Exam 2 MIS

Networking and Internet Technologies Fundamentals

  • Wireless Technologies:

    • Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs): These are being used for various monitoring tasks but are notably NOT used for processing consumer transactions. Contrary to some claims, RFID technology is NOT being gradually replaced by WSNs; they serve different primary purposes.
    • MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output): A core mobile and wireless technology that significantly reduces Wi-Fi interference.
    • Wi-Fi Standards: Formally known as the 802.11802.11 standards.
    • Metropolitan Area Network (MAN): A computer network that covers a specific city or metropolitan area.

  • Internet Infrastructure and Communication:

    • Internet of Things (IoT): Refers to everyday physical objects being connected to the Internet, enabling them to send and receive data.
    • Internet Backbone: Owned and maintained by private Tier 1 ISPs (Internet Service Providers). It is a misconception that the Internet backbone in the U.S. is owned by the federal government.
    • Web Server: The software responsible for locating and managing stored web pages for delivery to users.
    • Telnet: A specific Internet service that enables remote logon to another computer system.
    • RSS (Really Simple Syndication): A technology that pulls content automatically from websites and delivers it to subscribers.
    • Bandwidth: Defined as the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies that can be accommodated on a single telecommunications channel.

  • Protocols and Addressing:

    • Uniform Resource Locator (URL): Composed of a protocol prefix + domain name + path + document name.
    • Domain Name System (DNS): Structure of domain labels. In the address books.pearson.com, the third-level domain is books.
    • Digital Subscriber Line (DSL): Operates over traditional existing telephone lines to carry voice, data, and video simultaneously.
    • Fiber-optic Cable: Provides high speed but is NOT less expensive or easier to install than traditional copper/alternative cabling.
    • Modem: A device used to translate digital computer signals into analog waveforms and vice versa.
    • Analog Signals: Characterized by continuous waveform signals.
    • TCP/IP Layers: The architecture consists of four distinct layers: Application, Transport, Internet, and Network Interface.
    • Packet Switching: Along with client/server computing and communication standards, this forms the basis of the modern Internet.
    • Router: The specific hardware device used to route packets of data through different networks.

Security, Identity, and Risk Management

  • Security Authentication and Frameworks:

    • Authentication: The process of verifying the identity of a person or entity.
    • Unified Threat Management (UTM): Refers to comprehensive security management products that combine multiple security features into a single appliance.
    • Zero-Trust Framework: A security model based on the core principle of Least Privilege Access.
    • Blockchain: A distributed ledger technology. It is NOT maintained in a central database; rather, it is decentralized across a network.
    • Security Protocols: TLS (Transport Layer Security) and HTTPS are the two primary protocols used for secure data transfer over the Internet.
    • Biometric Authentication: Includes fingerprint or facial recognition; however, it does NOT use body odor as a metric in standard identification systems.

  • Security Policies and Controls:

    • Acceptable Use Policy (AUP): A set of rules defining the acceptable uses of a firm's information resources and computing equipment.
    • Security Policy: A formal statement that ranks Information Security risks and identifies specific security goals.
    • Implementation Controls: These controls audit the systems development process at various points to ensure the process is properly controlled and managed.
    • Software Quality: It is an industry reality that zero defects cannot be achieved in large, complex software programs.
    • Legal Compliance: All 5050 states in the U.S. now require breach notification laws if personal data is compromised.

  • Cybercrime and Malware:

    • Pharming: Redirecting users to a fraudulent website even if they have entered the correct web address into their browser.
    • Cybervandalism: The intentional destruction or defacement of a website.
    • Spear Phishing: A targeted fraudulent email appearing to come from a known individual or coworker to steal information.
    • Identity Theft: The crime of using stolen personal information to impersonate someone else.
    • War Driving: The practice of intercepting wireless network traffic from a moving vehicle.
    • Ransomware: Malware that demands payment to restore access to infected systems or data.
    • Trojan Horse: Software that appears to be benign or helpful but performs a malicious task in the background.
    • Botnets: Large networks of compromised computers. The Mirai botnet notably used IoT devices to launch massive DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. It is a misconception that smartphones cannot be part of a botnet; they can be infected.
    • Viruses: Most computer viruses deliver a payload, which is the actual destructive or disruptive part of the malware code.

Enterprise Applications and Supply Chain Management

  • Enterprise Systems (ERP):

    • Best Practices: Enterprise software is built around predefined "best practices" for various business processes.
    • Implementation Strategy: Companies should NOT customize ERP software extensively to match existing processes; rather, they should align processes to the software to maintain system integrity. Tasty Baking achieved success by customizing less than 5 percent5\,\text{percent} of their ERP.
    • First Step: The initial step in any ERP implementation is to select the business processes to be improved.

  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM):

    • Salesforce.com: Known as the global market leader in cloud-based CRM.
    • Operational CRM: Includes tools for sales force automation and customer service. It does NOT include complex analytical tasks like calculating Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV).
    • Analytical CRM: Focuses on analyzing customer data to provide business insights.
    • Cross-selling: The marketing of complementary products to customers (e.g., selling a home improvement loan to an existing checking account holder).
    • Customer Contact Points: Includes traditional methods but does NOT typically include an internal Intranet.

  • Supply Chain Management (SCM):

    • SCM Costs: These costs can approach 75 percent75\,\text{percent} of a company's total operating budget.
    • Bullwhip Effect: Distortion of demand information where small fluctuations in demand at the retail level cause increasing fluctuations further up the supply chain. This effect significantly contributed to disruptions after the COVID pandemic.
    • Push-based vs. Pull-based Models:
      • Push-based: Driven by forecasts; "Make what we sell."
      • Pull-based: Driven by actual demand; "Sell what we make."
    • Supply Chain Planning System: Generates demand forecasts and sourcing plans.
    • Supply Chain Execution System: Manages the physical flow of products through warehouses and distribution centers.
    • Just-in-Time (JIT): A strategy where components arrive exactly at the moment they are needed in the production process.
    • Downstream Supply Chain: The portion of the supply chain involving the distribution of products to retailers and final customers.

E-Commerce and Digital Markets

  • Digital Market Characteristics:

    • Ubiquity: Information technology is available everywhere, creating a Marketspace that exists beyond traditional geographic and temporal boundaries.
    • Information Density: A unique feature of e-commerce that increases the total amount and quality of information available to all market participants.
    • Universal Standards: Shared technical standards across the globe that lower market entry costs.
    • Cost Transparency: The ability of consumers to find out the actual costs merchants pay for products.
    • Dynamic Pricing: Pricing items based on real-time demand and customer characteristics.
    • Personalization vs. Customization:
      • Personalization: Adjusting marketing messages for specific individuals based on their preferences/behavior.
      • Customization: Changing the actual physical product or service based on user preferences.

  • E-Commerce Business Models:

    • B2C (Business-to-Consumer): Businesses selling directly to individual consumers.
    • Market Creators: Provide a digital environment where buyers and sellers can meet and establish prices.
    • Transaction Brokers: Save users time and money by processing transactions that are normally handled in person or by phone.
    • Revenue Models: The Free/Freemium model offers basic services for free while charging for premium features.
    • Fintech: Financial technology firms that act as service providers in the financial sector.
    • Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): While older, EDI is NOT only used for document automation; it is still vital for B2B supply chain communication.

  • Mobile and Local E-commerce:

    • Geoadvertising: Marketing that uses GPS locations to target customers.
    • Mobile Advertising: Meta’s Facebook and Instagram represent the largest market for mobile advertising.
    • Location Analytics: Software that utilizes location-based data to gain business insights, which is different from the core immersive technologies of the Metaverse.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Decision Support

  • AI Techniques and Concepts:

    • Robotics: Classified as a type of intelligent technique.
    • Sentience: There is an ongoing philosophical belief among some that certain forms of AI may eventually become sentient.
    • Intelligent Agents: Software that works without direct human intervention to carry out specific tasks (e.g., Evri's Holly).
    • Machine Learning: A subset of AI; "The Cat Paper" is a famous research example involving machine learning recognition.
    • Neural Networks: Systems modeled after the organic brain; they differ from expert systems because they require large amounts of data to identify patterns correctly.
    • Expert Systems: Knowledge-intensive programs specifically designed to capture the expertise of human experts. However, they are NOT particularly useful for analyzing massive Big Data sets.

  • Business Intelligence (BI) and Decisions:

    • Decision Types:
      • Unstructured: Decisions that are novel, important, and non-routine, often made by senior executives (e.g., deciding to introduce a new product line).
      • Semistructured: Decisions where only part of the problem has a clear-cut answer (e.g., developing a marketing plan).
      • High-velocity Automated Decisions: Decisions made in milliseconds by computers (e.g., providing search results) which can eliminate humans from the decision chain.
    • BI Infrastructure: Includes tools like data warehouses and Hadoop, but does NOT include the Balanced Scorecard (which is a management framework).
    • Predictive Analytics: Uses historical data to predict future trends. It utilizes several inputs but typically does NOT prioritize KPIs as its primary mechanism compared to historical data sets. Credit scoring is a primary real-world application.
    • Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Use digitized maps to manipulate and display data related to geographic locations.
    • Sensitivity Analysis: A tool for repeatedly asking "what-if" questions to determine the impact of changes in variables.
    • Drill-down: The process of moving from high-level summary data to more specific, detailed data.

Systems Development and Project Management

  • Development Process:

    • Problem Definition: The very first step in developing any new information system.
    • Implementation: The final step, involving the physical deployment of the solution into production.
    • Testing: System testing is the phase that tests the system as a whole to ensure all individual modules function together correctly.
    • Maintenance: The stage involving changes made to a system to correct errors or improve performance after it is in use.
    • Documentation: Necessary for both technical staff and end users to understand how the system works.

  • Conversion Strategies:

    • Direct Cutover: The new system replaces the old system completely at an appointed time.
    • Parallel Conversion: Both the old and new systems are run simultaneously for a period to ensure the new system works correctly.

  • Project Management and Planning:

    • Activities: Includes planning and risk assessment, but does NOT include the literal writing of code for the new system.
    • Capital Budgeting: Relies on measuring cash inflows and outflows to determine the value of a project.
    • Intangible Benefits: Benefits that cannot be easily quantified, such as improved asset utilization or customer satisfaction.
    • Organizational Impact Analysis: A tool used to identify how job functions will transform within a company due to a new system.
    • Responsive Web Design: A design technique that allows one website to serve multiple platforms (mobile, tablet, desktop) by adapting to screen resolution.
    • Mobile Web Apps: These are accessed specifically through a mobile device's web browser, rather than being installed as native apps.

  • Portfolio Management:

    • Routine Projects: Characterized by low project risk and low potential benefits.
    • Avoidance: Projects that are high-risk and low-benefit should be avoided entirely.
    • Scoring Models: A method for comparing alternative systems by assigning ratings to different features.