Chapter 4 Network Computing Discovery Communication Collaboration

Chapter 4 Network Computing: Discovery, Communication, & Collaboration 1

Learning Objectives § Understand the concepts of the Internet and the Web, their importance, and their capabilities. § Understand the role of intranets, extranets, and corporate portals in organizations. § Identify the various ways in which communication is executed over the Internet. § Demonstrate how people collaborate over the Internet, intranets, and extranets using various supporting tools, including voice technology and teleconferencing. 2

Learning Objectives (cont. ) § Describe groupware capabilities. § Describe and analyze the role of software agents for the Internet/ intranets. § Analyze telecommuting (teleworking) as a technosocial phenomena. § Consider ethical issues related to the use of the Internet. 3

Case: National Semiconductor Corporation (NSC) Problem: § The semiconductor industry is one of the most competitive global industries. § To keep up with customer specifications, NSC needed to upgrade its communications channels. Solution: § NSC introduced a corporate portal where it posts detailed descriptions of its 10, 000 products. The NSC Web site offers design assistants and simulators to guide customers in designing their products. Results: § NSC’s sales and profitability increased significantly in 1996 and 1997 due to the Internet solution. 4

Lessons from the Case Ø The NSC opening case demonstrates the increasing role that the Internet, intranets, and extranets play in organizations, and their potential benefits. Ø Using various Web-based applications, NSC enabled its employees to work very closely with its customers, to speed up design and cut costs. Ø NSC made full use of Web technologies both for internal and external applications. Ø Customers use the Web to discover information, to communicate with NSC’s employees, and to collaborate with the technical staff. 5

Wireless Networking § Wireless networking is gaining popularity for flexible communication in wide area networks in cities and local area networks in buildings. § Internet 2 is a project involving over 180 U. S. universities working in partnership with industry and government. ü This project aims to provide the following advanced next generation applications. • • • Remote diagnosis Digital libraries Distance education Online simulation Virtual laboratories 6

Internet Application Categories The Internet supports applications in the following major categories: Ø Discovery involves browsing and information retrieval. Ø Communication. The Internet provides fast and inexpensive communication channels that range from messages posted on bulletin boards to complex information exchanges among many organizations. Ø Collaboration. Due to improved communication, electronic collaboration between individuals and/or groups is on the rise. 7

Discovery § Discovery is done by browsing & searching data on the Web. § There are 2 main types of search facilities available on the Web: ü Search engines (e. g. , Altavista, Google) maintain an index of hundreds of millions of Web pages and use that index to find pages that match a set of userspecified keywords. ü Directories (e. g. , Yahoo!, About. com) provide a hierarchically organized collection of links to Web pages. 8

Search Engines Index Comparison GG =Google, FAST=FAST, WT=Web. Top. com, INK=Inktomi, AV=Alta. Vista, NL=Northern Light, EX=Excite, Go=Go (Infoseek). Grey portion = the number of indirect pages, if any, used during the 9 search.

Web-browsing Assisting Agents § Intelligent Agents are computer programs that carry out a set of routine computer tasks on behalf of the user. § Some agents can facilitate browsing by offering the user a tour guide of the Internet. They work while the user browses. § FAQ agents guide people to answers of frequently asked questions. ü The agent (such as FAQFinder) addresses large numbers of FAQ files and provides an interface by which people can post their questions. 10 ü Ask. Jeeves (askjeeves. com) is an example of a FAQ assistant.

Web-browsing Assisting Agents (cont. ) § Web robots, spiders, and wanderers travel the Web and perform tasks such as information retrieval and discovery, validating links or HTML, and generating statistics. § Indexing agents can carry out a massive autonomous search of the Web on behalf of a user or, more commonly, of a search engine. § Metasearch engines integrate the findings of the various search engines to answer queries posted by the users. § Internet softbots attempt to determine more specifically what the user wants and can better focus a search. 11

Case: Catching Cases of Plagiarism Problem: § The Internet provides abundant information to students who may be tempted to download material and submit it as their own work. Solution: § Some companies (e. g. , Plagiarism. org) are offering Internet-based anti-plagiarism technology to identify such cases of plagiarism. § Manuscript are checked against a database of other manuscripts collected from different universities and from all over the Internet. Results: § Cases of gross plagiarism are more likely to be flagged. 12

Internet-based Data Mining § The term data mining refers to sophisticated analysis techniques for sifting through large amounts of information. § Web mining is the application of data mining techniques to discover actionable and meaningful patterns, profiles, and trends from Web resources. § Web mining is used in the following areas: ü ü ü Information filtering (e-mails, magazines, and newspapers). Surveillance (Internet competitors, patents) Mining Web-access logs Assisted browsing Services fighting crime on the Internet 13

Intranet § Intranets (Internal Webs) are networks designed to serve the internal informational needs of a company, using Web concepts and tools. § Intranets have the power to change organizational structures and reengineer corporations. Some functions of Intranets: ü Easy and inexpensive Internet browsing. ü Postings of employee resumes, business plans, and corporate regulations and procedures. ü Communication and collaboration capabilities, e. g. newsletters. 14

Extranets § An Extranet is an infrastructure that allows secure communications among business partners over the Internet. ü It offers limited accessibility to the intranets of the participating companies as well as the necessary interorganizational communications. § The use of extranets is increasing rapidly due to the large savings in communication costs that can materialize. § Extranets enable innovative applications of businessto-business (B 2 B) e-Commerce. ü They are closely related to improved communications along the supply chain 15

Corporate Portals § With the growing use of intranets and the Internet, many organizations encounter difficulties in dealing with information overload. § One solution to the problem of scattered and duplicative data are corporate portals. ü Corporate portals provide single-point access to an organization’s information and applications available on the Internet, intranets, and extranets. ü Affinity portals are being built to support communities such as labor minors, hobby groups, and political parties. 16

Corporate Portals (cont. ) The top corporate portal applications currently under development include; ü Knowledge bases and learning tools ü Business process support ü Customer-facing sales, marketing, and service ü Collaboration and project support ü Access to data from disparate corporate systems ü Internal company information ü Policies and procedures ü Best practices and lessons learned ü Human resources and benefits 17

IT Technologies for Communications Several factors determine the IT technologies used to provide communication support to an organization. Ø Participants. The number of people sending and receiving information can range from two to many thousands. Ø Nature of sources and destinations. Sources and destinations of information can include people, databases, sensors, and so on. Ø Location. The sender(s) and receiver(s) can be in the same room, in different rooms at the same location, or at different locations. Ø Time. Messages can be sent at a certain time and received almost simultaneously. Ø Media. Communication can involve one or several media. 18

Time / Place Framework Same-time/same-place. In this setting, participants meet face-to-face in one place and at the same time. An example is communication in a meeting room. Different-time/sameplace. This setting can materialize when people work in shifts. The first shift leaves electronic or voice messages for the second shift. Same-time/differentplace. Different-time/differentplace. This setting refers to a meeting whose participants are in different places but communicate at the same time. E. g. , a telephone In this setting, participants are in different places, and they send and/or receive 1 messages at different times. 9

Communications § Electronic mail (e-mail) is the most used service of the Internet. § Messaging in wireless environments offer access to the Internet from cellular phones. § Instant messaging § Software agents are services allow users to programs that execute identify and exchange mundane tasks for the instant messages in real benefit of their users. time. § E-mail agents assist ü ICQ is the most popular users with the often timeinstant messaging tool on consuming task of the Internet. managing their e-mail. 20

Communications (cont. ) § Web-based call centers provide effective product support and deliver live customer-service capabilities for any online company. § Peer-to-peer networks are systems that include a large number of small computer systems used for information exchange and sharing resources. ü E. g. , Napster (napster. com) § Chat rooms are virtual meeting grounds where groups of regulars come to gab. ü Chat rooms can be used to build a community, or to promote a commercial, political, or environmental cause. 21

E-Voice Communication § Voice communication can now be done on the computer using a microphone and a sound card. ü e. g. , Dialpad. com § Applications of Voice Technology: ü Interactive voice recognition. ü Voice annotation. ü Automated attendant. ü Voice mail. ü Audiotext. 22

Collaboration § Collaboration refers to mutual efforts by two or more individuals who perform activities in order to accomplish certain tasks. § A work group refers to two or more individuals who act together to perform some task. ü E. g. , a committee, a review panel, a task force, an executive board, a team, or a department. 23

Dysfunctions of Group Process Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Social pressures to conform may eliminate superior ideas. Group process can be time-consuming, slow, and costly. Work done in a group may lack appropriate coordination. Some members may dominate the agenda. Some group members may rely on others to do most of their work. The group may compromise on solutions of poor quality. The group may be unable to complete a task. Unproductive time is spent socializing, getting ready, waiting for people, or repeating what has already been said. Members may be afraid to speak up. 24

Nominal Group Technique The nominal group technique (NGT) is a group communication method that includes a sequence of activities: ü ü ü Silent generation of ideas in writing Round-robin listing of ideas on a flip chart Serial discussion of ideas Silent listing and ranking of priorities Discussion of priorities Silent reranking and rating of priorities 25

Groupware § Groupware refers to software products that support groups of people who share a common task or goal and collaborate on its accomplishment. § Groupware products comes in two forms: ü A standalone product supporting one task (e-mail). ü An integrated kit that includes several tools (e-mail, workflow, etc. ). § Groupware products are either Web-based, which is the trend today, or they are not related to the Internet and work with other networks. 26

Groupware Technologies § Workflow systems are business process automation tools that place system controls in the hands of user departments. § Screen Sharing uses special software to allow colleagues to work on the same document, which is shown on the screen of each participant. § Whiteboarding allows each user to view and draw on a single document “pasted” onto the electronic whiteboard. § Collaborative Web browsing assists a group of people in browsing by suggesting new material likely to be of common interest. 27

Real Time Collaboration § Real-time collaboration (RTC) tools help companies bridge time and space to make decisions and collaborate on projects. § Lotus Notes is one of the best-known of the RTC tools and offers the following functions; ü online collaboration capabilities, workgroup e-mail, distributed databases, bulletin whiteboards, text editing, document management, etc. § Microsoft Net. Meeting, another RTC package, offers the following; ü whiteboarding, application sharing, remote desktop sharing, file transfer, text chat, data conferencing, and 28 desktop audio and videoconferencing.

Teleconferencing § Teleconferencing is the use of electronic communication that allows two or more people at different locations to have a simultaneous conference. ü Video teleconferencing enables participants in one location to see participants at other locations. ü Data conferencing enables data to be sent along with voice & video. ü Video mail is similar to voice mail; however, the voice and image components of video mail can be created from portions of conferences and stored on a file server. 29

Distance Learning (DL) § Distance learning (DL) occurs when learning is performed with tools or technologies designed to overcome the restrictions of either same time or same place learning. § Distant learning courseware packages are software programs that enable distance learning. ü E. g. , Lotus Notes, Microsoft Net. Meeting, Novell Group. Wise, and Group. Systems, Lotus Learning Space, Web. CT. § Online Corporate Training allow IT organizations to keep their staff members up to date with the latest innovations in IT. 30

Video conferencing Strategies § Strategies to help improve communication while using video conferencing technology include (Reed, 1999); ü Set expectations and establish protocols. ü Involve students from the beginning. ü Use visual aids. ü Provide supporting materials. ü Punctuate lectures with small group activities. ü Reduce distractions. ü Encourage dialogue. 31

Telecommuting § Telecommuting, or teleworking is when employees work at home, at the customer’s premises, or while traveling, using a computer linked to their place of employment. ü Some experts predict that in 10 to 15 years, 50 percent of all work will be done at home, on the road, or at the customer’s site. ü The opportunity to work at home helps women or single parents assume more responsible managerial positions in organizations. ü Telecommuting has been related to an increase in work productivity. 32

Case: Handling Crucial Files on the Road Problem: § Mellissa Mc. Natt, a telecommuter, was not able to attach large files to e-mail messages due to objections from her customers. Solution: § Mc. Natt found a solution to her problem at Net. Documents. com, which offers document storage at its site. § With this facility Mc. Natt is able to access her documents and also to share them with her customers. Results: § Using this online document storage, Mc. Natt expects to cut down her cycle of contact with prospective customers from 7 -8 days to 2 days. 33

Reasons for Telecommuting Failures Ø Insufficient support infrastructure Ø Insufficient security policies Ø Union difficulties Ø Quantifiable gains aren’t achieved Ø Teleworker productivity declines Ø Overall productivity declines 34

Ethics on the Net Ø Privacy and ethics in e-mail Ø Right of free speech Ø Copyright Ø The privacy of patients’ information Ø Internet manners Ø Monitoring employees’ use of the Internet 35

Managerial Issues 1. Security of communication. Communication via networks raises the issue of the integrity, confidentiality, and security of the data being transferred. 2. Data crossing national borders. It is easier to control data crossing national borders electronically. 36

Managerial Issues (cont. ) ü Congestion. Some people believe the increased use of the net will clog it and that companies should develop a plan to limit its use. ü Control of employee time and activities. Employees may be tempted to conduct private surfing during work hours. ü Questionnaires and referenda. An increasing number of researchers and pollsters are using the Internet for marketing or political surveys. ü Organizational impacts. Technology-supported communication may have major organizational impacts. 37

Managerial Issues (cont. ) 1. Telecommuting. Not all jobs are suitable for telecommuting. 2. Cost-benefit justification. Information technologies do not come free, and many of the benefits are intangible. 3. Legal issues. There are many unresolved legal issues. 4. Managing the intranet. This is becoming a major problem due to the ease of placing material on an intranet and the huge volume of information. 38