information and communications technology will help the country to be flexible with the latest evolution of information technology.

BPO also provides greater chance for more Filipino's to have work and generate more income.

AUTOMATED ELECTIONS
"As the process of fundamental political reform begins, let us address the highest exercise of democracy…voting!

In 2001, I said we would finance fully automated elections. We got it, thanks to Congress…."
I believe it should have been a long time that our country practice automated election. So it is really good to know that the government is taking step towards implementing automation.
Using automated machines for the elections, people will experience a fast and reliable election results.
Knowing that people has their 'highest exercise of democracy' done in a clean and reliable process, Filipino's will have more trust and unity in the government.

...good luck philippines ^^

“Some say that after this SONA, it will be all politics. Sorry, but there’s more work…”

-PGMA

Assignment #6

2009-10-14T20:45:00.001-07:00

If you were hired by the university president as an IT consultant, what would you suggest (technology, infrastructure, innovations, steps, processes, etc) in order for the internet connectivity be improved?

- - - - -

If I were hired by the university president as an IT consultant I would suggest that in order to improve the internet connectivity we must identify the factors involved in the problem. If you look at the university here are the problems you can see:

Lack of computers

Hardware

Computer viruses

Bandwidth allocation

As for me it is really difficult to give answer to this question because I’m not really good at this field however I will give my best opinion to help the university.

First things first…

If the president wants change in our present internet connectivity the university must allocate budget to resolve this problem.
It is undeniable that the university lacks computer units therefore I suggest that the university upgrade and add more units for the student to use. It is lucky that recently our department purchase new units and LCD monitors. These way students feel motivated to learn and they get the value of what they pay in the university.
Besides even if the internet connection is fast and still the computers are not change and they remain in their current condition we could not feel and appreciate the service provided.

The university’s computer hardware is also outdated and has a very slow processor. If we could not change the whole computer units at least the university should upgrade it. For example it would really help the internet connectivity if we improve the RAM of the university’s computers.

Another big problem in the university is the computer viruses. Viruses are main contributor in slowing down the process of connection. Therefore I would recommend that the university tighten their security in terms of computer virus. We should install effective and updated anti virus software in every computers.

Bandwidth allocation is also a problem in school. We already know that the university increased the bandwidth again but the internet connection is still turtle-paced. Even if we keep increasing the bandwidth, nothing will happen if it is not properly allocated. We should implement proper bandwidth allocation one solution to this is applying the correct network topology. From what I have read implementing an extended star network topology that has a ring topology in its lowest level is good for the university.

This is how will the topology work…
Within one major cluster, the bandwidth should also be divided into smaller clusters that are connected to each other using a ring topology. Let’s take for example the IC laboratory (NODAL), each computer should be included in a smaller group (cluster) that is connected to each other via a ring topology. Each cluster is connected to a central node that will give it the number of bandwidth it needs. The bandwidth allocated for a certain cluster should be distributed to the different smaller clusters within the department. By doing so every smaller cluster within the laboratory would only have a maximum bandwidth to use up and would not take up the bandwidth allotted for the other clusters. A ring topology is used at the lowest level because of the ring topology’s unique characteristic: the token. Within the ring only the one holding the token can use the services of the net within a maximum given time. No one computer would be able to monopolize the usage of the bandwidth because it is already controlled by the topology.

In addition we could also improve internet connectivity through boosting the computer. We could also use caching proxy server, it can reply to service requests without contacting the specified server, by retrieving content saved from a previous request, made by the same client or even other clients. This is called caching. Caching proxies keep local copies of frequently requested resources, allowing large organizations to significantly reduce their upstream bandwidth usage and cost, while significantly increasing performance. Another option is to use proxy server, a proxy server is a kind of buffer between your computer and the Internet resources you are accessing. They accumulate and save files that are most often requested by thousands of Internet users in a special database, called “cache”. Therefore, proxy servers are able to increase the speed of your connection to the Internet. The cache of a proxy server may already contain information you need by the time of your request, making it possible for the proxy to deliver it immediately. The overall increase in performance may be very high. Also, proxy servers can help in cases when some owners of the Internet resources impose some restrictions on users from certain countries or geographical regions. In addition to that, among proxy servers there are so called anonymous proxy servers that hide your IP address thereby saving you from vulnerabilities concerned with it.
Of course the students should be oriented on the proper usage of the computers and the internet connectivity.

I hope that with these suggestions I could help the university improve its internet connectivity. I really look forward to be able to use this improved internet connection.^^

Assignment #5

2009-10-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

During information system implementation any organization however good, big or small experience implementation barrier.

What is a barrier?
A barrier is an obstacle which prevents a thing to be implemented, or limits the way in which it can be implemented.

What is implementation?
Implementation is putting something into practice or operation.

So generally, Information System (IS/IT) implementation is the process of changing into a new information system and putting this new system into operation.

According to the information that I gathered from our interview with our prospect companies I have enumerated here the most common implementation IS/IT barrier an organization experiences in changing into new system.

These barriers are congregation of the data gathered from our interview with Ford Davao and Wilcon Builder's Supply.The barriers are as follows:

INEXPERIENCED or NOT KNOWLEDGEABLE END USER. This barrier is experienced after the system is set up and installed, meaning it is now made available to the end user. One of the reason of ineffective implementation is that end user are not knowledgeable enough about the newly implemented system.

That is why it is very important to include end user training in every IS/IT implementation plan. Another barrier related to end users is resistance.

There are some people that tend to be reluctant to go out of their comfort zones which would make them refuse to accept change. If there is an implementation of IS/IT, it should be expected that there can be resistance by some traditionalist who are not comfortable or threatened with the change. This resistance can be a problem especially if your company spends a considerable amount of financial resource for the implementation but the end users are not utilizing it making the implementation ineffective. In this case, the implementation of IT/IS will be considered a liability instead of an asset for the company. This barrier can be avoided by proper planning, education and communication in order for end users to appreciate the new system.

COST. Perhaps one of the most fundamental barriers any organization experience in implementing system change is the cost. Change is only as good as the cost. A lot of factors in the implementation process are affected by cost. Hardware and software for instance are determined by cost. It is an unchangeable fact that money is an instrument needed to implement any drastic change at any sector of the organization. Without proper financial budget resources and materials required in the actual implementation are not made available inhibiting possible changes.

POOR IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. The implementation methodology is not properly planned. The cost, time of implementation, materials, hardware/software, testing and all necessary approach to arising problem are not properly planned and thought about. No measures of solutions are provided if ever one of these problems occurs.

It is very important to understand that implementation of IS/IT doesn’t stop from installing the whole system, even the testing of system is still part of the implementation.

From what I gather in our interview, barriers in Information System (IS/IT) implementation are unavoidable but can be lessened. An organization before doing drastic change must identify and plan carefully the changes they want to implement.

- - - - -

I will also present some of the data I gathered from my research, here are some of the most common barriers experienced in implementing new IS/IT.

Common Barriers

Studying the problem too long without acting
Trying to get everyone's agreement first
Educating without changing structures or expectations
Tackling everything at once
Measuring nothing or everything
Failing to build support for replication
Assuming that the status quo is OK

More Barriers to Change

Lack of such resources as time and commitment
Resistance to change
Lack of senior leadership support or physician champion
Lack of cooperation from other agencies, providers, departments, and facilities
Ineffective teams
Burdensome data collection

Essential Elements for Change Effort

Define the problem
Define the target population
Define effective treatment strategies and establish procedural guidelines
Establish performance measures; set goals
Define effective system changes and interventions
Develop leadership and system change strategy

So what does learning the barriers to IS/IT implementation?

By identifying and anticipating the possible barriers that may occur during system change an organization can develop strategies to minimize barriers impact or may avoid it altogether. By knowing the potential obstacles that we may experience during transition we could brainstorm for the best possible solution thereby making a good start in making the implementation plan.

COMDDAP 2009

2009-10-14T04:43:00.000-07:00

COMDDAP 2009

Last July 3-4 2009, we attended the COMDDAP's IT expo held in the Apo View Hotel, Davao City. This the 46th year show of COMDDAP,the giant of all Philippine IT.
With the speed that IT is evolving and becoming ever more pervasive in our everyday lives COMDDAP continues year after year to to step up to the challenges of bringing something new to its market with every show. They showcase the latest IT products and software for computing, imaging, printing, connecting and communications, security, entertainment and lifestyle applications. As a matter of fact, COMDDAP Davao stages the LCD Monitor Shootout, and brings together the top LCD monitor brands in the world in a showdown of their most brilliant features in terms of graphics, photo, and video display.

Also part of its regular event is the Technology
Update series of seminars and workshops, and product demos.

As part of our real world education, we took part in the Technology Update session. The session we attended is the The ERIC Dealer Management Systems, The HP Thin Client, and Retailer Management
System Overview and Open Source For Business Applications.

We arrived at the Apo View Hotel around 1 o'clock in the afternoon. After getting our identification sticker as students we eagerly went to see the exhibits. Exhibitors include the Wordtext Systems. Inc., Trinity Marketing, Tills n' Labels Systems Marketing, Symantec, Smart Communications, Inc., Novell, Ng Khai Development Corp., Neo Manufacturing & Services, Microdata Systems & Management Inc., Metropreneur Trading, McAfee, Glee Electronics, Inc., Foxchit Business Systems, Faire Technologies Inc., Envision LCD Display, Danpro Computer Inking System Co., Cogent Consulting(CCSTC), Chase Technologies Corporation, Canon Marketing Phils. Inc., Autodesk, Astech Pengson Distributors Inc., Asiantech, and Adobe.
After exploring, we went to the function room for the session which has already started.

The Eric Dealer Management System
-presented by Jupiter Systems Inc.

According to the presenter, “The ERIC Dealer Management System is an end to end software solution for automotive dealer operation.” In the session they showed us on how to implement the ERIC DMS as well as it features which are the Costumer Relationship Management (CRM), Vehicles Sales and Administration (VSA), and Service Management (SVA).

The HP Thin Client
-presented by Nexus Technologies, Inc.

From the HP Thin Client brochure…“Thin clients are computing devices that function as an access device on the network. It provides solution to issues such as desktop replacement costs, network security, supporting application software on diverse hardware, or ensuring your data remains accessible and secure.”

The speaker also mentioned that Thin Client is designed with no hard drive and fan making it less bulky than normal PC system units.

Microsoft Retail Management System
-presented by Nexus Professional Services and Solutions

The next session is the Microsoft Retail Management System. In this session we were given an overview of the Retail Management System, its solutions and key benefits to retail industry. According to the slides that the speaker showed us “RMS is a software for retailers with multi-branch store. The key benefits it provides are:

streamline operations - RMS automatically generate POs

- view inventory status and best-price suppliers
- speed checkouts
- receive shipments and update inventory
- track inventory offline
- share reports

improve profit margins - easily adjust pricing

- identify best selling items
- track ROI from marketing
- eliminate card payment terminal and fees
- increase employee productivity
- up sell and cross-sell your costumers

build customer loyalty - customize receipts and price labels

- reduce out of stock
- accept multiple tenders
- use flexible pricing structures
- tailor marketing to customer preferences
- reprint receipts

manage business not technology - RMS is easy to install and use

- train employees in minutes
- gain insights and make decisions
- tailor POS screens
- manage different inventory types
- add new lanes or stores

In terms of the RMS headquarters or the main office, it can control pricing, purchasing and inventory across stores, view and analyze data company wide, set and monitor policies and procedures for every store.”

Open Source for Business Applications

The last session we attended is the Open Source for Business Applications.
By definition…“Open Source is an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software, offering practical accessibility to software’s source code. Open Source software is licensed software that meets the Open Source definition.”
Some of the Open Source Technologies mentioned by the presenter during the lecture are Ubuntu, OpenOffice, Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, Pidgin, GIMPshop, Transmission, LimeWire, VLC, LAMP, Drupal, Joomla,Wordpress,OS Commerce, Zen Cart, Ruby on Rails, PHP Cake, Civi CRM, and Moodle.

Reflection and Learning’s

From the exhibits I get the chance to see the new technologies present in the market.

During our participation in COMDDAP we meet IT people such as programmers, web developers and projects managers and through them I get a little picture of what I’m heading into. (ohhHhh..?)

True, I didn’t really appreciate the importance and beauty of ERIC DMS and Microsoft RMS since I’ am still a student. But I guess the information might still prove useful someday. (hehe…^^)

Perhaps the most exciting and informative session I’ve attended is the Open Source…
Actually that was my first time to meet open source (not heard, but meet…) and I found out that I’m already using some of its software and technology..(VLC, LimeWire, OpenOffice, PHP).

Let me tell you the story…

After meeting open source the presenter showed us a business case and ask two of the audience to analyze it. The task is to estimate the development time for each feature in days of the Anchor website, as well as the estimated total of days of project completion. After assessing the task both representative came up with the analysis that they can finish the project within 30 days. However the presenter told us that using Open Source (Ubuntu) they can finish the task in 16 days.
To accentuate his point the speaker told us the “MAC Analogy…” to explain the advantage of Open Source Technologies from Proprietary Software.

It goes like this… “If you were to buy a macbook from two stores that has the same specs, features and price but the other store can give it to you a day earlier, in which store would you likely buy a macbook?”

Of course, I’d go for the store that can give it to me earlier…who will not? And with that I was amazed and so impressed with open source technology…for a moment I believe it was the solution to whole world…(hehe…)

Just then, a handsome gentleman asked the speaker a question…
“If you were to choose from Open Source Technology and Proprietary Software, which would you use in a mission critical event like the 2010 election?”
The speaker answered that he could not choose between the two because there are many factors to be considered.
So the gentleman asked if he could address the crowd at large. He told us that he is a representative from Microsoft Company and that he is not against open source technology in fact if he were a student himself he would choose to use open source for practicality.

He emphasized that one of the important thing to consider in choosing a software is the level of liability. In the case of mission critical events open source is not the best and only option in all situations, because technically you can’t sue someone when your system fails in open source especially that you get it for free unlike in proprietary software.
And he left us with these words… “Remember that there is no such thing as free in this world. Everything has its own consequence. In Microsoft, you might pay more now but we’ll support you later…while in Open Source you might get it free now but you may pay more later.”
So interesting were his points that it left me thinking…
And that’s the best part of education…when it leaves you thinking.

We returned the next day, July 4 (particularly because of that gentleman…hehe…) but unfortunately I did not attend any seminar because of our interview.

Oh…and did I mention that flash drives and t-shirts are effective motivators?. I applaud HP for that and of course congratulate some of my school mates who win the prizes…hehehe…

Getting the general picture of the real thing is much better than theories alone.

…the first day…
that was GREAT!...^^

Assignment #3

2009-10-14T04:28:00.000-07:00

On Philippine's 2010 Automated Election

Recently, the Commission on Elections announced that on 2010 the Philippines will be having their first automated election. After the long process of preparations, budget and provider of the system has been named.

Smartmatic with its Filipino partner TIM won as the highest bidder and will be our provider for the Automated Election System (AES) and with the budget of 13.9 billion everything is rolling...
The Comelec promises a clean, honest and fast election...

If I will be ask if I want an automated election...
Yes, definitely!

But if ask if Philippines is ready for 2010 Automated election...
hmmm...I must say no...

What I found out being an IT student is that implementing a new system is not easy. Extensive and thorough research must be done.

Here are points that I want to share why I think our country is not yet ready for the automation in 2010.

CREDIBILITY
Credibility of the provider...
Not long after Smartmatic and TIM has been named as the highest bidder a conflict between the companies arise jeopardizing the automation of election. According to reports TIM president wanted a 500 million php 'up front' from its foreign partner, which Smartmatic took as deal breaker.
The very words of TIM president is this "If you give me a half a billion pesos, all of these problems will be solved.”
So what are the problems to be solved?

First point, at this very early stage of the implementation the Comelec experience a problem in pushing the contract. And even before finalization of contract providers are against each other.

FRAUD
First let us identify what are the Automate Election Systems planned to be used in the coming election. There are two technologies:

Optical Mark Reader (OMR)
Direct Recording Electronic (DRE)

The beauty of the old system of writing names of candidates voted for, public reading of votes in front of watchers and citizens, tallying and manual preparation of election returns was that it was visible.
At times there could have been fraud. But it was visible.

In the new OMR system voters will feed the ballot into the machine the next thing they will see is the printed election return. On the other hand DRE is a touch-screen or touch-pad machine. No paper ballot is necessary as the names of the candidates and the offices for which they are running will all be displayed on the computer screen. The voter directly enters his choices electronically into a memory cartridge, a diskette or a smart-card that will be added to the precinct, municipal, provincial and national tallies also electronically.
Whether votes were properly casted and counted we will not know.

Comelec claims that the Automated Election System (AES) cannot be hacked and the source code will be open for inspection. But the thing is we’re not talking about outside intrusions, the greatest danger of fraud in the 2010 automated elections will be if it come from insiders in Comelec and system providers.

Second point, automating the election doesn’t mean that it will be fraud free.

I know that one could argue if both type of election cannot be fraud free why not go for something which produces fast result?..

Actually, I am not against the automation of election...
I commend the government for coming up in such a good innovative idea for our election. Personally, I believe that we should have implemented this a long time ago...

However Commission on Election are rushing things up, there is a very little time intended for implementing the AES.

TIME AND END USER TRAINING
Testing cannot be done in just months, to get a reliable result this must be performed for years. To assure the voters of clean, honest and reliable election the AES must be tested if it has no flaws. Through testing we could also prevent fraud in the incoming elections offering more credibility.

Other than that, it’s only months away before election but still the citizen do not how to use the system. How will we vote if we do not know how to use the machine. We must consider that not all people know how to use a computer. If people will not be able to use the machine properly there might be a big chance that their votes will not be counted or will be invalid.

If something like this happens, losing opponents will most likely file a case and call for reelection.
There is no need to say that cost is a very important factor in this type of situation.

Therefore I believe that the Philippines is not yet ready for an automated election.

It is good that our government is changing into AUTOMATED ELECTION SYSTEM, I adhere that they continue to implement this for the next election. I suggest that they plan the implementation carefully towards a credible, reliable, fast and better election.

journal_16

2009-10-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Submission of our major paper INFORMATION SYSTEMS NEEDS ASSESSMENT.

...gud luck to us!

journal_15

2009-10-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

THIS IS THE DAY!

No class for today…its family day! Yey!...
So glad there was no class for today, because today is the last day to finalize and finish our ISNA major paper.

Last day we decided to meet in our house in the morning to continue making the parameters, SWOT, and STEEP analysis of our paper.
Around 5pm we still haven’t finished the recommendation, implementation plan, and projected cost so we resolved that they stay for the overnight to finish everything.
It was almost 2am when the Information Systems Needs Assessment was done.
…yep yey!

We took rest and hope for the best later that day…^^

journal_14

2009-10-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 27, 2009

We successfully finished the first part of our ISNA today.

…first part done!

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

We continued on our task and did some more research today.
Furthermore we finished some part of our documentation and observation.

The parts we finished are:
• Flow Diagram of the Major Business Flow
• Matrix of the Functionality of the IS

Now we only have one day left to finish our major paper…
Oh…I can’t say I’m not stressed…^^

journal_3

2009-10-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

JULY 7, 2009

Macondray Plastics, Inc. and Ford Davao were approved today by our instructor to be our prospect companies for the ISNA.
Immediately we made the necessary request letters so that we can conduct our interview in those companies. The letter is needed to be signed by our instructor, college dean and the university’s OSS Director.

the signing was tough…

For the succeeding week we also started making the draft for our Gantt chart. Gantt chart serves as our guide for the activities and topics we will make in our ISNA.

journal_2

2009-10-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

Last week of JUNE to first week of JULY

Throughout this span of time our group looked and listed for companies to be our prospect for our ISNA.We researched for the profile of these companies and made a hard copy for our instructor to approve.

Some of our prospect companies are… Macondray Plastics, Inc. and Ford Davao.

journal_12

2009-09-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

After six days of no contact from our prospect companies we decided to take action and follow up our request.
We took the initiative to call Wilcon Builder’s Supply and asked if our request to conduct an ISNA was approved. Luckily the man who answered the phone told that our request was already approved and we were scheduled to conduct the first interview the next Monday, September 14 at 09:00 am.

We also called SM City Davao but the IT officer who received our letter told us that he hasn’t emailed our letter yet to the manager. And he told us again that he will just notify us. One of our classmates told us that SM does not entertain this kind of request (if so it is better if they just told us straight from the moment we submitted the letter…).

We were so glad that finally we will be able to conduct our first real interview and get started with the major paper that we were motivated in making our guide questions for the incoming interview.

…weeeEee^^

journal_11

2009-09-10T20:13:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 1, 2009

We listed our new prospect companies and luckily our instructor approved Wilcon Builder’s Supply and SM City Davao to be our adopted company for the ISNA.

We immediately went to make our request letter signed.

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

The goal for today is to submit the request letters to our new prospect companies.

First we went to Wilcon Builder’s Supply and personally handed our request letter to one of their managers. She told us that she needs to refer our request to the main office in Manila to be approved and then she will contact us to inform the updates about our request.

Then we proceed to SM City Davao.
We submitted our letter to the IT officer and he notified us that their manager is still in Cebu and he will just contact us if the request is already approved.

…and all along they thought we will
…audition for starstruck…
…bwahahahaha…^^

journal_10

2009-09-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 31, 2009

Our request to conduct an ISNA at Macondray was denied.

denied…
denied…!?!
denied………!!!!

The request was denied due to necessary renovation in their IT department. They informed us that they cannot accommodate our interview because they the IT department will be very busy during the renovation period.

T_T

Actually, Macondray was our best choice for the ISNA and it is very unfortunate that at this time of the semester we were rejected.

…at the top..!
back to square one…

Thank you Lord…

journal_9

2009-08-27T22:27:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 26, 2009

FIRST INTERVIEW AT FORD DAVAO

Today is our interview with the IT supervisor of Ford Davao. The people there were accommodating and cooperative especially their supervisor. After the introduction we told him (IT supervisor) the purpose of our interview, he explicitly told us that he cannot fully help us in our ISNA because their company has centralized system and he cannot give us enough information that we needed. He also suggested that we look for other company to conduct the ISNA if we want a better paper.
Because of what he told us we did not continue to adopt Ford Davao for our major paper. But still we grab the chance to interview and ask his opinion about our assignment #5. He didn’t deliver enough answers either but still they were a great help.

…thanks!^^

After this sad news, we just hoped that our request with Macondray Plastics, Inc. will be approved.

…strike two!
T_T

journal_8

2009-08-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 25, 2009

We called the Ford Davao IT supervisor to confirm our request, he told us that our requested interview is approved and we can meet him tomorrow.

Yey!^^

As suggested we faxed our request letter to Macondray.

journal_7

2009-08-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 24, 2009

The group went and submitted the request letter to Ford Davao today. Their receptionist gave us the number of their IT supervisor and told us to contact him tomorrow to confirm if our request is approved.

After the submission, we visited Macondray to find out where our request letter had gone. The guard on duty (which is the same guard we handed our letter) told us that there was no request letter left in their custody and that they always forward all the letters handed to them in the information department because a messenger takes it regularly.

We then called the information department to relay what the guard had told us. She suggested that we fax a new letter directly to their department so that it will never be lost again.

…missing letters and contradicting stories..?
is this their way of saying NO…

…strike one!

journal_5

2009-08-04T23:00:00.000-07:00

JULY 28, 2009

Our Gantt chart was approved and ready to be posted!

…thank you sir^^
…thank you group mates^^

journal_4

2009-07-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

JULY 24, 2009

At around 1pm today, we submitted our request letter together with the preliminary questions to Macondray Plastics, Inc. The letter was addressed to their CSO manager.
When we arrived at Macondray the guard told us to leave the letter in their hands because they will be the one to give the letter to the messenger who submits the letter to the information department. They also told us that we will be contacted if the request is approve. We get their contact number as well to follow up the progress.

(you might be wondering why we didn’t get inside…well we did try…)
However,
even if we tried, I bet we won’t be able to go inside…
because did you know that Macondray’s main building is situated kilometer(s) away from the gate…
huh…^^

GANTT CHART update: “Revise…”

Assignment #2

2009-06-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

--- Based on the organization(s) that you visited, what do you think are the risk in business and IS/IT change?

Base on the company we visited (Synnex-Concentrix), I will present the risk in business and IS/IT change.

But first let us ask, what is IS/IT?
For us BSIT students some might already know the answer and others have ideas.

IS stands for Information Systems and can be defined as a set of procedures that collect (or retrieve), process, store, and disseminate information to support decision making and control. (Laudon, Laudon)

IT (Information Technology) means hardware plus software.

What is risk?
Risks are factors whose presence increases the probability of negative outcomes.

IS/IT in Concentrix is constantly evolving according to Concentrix MIS Supervisor. Before change is done the team conducts a feasibility study to assess if there is a need for change. The outcome of feasibility study will determine if the proposal is to be approved or rejected. This is done to minimize risk and errors. This also proves that the company has good management and managers.

But still risks are inevitable.
Almost all organizations encounter failure in there Information Systems. The major problem areas are design, data, cost, and operations. These problems can be attributed not only to technical features of information systems but to nontechnical sources as well.

So what are the risks if there is a change in IS/IT without a study beforehand?

Here are some…

Cost Risk Cost or financial risks occur when the cost to implement and run the information system on a production basis is way over budget. This means that information provide by the system does not justify the excessive expenditures use on it. Basically the output does not justify the cost and this is not good for business.
In Concentrix, they have own programmers who make their system. I think, this in source system development is a good practice to reduce cost.

Design Risk This happens when the actual design of the system fails to capture the essential business requirements. Information may not be provided quickly enough to be helpful; it may be in a format that is impossible to digest or use; or it may present wrong pieces of data. Another thing is that a system may be designed with a poor user-system interface. In such a way that nontechnical business users that must interact with the system is discourage because the system is excessively complicated and not user-friendly. This could also lead to other risk such as information risk and people risk.
If organizations change their system with new information system that is poorly designed, users of the said IS will not be able to use it to its full capacity. The IT/IS people of the company will also be exhausted answering queries from the end users on how to use the system.
I haven’t seen the IS or any other system of Concentrix, but according to a friend who works there they have a good and user-friendly systems for its employees.

Operation Risk Closely related to design risk, came about when the system does not run well. For example, information is not provided in a timely, efficient and accurate manner.
Operation risks may also include system and media failure.
System Failure is a soft crash that can occur because of a hardware failure or severe software issue whereas media failure is a hard crash. Physical storage media can fail for many reasons. One common cause of media failure is a hardware (disk) failure. When a media failure occurs, you must determine the extent of the damage and restore a server's data before resuming server operation. Media failure is tough blow for an organization since data which are lost in the time of the failure cannot be retrieved.

Data and Security Risk When changes are made without proper planning and study data might be lost or may become inaccessible. Also, security of the organization will be compromise because during the change or transition of systems, information leakage and loss is likely to happen. Therefore person not authorize to have the organizations information might have an access to it.
Base on our adopted organization users are required to have password and change it during a span of time. This might be weekly or monthly in which after the duration the computer automatically prompts that the user needs to change the password to ensure data security.

Technology Risk Another risk to consider is the technology. Upon making the information system, IT/IS people of certain organization must analyze new technologies and if the system they are making can still compete with other systems three to five years from now. Aside from that they must also conduct study or research if new software and technology are proven.

There are many risk in business and IS/IT changes and some that I mentioned here are just a few of those.
>Cost
>Design
>Operation
>Data and Security
>Technology

Therefore I conclude that changing an organization Information Systems is not an easy job. And that many factors and risk are to be considered before certain change is implemented. The people behind the MIS of an organization must conduct a feasibility study and analyze all information and angles of the situation before change is made. In this case IT people play a great role. They are the one who can determine the success or failure of an organization.

This is the same role that we will play when we enter the real world.

Sources:
www.google.com
encarta dictionaries
Management Information System A Contemporary Perspective
by Laudon, Laudon

jealou L. azucena

'When you feel like giving up remember why you held on for so long in the first place.'

journal_1

2009-06-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

The beginning…

During our first class meeting our instructor told us that we will make a major paper for our finals. The task is to identify an organization, adopt it and then conduct an Information Systems Needs Assessment.

We are also required to group ourselves into three…

my group mates are…

athina alorro and
george guanzon
^^

Assignment #1

2009-06-25T03:07:00.001-07:00

Identify a local organization(s) and discuss some of their best practices in IT/IS...
this should be well supported with any evidences.

We did a company hopping in order to answer this assignment.
the companies we went to are as follows:
Callbox
Global Connect E-Solutions
Concentrix

Our first stop is Callbox, since they are busy the moment we arrived there
they told us to just leave our questions together with our email address so that they
could mail the answer. Unfortunately, the mail did not arrive till this moment (i
think they were busy).

Next stop is Global Connect E-Solutions, when we arrived there the MIS
had a meeting. Since almost all our interviews are ambush (including concentrix)
we waited for MIS rep that will entertain us. A senoir programmer in
Global told us to leave our questions and return after an hour so that he can give
us the answers. Around one o clock in the afternoon we were able to get
the answers.

Luckily, here are the information we have gathered during our quest:

Corporate Background

Concentrix Since 1983, has been recognized as an outsourcing innovator,
offering clients the latest in emerging technology and business process
outsourcing. Concentrix employs over 10,000 plus professional worldwide
delivering outsourced services from locations in the United States, the
Philippines, and China. Concentrix is a wholly owned sudsidiary of SYNNEX
Corporation.

SYNNEX Corporation Founded in 1980, a Fortune 500 company, is a leading
business process services company offering a comprehensive range of
services to original equipment manufacturers, software publishers ad
reseller customers worldwide. SYNNEX offers product distribution, related
logistics services,business process outsourcing and contract assembly and
works with the leading industry suppliers of IT systems, peripherals, system
components, software and networking equipment.

Mission

To provide excellent technical support to our
costumers by leading the way over other
service providers with dedicated costumer-
friendly and technically proficient
representatives who provide instant,
professional and accurate service.

----- The person we interviewed in Concentrix is their MIS Supervisor.

We asked him what is MIS and he said Management Information System...just
google it...(hehehe...)
He also said that "MIS is the core of the company because its (Concentrix) a technological
call center."

Functions of MIS:

Level 1- Help Desk
-----they are the one who repair, install, and troubleshoot units
-----responsible for networking and user configuration such as
adding user name, access, restrictions and sites

Level 2- Network Specialist
-----deeper aspect of troubleshooting
(if technicians can troubleshoot one computer, network specialist
can troubleshoot network computers)
------mentors for Level 1

Senior Network Specialist
------responsible for configuration of servers and telephone companies
------they are the one who suggest for upgrades

*level 2 are mostly compose of programmers

Supervisor- decision maker for the changes and recommendation
for all accounts

Concentrix develop their own system in voice and data information.
Example of this is the CMS(Call Monitoring System), CMS is available
in the market but it is expensive.
As of now there are 30 servers in Concentrix.

So what are their best IT/IS practices?...

----- TEAMWORK
----- CONSTANTLY EVOLVING

They are constantly evolving, when they find a glitch in their
system they update and upgrade it to meet demands.
Concentrix services is not only local but global. Their servers
is accessible in different locations.

source:
Christopher Lim (Concentrix MIS Supervisor)
leaflets from concentrix
www.concentrix.com

------------------------------------------------------

Global Connect E-Solutions

Answers to our questions during our interview with a programmer in Global:

Define MIS in this company.

----- MIS is a subset of the overall internal controls at a business covering the application
of people, documents, technologies and procedures by management accountants to
solving business problems.

What is the basic function of MIS in this company?

----- MIS includes software that helps in decision making, data resources such as
databases, the hardware resources of the system, decision support system, people
management and project management, appications and any computerized
processes that enable the department to run efficiently.

What are the best IT/IS which you think contributes to the success of your company?

----- A best practice is the belief that there is a technique, method, process,
activity, incentive as reward that is more effective at delivering a particular
outcome than any other technique, method and process.

* SHARED KNOWLEDGE and GROUP PERFORMANCE

source:
Mr. Ryan Diansay- Global Connect E-Solutions

jealou azucena
keep moving forward!

REFLECTION

2009-06-25T03:07:00.000-07:00

the first day

that teacher...again...
i thought i was going to be late
time is always running out
your always on the move
because...
that teacher...again...

that teacher again...
when i sat on his class for another semester
i remember the feeling of a child being inspected
that teacher always make me nervous
yet always want to make me prove my worth

because that teacher is really something...

and then i learned...i remembered...
----there's a world out there...the real one...REAL WORLD...
----almost everything in class is a lie...
----when ask a question, answer... no one dies being wrong...
----everything is possible...
----dont be late...
----wear your uniform...
new learning and a new subject
----MIS stands for Management Information System
----it has four components: Planning, Directing, Organizing, Controlling
----but people should not be controlled...they should be lead...
so better be called LEADING INFORMATION SYSTEM...^^

two monkeys exchanging banana's can only have one banana
but a room full of student exchanging ideas cannot have one banana
but millions of thousands idea...

(nah! i sound so poetic...hehehe)

the teacher...on that first day...

ang pagtuturo ay isang propesyon...

kung gusto mong YUMAMAN wag kang MAGTURO

--at kung lahat ng tao ay magkakaroon ng paboritong teacher...--

jealou azucena

journal_6

2000-08-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 3, 2009

We haven’t heard from Macondray for weeks now so we decided to contact their CSO manager concerning our request to conduct an ISNA in their company. The person who answered the phone told us that she hasn’t received any letter and advised that we call the information department to ask if our request letter is still in their department. We did as we are told and called the information department however; we were told that there was no letter concerning our request was forwarded to them.

So we decided to visit Macondray again and submit a request letter to Ford Davao as our plan B just in case we will be rejected at Macondray.