Elevator Pitch 2

Besides the youtbe I put at Elevator Pitch 1, I found a very good discussion on “business-know-how” of how to write a good elevator pitch.   It is called “The Art of the Elevator Pitch” at http://www.businessknowhow.com/money/elevator.htm

It puts down six questions a good elevator pitch must ask:

1. What is your product or service?
2. Who is your market?
3. What is your revenue model?
4. Who is behind the company?
5. Who is your competition?
6. What is your competitive advantage?

I hope I could do a better elevator pitch this time for the final evaluation.

Workshop 8: Ruby on Rails Workshops Reports and Evaluation

1. The  3 strengths of Ruby on Rails workshop series:

i) a very good and comprehensive step by step workshops even for people new to RoR
ii) topic objectives are clear and archievable
iii) Sepeartion of manager and developers helps people focus on their expertise and have a very focus discussion

2. The 3 weaknesses to be:

i) Interaction between developers and managers are not strictly necessary.
ii) From developers’ blog, it is learnt that they are too busy in coding and testing and so no time to look at or contribute to managers’ wiki.
iii) Perspectrives sharing is not compulsory in the workshop, each member just concentrated on his/her own work.

3. The most difficult aspects were:

I found the most difficult aspects were not doing the technical parts or doing analysis.  It is having to interact with the other students in the wiki or through their RSS.  As different students are doing each workshop at different weeks depending on their own schedules,  contributions are few and the outcomes are not that satisfatory.  Discussions are not enough and not in-depth.  We can see from the wiki that each student has done their best job, but interaction is not good enough.

4. Improvemnts could be made:

i) a FAQ sections on each workshop would be helpful
ii) More studies on differences between Instant Rails and full version Rails would be interesting
iii) More groups could be formed within developers team and manager team could look at more aspects of the OTBS.

 5.  Further comments:

RoR is a popular web applicatin framework in these few years.  The workshop has done a fantasctic job to provide a comprehensive understanding to all students.  Most of the students admit it is the best framework in building the OBTS among all other programming languages in the market.    The dividing students into managers and developers are wonderful for students to concentrate their expertise and/or learning perferences.  Yet most of the students in the group are distance learning ones, each started and built the wiki in their own schedules and not in one pace, so the outcome may not come from in-depth discussion and we may not understand each other’s points so well or make a good contribution.  A deadline set for every workshop may help to force everyone stays on the track so group discussions are more possible.

Workshop 7: End of the Line: production site migration and maintenance

What are the hosting solutions?

Will our Rails applications run on a cloud computing service in future?

Can we make a depolyment and maintenance plan by team consensus?

I have done my contribution with other managers have built the Blue team wiki inside Interact at : http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ITC594_200940_W_D/page/5b2177b9-ee38-42d9-80bc-9c04903ec49e

Workshop 6

Are we certain that Ruby on Rails is the right platform for Web development?

My findings is on the Blue team wiki at http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ITC594_200940_W_D/page/5b2177b9-ee38-42d9-80bc-9c04903ec49e

Workshop 5

Part A: Survey of mobile device capability and Web 2.0 tools

1. Find out and recommend what type of mobile devices are suitable for:

a. Just the SMS message service;

SMS message services could be used in two aspects in our Taxi Booking System:

(i) Promotion
(ii) SMS taxi booking
(iii) Payment by SMS

For (i) Promotion, I would recommend using SpeedSMS (http://www.intersoft.com.hk/SMS/SMS_Introduction.htm?gclid=CKXu8Z7rwpoCFdEtpAod6i1BsA).   It is a  fast Web SMS broadcasting services which could promote our services to many people at the same time.  it is also unicode support, and so could reach different kind of customers.  SMPP protocol is applied, and thus the accuracy of SMS receiving is guaranteed.  It also provides different packages for short term or long term services.

For (ii) SMS taxi booking

SMS taxi booking is common in Singapore and we could learn from their experiences.  SMS taxi booking fits perfect people of busy lifestyle (Yuen, 2008).  Customers do not have to wait for a computer or human operator to answer their calls and all they got will be a booking confirmation message within a few seconds or minutes containing the taxi number and the time of arrival so they could make a better planning of their times.  But one of the big concerns in SMS taxi booking system in singapore is the higher booking fee which seems to be an obstacles for customers using the services.  Tan, 2009, also developed an interesting blog and did a survery to study this problem at http://tankinlian.blogspot.com/2009/01/book-taxi-by-sms.html

For (iii) payment by SMS, it is quite a payment soulution by mixing the old and new technology.  This SMS payment solution being rolled out by an Abu Dhabi taxi company:

“After a taxi ride, you can follow the instructions on the card to pay the fare by SMS. You can type the taxi number and fare, and send an SMS to a given number. A confirmation message will be sent to the customer’s mobile phone and to the electronic device in the taxi which will print the receipt.” (Kader, B. 2008)

The major drawback of this neat, simple, convenient method of payment would be the cost of SMS.

b. The full user experience via SMS, GPS Taxi tracking and Google Maps

An University of Thailand has made studies for taxi tracking system (MyDigitalLife, 2008).  How does the system work? Taxis will be installed with a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver and a terminal equipped with a GSM or CDMA Sim. This will enable taxi cooperatives to know the exact location of each cab and its availability to take passengers. In the headquarter, staff monitor the taxis using a base-map software as well as the existing radio system. Passengers requiring a taxi can either call from a taxi kiosk at convenient public places or send an SMS and receive an immediate answer from a taxi-calling number. Once the various systems can be coordinated, other information such as weather, vehicle speed and traffic flow could be included to analyze and transmit vital information to the drivers and passengers. 

Besides increasing the efficiency of the taxi service, this new system could also enhance security as all taxis could be tracked in real time and emergencies could be handled with better control and immediacy.

 

2. Describe any new hardware, networking, software, systems, procedures and personnel that would be needed by the taxi company Website to support this stage 2 development.

(i) Hardware

• GPS device in each taxi for GPS reporting
• Receipt printing device in each taxi for sms paymet
• Monitor to receive communication from headquarter

(ii) Software

• Google Map in mobile phone of customers
• Base map software in headquarter as well as the existing radio system

(iii) Networking and System

• Services subscription for SMS promotion
• Banking system subscription for SMS payment
• GPS system for GPS tracking

(iv) Personnel

• Staff training costs on headquarter on GPS tracking sytem
• Taxi driver training on SMS payment

  

Part B:  The enhanced customer experience through Web 2.0

1. Use a table to describe how the customer experience is improved by:

a. Horizontal scalability
b. Service oriented features
c. Other customer services enabled by Web 2.0

Customer experience improved through Web 2.0 technology
a.	Horizontal scalability
	- SMS ordering - SMS order confirmation and taxi arrival estimation - Online checking of order status - Customer account system setup
b.	Service oriented features
	- SMS updates using location data - SMS pre-inform driver’s name before the ride - SMS estimation of price fare - SMS estimation of journey time - SMS negotiation of route with customer
c.	Other customer services enabled by Web 2.0
	- Reputation system - Social network recommendation - SMS payment

 

Part C: Online Taxi Business Process Modelling

Apart from the business basics of offering a clean car, safe driving, being on time, consider the business processes involved and construct a Simple Online Taxi business process model using any suitable drawing tool.

Everything starts with ordering the cab. Customer could order the taxi by phone, SMS, or online. For any call, a friendly customer representative would immediately recognize the customer and greet him/her by name. After initial registration, the company would know their preferences of like non-smoking car or payment method to allow for a quick ordering process. SMS reminder to the customer about the estimated route, time taxi arrival, and the estimated fare. 

When the taxi arrives, customers would be greeted by name by a friendly taxi driver who helps them with their luggage and then opens the car door for them. Inside the cab he or she would offer customers newspapers and magazines to read. And maybe as a nice gesture for the kids, the driver would have some small candy for them.  

During the ride the taxi driver would initiate a friendly small talk and continue with it if they are interested.  

At the end of the ride the taxi driver would help the customer get out of the car and would have your luggage ready waiting for them. He or she would wish them then a nice day. SMS thank you message would be sent to customers immediately and survey would be available at social networking web site. 

The Business Process Model would be as follows:

References:
Kader, B. (May 28, 2008). Retrieved at May 13, 2009 from http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Traffic_and_Transport/10216637.html

MyDigitalLife. (2008). Retrieved at May 14, 2009 from http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/01/20/tracking-taxi-availability-with-gps/

Yuen, L. (June 27, 2008).  Retrieved at May 14, 2009 from http://www.zdnetasia.com/blogs/mister-tech/0,3800019657,63004540,00.htm

Exercise 26: Systems integration

1. Choose ONE of the four ways to manage and develop integrated systems as listed below:

i. XML and Web services as the glue
ii. Business process analysis
iii. Federated databases
iv. Portal and servicde-oriented architectures (SOA)

I will use Business Process Analysisto manage and develop integrated system.  And out of the options of BPA like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Workflow Management, I prefer CRM.

According to Wikipedia, Customer relationship management (CRM) consists of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers. CRM software is used to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments. Typical CRM goals are to improve services provided to customers, and to use customer contact information for targeted marketing.

 

2. Summarise your understanding and describe its relevance (250 words max) in either your study at university or in your work environment.

Our office lately develop a new equipment borrowing system and CRM tool is involved. We believe  having a CRM system to track leads that come in through your site or your online marketing activities is vital if you’re looking to convert those leads into customers, members, or students.

We thought about some hosted solution, but found it is quite expensive and not flexible as we thought, though it is quick to set up and get working. Then we trim down our requirements and list out the following critical questions in choosing the CRM tool:

i. Is it possible to have email functions. It is important for the future development or follow up actions
ii. Any good reporting functions.  And are the report designs flexible enough?
iii. The set up time and staff training cost must be low
iv. Does it provide any integration possibility with our current other systems?

We decide to use Free CRM after comparing different products.  It is a network based CRM system.  They have the added on modules like technical support platform and forums, and knowledge base management.  The central core is Contact Management module.  The flexibility is high, and can do tailor made change on the system.  The most important of all, it is perfectly integrated into Microsoft SQL and IIS.

 

3. Edit TWO similar versions (include bibliography) of that summary to CSU Interact:

a. post version A as a wiki page contribution

The wiki is updated at: http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ITC594_200940_W_D/page/5b2177b9-ee38-42d9-80bc-9c04903ec49e

b. add version B as a final entry to close your developer’s blog

The adoption of CRM (Custoemr Relationship Management) tool in managing and developing integrated systems have to consider several factors.  The most significant is the cost.  Though hosted solutions are around in the market, and having the advantage of quick to set up and get working,  most of them are quite expensive and not flexible as we thought.  The following critical questions are also to be considered:

i. Is it possible to have email functions. It is important for the future development or follow up actions
ii. Any good reporting functions.  And are the report designs flexible enough?
iii. The set up time and staff training cost must be low
iv. Does it provide any integration possibility with our current other systems?

 

Reference:
Wikipedia, Customer relationship management .  Retrieved May 14, 2009 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_relationship_management

Exercise 25: M-commerce and the e-wallet: Innovation and mobile devices

Explore ONE of the problems associated with mobile technology or their suppliers, from 1 to 4 below:

1.  What is meant by a location based service?

According to Wikipedia, a location-based service (LBS) is an information and entertainment service, accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and utilizing the ability to make use of the geographical position of the mobile device.

LBS services can be used in a variety of contexts, such as health, work, personal life, etc.  LBS services include services to identify a location of a person or object, such as discovering the nearest banking cash machine or the whereabouts of a friend or employee. LBS services include parcel tracking and vehicle tracking services. LBS can include mobile commerce when taking the form of coupons or advertising directed at customers based on their current location. They include personalized weather services and even location-based games. They are an example of telecommunication convergence.

 

2. Visit an airline Web site and search for information on WAP or SMS access to booking airline services.  Do the same for WAP or SMS services in banking.  How do both industries compare?

Airline
 I visited United Airlines (http://www.unitedairlines.com.hk/core/english/index.html) and found out that the US carrier is developing the mobile flight information service with Geoworks Corporation’s Mobile ASP, which will allow the airline to send its passengers up-to-the-minute travel information using the SMS (Short Message Service) format.  The service can be enhanced or changed when necessary. The ASP solution is based on Premium Server plus information server technology which is compliant with various mobile communication devices, including SMS and WAP, personal digital assistants and pagers.

Banking
I visited the IDBI Bank (http://www.idbi.com/) and noted that the bank lanuches WAP, SMS mobile servies in several cities like Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore and Mumbai.  The unique feature of the WAP mobile facility being offered by IDBI Bank is that these services can be accessed at local call charges by the user anywhere in India through Internet mode. Further, this service is being offered across all mobile service providers. The mobile service offered by the bank will also indicate the nearest IDBI Bank branch and its phone number.

 To compare the two industries for the WAP or SMS services, the objective of mobile banking is to let the customers cell phone or smart phone to access balance information, pay bills, transfer funds into their own accounts while in the airline industry, booking and enquiries are possible.  Both industry support only limited services through the mobile technology as it is obvious due to the concern of customer verification and authentication.

 

3. Visit the W3C website and find the status of the VoiceXML project.  When do you think it will affect business on the Web and what will its impact be?

 The W3C website , World Wide Web Consortium (http://www.w3.org/), was visited and  the position paper on VoiceXML was found (http://www.w3.org/2008/08/siv/agenda.html).   It is now in the discussion and studying of VoicdeXML 3.0  SIV (Speaker Identification and Verifcation) was the main topic of discussion.  SIV architecture among different platforms are studied and the interaction between VoiceXML and non-VoiceXML is also an issue.  Video files are also one of the important discussion area in 3.o.  Up to now, the final blueprint for VoiceXML 3.0 is not completed yet.

VoiceXML and related tools for developing VoiceXML applications will enable web developers to easily voice enable their e-business websites without the use of cumbersome, proprietary IVR equipment. Intel supports VoiceXML 2.0 and its related speech synthesis and speech grammar markup language standards as defined by W3C to foster continued development of innovative voice web applications (W3c, 2009).  We see this standard as a powerful business enabler for the rapid development of interactive speech services, especially innovative voice portals for the mobile user.

 

4. According to Nokia:

The Nokia One Mobile Connectivity Service provides easy and secure access to email, calendar, directory and more from a mobile phone, PDA, PC or fixed-line phone – take your corporate applications mobile.

Why is a company like Nokia – http://www.nokia.com – described as having end-to-end expertise?

According to Takeshi Natsuno, media director of Gateway Business Department, NTT Mobile Communications Network, Inc (NTT DoCoMo) of Japan:

The mobiel phone will be an electronic wallet.

Big company in mobile industry, like Nokia and NTT DoCoMo, aims at offering end-to-end expertise and capabilities to create seamless, personalized end-user experiences delivered by streamlined business and network solutions.  As Nokia stated in their “insight” section of the networking company they joint with Siemens, they offer the following five steps to create competitiveness through end-to-end innovation:

1. conduct the research
2. identify the opportunities for innovation
3. specify the solutions
4. implement customers plan
5. evolve customers services portfolio

 

References:
W3c, Testimonials for First Public Working Draft of VoiceXML 2.0. Retrieved May 11, 2009 from http://www.w3.org/2001/10/voicexml-testimonial

Wikipedia, Location-based service. Retrieved May 12, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Location-based_service

Exercise 24: Virtual business worlds and cyberagents

Search the Web for a site that uses a cyber character or cyber agent to host a business site.

An interesting article (Kevin Rudd is a cyber agent of KAOS) was found in the web by Lam Tung in ZDNet Australia about  how Australian online banking system was tested by a cyber agent:

http://www.zdnet.com.au/blogs/securifythis/soa/Kevin-Rudd-is-a-cyber-agent-of-KAOS/0,139033343,339293720,00.htm

 

1. Differentiate the various types of software agents.

In Wikipedia, a software agent is a piece of software that acts for a user or other program in a relationship of agency. The following software agents are listed:

i) Intelligent software agents
A design of intelligent agents out of artificial intelligence research.  Capabilities of intelligent agents include (a) ability to adapt and (b) ability to learn.

ii) Autonomous agents
Autonomous agents are software agents that claim to be autonomous, being self-contained and capable of making independent decisions, and taking actions to satisfy internal goals based upon their perceived environment.

iii) Distributed agents
Since agents are well suited to include their required resources in their description, they can be designed to be very loosely coupled and it becomes easy to have them executed as independent threads and on distributed processors. Thus they become distributed agents and the considerations of distributed computing apply. Agent code is particularly easy to implement in a distributed fashion and should scale well.^[2. Describe how techniques such as artificial intelligence and statistical techniques are used in software agents.

iv) Mobile agents
Mobile agents have the agent code that moves itself, including its execution state, on to another machine, to continue execution there.  Agents can be used to gather system information, taking back-up of files by copying them in client-server paradigm, monitoring network throughput or to check resources availability and moderating the resource utilization of system by checking the services running on system3. Identify various activities in e-commerce where software agents are currently in use.

v) Fuzzy agents
In computer science a fuzzy agent is a software agent that implements fuzzy logic. This software entity interacts with its environment through an adaptive rule-base and can therefore be considered as a type of intelligent agent.

 

2. Describe how techniques such as artificial intelligence and statistical techniques are used in software agents.

Artificial intelligence is used in software agents area by producing intelligent software agent (ISA).  Intelligent software agent is a software agent that use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the pursuit of the goals of its clients.  Artificial Intelligence is the imitation of human intelligence by mechanical means. Clients, then, can reduce human workload by delegating to ISAs tasks that normally would require human-like intelligence.

 Statistical techniques, discussed by Glaser and Derniame , 1998., are important in software agents development that statistical process models provide the necessary information for software agents to cover with the flexibility of working groups and to maintain the quality of the resulting software product.

 

3. Identify various activities in e-commerce where software agents are currently in use.

Software agents could be used in an agent-based e-commerce environment  that allow users, stationary or mobile, to submit their requests for services ordered by providers while the user-agents , supervisor-agents and security agents could be involved.  The software agents could also be helpful in the following areas:

i) Logical support ( during payments and delivery)
ii) Technical support (during web design and intelligent agents)
iii) Customer service (during FAQs, email and call centers)
iv) Marketing (during product price, promotion, and product quality)

 

4. Computing ethics and bot progamming case study: rocky

a. Get an account username and password from the lecturer to LC_MOO at http://ispg.csu.edu.au:7680and login to the Welcome Lobby.

b. Hold a 5-minute discussion with Rocky on a special topic.  Commnads: act rocky (start bot) hush rocky (stop bot)

c. Rocky is an ELIZA-like bot.  Report your findings.

 My experience with Rocky:

a) login to the Welcome Lobby

 

b) talk with Rocky

c) My findings:

 I’ve got a little confused when first connected to LC_MOO by using IE 7.  I could not find the command windows though I read through all the help topics.  Then I try using Firefox, then the command window pops up.

I started talking with Rocky and found the following:

i) I must be in “say” mode to communicate with Rocky
ii) When Rocky sensed that I’m kind of confused, he will say “Umm, I get this feeling this conversation is not going anywher” to give me a warning,
iii) When Rocky met some difficult word, he will say “Gosh, I am not sure I can answer that”
iii) When Rocky knows we have no meaningful conversation around, he will start up a topic randomly, like “I think LC_Moo Welcome Lobby is an excellent name for this place, don’t you?”
iv) Rocky usually follows the user’s topic by keep asking why to lead users to say more and keep the interaction, like:

     Rocky: how are you
     User: I am fine
    Rocky: Fine, how so?
    User: I am happy
    Rocky: Why happy?

 This is a common technique used between people during conversation to keep the interaction.

 

Reference:
Glaser, N. & Derniame, J. (1998).  Software Agents: Process Models and User Profiles in Distributed Software Developement. IEEE. Retrieved at May 11, 2009 from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=00725669

Wikipedia, Software agent. Retrived May 10, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_agent

Exercise 23: Searching mechanisms

1. What is a spider? what does it do?

Franklin (2009) uses the following picture to demonstrate what is a “spider” in search engine and how it works:

 To find information on the hundreds of millions of Web pages that exist, a search engine employs special software robots, called spiders, to build lists of the words found on Web sites. When a spider is building its lists, the process is called web crawling.  How does any spider start its travels over the Web? The usual starting points are lists of heavily used servers and very popular pages. The spider will begin with a popular site, indexing the words on its pages and following every link found within the site. In this way, the spidering system quickly begins to travel, spreading out across the most widely used portions of the Web.

 

2. What is a meta-search engine?  Provide some examples.

 According to Wikipedia, a meta-search engine is a search tool that sends user requests to several other search engines and/or databases and aggregates the results into a single list or displays them according to their source. Metasearch engines enable users to enter search criteria once and access several search engines simultaneously. Metasearch engines operate on the premise that the Web is too large for any one search engine to index it all and that more comprehensive search results can be obtained by combining the results from several search engines. This also may save the user from having to use multiple search engines separately.

Metasearch engines create what is known as a virtual database. They do not compile a physical database or catalogue of the web. Instead, they take a user’s request, pass it to several other heterogeneous databases and then compile the results in a homogeneous manner based on a specific algorithm.

Examples of meta-search engine include WebCrawler, MetaLib, Dogpile, and Metacrawler.

 

3. How can you get your site listed at major search sites; and how could you improve your site ranking?

People could get their sites listed at major search sites by submitting their web sites to the search engine directories.  Each major search engine has free submission or paid submission mechanism.  Drost (2009) made a good list at http://www.isitebuild.com/major-search-engines.htm.

The following technique could help in improving the site ranking:

i) Adding keywords to your web site’s content

ii) Trying to get some high-traffic sites linked to your web site

iii) Put the keyword or keyword phrases in your page titles and file names

iv) Put the meta tags and keywords in the  header of the web pages

 

References:
Drost, H. (2009). Major Search Engine Submissions. Retrieved May 09, 2009 from http://www.isitebuild.com/major-search-engines.htm

Franklin, C. (2009). How Internet Search Engines Work.  Retrieved May 09, 2009 from http://computer.howstuffworks.com/search-engine1.htm

Wikipedia, Metasearch Engine. Retrieved May 09, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metasearch_engine

Exercise 22

Differentiate between software systems such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, Business-to-Business e-commerce programs and Supply-Chain Management (SCM) software.

Customer Relationship Management is defined by Computer Desktop Encyclopedia as “An integrated information system that is used to plan, schedule and control the pre sales and post sales activities in an organization”. A CRM mainly deals with marketing and sales departments, and it’s main goals include:

• Improved sales performance,
• Improved management visibility,
• Improved customer support,
• Improved marketing, and
• Reduced costs.

A supply chain  is a network of facilities and distribution options that performs the functions of procurement of materials, transformation of these materials into intermediate and finished products, and the distribution of these finished products to customers. Supply chains exist in both service and manufacturing organizations, although the complexity of the chain may vary greatly from industry to industry and firm to firm.  SCM (Supply Chain Management) allows organizations to efficiently manage their entire supply chain from purchasing to distribution and logistics. The main focus of SCM is on purchasing or transactional data, or internal data. SCM and ERP are often different systems in many organizations, which makes it difficult to “Connect Demand with Supply” as Michael Schrage’s article discusses. The difficulty will play an important role for technology managers as the two systems can have contrasting objectives.

 

Reference:
Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Customer relationship management.  Retrieved May 10, 2009, from Answers.com Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/customer-relationship-management