CASE Tool

CASE Tool

Computer-aided software engineering are tools that automate many of the tasks required in a systems development effort and encourage adherence to the SDLC. “Main purpose of the CASE tools is to decrease the development time and increase the quality of software.” [1]. These tools can be very helpful cause they can be used to cut out many of the beginning steps in creating many different kinds of systems including database systems. There are many companies that have created CASE tools for businesses to use. Select Business Soluntions had a very interesting group of CASE Tools that is broken down like this:

Select Business Solutions has been developing and building these CASE tools since the late 1980s, as well as developing processes and methods to support high quality application development .

Solution Breakdown

Select Architect - a Business Process Modeling (BPM/BPMN), Unified Modeling Language (UML), and Data (ERD/TRD) Modeling CASE Tool

Select Solution Factory - couples the modeling power of Select Architect with code synchronization and software asset management capabilities

Select SSADM - a Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology CASE Tool

Select Yourdon - a real time CASE Tool supporting the Yourdon, Hatley-Pirbhai and Ward-Mellor real-time extensions [2]

CASE tools are a great aid in the systems development world and the business world. The tools make the process of designing a system much similar because of the aid it provides the users. like writing the languages. But the users do run some risk in using the tools such as, “ Weak repository controls : Failure to adequately control access to CASE repositories may result in security breaches or damage to the work documents, system designs, or code modules stored in the repository. Controls include protecting the repositories with appropriate access, version, and backup controls.”[3]. It can also be risky because the tools do come at a high cost and they do take time to learn so cannot be implemented right away. These tools are very helpful in the work environment but do come with a price.

[1] "Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE Tools)." SEO Expert Services |SEO Solutions|Google SEO Consultant UK| Cheap SEO. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. http://www.theecommercesolution.com/usefull_links/case_tools.php.

[2] Select Business Solutions . Web. 12 Dec. 2011. http://www.selectbs.com/analysis-and-design/computer-aided-software-engineering-case-tool.

[3] "Computer-aided Software Engineering." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-aided_software_engineering.

KMS

Artificial Intelligence is the future. Specifically right now natural language processing and voice recognition is very useful. In our world being hands free is a necessity. IBM’s Watson uses this. Watson has tackled the process of hearing the words, processing them, and formulating an answer. “Watson's ability to understand the meaning and context of human language, and rapidly process information to find precise answers to complex questions…The technology could be applied in areas such as healthcare, for accurately diagnosing patients, to improve online self-service help desks, to provide tourists and citizens with specific information regarding cities, prompt customer support via phone, and much more.” (1) This past year Watson appeared on Jeopardy and it was just amazing. Of course in some situations the human mind was faster but it was remarkable to watch a computer take human words process them and come up with the correct answer. This is just the beginning IBM is continuing to work on Watson and it can only get better.

Right now the public has the opportunity to use natural language processing in the new iPhone 4Gs in Siri. As a user Siri listen to you and can perform many basic tasks such as search the web, send text messages, and emails. I have personally experienced Siri and it is unbelievable even when you say something like “You are dumb” she responds with a witty comment such as “Well that is your opinion”. Siri can only perform tasks in iOS but in no time it will be performing many other tasks. Right now Siri stores the information it provides to its users but in the future Siri could do this,“ Imagine if this same logical power could be applied to any application. Say you're a sales rep and your manager has shared a spreadsheet with regional sales estimates. If you have updated figures for your territory, instead of hunting and pecking changes on the tiny touchscreen keyboard, wouldn't it be nice to say, "Siri, change the sales estimate for the Northwest region from 750,000 to 900,000". (2)

This is just the beginning for us there is so much more to come. Medicine is the focus of the future of natural language processing. “using natural-language processing to make better sense of medical records, which often contain unstructured narrative notes and abbreviations…The principal technical challenges include developing natural-language processing methods that allow computer programs to automatically extract clinical files, events and relationships from the narrative text in records, and to combine the resulting data with existing information from laboratory tests and prescription orders to identify patients' conditions and current treatments. . “

Works Cited:

(1) - "IBM and Jeopardy! Relive History with Encore Presentation of Jeopardy!: The IBM Challenge." IBM. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. IBM and Jeopardy! Relive History with Encore Presentation of Jeopardy!: The IBM Challenge. http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/27297.wss

(2) - "How Siri Could Make Collaboration Mobile - Telecom - Unified Communications/messaging - Informationweek." InformationWeek | Business Technology News, Reviews and Blogs. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.

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DSS

"Companies across all industries rely on decision support tools, techniques, and models to help them assess and resolve everyday business questions." [1] The DSS use data like sales data, inventory data, supplier data, and market research data to aid in the decision process. DSS have become critical in all types of business due to the quick market changes that take place in the global market. Having a comprehensive DSS will provide a company with a greater competitive advantage.

There are many different DSS software out their for companies to choose from to use to help in the decision making process. When looking at the different kinds of software impound one that mentioned something really interesting about working with different ideas from many people. This DSS was from Vanguard Software Corporation and was called Business Analytics Suite. "Vanguard's collaboration abilities go well beyond simple communication strategies like Web conferencing...Individuals throughout your organization use our innovative model-based approach to describe to the Vanguard System how they make decisions or perform particular tasks. In doing this, users capture knowledge, or know-how, that is specific to your business. The Vanguard System can combine the knowledge captured by many individuals to create a Collective Intelligence that is useful for testing business plans and automating routine operations."[2]. This would be very helpful in the decision making process because the software gathers information from the workers and data on the decision at hand and then comes up with the best solution for your company.

"It is important to note that the DSS field does not have a universally accepted model. That is to say, there are many theories vying for supremacy in this broad field."[3]. This could make it hard for a company to find the perfect DSS for their needs. So some research will have to go into the decision. It is also important to remember that the decisions the DSS makes are not finally and the ultimately choice still lies in the hands of a human.

[1]"Decision Support System." MicroStrategy Business Intelligence and Mobile Business Intelligence. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. .

[2]"Decision Support System Software." Vanguard Software Corporation - Forecasting & Planning Solutions. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. .

[3]"Decision Support System | IT Management | Asked and Answered." Tech-FAQ ». Web. 16 Nov. 2011. .


URLs

[1] http://www.microstrategy.com/decision-support-system

[2] http://www.vanguardsw.com/solutions/application/decision-support/

[3] http://www.tech-faq.com/decision-support-system.html

SWOT

Decision making is something we do everyday at every moment. There are simple decisions such as deciding what to drink when you are thirsty and then there are hard decisions like where to invest your money. When we make a decision we go through a process in order to make the decision. When it comes to harder decisions sometime we have to write it down and use a process in order to make the correct decision. The SWOT Analysis Strategy is a common decision making approach used by many to help them through the process.

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. “ These four factors are the major players when it comes to business decision making. Each refers to things that may be internal or external to the business, which might have significant impact on achieving goals and objectives.” [1] By analyzing the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of the decision it breaks it down for the person to see everything the decision will do or not do for them. It is very affective because the SWOT analysis makes the person really think about what they are getting into. I have personally used the SWOT analysis to help me with my decision making and it really helped me to analyze how the decision would impact my life. “ The idea is that you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your service, pinpoint opportunities and note threats in order to make good decisions . SWOT is normally an assessment of a business or a proposition, whether your own or a competitor’s.”[2]

[1] Lu, Wagz. "SWOT Analysis: A Powerful Tool for Business Decision Making." Associated Content from Yahoo! - Associatedcontent.com. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

[2] "The SWOT Model | Decide-guide.com." | Decide-guide.com. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

Mobile ecommerce

Today ecommerce had been taking to a whole new level with introduction of smartphones into the market. Now business activities such as buying and selling can be done on the go. The ICANN has created a .mobi domain in order to attract and make websites easy to view on mobile phones. For such phones as Droid and Iphones apps have been created for mobile ecommerce for faster and more efficient business activities avoiding the web browsers.

Mobile ecommerce has become increasingly more popular a recent study from paypal predicts “that nearly 50% of respondents intended to make a purchase through a smartphone or tablet device this year. While intention to buy is of course very different to actually buying, with the real indicator only coming after the holiday shopping period, the figures are encouraging” [1]. It was very crazy to all when people started to use the internet to do a majority of their shopping now the general population has moved to doing their shopping on the go on their phones. Now the business are even backing this up and putting a lot of money into mobile marketing and ads. “ Total advertising expenditure on mobile is expected to rise from just over US$1.4bn in 2009 to US$6 billion n in 2014. Of this, ad spend on mobile Internet was estimated to be US$500 million in 2009.”[2] It is estimated that the amount of money put into the mobile marketing is just going to increase due to the increasing rate of user on mobile internet.

One of the great things that has been introduced with mobile commerce is not only banking on the go but using your phone as your wallet. This technology has been introduced by google. The Google Wallet is still in its trial stages and is not available on all smartphones but it is amazing because it “enables users to tap to pay at hundreds of thousands of locations, as well as store loyalty cards and gift cards and redeem deals.” [3] all you do is whip out your phone and swipe it over the paypass reader and your all set. This is newest technology in mobile commerce. You will no longer need to carry any around with you but your phone. Mobile devices have changed the world of ecommerce and have made it more diverse.

[1] (22), Step Guide. "46% of Smartphone Owners Predicted to Shop via Mobile This Christmas – Simply Zesty - Simply Zesty." Simply Zesty - Building Your Brand through Social Media. Web. 07 Nov. 2011. .

[2] "Global Mobile Statistics 2011: All Quality Mobile Marketing Research, Mobile Web Stats, Subscribers, Ad Revenue, Usage, Trends… | MobiThinking." Home | MobiThinking. Web. 07 Nov. 2011. .

[3] Spoonauer, Mark. "Google Wallet Tested: What It's like to Pay with Your Phone." Gadgetbox. Web. 07 Nov. 2011. .

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Apps and services

1)Efax-can take a picture of a document on your phone and then fax it

2)shoeboxed-can photograph the paper receipt and store in a secure location

3)basecamp-communicate about projects in one location on message boards

4)GenBook-manage events and meetings even creat a book now button for your webpage or facebook page 

5)Remote Desktop Lite-Access your desktop on the go, feels like you are right in front of your desktop

6)Google Maps-Phone app that helps with directions and find nearby establichments

7)Square-iphone app that allows you to ring up a customer and then either swipe or key in a credit card for purchase

8)TweetDeck-companies with many social networking accounts can now all the accounts from one location

9)1password-Store all usernames and passwords for multiple accounts in one secure location

10)Screensteps-Create tutorials/lessons/manuals for customers

web 2.0 and apps

Web Application/Apps have evolved at a pretty rapid rate over the past few years. The main reason for this rapid growth is the new hardware to use these apps on, smartphones, tablets, and even mp3s. Web applications are now apart of out everyday life because a web app is as simple as your webmail. Viaweb is claimed to be the first web application, the company was started 1995 and provided the first web-based application that allowed users to host their own online stores directly from their own web browser. Since them web applications have only gotten better.
Web applications now range from business productivity applications to personal organizations applications. In doing my research I learned there is pretty much and application now for everything you could possibly want to do on the internet. Business are the ones who are going to benefit the most from these applications because they help organize and manage their companies. “You’re in business to make money. However, if you can’t manage your finances, payments, and assets, you’re going to find that expenses start to creep up, financing runs short, and your ability to plan for the future is nil.” [1] The web applications that are designed to manage finances, payments, and assets will allow the company to focus on the future of the company and planning new projects so they can grow and make more money. Web applications provide companies with more time by making mundane tasks such as creating invoices and mailing them to clients easier by sending the invoice to the client via email and allowing them to pay instantly via paypal. Communication is another very important aspect to a successful and productive business. Video chat and conferencing is one very important web application now that makes communication and brainstorming between offices in different states or even countries instant. Web applications have changed the course of the business world in such a way that it keeps the business more productive by making mundane task simpler, organization a priority, and now communication between associates organized and at the drop of the hat.
[1] "The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Web 2.0: Top 25 Apps to Grow Your Business." Add Url - Submit Site - Aviva Web Directory. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. <http://www.avivadirectory.com/entrepreneur-apps/>.