CIO.com recently published an article entitled 12 Types of Cell Phone Users That Drive Us Nuts. As the title suggests, the article contains a humorous slideshow of 12 type of cell phone users that just don't conform to social norms. While I initially read the article for my own entertainment, I began to think about the process of how society reacts to new technologies and how norms, as well as faux pas, form over time. There always seems to be an evolution as to how devices are used and thought of by society, and if you fall behind the curve...well, you end up in an article on CIO.com.
One of the annoying types listed by the article is "The iPhone Snob or 'Jesus Phone Disciple'". Apparently, it's no longer cool to show off and brag about your iPhone - that sort of behavior is now reserved for MacBook Pro users. And although I've never owned iPhone, in the past I could have been labeled as a "Mr. 'I Can't Look Away From My BlackBerry'". At a previous job, I parked two blocks away from my building and was often guiltly of reading emails on my BlackBerry for the entire two block trek. And even though I no longer have that device, I still find myself doing it with my new smartphone. It's something I'm working on, a work in progress if you will.
So which faux pas are you guilty of?! Come on, I fessed up, now it's your turn!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Dell Getting Serious about Networking
An article posted on CIO.com today announced that Dell has hired away a former Cisco executive, Dario Zamarian, to head up its networking division. Zamarian will be the first vice president ever dedicated to Dell's networking division, which signals that Dell is putting more emphasis on networking than ever before.
As we talked about in class, more and more data and software are moving into "the cloud", which means that network usage will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years. Networks are also being increasingly taxed by the rapid proliferation of mobile search. It used to be that someone had to be sitting in front of a computer in order to perform a Google search or surf the internet. Now with smartphones, those same people can surf the internet anytime and from anywhere, leading to many more searches being performed overall.
Dell has clearly recognized this trend and is now playing catch up in the space. Just a few weeks ago we saw them engage in a pricing war with HP over 3Par, a leading, high-end storage vendor specializing in cloud services. By the time HP finally emerged victorious, the two companies had bid up 3Par's stock price to a multiple several times higher than it was at the beginning of the war. It seems that Dell isn't giving up, however. It is now speculated that Dell may try to acquire Brocade, another storage networking player. It'll be interesting to see if there will be further consolidation in the sector as the big guys who are behind the curve acquire smaller, more innovative firms.
As we talked about in class, more and more data and software are moving into "the cloud", which means that network usage will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years. Networks are also being increasingly taxed by the rapid proliferation of mobile search. It used to be that someone had to be sitting in front of a computer in order to perform a Google search or surf the internet. Now with smartphones, those same people can surf the internet anytime and from anywhere, leading to many more searches being performed overall.
Dell has clearly recognized this trend and is now playing catch up in the space. Just a few weeks ago we saw them engage in a pricing war with HP over 3Par, a leading, high-end storage vendor specializing in cloud services. By the time HP finally emerged victorious, the two companies had bid up 3Par's stock price to a multiple several times higher than it was at the beginning of the war. It seems that Dell isn't giving up, however. It is now speculated that Dell may try to acquire Brocade, another storage networking player. It'll be interesting to see if there will be further consolidation in the sector as the big guys who are behind the curve acquire smaller, more innovative firms.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Investing in IT
As we saw in the Zara and Schwab cases, there comes a time in almost every organization's life cycle when it must make a decision as to whether or not to invest in or upgrade it's information technology. When that time comes, it is important for the company make a multi-factor assessment which should include itself, its customers, competitors and partners.
The company must assess itself to determine whether its employees and management are capable of implementing and utilizing the new system. It must also consider what its strategic advantages are and whether the new system will further those advantages or hinder them. As the article Putting the Enterprise into the Enterprise System explains, an IS must be customized to fit the business rather than the business process being altered to fit the IS.
Secondly, the company must consider what its current customers value most about the goods/services it provides. Will the IS further promote these factors or detract from them? Furthermore, will the new system allow the company to attract new customers by offering different or better products/services? What about current customers? Will they be continue their relationship with the company or will the new system alienate some of the them? We saw in Zara that their customers value contemporary fashions, reasonable prices and ever changing selections. If the implementation of a new IS would require the company to raise prices, how many customers would that drive away? Would the company realize other benefits to make up for the loss of customers? That was likely a very key consideration in Zara's decision.
It's also important to look at what the company's competitors are doing with their IS. Are they gaining a strategic advantage as Schwab's competitors were by offering low cost brokerage accounts? It only takes one competitor to change the face of an industry and drive its competitors into bankruptcy. This phenomenon is mostly readily evident in the retail book sales where Amazon has become the dominant player and is driving Barnes & Noble into bankruptcy.
Finally, companies need IS that are compatible with their vendors and distributors. Today, many business processes are automated and so all players in the supply chain must be have IS that can "talk" to one another. Failure to implement such systems will make it more difficult for a company to work with its supply chain partners and may mean that the company will be cut out of the chain and be forced to find other partners, or simply shut its doors.
The company must assess itself to determine whether its employees and management are capable of implementing and utilizing the new system. It must also consider what its strategic advantages are and whether the new system will further those advantages or hinder them. As the article Putting the Enterprise into the Enterprise System explains, an IS must be customized to fit the business rather than the business process being altered to fit the IS.
Secondly, the company must consider what its current customers value most about the goods/services it provides. Will the IS further promote these factors or detract from them? Furthermore, will the new system allow the company to attract new customers by offering different or better products/services? What about current customers? Will they be continue their relationship with the company or will the new system alienate some of the them? We saw in Zara that their customers value contemporary fashions, reasonable prices and ever changing selections. If the implementation of a new IS would require the company to raise prices, how many customers would that drive away? Would the company realize other benefits to make up for the loss of customers? That was likely a very key consideration in Zara's decision.
It's also important to look at what the company's competitors are doing with their IS. Are they gaining a strategic advantage as Schwab's competitors were by offering low cost brokerage accounts? It only takes one competitor to change the face of an industry and drive its competitors into bankruptcy. This phenomenon is mostly readily evident in the retail book sales where Amazon has become the dominant player and is driving Barnes & Noble into bankruptcy.
Finally, companies need IS that are compatible with their vendors and distributors. Today, many business processes are automated and so all players in the supply chain must be have IS that can "talk" to one another. Failure to implement such systems will make it more difficult for a company to work with its supply chain partners and may mean that the company will be cut out of the chain and be forced to find other partners, or simply shut its doors.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Social Networking: Best Suited for the Little Guys?
Much has been said about how social networks are revolutionizing the way businesses interact with their customers. Certainly large companies were the first to jump on the bandwagon, setting up Facebook accounts and Twitter feeds. Now we're seeing small businesses, and many part-time businesses, joining the revolution and setting up their own pages. Not only that, but many of these mom and pop operations exist solely on social networks. They use their pages as their virtual storefront and oftentimes their only storefront. And why not? These pages are free to create and maintain, while traditional websites designed by professionals can easily cost several thousand dollars and don't provide the same level social interaction with customers.
Personally, I only interact with small local companies on Facebook and Twitter. For example, I follow (or "like") Red Zeppelin Pizza here in town. I often check for their daily specials and will sometimes eat there based on that. However, I'd never follow Pizza Hut or Papa John's on a social network. And it's not because I'm a pizza snob. I do, in fact, eat at those places but there just something about a large company trying to go downstream on a social networking site that seems contrived. When I visit these places, I don't feel especially appreciated as a customer, so why should I believe they care about me on Facebook? With local places it's different. When the owner is there and talking to customers, you feel appreciated and when I see their post on a social networking site I can attach a friendly face to the post. What this shows is that a company can't separate its virtual communications from its live interactions with customers.
And speaking of mixing food with a dash of social media, I'm sure many are aware of the food truck revolution that is sweeping the country. This new cottage industry owes its popularity largely to Facebook and Twitter. Because a food truck's location largely depends on where they can find a parking spot, these businesses must be able to quickly and effectively broadcast their daily location to their customers. They do this by tweeting and posting status updates every morning, which often leads to long lines of customers by lunchtime. This business model would simply not work without social media and so it is a great example of how technology can be the primary enabler of new business ventures.
Click here for an article on Baton Rouge's food trucks!
Personally, I only interact with small local companies on Facebook and Twitter. For example, I follow (or "like") Red Zeppelin Pizza here in town. I often check for their daily specials and will sometimes eat there based on that. However, I'd never follow Pizza Hut or Papa John's on a social network. And it's not because I'm a pizza snob. I do, in fact, eat at those places but there just something about a large company trying to go downstream on a social networking site that seems contrived. When I visit these places, I don't feel especially appreciated as a customer, so why should I believe they care about me on Facebook? With local places it's different. When the owner is there and talking to customers, you feel appreciated and when I see their post on a social networking site I can attach a friendly face to the post. What this shows is that a company can't separate its virtual communications from its live interactions with customers.
And speaking of mixing food with a dash of social media, I'm sure many are aware of the food truck revolution that is sweeping the country. This new cottage industry owes its popularity largely to Facebook and Twitter. Because a food truck's location largely depends on where they can find a parking spot, these businesses must be able to quickly and effectively broadcast their daily location to their customers. They do this by tweeting and posting status updates every morning, which often leads to long lines of customers by lunchtime. This business model would simply not work without social media and so it is a great example of how technology can be the primary enabler of new business ventures.
Click here for an article on Baton Rouge's food trucks!
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