The Fine Print Exposed

As Black Friday approaches, let’s take a look at the fine print.  The following article takes a dive into the world of holiday deals.

http://www.cio.com/article/637580/Holiday_Free_Shipping_the_Fine_Print_Exposed?source=rss_news 

Best Buy:  First up is Best Buy.  Did you know that free shipping doesn’t include "laptops, netbooks, iPads, iPods, Dynex TVs, video game consoles, major appliances, compact refrigerators, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, grills, outdoor furniture, pergolas, fitness equipment, and electric vehicles”?  What else is there to order?

Staples:  It turns out that Staples’ ad on having a camera shipped directly to your door actually means shipping directly to your neighborhood Staples.

Sears and JC Penney’s:  You can get free shipping as long as you have the coupon code, in its entirety.

In conclusion, maybe free shipping isn’t all it’s built up to be. 

The Rise of the Robots

I read an article today about the Kiva Robots.  These “moving orange tortoises . . .scurry around warehouses and bring shelves of clothing, electronics, car parts—whatever a retailer sells—to specialized workspaces called packing stations”.  From there humans pack up the items and put them into trucks. These robots actually seem smarter than humans.  In their spare time, they will reorganize inventory based on work flow placing more high demand items in easier to reach places and lower demand items deeper in the back shelves.

As we saw at our site visit to Associated Grocers, the warehouse process can be incredibly efficient.  I wonder what it would be like if the robots took over there.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_47/b4204047877696.htm  

Today's Panel

The speakers in today’s panel were very interesting.  It somehow always amazes me when I hear them use terms straight from class. 

I believe it was with the outsourcing to Chili example that brought up something that interested me.  How do you encourage your IT staff that outsourcing is better for the company when they feel they can handle the project themselves?  Looking at Porter’s 5 forces, how do you make your IT staff feel like they have value when you are passing off projects to outside companies?  I think a lot of this plays on the article, “Six IT Decisions Your IT People Shouldn’t Make.”  While your IT staff should not make the final decision on when to outsource, sometimes it is best to hear their side or include them in the decision.  This may allow them to realize for themselves that someone else can do the job better.

It can be a sticky situation, but the firm must rely on their core competencies. 

Outsourcing II

I did some research on outsourcing to go along with our class discussions.  Did you know a typical IT organization spends about 5 to 6 percent of its total IT budget on outsourcing? Many argue that the size of the company doesn’t matter; big or small companies are reaping the benefits of outsourcing.

The most popular IT functions to outsource are data center operations, disaster recovery and Web site systems.  This goes along with our article for the week, “Six IT decisions your IT people shouldn’t make”.  GTECH Corporation, which runs the government lotteries, is charged up to $10,000 per minute that the system is unavailable.  Disaster recovery is a serious concern.

I think outsourcing will continue to grow and therefore, will continue to impact the way we do business. 

"Outsourced"

Well we all know “Outsourcing” has made it big when it has it’s own show on NBC.  The first episode starts out with a guy coming back from vacation to find that every cubicle in his office is empty.  His manager is sitting at the front of the room eating some sort of bbq substance.  He quickly learns that the whole company is being outsourced to India and he must pack up and move right away.

The characters in the show are actually pretty funny.  There is one episode where the “bullies” (this is a group who does a higher grade of outsourcing) show up and cause a scene in the cafeteria.  The part that is so funny is the fact that each of them can speak in different accents from around America.  It was really interesting to think about though.  Next time I call to place an order, I could be talking to someone in India who sounds like they live down the street.

Looking at the Cisco case from class, we see that outsourcing has really changed the landscape of some companies.  While Cisco used outsourcing to encourage innovation, we learned that it didn’t work so easily and that it actually provided several disconnects in the company.  I guess the question is when do you outsource and if you do, why?  And lastly, does is always work?

Guest Speakers

I really enjoyed our guest speakers in class on Friday and not just because it was a good break after our statistics exam! 

It was very interesting to hear them use the terms that we learn in class as their everyday language. 

A few things that I had never really thought about before were hospitals and airlines using technology the way that they do.  I was amazed to hear Dr. Mills point out that mistakes do happen and technology has really helped to cut down on some of those mistakes.  I’m sure it was quite a challenge to get everyone on board.  I know at my job we have people who still refuse to use a computer.  They do everything by hand!

 

I also enjoyed seeing all of the technical systems in an airport.  It must be nice to have someone walking around to check you in.  I can’t stand the long lines!  Also, there is a technology that just helps the ramp workers get from point A to point B. 

All of these new innovations have made these businesses very efficient and have also opened the doors for new opportunities. 

Social Networking Overkill?

Rumor has it that Facebook may be building a phone.  As we’ve talked about in class, Facebook must be feeling the pressure to expand deeper into the IT world. 

Let’s discuss some pros and cons from the article, “The Five Pros and Cons of a Facebook Phone.”

Pros:

·         Everything is already built – I think the author get this one right.  It is definitely true that we love to text rather than call.  This could definitely be the basis for the phone.

·         Social Feeds are Popular – Every phone nowadays has its own form of a social feed.  Why not take the biggest social network of them all and put it into a phone?

·         Facebook has Sex Appeal – Well that’s one way to put it.  I think what’s really going on with this pro is that Facebook is recognizable.  You can look at the format without any text and know exactly what you’re looking at.  It’s reached a level of brand recognition.

Cons:

·         Other Apps Shut Out – The article brings up a good point.  A phone needs apps, something more than just a social feed.  Is Facebook ready to give up that space to others?

·         Privacy Concerns – Facebook has had problems with privacy violations before.  What makes this time different especially if the phone can do a whole lot more than just socializing?

·         Facebook Will Surely Get Old and Tired – I’m already tired of Facebook!  I was on for maybe less than a year and that was that.  I guess I’m an active rejector.

Facebook is trying to open its doors to a new playing ground.  I guess we’ll just have to see how well it works.

Just ‘Tweeting’ Around

How many of you tweet?  I’ve looked into it before and I can’t really figure out what to do or how to do it.  There’s probably some really simple steps that I’m just looking over but in the meantime, I think I’m missing out on something big.

Jack Dorsey definitely knew what he was doing when he started this new fad.  He says he was lucky enough to “recognize a fortunate situation and take advantage of it.”  I think “lucky” might be an understatement.

Dorsey believes that due to the popularity of texting, tweeting was able to take off as users were used to talking in few words and abbreviations.  I’ve never thought of comparing the two but it makes sense. We like to get out as much as we can in as little time as possible.

One thing that didn’t go so well with this new social network was that Dorsey didn’t take the time to gather analytics or data on the system.  As we’ve seen from the past video article, everyone is competing on analytics.  This data helps to make better decisions and allows companies to reach their full potential.  While Mr. Dorsey may have “lucked” out on his product, I wonder what would have been done differently if he had taken a look into analytics on the forefront.  Maybe Twitter wouldn’t have needed a brand new site revamp?

Counterproductive Emails?

Cloud company salesforce.com has found that most sent emails are counterproductive. 70% of workers were sent emails that were irrelevant or of no interest. 38% said they suffered from information overload at work.
This actually doesn’t surprise me. Luckily, I don’t have many friends who send the anonymous chain email that says ‘forward along or you’ll have bad luck for the week’. I do think though that our generation is reaching a place of information overload.

Consider what our parents saw when driving through town as a kid, a billboard of a local establishment, a local dj on the radio, a basic streetlight. Now think about us, billboards that digitally change from one advertisement to the next in mere seconds, XM radio that cuts out commercials, a streetlight that takes a picture of traffic violators, and of course, something that always is next to me in the car, a cell phone.

The amount of technology that accumulates in our lives everyday is amazing. Now we have access to just about anything and everything on the internet. We can prepare a class presentation from a phone. We can video chat with someone on the other side of the world. At what point though, does it become too much? Where does the information stop?

Back to the email topic, I receive so many emails a day, it’s tough to keep track - emails about local events this week in Baton Rouge, easy-to-make recipes, shopping sales, business news and seminar alerts all before 10:30am. I’ve come to the realization that many of them have to be overlooked in order to actually start my day. I’m not sure I’d have it any other way though. Even though I might not open everything that appears in my inbox, I like knowing that I can if I want to. Maybe there is no such thing as too much or maybe we have to become our own filters of infromation?

Intel Inside

I think we all have seen the Intel commercials, “bum, bum bum bum bum”.  I remember about four years ago sitting in a mass communications class and hearing our teacher bring up the company Intel.  At first, no one really knew what it was until he sang those five words.  That year, we studied how Intel, which makes a product located inside PC’s, got its name out into the world.  The idea was that people would ask for computers with “Intel Inside” and it worked.

In reading the Bloomberg Businessweek article, “Intel Wants to Be Inside Everything”, I learned a few more things about Intel and its Atom processors.  As far as I knew, Intel created a chip that worked with computers.  As it turns out, that’s just the basis for it.  Who knew something so tiny could stretch to so many different products? 

With the PC market slowing down, Intel is now looking to “get inside” other things.  Nautilus puts Intel’s Atom chip into its treadmills to stream Internet video and upload the times and distances of workouts.  LG Electronics is using the Atom chips in street signs that will recognize the age, gender, etc. of those who pass by and change the advertising pitch accordingly.  These chips are also making their way across the world.  India banks use them as handheld terminals to serve rural areas without electricity.

Intel is also making it easier for customers to design products that use Atom processors.  In 2009, Intel purchased Wind River systems, a company that designs operating systems for cars, mobile phones and industrial machinery.  These operating systems “are the basic set of programs that control any device with a chip.”  Now, Intel can get into more than just our computers. 

Watch out!  Intel could just be inside your next purchase. 

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_37/b4194029898101.htm