(7.1) Information System Security

The five most common threats to ISS are accidents/natural disasters, employees and consultants, links to outside business contacts, outsiders (i.e. hackers), and viruses/worms.In order to safeguard against these threats, Gaming Evolution would first protect against consultants and employees by placing access restrictions on what employees and consultants can and cannot do. They would require a password and username in order to gain access to our database in order to make sure they are not a hacker or some other sort of outsider trying to gain access to our companies system. We would also implement firewalls, wireless LAN controls, and VPN's to project against viruses, worms, and malware. In order to authenticate a user, Gaming Evolution would use biometrics, such as body weight, fingerprints, and retinal patterns along wtih passwords, ID cards, and combinations and if deemed necessary, security questions.

The use of encryption would also be used by Gaming Evolution as a safeguard for the site aswell as B2B interations.

To send an encrypted message, the sender would decide to create a message to send to the receiver. First you use the receivers public key to encrypt the message. Once the message is encrypted the message is sent. When the receiver receives the message, they would then use their own private key to decrypt the message. Once the message is decrypted, they would then be able to read it.

To electronical sign a document, the sender would send a message asking for the sender to authenticate it's identity. The sender would then use their own private key to sign the message. After electronicaly signing the document, they would send them the signed document. When the receiver receives the document, they would use the senders public key to verify the signature. Once the signature has been verified, the receiver can be sure that it was the sender who sent the original document and signed it.

(6.1) Web 2.0

The Pillars of Web 2.0 are harnessing collective intelligence, utilizing the web as a plateform, leveraging the data, and implementing innovative web capabilities. All of these Pillars allow software to continually be updated, offer a wide variety of products, constantly monitor content and behavior of the website, and allow users to contribute to the imporvement of the site's content. Gaming Evolution would utilize these Web 2.0 Pillars by updating the system each for each new game release and continous minitoring which items are selling the best from our website. Gaming Evolution would also use these Pillars in order to allow customers who have brough specific items to give a "Customer Review" in our online forum. A Customer Review is where the customer reviews a purchased item in a one to two short paragraphs so that others can see how other people think about the product. Customers who visit the site would also be able to give feedback to Gaming Evolution so we know what content needs to be improved on our website.

(5.3) B2E Electronic Commerce

This image displays how an employee that is not at his or her corporate computer would be able to access corporate information by going through a VPN using the Internet. The Intranet would basically allow for an employee to gain access to the Corporate server by giving some sort of password or access information to the firewall in order to gain access to the Corporate server.

The Intranet would be very useful for employees who need to work on projects and other work related materials at home because they may not have enough time in the day to complete them at work.

(5.2) B2B Electronic Commerce

Gaming Evolution does business with other companies in order to get its product. An example of another company that Gaming Evolution would partner with would be Activision. Through an Extranet the companies would be able to complete business through a privatly through a Virtual Private Network or VPN on the Internet. Using firewalls, which prevent unwanted access, a strict level of privacy is implemented. Activision would be considered the server while Gaming Evolution would be considered the client because Gaming Evolution is buying from Activision.

(5.1) Critique Your Competitor's E-Commerce Website

Six Rules/Principles of successful E-Commerce websites are as follows:
1. The website should be aesthetically pleasing, which makes the website appealing to the eye. (i.e. nice colors, images, and website structure)
2. The website should offer unique products, which are not offered anywhere else.
3. Advertising the presence; with advertising people will learn more swiftly about the website.
4. The webiste should be fast and easy to use. It shouldn't take too long for the webpage to load because of too many images or advertisments. Toolbars and drop menu's should also be accessable from any page on the website.
5. The customer and owner of the website should both learn from the website. Customers should learn about what the website has to offer, and the owner should learn what customers are intrested in and what is more popular on their website.
6. The website should motivate people to want to visit it. Users should be offered some sort of individuality which makes the customer want to come back.

GameStop is a major competitor for Gaming Evolution. If I were to rate the website of GameStop on a scale of 1-5, I would give it a 5. GameStop offeres all six of the principles for a successful E-Commerce Website. Their webiste is aestheticly pleasing because it offers many images and different types of games. The speed of GameStop.com would easily receive a 5 because it does not take very long to load up at all. The website offers unique things such as sales and information that other websites do not. The website contains a vast amount of information on different video games. The company successfully advertises its self on other websites and on television. Customers can quickly learn from Gamestop.com because of all the information that the website gives. Giving their website information and statistics to alexa.com, alexa.com gives an accurate descriptions of the amount of time, on average, each person spends on their website.

(4.4) Entity Relationship Diagram

This is an example of a Customer Invoice. Each customer of Gaming Evolution would have an individual invoice, which shows each purchase that a customer makes. The invoice displays information about the item purchased, where it was purchased, the price of the item, both with tax and no tax, and the customer that is being billed.

Entity Relationship Diagrams can be used to show specific information about customers, which would especially help Gaming Evolution when the company is trying to show customer individuality. Customers would intern appreciate that Gaming Evolution is taking the time to know which games that the customer specifies. Simply by using the Invoice, customers would be more satisfied and will have a greater want to come back to Gamer Evolution.

(4.2) Packet Switching Technology

Packing Switching is a process where inormation is broken down into small "chunks" which are known as data packets. The packets are then transfered in the packets from computer to computer through the internet.

The above image reprsents computers A and B using packet switching to send messages to computers C and D.

Today, the amount of integration with the internet calls for a mean for communication between computers. A Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol is what is used in order to share data and information between computers. TCP breaks down data into data packets or "chunks" and manages the transfer of these packets from computer to computer. IP decides the order that data packets are put into and which router should be sent the data packets. A router is a device that is used to connect two or more different networks. Data Packets that use IP specifications are called IP Datagrams. Every Datagram is routed to specific addresses called an IP Adress. An IP Adress is an individual Adress for a router, which allows for transmission IP to find it, and not the wrong router.

(4.1) IFS H/W Infrastructure

This image displays information being translated into the binary code, which is what the language a computer understands. This allows the computer to store and manipulate aswell as understand the information.

Computers must have a Central Processing Unit, which is known as the computer's brain. The CPU has two components which are the Control Unit and Arithmetic Logic Unit. The Control Unit manipulates and interprets data using transistors while the Arithmetic Logic Unit performs all logical and mathematical operations. Information is entered into a computer using Input Technologies. When this information is entered, different Processing Technologies transform the information into machine language, or the binary code, allowing for the computer to understand the information. Machine Language is also known as the American Standard Code for Information Interchance, which is also known as the ASCII.

The Machine Language is shown through Binary Code, which are a series of multipul 0's and 1's. This mathematical sequence of 1's and 0's represent on/off expression of commands for the flow of electric current that the CPU receives. In the current, a 1 represents an electric current and a 0 represents no electric flow. Each individual 1 and 0 that makes up each specific code are called bits. This is where eight bits equal one byte.

(3.2) Selling Your Idea

The Information Systems that I'm proposing to be used should be implemented because they would improve customer satisfaction and increase profit for Gaming Evolution. If, however, these information systems were to not be implemented, our company would lose customers and profit. This could lead to Gaming Evolution to file bankruptcy or go out of business. Research shows that companies that use these systems have increased their overall profit and customer satisfaction by atleast 25%.

If Gaming Evolution monitors inventory and popular games, it allows for the company to buy more of the popular game and less of the less popular games. This increases profits and customer satisfaction by always having that game in stock. By being able to manage employee work schedules and maintenance costs, Gaming Evolution can analyze what employees have earned, hours worked.

Gaming Evolution does not want to fall behind the curve by not having these systems implented in the company. These IS are needed in Gaming Evolution.

(3.1) Value Chain Analysis

The Value Chain Analysis for Gaming Evolution allows for our company to buy games from vendors, advertise games, allow custers to test video games and give us feedback, allow customers to purchase video games, and store customer information in the database.

The two information systems that would give our company a competitive advantage are the Management Information System and Customer Relationship Management System. The MIS would allow for advantage by taking inventory of purchased items, allowing us to easily access which products are the best selling and most popular games aswell as the less popular games. The MIS allows us to have more of the popular game in stock so that our customers do not have to wait for us to get more of that game in stock. A Customer Relationship Management System allows for Gaming Evolution to become more connected with its customers by remembering each customer preference and the genre of video games that the customer usually buys.

(2.2) Automobile Industry

The article expalins the effecs that globalization has on the industry of automobiles. The article discusses the pros and cons of creating a universal car, for all human beings, which would be known as the "World Car." It also explains the expansion of Global Marketplaces and the ways it effected the expansion of the automobile industry.


Questions 1-2.

1. How is Globalization 3.0 fueling change in the auto industry?
Globalization 3.0 has expanded internet capabilities, who can use and access the internet and allowed for expansion of the global market. This now means that suppliers can sell their products to customers all over the world. This also means that these networks are independent of each other, in that if one corporation or company were to collapse, there would still be allowance for the other companies to continue their marketing to world markets.

2. Examine how cultural difference makes it difficult to create a world car.
The actual creation of a "world car" would be very difficult to make indeed. There are hundreds of countries around the world and each has it's own preferences. This would create many issues directly from the start while the designing of the car is taking place. An example of this would be for the country, France. Cities in France have buildings that are very close together and very small streets, which can only be navigated by a small vehicle. On the other hand, the United States has cities that have very large streets and roads which allow for bulky, larger vehicles to be used. Another difficulty is that in different places in the world, the price of gas varies. This would create an issue for the shap and size of the car. For some countries, it isn't even avaliable at all to the public. This would create the issue to whether this "world car" should be gas operated or battery operated. Emission standards are another issue that fall under the category as to if it should be battery operated or gas powered. Some countries, such as the United States and Japan have limited automobile industries to producing vehicles with certain emmision standards in which that automobile must meet. These standards create many difficulties in having one world car, whether it be the size and shape, how it runs, and even the emmisions of the vehicle. This may not be totally impossible, but in actualality it virtually is because not everyone is the same, and as human beings, everyone wants to be different.

(2.1) Globalization Enablers

Flickr.com is one of the most popular websites today in the category of photo-sharing. It allows users to upload pictures onto its website in order to share it with others. Flickr gives users the ability to organize photoes that they have uploaded into specific categories and add tags. These specific categories and tags allow for easier searching in that they are used to narrow down certain aspecs of the picture. Flickr also allows users to edit pictures that they have uploaded to the website such as cropping photos. Flikr is continuously expanding it's potential and uses every day in order to make it easier for users to share photos.


Three enables that allow Flikr.com to provide these services are Uploading, Work flow software, and The steroids.


Uploading:

The use of uploading on Flickr.com is provided because the general aspect for the site its self is to be able to upload photos to one,single, centralized database in order to share photos from one location. This allows for photos to be sent from many media devices such as a cell phone or a computer. The use of a centralized database allows for storage and maintenance to be more managable because instead of having multipul domains, there is just one, which allows for all effort to be put into one location.

Work flow software:

The use of work flow software allows Flickr.com to provide these many services in that they must create a standard so that computers all over the world can understand and colaborate in order to use the website. This allows for any computer to understand the format of the website and allows for anyone to view it on their computer. An example of this would be that Flickr has certain standards for picture size in which there is a maximum size for files that users may upload. This standard is in place because having huge files or pictures may "bog down" the site its self or other users computers.

The steroids:

"The steroids" are used by Flickr.com because it allows for files to be viewed by many users and many devices. The steroids have also been used in order to increase ease of editing and uploading to the website aswell as setting standards to their uploading maximum file size. Flickr has also been able to expand their network by advertising and also increasing the speed and ease of access to the website.

1.3 Organization Chart for CIS Department

     The displayed organizational chart shows the hierarchy of the employees in the Computer Information Systems department. Starting at the top of the chart is the Chief Information Officer. This is the person that oversees all of the strategic planning of the organization. Under the CIO are three other departments that are headed by a manager, in which are responsible for the functions of the organization.

     The Support department, headed by the Network Manager, handles all functions in order for them to be compatible with all other departments. This is needed in order for the other departments to be able to do their jobs on the network. A Database Administrator is needed because they oversee the overall health and security of our database. We also have a Webmaster so that our website can continuously be modernized and edited for modern changes.

     Development, headed by our Development Manager, handles all projects for creating new information systems. Systems Analyst is the primary person responsible for performing systems analysis and design activities. Next is the Systems Programmer, which is the person who programs all of the new projects so that everything works smoothly together. The System Consultant then makes sure that everything in the system works together by consoling each new project of information systems.

     Maintenance, headed by the Operations Manager, supervises day-to-day activity on the database. Maintenance is needed to fix bugs and other types of flaws in information systems. The Information Systems Auditor is to review all software that is developed by the development team in order to make sure that it will interact correctly with the pre-existing software. The ISA will also be required to have great people skills in that they will be taking the calls from customer support and working with development so that a solutions can be found to problems that arise.

     Choice of 3-5 most important job functions: If I had to pick 3-5 of the most important jobs functions, I would have a CIO, Network Manager, Development Manager, and Operations Manager. The CIO would oversee all actions done by the three managers and would make sure everything is in line. The three managers would be able to keep the database secure, develop new software, and maintain the current software as well as integrate new software.

(1.2) Data Relation

1. Event - (Video Game Sale)


Game Sale ID
1025201105 -> 10-25-2011-05 -> Relate to Date, Total Paid, Customer ID, Video Game ID -> Apply to Customer ID & Previous video game purchases.

Data -> Information -> Knowledge - > Wisdom

Each of our sales is given a unique ID number to be represented in our database. First the actual identification number is only a piece of data because it has no meaning, being comprised as nothing more than numbers and letters. We then format the raw data so that a human can understand the information. It is then related to other data about the sale, such as the date the purchase took place, total amount paid, the customer ID, and the video game ID. Finally, the sale ID number can be used to find more information related to the sale, such as the customers information.

2. Product (Video Game)

Video Game ID

LOTR2011 -> LOTR-20-11 -> relate to name, price, genre, rating -> apply to sale records & customer record

Data -> Information -> Knowledge -> Wisdom

Each of our video games is given an ID number to represent it in our database. First, the actual identification number is just raw data, which is made up of letters and numbers and has no meaning. The raw data is then formatted so that a human can understand it, which is transforming the data into information. The information is then related to the name of the game, price, genre, and rating. Finally, the video game ID number will be applied to our inventory records and customer records. Applying this information to our customer records allows us to inform our customers about the release of upcoming video games that they may be interested in based on their previous purchases.

3. Customer

Customer ID

7573441856 -> 757-344-1856 -> relate to name, address, e-mail -> apply to sale records

Data -> Information -> Knowledge -> Wisdom

 

Each of our customers will be given an individual ID number within our database. At first, the ID number is just a piece of raw data, consisting of only numbers that have no meaning. We then format this data into information, so that a human can understand this data. It is then related to the customer name, address, and e-mail turning it into knowledge. Finally, we can use the customer ID to find information related to the customer. An example of this relation of information would be using the customer ID to find out what type of video game this customer usually buys. This allows us to have a general idea of the type of video games they like so that we can send them information about games they may like in the future.

(1.1) - Fiction Company Introduction (Gaming Evolution)

     Gaming Evolution is the newest, latest video game store located in Franklin County. Here at Gaming Evolution we give everyone the oppurtunity to buy, sell or trade video games. Every employee of Gaming Evolution will assist every customer with their great knowledge on every newly released game on the market. Each associate of Gaming Evolution is dedicated to helping customers to their full desire either with game questions, release dates and even pre-ordering video games. Another fantastic feature of Gaming Evolution is that everysingle newly released video game can be tested by anyone in our video game testing area known as Gaming Heaven, which is located at the back of the store. Gaming Heaven consists of twenty gaming chairs, each adjustable to an appropriate height and five 43" LCD monitors which any new release can be played on The Playstation 3, Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii.