Final Blog

After doing the CVS case, I think I learned that even though you would not think about making an IT change to further your company, in many cases it can come in handy. CVS Pharmacy was loosing customers because of service. Now the refutation group argued that if we installed a computer based system and got rid of an employee that we would lose customers. I think with the advancement of technology that people now-a-days do not even care if they talk to a real person. Everything we do is with computers and we are becoming less and less personable. I can remember early on that our Professor talked about how he banks with a company that does not have a brick and mortar office, but one that still gets the job done. As long as our company is always getting the job done and we can use technology to do so, I think business will continue to thrive.

Betting the Farm

With our previous two cases with Kodak and Cisco, we saw two companies that bet the farm with new projects. I think doing this is a bad idea. Giving away such a large project to a firm that has never had that much experience seems like a very bad idea. However, in the Cisco case, the legal department did a great job by putting in a clause that said if Oracle ever messed up they had to fix and pay for the mistake. Betting the farm is extremely risky, but having the right contract written can be the saver to the company.

Outsourcing Issues

I think choosing between one group for all of a companies outsourcing needs, or to pick multiple companies, I would want to pick one company. I think picking one company at first would cause for less confusion in the company. It would also be very easy at first to communicate with one company than many. I think also that if you have one company at first and then show them that you will leave them for someone cheaper, they will probably lower their cost to keep your business. Then you would not have to learn about a new company and have to learn how to communicate with them.

Out

I think outsourcing has gotten almost a bad name when it comes to companies these days. You think of outsourcing and I think most people think about sending US jobs overseas. But sometimes outsourcing is simply just getting someone else to do something that you cannot do well yourself. Companies have been outsourcing to other companies probably ever since small business was around. The definition on Websters is "to procure under contract with an outside supplier." Outsourcing will continue to help all business to concentrate on what they do well and keep getting better at that function.

Knowledge Sharing

I think knowledge sharing can be good and bad in the workplace. I think it is good because it can sometimes prevent a person from having to look like an idiot by asking someone a question. Also, it can be bad because people do not always want to share everything they know, but they feel that if they share their knowledge then what are they good for. There needs to be a balance between the two. I think with the advancement of the Internet and how much information is on the web, then maybe just a directory with the proper people to ask a question to should be the solution. This way people would feel like they are still needed but at the same time their knowledge would be available for others. Thoughts?

New Tech for Old Guys

I think it is very challenging to get older people in a company to want to change to new technology. I look at former bosses I have had that really hate using a computer. They just think they have never done it that way and the business is running fine, so why change now. It is so hard to try and help the older guys in companies to try and trust younger people sometimes that the advancement in technology will truly help the company grow and be more efficient and effective.

Technology vs. Old School

I have heard it said many times that technology is growing so fast that people will have jobs in areas of work ten years from now that do not exist today. But taking a look at the Internet boom in the '90s and how that fade faded away, will these new technologies and inventions stand the test of time or just be fads as well.
What is not a fad but has had incredible sustainability is just the old school written letter. Why does a letter contain more emotion and gets the point across and usually means more to people when you get one? Is it because it takes more time to write? Well what if it takes me longer to type than to write? What if the letter is horribly written grammatically compared to an email because of spell check? I am just always curious as to what will be the technology that one day will put the Post Office out of business. Are we there with Twitter or the I-pad technology. Thoughts?