Reply to Discussion Homework

Greetings classmates,

A data driven website is explained in this week’s lesson as being a website that is constantly kept updated and relevant to the needs of the customer’s that are using/visiting the database. Some websites to name a few are car shopping websites, stock exchange sites, and weather websites. Each kind of website caters the information towards a specific customer. Some of the main advantages of rolling out data over a website is that it requires less training and users can access information much easier than if they were to have to get the information from a database. It would also require little to no changes in the database model. Having a data driven website also costs less to add a web interface in front of a data base management system than to redesign and rebuild the system each time systems changes need to be updated. Some additional advantages to using data driven websites are that it is easier to manage content, easier to store large amounts of data, and can eliminate human errors. One of the biggest advantages to using data driven websites is that companies can gain valuable business knowledge by recording and viewing the data accessed and analyzed from their website. 

In last week’s forum discussions, we talked a bit about agile infrastructure and it talked about being able to support a growing company’s infrastructure. A data warehouse is defined as a logical collection of information gathered from many different operational databases that supports business analysis activities and decision-making tasks. One prime example of a company that maintains data warehouses is meta search engine Google. A company would want to incorporate a data warehouse if they are looking for ways to provide managers tools to be more effective leaders. Incorporating a data warehouse in a company allows managers/leaders the ability to analyze and build financial data, retain customers, promote hiring of employees, incorporate future marketing techniques, and many other tools.  

In the organization that I currently work for some of the challenges we face in data management is exactly that, managing data. I know that we can do a better job of retaining e-records/records to be able to analyze that data as performance measurement tools. I would recommend hiring an outside consultant to come and observe how the network is managed and provide solutions on how to properly archive data, not just on the network but also manual data such as paper records. Recording the type of phone calls our help desk receives and be a worthy endeavor to be able to analyze trends in types of issues customers are calling about. One of the biggest challenges that I’ve noticed is not being able to make dedicated time to educate users on the importance of data management and properly managing records. I would recommend a dedicated time/day of the week/month/quarter in order to educate and work on records management. 

REFERENCES:

Baltzan, Paige (2011). ITMG498 IT Management Senior Seminar: Business Driven Information Systems (3rd edition also custom)- E-book links provided inside the classroom. McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 1121371469/9781121371460

2nd REPLY TO DISCUSSION (MINIMUM 200 Words – IT Management)

 This week’s topic is one that is near and dear to my heart, as I have been assisting with a project to build a streamlined data-driven website for the use of Joint Service to streamline data for ammunition tracking throughout the Department of Defense.  The primary reason that this is so important is that, compared to the outdated systems that I was using in the Air Force, as well as the current systems in the Army, they are not data-driven.  This means that many of the sites that “should” talk to each other and share information to make the management of the various class of supply do not.  They are stand-alone systems and websites that do not feed each other or “speak” the same language in coding or formatting.

            The advantages to a data-driven site, in this case, as Baltzan describes, are the capability to manage content, store large amounts of data, and to remove human error (Baltzan, 2012).  Many of the databases that are in use have huge data inconsistencies and do not use standardized formats.  This makes it even more difficult in transferring the information from one system to another.

            To tie these different systems together, you would use a data-driven warehouse, which is a logical collection of information, gathered from many different operational databases, that supports business analysis activities and decision-making tasks (Baltzan, 2012). In order for this to be completely effective, each of the branches of service would have to address our inability to agree on which format is the preferred format for such information.  This would make strategic level positioning, as well as direct “or operational as the Air Force describes it” level management of supply assets much smoother.  You would have a greater overarching view of the capabilities that your unit can bring to the fight, as well as provide an immediate display of shortfalls.

            As you can see, describing the advantages of both data-driven websites and warehouses ties into my topic for this class.  The overall disparity in data across the Department of Defense makes us do far more work that we should doing, with the available technology.  I feel that one fear that many have in the different branches, is that if you start merging these systems to a joint system, that you would losing funding and support.  As someone always wants to be the “boss” in these ventures.  

            I hope that everyone is having a great week and that you all have a great weekend! I am headed up to D.C. for some sightseeing with an old boss.  Just a few more weeks until Thanksgiving and we will all be done with our degrees!  Keep up the good work.

References

Baltzan, P. (2012). Business Driven Information Systems (3rd Edition). New York, NY: MCGraw-Hill Education.

3rd REPLY TO DISCUSSION (MINIMUM 150 Words – Web Development)

Examine the purpose of using HTML 5 APIs to extend the capabilities of you Web pages.

Hello Class,

API’s are very beneficial in the web development world.  You have to think about the knowledge that people have concerning JavaScript, HTML, C++, etc.  API’s are not only helpful to the people who are knowledgeable of these processes, but they are also beneficial to the people who are not that knowledgeable of these processes.  An API is an application programming interface.  This is basically a set of protocols and tools to build on within an application.  API’s consist of certain attribute patterns that are used in the existing HTML.  They work off of the HTML to consider the configuration.  The improvement of the design and mockup of your page using API’s is remarkable.  With JavaScript API’s, the start is controlled by the library’s user.  The function has to be called for by the user or the user must create an object.  They control what it turns on and when.  The problem with using JavaScript is that it will try to take control over the API.  You can set one to automatically start, while leaving the other to be started by the user.  This can help avoid that confusion.  Flexibility is a lot better using API’s.  Sometimes using these API’s can make the HTML validation show an error.  If you can, try to avoid this error.  Many developers will be shun away from an unvalidated page. 

This week I am going to add in some API’s to my web page.  Specifically the drag-and-drop method will be added.  I enjoyed adding a video to one of my pages in last week’s assignment.  I still want to add some music to my home page that will play in the background. 

4th REPLY TO DISCUSSION (MINIMUM 150 Words – Web Development)

Hello Class,

HTML5 is the language used to code websites, you can use API’s in your websites.  API stands for Application Programming Interface.  Upwork.com talked about what an API actually does, when it comes to the API, it is what allows for us to complete things online. Basically, they help us as customers to use features that we have become accustomed to, such as, ordering food online, booking hotels to even allowing us to be able to download software online.  API’s do all the behind the scenes work for us (Wodehouse).  API’s have become a big part in the modern-day internet world.  Because of API’s we are able to create “a seamless flow of data between apps and devices in real time. This not only lets developers create apps for any format—a mobile app, a wearable, or a website—it allows apps to “talk to” one another. This is the heart of how APIs create rich user experiences in apps” (Wodehouse). API’s have literally changed the way that we do things.  Our devices are all application based and API’s are used to make the applications function. So, using API’s in our websites, they allow for our websites to be used on different devices, they even allow for us to develop web-based applications.