Recently in Information Technology Category

Dr. Livermore explains how advantageous ERP is when it is used to integrate technologies in large businesses, along with their associate businesses.

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Filed under: Enterprise Architecture | Industries | Information Technology | Jeffrey Livermore

Dr. Livermore also pointed out that for many large businesses, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) computer applications make it possible to integrate multiple technologies. This is especially important for information sharing and processes across various departments to communicate in real time. Implementing an ERP system is extremely expensive, but for companies that can afford it, there are many benefits. Additionally, if businesses can convert their vendors, partners, and/or suppliers to use the same ERP system, they will gain even more advantageous economies of scale at every step in the supply chain process. This is because between these companies' interactions, the system allows for seamless file sharing, communication, and efficient inventory and resource management. Furthermore, companies are able to use their resources more efficiently when their processes flow continuously without pauses.

There is a shortage of "Enterprise Architects" in Michigan. These Information Technology professionals integrate multiple technologies for firms.

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Filed under: Best Practice Dynamics | Conlin Consulting | Cygnus Systems, Inc. | Enterprise Architecture | General Motors | Information Technology | Jeffrey Livermore | Meta Integration | Organizations

Dr. Livermore also pointed out that “enterprise architects” are “especially popular” careers in Michigan, and many companies are finding that there are not enough of them.  Since computer technology is used in every single activity most companies are involved in, there is a significant demand for IT professionals who can “integrate” all these technologies to enable a smooth flow of information. Furthermore, since more and more companies are working together, their information systems need to be compatible to share information through computers and other devices.

For instance, General Motors is a great example of how to integrate technologies within the company and with its suppliers. In order to reach maximum efficiency, there needs to be a smooth and quick flow of information and processes throughout the supply chain.  So when a customer makes a purchase, the system is automatically updated to reflect this in inventory, and when a certain level of inventory is reached, once again, the system automatically orders more needed products all without human interference. In order to do this, it takes the integration and compatibility of a customized information system and technologies. 

There are many other companies that offer enterprise architecture services:

Meta Integration

Best Practice Dynamics

Conlin Consulting

Cygnus Systems, Inc.
 

Tree Town Toys fills a market void in the toy industry, providing their product list in multiple different search queries, from age range to different skill sets required for games. From local to national business plans, this local company might have both figured out.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Information Technology | Start-Ups | Tree Town Toys

One year ago this month, Hans and Tricia Masing took their online store, Brain Station, to the store front.  Opening their first store, Tree Town Toys in Ann Arbor, they were looking to provide unique and interesting toys to the community.  As new parents, they were driven by their own search for great toys for their children.

As automotive engineer (Tricia) and an IT guy (Hans), the two seem to be an odd couple in the toy industry.  However, combing their quest for toys with Hans' IT experience proved fruitful and helped create their online store Brain Station.  Filling a market void in the toy industry, Tree Town Toys and Brain Station provides their product list in multiple different search queries, from age range to different skill sets required for games.  Want to develop hand eye coordination? They've got 243 toys for that.  Toys for a 1-2 year olds?  Choose from 53 different toys for them.

As all start up companies discover financing is one of the most difficult portions of the process.  Hans and Tricia were no exception to this.  Tricia notes the Michigan economy as a stumbling block.  She notices a change in targeting perspective as one solution to their initial problems.  Current perspectives are interested in national, not local business.  Managing an online store for Tree Town Toys, which is very similar to their Brain Station store, must have helped to ease investors minds.  While the store was only in Ann Arbor, their products are still being sold across the United States.

Beyond toys, Tree Town Toys provides the community with two other great assets.  They are helping our economy by providing more jobs.  Those interested in marketing, customer service, and toys should check out their careers page. Need a creative activity for your own children?  Take a look at their events page.

Peer-2-Peer file sharing programs don't offer much security to their users. Users are capable of titling their files as they please and use of a p2p network requires direct access to a users file network. Tranche solves this problem with their Java based client-server network.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Information Technology | University of Michigan

File sharing systems like Bear Share and Limewire are unsecured file sharing systems because they offer little security to their users.  The two areas in which peer-to-peer (P2P) programs fail the most are in accountability and the need to directly access users files.  Additionally, shared files are not indexed, so the user relies on the file holder to provide secure and accurate data.

In enters Tranche, a client server network which provides secure data sharing for the scientific community.  Created by Jayson Falkner at the University of Michigan in late 2005, Tranche is part of the National Resource for Proteomics and Pathways. Tranche proved to be a reliable data bank for proteomics and is now being used in the fields of glycomics, metabalomics, and 2D gel data.

Tranche goes against the grain in their pursuit of security.  Their software is built off of Java Webstart and is a complete server side operation.  Several security issues are resolved by simply switching to server side software.  Tranche controls all of the data that is shared over their network and keeps their users safe by monitoring all of the files shared on their system.  In addition, users must request the ability to upload data to the server.  Once they have approval, their log in is typically valid for only two weeks.  This ensures that a user name and password cannot be stolen and reused by an distrusted user. Upon upload, all files are given a unique hash. This enables quick retrieval of data from the database.

Finally, users are allowed to encrypt their data and share their passphrase with limited parties.  So while anyone can log onto Tranche and download data as they please, you can restrict access with passphrases.  If at a later time the owner wishes to publish their data, they have the option to share the passphrase.

As virus's become more advanced and the number of infected computers rises, I'm sure many more programs will follow in Tranches footsteps. Their client-server environment keeps their users safe and happy.  On top of all of that, Tranche is completely free to use and is open source.

There are many jobs available in Michigan, even though there have been cutbacks in the auto-industry. Job seekers may have to shift their focus to information technology, since there many open positions in Michigan in some areas in this field.

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Filed under: Education & Training | Information Technology | Jeffrey Livermore | People

Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Livermore, a professor who teaches information technology courses at Walsh College. He enlightened me about the job market in Michigan for Information Technology (IT) professionals. And surprisingly enough, I learned through our conversation that there is a shortage of Computer Information Systems (CIS) professionals here in Michigan. Yeah, I think I know what you are thinking; "haven't we lost a lot of computer jobs through outsourcing them overseas?"

Yes we have, but as Dr. Livermore pointed out there are some computer jobs that can be easily outsourced to other countries, such as computer programming and data entry. However, many computer related careers are safe right here at home since they require the IT professional to be on site. For instance, especially in computer networking where a group of computers have to be physically connected through wires or wireless connections, as well as all the necessary programs installed on them, need to be done in person. Additionally, many times computer networking includes security, so the IT professional would have to install anti-virus programs, firewalls, anti-spyware, and the updates that go along wtih these, along with running regular backups, maintaining the system, etc., so the IT professional would need to be on-site, or readily accessible nearby.

In the next part of this series, I will reveal the most sought after IT field. Companies who seek out these specific IT professionals will definitely have the competitive advantage.

Google offers grants for non-profit organizations. Dr. Gibson was creative enough to use this opportunity for our class to work on a real life project. And since we were doing something important, for many of us, a good grade was not our main goal.

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Filed under: Information Technology | Innovation | Web Development

It was a great idea for Dr. Gibson to connect Google Adwords grants with his Web Development class. This is what made it possible for us to engage out in the real world on a real project, while still in the classroom. By combining this real life experience with lectures, advice, collaborative learning and information sharing, we were able to learn more and useful information in a short period of time.

Google offers Adwords grant applications to 501(c)3 non-profit organizations. Once a grant is awarded, the organization has a generous daily budget to manage their Google Adwords accounts.  It is through these accounts that Google Ads are created. These ads appear on the right side of the screen when people do Google searches. For most of us, this was our first advertising experience and it was exciting to see our ads on the Internet.

In addition, we were able to help non-profit organizations in our area to bring in more customers, volunteers, and resources.

After the semester was over, we were invited to Google in Ann Arbor for lunch and to give our final presentations. This was a great opportunity for us, and since we had been giving presentations about our Adwords accounts all semester, all of us gave excellent presentations.

And in conclusion, since we were doing something important, for many of us, a good grade was not our main goal. We learned a great deal and acquired enough experience to continue working in online marketing.

I explain how this Web Development is so valuable for creating Web-sites, and why it is important to focus on search engine optimization. By managing Google Adwords accounts we were able to understand a variety of issues when creating Web pages.

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Filed under: Industries | Information Technology | Innovation | Web Development

Furthermore, since this class was a Web Development class, it was especially important to learn how Web site development was related to search engine optimization. So we had to think of keywords people would use who were interested in the services and products our non-profits would offer, and create ads relevant to these keywords, as well as landing pages that would lead to conversions. Conversions refer to actions we  want the Web-site visitors to take, such as donating money. This combination of concepts is the latest emerging business trend online.

Why have a Web site if no one is going to read it?

With a strong focus on search engine optimization, we were able to lure people to the Web site by creating landing pages for our Google Ads. We learned which strategies and keywords worked and which ones didn’t through Dr. Gibson's lectures, group presentations, and trial and error.

In the next part, I will write about the Google Adwords Grants program that helped make this class possible.

In this part, I explain how Dr. Gibson's Web Development class was so successful. By using group presentations and blogging, we were able to share information about our struggles and successes to learn more faster.

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Filed under: Information Technology | Innovation | Web Development

The main reason I recommend this class is because of expert advice throughout the semester from Dr. Gibson, as well as collaborative learning in the classroom. Students were divided up into five assigned groups. We had weekly presentations where each group showed the class what they had accomplished and we learned from each other. So we had inner-group and outer-group insight, we shared struggles and successes, and even helped each other whether we were in the same group or not. I had never been in a class like this, where so many students were involved.
 

At first, I thought the weekly presentations would be useless, but they proved to be extremely worthwhile since every group had different types of non-profit organizations to manage Google Adwords accounts for. We were able to use the shared information to solve problems in our own groups as well, and information that was not relevant would be in the future when we would be managing Google Adwords accounts for other organizations. 

In addition to the weekly presentations, we were required to write at least 3 blogs per week regarding subjects covered in class, including problems we were having and strategies that worked for us. So when we had a question, we found that many other people had the same question and were able to look up the solution or advice online. I still refer to the blogs for managing my Google Adwords accounts now.

In the next part, I will explain why this class was so valuable...
 

In this part, I reveal who this innovative professor is and why I took this class. Through a partnership with Google and collaborative learning in the classroom, I now have skills that I will continue using.

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Filed under: Industries | Information Technology

My reasons for taking Dr. Bud Gibson's Web Development class:

Well, mainly because I acquired a ton of useful knowledge. The key to learning all this stuff was from various types of assignments (mostly goals) that were related and tied together at the end of the semester. I love to learn, but I am especially motivated when I can apply what I learn.

This class is currently available at Eastern Michigan University, and it will also be implemented in other universities all over the country. This professor, Dr. Gibson, created an innovative way to teach, right here in Michigan.

This information systems Web development class I took last semester was taught by Dr. Gibson who partnered with Google to give stuends a chance to work on real Google Adwords accounts. Since I had a full schedule, and had to drop at least one class, there was no way I was going to drop this one when I realized that this was an opportunity of a lifetime.

In the next part I will tell why this class was such a success...

Education is especially important in a slow economy. However, most college students will admit they use less than 25% of the knowledge they gained in college in the workplace. However, one Michigan professor found an innovative way to teach students how to "grab the bull by the horns" in the rapidly changing world of Information Technology.

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Filed under: Industries | Information Technology

The more people learn, the more information and opportunities they have to be innovative. This is why education is so important and how it will help the Michigan economy. Furthermore, it would be great if knowledge from college could be even more applicable than it is now.  This could be the extra edge educational institutions in Michigan need to boost the economy.

Since the business world discovered lean manufacturing, I am just waiting to see this concept seep into other areas as well. There is so much going on, that focusing on only useful, core operations and getting rid of waste is the only way for companies to survive. So I have been wondering when "lean teaching" will take hold. Now I think it is finally starting...

First of all, I want to point out that I found all of my classes in college to be extremely valuable. However, many college graduates will tell you that once they are in the workplace, they only use less than 25% of what they learned in college. I assume that 50% of what they learn in the workplace is simply experience and hands-on type of stuff. But what about the remaining of the 25% knowledge required to do their jobs? Wouldn’t it be nice if a college education could be more customized to fit specific industries or companies? Well, last semester one of my professors customized a class that is 100% applicable in that field of work. In other words, everything that I learned in that class, I am using all of that now.

To be continued in Part 2...