Information Technology in Knowledge Management

Knowledge management is more a methodology applied to business practices than a technology or product. Nevertheless I.T is crucial to the secess of every KMS.

Components of Knowledge Management Systems:

1. Communication - Allow users to access needed knowledge and to communicate with each other
2. Collaboration
3. Storage and Retrieval - Involves capturing, storing, and managing tacit knowledge utilizing EDS.

Technologies Supporting Knowledge management:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Intelligent Agents - Software systems that learn how users work and provide assistance in their daily tasks. Intelligent agents can help in knowledge management (ibm.com), (gentia.com)
• Knowledge Discovery in Databases
• XML
• XBRL

AI methods:

• Expert Systems
• Neural Networks
• Fuzzy Logic
• Intelligent Agents

Are used in KMS to:

• Assist in and enhance searching knowledge
• Help establish knowledge profiles of individuals and groups
• Help determine the relative importance of knowledge when it is contributed to and accessed from the knowledge repository.
• Scan e-mail, documents, and databases to perform knowlede discovery, determine meaningful relationships, glean knowledge, or induce rules for expert systems.
• Identify patterns in data
• Forecast future results using existing knowledge.
• Provide advice directly from knowledge by using neural networks or expert systems.
• Provide a natural language or voice command-driven user interface for a knowledge management system.

Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD): a process used to search for and extract useful information from volumes of ducments and data. It includes tasks known as knowledge extraction, data archaeology, data exploration, data pattern processing, data dredging, and information harvesting All of these activities are automatically conducted and allow quick discovery of data stored in large databases, data warehouses, text documents, or knowledge repositories. Data Mining is the most prevalent form of KDD.

Summary of Chapter 9, Section 5; Interorganization Information Integration

With the increasing volitility of the worldwide corporate atmosphere where mergers and acquisitions occur at a moments notice, there is no wonder the integration of multiple organizational information systems has become a pertinent issue in todays business world.
There are difficulties in connecting informtion systems of different organizations and transferring data in IOSs and global information systems.
Integrating the Information Systems of Merging Companies:

The ability to integrate an acquired company's IT systems can determine whether a merger/acquisition is a "hit or miss." For the successful integration of multiple (2 or more) organizations the following issues must be prerequisitely addressed:
1. The establishment of an IT leadership team to direct the integration

2. For customer-facing applications, select the option with the lowest business integration risks.

3. Customer-facing applications must have priority over back-office applications

4. Generous retention packages for top-talent IT personnel to ensure they don't leave.

5. The maintenance of high moral amongst IT personnel

6. Increase the company's normal level of project risk to achieve aggressive business integration goals.

7. The use of rich communication media to read emotions and recognize successes because a merger is an emotional event

Business Process Management (The act of surveying and improving current business processes) plays a key role in the facilitation of the integration of an organizations information. This is ALWAYS the first step in conducting a large-scale integration.In the implementation of IT technology integration, most notably mentioned in the chapter were: Data integration and Application Integration.

Cisco Article

Cisco Enhances IP NGN Carrier Ethernet Design for Video Services
Telenor Leads Adoption of Cisco 7600 Series 40G Line Card by Delivering Services for Consumers and Businesses over Carrier Ethernet
SAN JOSE, Calif. - September 15, 2008 - Cisco today announced the availability of Carrier Ethernet innovations that help service providers offer a complete set of compelling services for their customers' Connected Life at home, at work and on the move. These solutions center on the Cisco Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) Carrier Ethernet design and numerous key products that service providers have deployed to scale current services and quickly enable new ones.
Bandwidth demands are surging due to the increased adoption of consumer and business services. The "Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast and Methodology, 2007-2012" forecasts IP traffic to increase sixfold between 2007 and 2012, with video representing more than half the consumer traffic. Similarly, mobile data is expected to grow by 125 percent from 2007 to 2012. To meet such dramatic increases in demand, many service providers are turning to Carrier Ethernet to significantly expand their network capacities and enable them to take advantage of this opportunity.
"The overall service provider edge and Ethernet markets are seeing sizable expansion as providers prepare their networks to handle the growing traffic demands," said Ray Mota, chief strategist and president of consulting at Synergy Research. "Our research shows that many providers around the globe are responding favorably to Cisco's encompassing approach to addressing these requirements, as evident by Cisco extending its market share leadership in both markets and Cisco's service provider edge share, in particular, growing by a full 5 points to 57.8 percent since the first quarter of 2007."
The Cisco Carrier Ethernet design represents key elements of the Cisco IP NGN architecture that helps enable consistent service delivery that can be optimized to meet specific demands. The most recent innovations consist of:
Optimized Business and Consumer Video Services with New Innovations for the Cisco 7600, 4500 and ME 3400 Series
Cisco has doubled aggregation service capacity with a new Ethernet Series Plus 40G line card for the Cisco 7600 Series Routers, further extending the return on investment of this market-leading platform, of which more than 70,000 units have been deployed worldwide. The Cisco 7600 Series 40G line card delivers line-rate multicast and unicast along with per-subscriber hierarchical quality of service (QoS). This doubles the Cisco 7600 Series Routers' rich-services capability and helps enable service providers to rapidly deploy new services.
This innovation extends the Cisco Internet Protocol over dense wavelength-division multiplexing (IPoDWDM) capability to the Cisco 7600 Series Router, enabling IPoDWDM in aggregation, at the edge and in the core of a service provider's IP NGN network. Cisco recently announced IPoDWDM enhancements to its CRS-1 Carrier Routing System and XR 12000 Series Routers.
Additionally, Cisco announced enhancements to two key Ethernet access platforms. The Cisco ME 4500 Series increases platform switching capacity by 2.5 times to a total of 160 Gigabits per second (Gbps) and increased its per-slot capacity four-fold to 24 Gbps while adding increased service delivery capability, investment protection, simplified operations, and a green footprint.. The Cisco ME 3400E Series, a next generation of the Cisco ME 3400 Carrier Ethernet Access Switches, is designed to enhance availability, flexibility, manageability and security for Ethernet business services.
These enhancements build on an already video-optimized Cisco IP NGN Carrier Ethernet design, which today offers visual quality experience (VQE), video connection admission control (CAC) and video monitoring to help ensure a high quality of experience for the consumer.
Broadband Mobility with new Cisco MWR 2941 and Cisco 7600
Cisco introduced a new cell-site router, the Cisco Mobile Wireless Router (MWR) 2941, which extends the Cisco mobile-transport-over-pseudowire (MToP) solution and supports the seamless backhaul of IP radio-access network (RAN) traffic from the cell site over Carrier Ethernet. The Cisco MWR 2941 thus makes possible a cost-effective fixed-mobile convergence.
This new platform is a key component of the Cisco MToP solution, which also includes the Cisco 7600 Series Router. It allows operators to backhaul 2G, 3G and evolving 4G mobile traffic from the cell site over Carrier Ethernet. The increasingly popular approach of using Ethernet for mobile backhaul dramatically improves the cost-effectiveness of service providers' operations while providing a foundation for richer mobile services and seamless fixed-mobile convergence.
Service-level agreement to deliver carrier-class availability
Cisco has also announced a network-availability service-level agreement (SLA) for its Carrier Ethernet solution based on a foundation of lifecycle support services. This contractual agreement between Cisco and service providers offers assurance that best practices are being implemented to optimize network performance and operational efficiencies.
Telenor Deploys Cisco 7600 Series 40G Carrier Ethernet Infrastructure
Cisco IP NGN Carrier Ethernet technologies integrated directly into Cisco 7600 40G line cards enable service providers like Telenor to offer "any-play" services as demand increases for converged voice, video, data and mobility services. Telenor Sweden AB will use the Cisco 7600 Series 40G line cards to provide Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet aggregation services on the company's installed base of Cisco 7600 Series Routers.
Lars-Åke Norling, head of networking at Telenor, said: "Cisco is giving us the ability to converge our networks, so we can deliver all services, for both consumer and business customers, over one common platform. This development gives us a clear migration path and increased return on investment for our Cisco infrastructure, which will help us reduce operating costs and deliver a consistently high quality of experience to our customers."
"Network convergence is now more widely accepted by service providers to efficiently and cost-effectively provide converged voice, video, data and mobility services," said Kelly Ahuja, vice president and general manager of the service provider routing technology group at Cisco. "Furthermore, service providers want to achieve additional cost reductions by using IP next-generation networks to backhaul wireless and mobile traffic, thus reducing the need to continue investing in legacy TDM and ATM network infrastructures."


Opinion:

I feel like this is an extremely important article thought it will probably get practically no major media coverage. This article illustrates that the competitive arena for networking and telecommunications is becoming ever more competitive. Cisco, an industry giant, is spearheading the movement to make ubiquitous/pervasive computing a reality. Cisco, obviously having a clear competitive advantage because of their role in the Internet Protocol platform, does however have an increasing amount of competitors that they normally don't have to deal with. I feel that the next generation IP networks will be a leader until Verizon(C-block), AT&T and other competitors that can compete in terms of capital can make more substantial gains in the interoperability of their infrastructure and products with the compatability of their new 700 mhz broadband auction winnings.

A2-2 - Mini Case

What were the major reasons the company had to use SOA?

The company had to utilize a service oriented systems architecture because a SOA allows companys to make edit add to and make changes to the existent information system. This was needed because of the highly progressive nature of the business.

In what ways did they gain competitive advantage by using SOA?

The company gained a competitive advantage by utilizing the SOA to increase software productivity which primarily contributed to the increase in service efficiency.

What specific services can you identify in a business like this?

A company of this nature (credit reporting agency) likely has services completed by software that help analysts compile information files that include historical reports of individuals' financial backgrounds.

Why is it so important to have the ability to support 50,000 simultaneous users?

This is important to the company because it enables all information to be accessed, updated, and manipulated by multiple users in real time without imposing latency on other components of the system.

Classify this application using material in Section 2.2

Functional & Management Information system. (Also Document Management System and Knowledge Management System.

A2-1

Select two companies with which you are familiar and find their mission statement and current goals (plans). Explain how these goals are related to operational, managerial, and strategic activities on a one-to-one basis. Then explain how information systems (by type) can support the activities. Post answers on your individual Weblog. Be specific.

A2-1: Mantech International
http://www.mantech.com


How is Mantech's mission related to the company's Operational Activities?

Relevant Statement from Mission Statment (goals):
ManTech is a leading provider of mission critical, advanced technology solutions and technical services that include: Systems engineering & integration, Technology & software development, Enterprise security architecture, Intelligence operations support, Critical infrastructure protection and Computer forensics...etc.

My Opinion
Mantech is an organization whose focus is geared toward providing mission critical, advanced technology solutions and technical services that include: Systems Engineering, Mission systems, Global systems support and Security and Counter Intelligence. Mantechs operational activities include delivering a diverse range of advanced information technology related services to their clients in the Intelligence Community. Mantech International's goals are to actually provide various information systems components/modules/programs. Perhaps these information systems components, because of their high involvement with the intelligence community, are primarily geared toward improving the effectiveness and efficiency of expert systems. Expert systems use human knowledge to solve problems that normally would require human intelligence. An example of one of these expert systems is Mantech Killchain. http://www.mantech.com/technologies/pdf/ManTech%20Kill%20Chain.pdf

How is Mantech's mission related to the company's Managerial Activities?

Relevant Statement from Mantech Intnl.'s Mission Statement(goals):
ManTech will be our customers' most trusted industry partner, integral to their success. Our mission-driven company will be a strategy-focused organization, operating as One ManTech. We will be valued by our customers, esteemed by fellow employees, embraced by teammates, respected by competitors, prized by shareholders, and appreciated by our communities.

My Opinion
Mantechs mission statement embeds vision and value. Mantech's mission statements implicitly charges management with increasing the favorable positioning of the company within the advanced technology solutions delivery industry. This requires a great depth of knowledge from management to be applied within the different sectors of the solutions delivery. This also will require a high level of data manipulation for decision making. Mantech more than likely utilizes an array of software packages that handle data/files of various types and organize them in a manner that makes it useful and easily accessible. The types of systems explained are called either Decision Support Systems and in some cases, depending on the variance in the types of actions performed, Knowledge management Systems.

How is Mantech's mission related to the company's Strategic Activities

Relevant Statement from Mantech Intl.'s published Mission Statement (goals):
Grow our business as a premier provider of comprehensive information technology and technical services solutions to the federal government.Expand our customer base by broadening the scope of services we provide to existing customers and by attracting new customersContinue our disciplined acquisition strategy.

My Opinion
Decision's classified as "disciplined" often are consider disciplined because of the statistical analysis provided by decision support systems. The broadening of the scope of services to provide to customers is likely the result of requests submitted by customers and by obviously present needs of customers. These wants/needs are often subjects communicated and matriculated to higher management from knowledge workers through Customer Relationship Management (CRM) modules that track statistics on service requests and the customers' feedback on resolutions desired/provided.



A2-1B
Ernst and Young LLP
http://www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/International/Home
How is E&Y's mission related to the company's Operational Activities?

Relevant Statement from E&Y's published mission statement (goals):

Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. We aim to have a positive impact on businesses and markets, as well as on society as a whole.

My Opinion
E&Y's mission statement's relationship to the company's operational activities (assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services) requires its employees who carry out the company's operational activities on a daily basis to meet and exceed the expectations of clients and the industry's regulatory bodies. A company as large as E&Y (130,000 Employees) requires a great deal of communication between a large number of people on a global scale. The communication between various individuals and sub-organizational groups requires a networking infrastructure and architechture that allows seamless communication, correctly utilizing the TCP/IP suite protocols for remote/global communications and other network oriented protocols/software/hardware utilized for intranet/extranet file management, sharing, and collaborative editing.

How is E&Y's mission related to the company's Managerial Activities?

Relevant Statement from E&Y's published Mission Statement (goals):
E&Y's Top-management the "Global Executive" focuses on strategy, execution and operations, so that E&Y delivers on the promise they make to — to deliver seamless, consistent, high-quality client service, worldwide.

My Opinion
Seamless, consistent, high quality client service on a global level often requires that members of top-level management @ E&Y have a high level and a great depth of knowledge of the business environment that potential clients are involved. Managers within E&Y oftentimes have to legitimize their company to potential clients and provide substance that proves that their company can meet and exceed the requirments of the job. The statistical compilation and strategic extraction of information relevant to what a client may consider key factors can be defined, manipulated and presented using knowledge management/data mining systems designed for data extraction and presentation.

How is E&Y's mission related to the company's Strategic Activities?

E&Y's strategic activities all relate to the different operational activities/services provided (assurance, tax, transactional, advisory) because they require that the services help clients: 1. retain the confidence of investors, 2. manage risk, 3.strengthen the company's internal controls and 4. achieve maximum potential.

My Opinion
In aiding clients to achieve maximum potential E&Y has provided fast, easy access to the information and people that can help clients make the right decisions. E&Y has invested in dedicated Global Industry Centers around the world — centers that serve as virtual hubs for sharing industry-focused knowledge and experience.

Does I.T. Matter?

The focus of MBA 5230 is to introduce I.T./I.S. to students while helping us gain knowledge on how I.T./I.S. can be used to help businesses gain a competitive advantage. So when I consider Dr. Chen's question: "Does I.T. Matter" I instantly translate this question to mean: "Does I.T. matter when making a determination of how successful a business can/cannot be?" My response to this... yes (undoubtedly). Not only does I.T. matter but it is important to the existence and sustainance of a large percentage of businesses.

Information Technology (formal definition)
"Information technology is the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." - Information Technology Association of America

Information Technology (informal definition)
I.T. is computers, servers, software, networks (the Internet, the internet, intranets), databases, website generation, biometric implementations, modern information security, and cellphones and how they interact to meet the expectations of users. An Information System is a particular type of work system that uses information technology to detain, store, retrieve, manipulate or display information. Information systems also help managers and workers investigate problems(Decision Support Systems), envisage complex subjects and generate new merchandise or services (Expert Systems).

Jeffrey H. Schwartz, CEO of "Fortune 500" distribution facility and developmental real estate compay Prologis Inc., contributes a major portion of his company's success as the top real estate company in the fastest growing industry of 2007 to his company's ability to compete on a global platform in the following statement:

"The rise of the Internet, which has allowed companies up and down the supply chain to interface seamlessly with each other through virtual, software-based business management systems. "
This statement encompasses the importance of I.T. to an array of businesses in todays society.

Although I speak from a completely biased standpoint I do understand that the complexities and everchanging nature of nearly all components of I.T. have been known to cause confusion and to contribute to timely job restructuring processes for businesses with the smallest of I.T. implementations. That doesn't, however, change my stance in knowing that I.T. has evolved into a role within businesses that will exist forever, as does accounting, marketing, operations, etc.

Personal Reflection
As an I.T. professional I can't help but take offense to the question "Does I.T. matter?." For me I.T. is a way of life and I intend on making a living based on my knowledge of the different aspects of I.T. and how they can interact to ease selected functions of public accounting. In my opinion a more appropriate question would be: "How much does I.T. Matter?"