When I registered for IS 329 in the summer I knew that I would have a thought provoking experience.  I’d taken this professor for IS 328 so I had great expectations of this course.  IS 329 did not disappoint.

IS 329 covered IT Policy in organizations.  By reading case studies about Caregroup, Amazon.com, Boeing, Bharti, Volkswagen, and IBM, I was able to connect the concepts of business model evolution with real-world examples.  I learned that IT Policy encompasses risk management/mitigation, governance, and service level agreements especially as they relate to outsourcing.  IT policy can be used to create a competitive advantage for an organization as well as efficiently use organizational resources.

The best part of the class was deciding and presenting our group topic – FOSS EMR’s.   I learned so much more than I expected about the availability of OpenSource EMR’s that I’d like to spend time researching many of the barriers to it’s implementation for small medical practices.

Awesome Class!!

1.     Maintenance CostsIn today’s business, IT maintenance takes up almost 60 percent of the IT Budget. CIOs rack their brain to look for best strategies to control cost. In most firms, IT maintenance are much more than replacement technology and new IT spending. Therefore, reduce IT maintenance will basically reduce the IT Spending.

The strategies for reduce IT maintenance:      Firstly, today in many circs it is even cheaper to replace outmoded systems than to fix them. I suggest that firms may focus on replace the old systems with more advanced and innovative systems, rather than spend much money on maintenance;      And also, firm may remove disk drives from maintenance coverage and implement a disk drive hot-swap program to keep maintenance costs down. With this hot-swap program, firms do not have to pay fo maintenance all the equipments when they shutdown.              

Reference: <<CIO Challenge: Maintenance Costs>>--- By Jim Middlemiss

2.     Change Management  CIO need to replace or upgrade existing, costly IT change management systems. Many firms lack a common process and supporting products for handling change requests because of the perceived expense.

The strategies for change management:   Firms may replace multiple costly tools with one common system, this system should includes a unique datastore that confirm change management data and processes. The solutions of Change Management should be highly scalable, by using web-based access, allowing current access by thousands of users around world, and lower the cost of ownership and development.  

 3.     Data conflict and errorIn today’s business, many firms have huge database which need accurate control and stable security. Data conflict and error will destroyed database and influence decision making. CIO need guarantee data integrity and consistency. 

The strategies for Guarantee data consistency:   IT must ensure the data integrity, security and reliability. The strategy can be provide customisable interfaces for consistent data accurace and reliability. And, with providing a central data store, avoid data conflicts and error. Regular and control access rights and e-signature functionality guarantees that the data are reliable, secure and safe.

 Reference: << Five CIO challenges addressed by better change management >>----- Dominic Tavassoli, Telelogic, an IBM Company 

This course was taught by Dr. Benjamin Schooley in an online environment. The course format was new for me as I had never taken an online course before. However, once I started the course it was simple. I felt that the format allowed everyone to express their views and get involved in the discussion.

The course assignments ensured that we understood the frameworks of management of IT and how different companies had successfully implemented those frameworks. The cases of CareGroup, Boeing and VolksWagen were of particular interest to me. The course highlighted the policy issues relating to IS & T and ensured that we understood the design, monitoring and control of the IS & T functions from the point of view of management. The importance of good IT governance and how to build it was emphasized.

I took this class at the Boeing Seal Beach campus with Dr. Sorin Gudea.  Although the concept of Web Development has always been of interest to me, I had no idea what it was about.  Taking this class was such a learning experience. Starting from Steve Krug's book, "Don't Make Me Think" which focuses on the simple concepts that may sound obvious when reading the book but will startle you when you start to observe the websites.  It was amazing how many web developers ignored the common sense principles mentioned by Steve Krug.

Professor Gudea, had a very interesting approach to the class.  We had three textbooks for this class.  After finishing each text book, we had to do a website evaluation based on the principles described in that book.  The evaluation included a presentation to the class and written report.  This allowed us to master the principles described in the book and to remember its concepts. 

We then had to do a final project to develop a website for a client based on the concepts learned in the entire class.   This allowed us to use the concepts learned in the class and apply them collectively to our newly developed webstie.  A wonderful experience.

This class has prepared me to understand Web site design principles, to be able to evaluate Web sites and to design an appropriate Web site for an organization.

 

Sanober (Sonny) Khan

It was rather surreal.  In the middle of General Ricahrd B. Myers’s speech, a man with a video camera suddenly stood up.  He started asking a question. I was sitting so far away from the man and I concentrated on taking notes on what General was saying that I did not quite catch what he was trying to ask.  The whole crowd gasped and some of them started shouting, yelling and a former USAF retired man and the security took the cameraman out of the Richard Nixon museum lecture room.  A USAF retired man then introduced himself to the General and the crowd.  Another man tried to start up a question and the Air Force retired man dragged this another man out of the room.  General Myers was acting calmly looking toward my direction where I probably was the only person got frozen with the whole confusion with my note and pen still in hand.  He even told how these people were just exercising their rights. 

 

Former four star General, the Chief of Space Command, and the Chief of Joint Chief of Staff, Richard B. Myers came to a talk on his new book Eyes on the Horizon: Serving on the Front Lines of National Security at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace foundation.  As I understand, (for now) what has been going on from the time of September 11th attack to today, Gen. Myers headed the JSC at an extremely controversial time.  The political climate of the US split where the Republicans and Democrats appeared to engage in fierce political struggle to put blames upon various political figures and organizations as the country delved into two military endeavors in Afghanistan and later in Iraq.   In such a divisive ambiance, General Myers shrived until September 30, 2005.

 

At the lecture, he talked about his confusion over how to write a book and his struggle to get the job done with a help of Malcolm McConnell and some people, mentioned in his acknowledgement chapter.  While he was talking, he revealed the sad situation the military people where he was not trained to criticize.  He was trained to make decisions but not to criticize.  He rather decided to write his book to reveal his views toward various political figures as such as President George W. Bush Jr., Vice President Richard Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. 

 

In the lecture, General Myers emphasized the importance of strategic thinking where he explained how it is important to focus on the political, diplomatic, economic, societal and cultural ground adding to just the military power as for the global defense in order to fight against the Islamic extremism.  He did not point toward the whole entire Islamism, however, he emphasized how its not whole Islamic community but it is more on the extremist factions. 

 

He also elaborated more on how he had to face the difficulty of how to harness the power in the time of distress and fear in the post 9/11 attacks.  How do you convince men and women not to join the terrorist organizations? How do you make the people cope with the “fear” after the terror attacks?  How do you cope with the disaster like the scale of Katrina? How do you train people to cope with fear, anxiety, distress and disaster?  Problems flooded D.C. 

 

The most interesting part of the lecture was how Gen. Myers mentioned his impression on Vice President Cheney and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld.  While participating in the meeting with the major figures of the Bush, Jr. Administration, Gen. Myers thought that Rumsfeld gave President Bush, Jr. thorough 360° brief providing various options existing compared to Vice President Cheney. 

 

General Myers also answered the audience’s question over the Anthrax scare and the fear factor issue and how to separate the immediate crisis and the notion of fear.  General told how easy it is to instigate fears among the population.  He then brought up the incident over Koran flashing down the toilet.  A story came out on a prison guard flashing Koran down the toilet where it instigated massive protest in the Middle Eastern region.  The government investigated on the incident while attempting to trace how information travels over time.  While the incident news dominated for few days, the news went away with the other news dominating the media.  He mentioned how people can be trained to cope with troubles though there are limitation to those where it is still an interesting puzzle to think about.

 

For more information on General Richard Myers: 

Eyes on the Horizon: Serving on the Front Lines of National Security.  Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Eyes-Horizon-Serving-National-Security/dp/1416560122 

 

Gen. Richard B. Myers Media Stakeout at River Entrance Pentagon.  Department of Defense.

http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3252 

Meet the Former Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff!  Richard Myers Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace Foundation
http://www.nixonlibraryfoundation.org/   

 

Northrop Grumman-Richard Myers

http://www.northropgrumman.com/leadership/bios/richard_myers.html 

 

Profile: Richard B. Myers.  History Commons.

http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=richard_b._myers 

 

 

Richard Myers-the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Myers 

 

Richard B. Myers News-New York Times.

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/m/richard_b_myers/index.html 

The workplace today is fraught with changing dynamics- the technology we have available is just one of those dynamics.  We must also understand how to use them in alignment with business strategy and end-user compatibility and acceptance.  We must also understand the new ways in which the world communicates and uses the technologies that are available- it might not be how we planned them to be used.  This day in age is an age of technology advancement and in among all that, we are still doing business.  Without understanding technology, a manager or C-level executive cannot make sound decisions.  Without a business understanding, technology professionals cannot educated, create, and implement solutions.  These are concepts that go hand-in-hand.  With or without a CIO aspiration, the knowledge gleamed from this class is needed to be a part of the movement of businesses and technology into the future. 

I took this class at the Boeing Seal Beach campus with Dr. Marcia Carrillo.  This was one of the most challenging yet learning experience for me.  I learnt a brand new product called the ArcGIS.  This software is an excellent analytical tool that is used for Geo Spatial Analysis.  This is a class where I can truly claim I had no idea what this class was all about when I started it, but as the days went by I started to get to know about the software and the field of GIS itself.

I must mention that Prof. Carrillo is an excellent professor.  She is very very helpful and goes out of her way to help the students understand the concepts of GIS.  She would usually stay after class to explain some concepts that were not clear to us during the class or to help resolve problems with our projects.  Prof. Carrillo is very responsive with the emails and we never had any issue communicating with her.  I would highly recommend her for other students.

After taking this class I am interested in taking more advanced classes for this topic.

 

Sanober Khan.

 

One of the main points that I was able to deceiver from Adorno’s introduction, was that essays about aesthetics have drastically diminished over the last decades and that “there is scarcely another philosophical discipline that rest on such flimsy presupposition as does aesthetics” (Intro. 332).   The quote is how aesthetics is defined in the Dictionary of Philosophy.  It certainly doesn’t help one appreciate the discipline of aesthetics nor be motivated to do further reading about the subject, when one encounters such a technical way of writing.  It is my personal opinion that Adorno’s introduction of Aesthetic Theory is an example of convoluted writing.  I understand that the subject matter can be highly complicated, but when I have read Pater, Ruskin, Arnold or others from the Aesthetic movement of the 19^th century, the conception and ideas about aesthetics were beautifully communicated and left the read with an aesthetic reaction.  Perhaps I am addressing writing style, but these authors took the craft of essay writing to a higher level of beauty and appreciation.  For me, reading Adorno’s introduction was pure drudgery.  But this being a translation, it would be difficult point where the problems emanate.There is one point made by Adorno that I would disagree with.  He writes, “art is never understood by the appreciative, snugly empathetic spectator.”  What does it mean to understand art?  And if one does “understand” art, does it create a more fulfilled aesthetic reaction?  There is a certain authoritative arrogance when he makes some others assertions as well.  One could read and study Hegel and Kant, both who had no formal training about art, and never have a true aesthetic appreciation or a clear understanding of art.  Even though they were both geniuses, what is the purpose other than exploring their deep philosophical insights?  And finally, what was I suppose to come away with having read this introduction by Adorno?  I’m sure there will be many answers.  

The transition and journey from being an ape to a human being has its problems.  By using figurative language, and with the reader’s willingness to suspend disbelief, Kafka’s story A Report to the Academy, tells how a man must ultimately assimilate or at least imitate the behavior and ways of the civilized majority, if he is to find a way out of his confinement.  If he doesn’t, he is less than human.  He is an ape.  He is not a horse or a dog, but an ape.  He is a primate; higher than most animals but not quite human.  But being in the state of “apedom,” is not pleasant, for he is not free.  He is smothered and caged in.  The narrator lets us know several times that it is not the freedom he is striving for, but it is “finding a way out.”  The narrator is telling us that freedom from confinement is greater than the freedom to be free in the sense of deciding on one’s own destiny.   Reading a short story like this did challenge my imagination.  But in the writing skills of Kafka, it was quite easy to envision one’s journey from being an ape to being human.  I would be more interested to find out if it is important that reader know the biography of Kafka.  And is it important the reader know the author’s intentions in this story or is it better to just let the text speak for itself and in this way, the reader has their own right to interpretation? 

These are a couple of cool ideas -- Nerd Merit Badges! I think the zero-inbox one would be a fantastic birthday present. I should forward it to my wife...

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