Expansion of IT Perspective

From class discussions and assignments, I have gained more knowledge of IT, especially when analyzing the new technologies. I find myself, on numerous occasions, trying to identify the Life Cycle stage of certain technologies, old and new alike. Also, it was nice to discover what type of buyer I am (pragmatic). This shows that I learned a little more about myself as well, which is usually a good thing.

Prior to the class, I had no ideal what Web 2.0 was. After some discussion in class, I realized that I have been using Web 2.0 technology or applications all along. I just didn't know the generalized term identifying Web 2.0.

My knowledge of BI has evolved significantly due to the fact that my team project was solely aimed towards this technology. The presence of BI in any industry for this day in age, appears to me as a necessity to survive or remain competitive in todays modern business. Without BI, your firm may be flying blind. A firm may make inaccurate or delayed decisions, which can reveal inefficiencies of those in executive positions. This can trigger a ripple effect where shareholder dividends are postponed, which can lead to the termination of some executives. Until the firm becomes proactive as opposed to reactive, the firm will crumble.

Impact of Web 2.0 on FTTH

Web 2.0 technologies may be the latest major contributor to the rise in internet traffic. Emerging social-networking sites is the new fad that many internet users want to be a part of. The file sizes being shared amongst internet users has grown significantly, especially when people share videos. In an article titled, "Deep Packet Inspection: Taming the P2P Traffic Beast," from LightReading.com (Targeted Analysis of the Telecom Industry), the author states that peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic is the major leading cause for internet traffic. The title of the article perfectly describes the traffic's characteristics: A Beast. The problem was that ISP's were having major issues supporting such traffic loads, that more capital investment was needed to alleviate some of the bottlenecks. The underlying issue involved is the fact that ISP's are investing more capital, yet they aren't gaining extra revenue, specifically those smaller ISP companies that lack the capital.
Now, this may sound redundant in relation to my previous blogs, but it's the inevitable. You can only lay down a certain amount of cables in one conduit to suffice internet traffic increases. Once that conduit is maximized, your company is at a standstill. It is very difficult to survive in the telecommunication industry if you are unable to support new customers. Instead of creating new coaxial/telephone cables, companies need to think about scalability. Implementing a fiber optic network is a costly solution, but will pay major dividends in the long-run. Web 2.0 and internet traffic have a positive direct relationship. If companies are unable to upgrade to fiber optic cables, then they should sell off their company to Verizon or AT&T before it ends up being worth zilch.

Reference:
http://www.lightreading.com/insider/details.asp?sku_id=1221&skuitem_itemid=957

Impact of BI and DP in FTTH Industry

The impact of BI on the FTTH industry, and for any other industry can be tremendous. The success of Harrah's CEO, Gary Loveman, is a prime example. Having specialized information in your industry or market can allow any company to obtain the competitive advantage. However, having a large amount of raw data is only the beginning. As discussed in class, Loveman is a great analyst of data, which is the other half of BI. One cannot implement BI in their system and expect the data to create solutions on their own. In addition, each firm must design their own unique BI system, there is no one size fits all package. More specifically to the blog title, FTTH companies could use BI to attack segemented markets or target customers. For example, they can extrapolate data from current customers usage of bandwidth, and for those that use an exorbitant amount of bandwidth may be more likely to switch to a fiber optic subscription. I can continue on and on and end up with a similar list that Loveman has covered in his lecture.
FTTH and digital printing seem to be complements of each other, just as I have stated in a previous blog (see "Digital Media Affecting Fiber Optics"). I am not stating that Digital Media and Digital Printing are identical, but more in the direction that both can thrive with the support of a fiber optic network. Due to the sheer file sizes of high resolution pictures, fiber optics would be the ideal transmission medium for these images to propagate. FTTH could allow digital printing to be done in a centralized location where all of the files are being sent. Furthermore, by having a centralized location, a company could reduce costs by having all of their equipment in one location as well. In addition, reducing costs while remaining efficient is every CFO's MO (main objective).

Life Cycle Stage of Digital Media

I believe that digital media is in the Bowling Alley stage of the life cycle. Because there are always new technologies emerging, customers are usually pragmatic buyers until the product has been labeled reliable. Dial-up internet service, for example, is still being used by 34 million people in the United States according to the research firm IDC. This resource can also be located in the following URL: http://tech.msn.com/products/article.aspx?cp-documentid=877517&page=3
Despite the many advantages that cable and DSL offers, many US citizens still resort to dial-up. The bowling alley stage reminds me of the lag where new technologies are invented, but are not created as a standard until the market has matured. This usually occurs due to many top competitors arguing that their product should become the standard, but there is also the consumer influence. Ideally, a consumer would like to walk into an electronics store and purchase a product that would be compatible with the majority of their electronics at home. Creating a standard would be the perfect response to this demand. Digital media will be in the bowling alley stage until its corresponding technology has been established, and some type of standard is created where digital media will be utilized.

Uploading Slides to Chameleon

It seems that not many applications support the default pptx file extension from Microsoft Office 2007 including the Chameleon website. I had to convert the file to an earlier version to upload my slides. During my visit to the website, I noticed that I couldn't preview my slides nor previously downloaded slides. I think that if the preview function worked properly, it would make the site much more enjoyable as many users like to screen images prior to downloading the full size image. Also, my files took extremely long to upload. Maybe it's their server or maybe it's time for me to subscribe to FTTH. 5Mbps upload speed for the win!

Digital Media Affecting Fiber Optics

Increased digital media is a benefactor when fiber optic cables or networks are utilized. Fiber optics and digital media complement each other. With higher demand for real-time video, the need for fiber optics support will significantly increase.
The trend that customers tend to follow is the desire of a bundled service with all fees and expenses being consolidated into one bill. Because of this very reason, major telecommunications companies resort to the "Triple Play" service where cable, voice, and internet are merged into one service propagating through one medium (fiber optics). Fiber optics tremendously increases bandwidth that seem unrealistic. Verizon offers up to 30Mbps download speed and 5Mbps upload speed. 30Mbps is more than enough bandwidth which will open the floodgates for digital media to flourish.

SJlibrary Research Results

Because my topic is still fairly new, finding articles was somewhat difficult. I discovered more players involved in my industry that I missed in my previous research. I found more detailed industry trends and facts that provided great insight. There are many approaches to implementing fiber optic infrastructures and the main influences driving important decisions were directly related to fiber optics expensive investments.
The quality difference between public search engines versus the library databases were significantly different with the latter being far superior. In addition, most of the information on public search engines were very similar to each other; whereas, the library databases had very distinct articles. The library databases has much more detailed information. The accuracy and credibility from renowned publishers offers assurance for readers as well.