How to make $$$$ in your PJs

The major factor, if not the only factor, for getting a college degree is to have a job.  Information technology may change the way you look at potential careers.  I am talking about “virtual jobs.”  Never heard of it?  Well you are not alone.  Just imagine clocking in to work while in your pajamas at home.  The ubiquitous nature of the internet companies will not need a physical office.  Virtual worlds like Second Life are the obvious starting point for these virtual jobs.  There are online businesses that accommodate people that play in a virtual world.  Players can buy anything for their avatar in these worlds such as virtual cars and weapons.  The virtual money in these worlds can actually be turned into real money.  Virtual worlds are not just fun and games; some universities use it to train their students.  “Medical schools such as the University of Kansas Medical Center use Second Life to simulate medical procedures.”  Dentists and can use this training technology for their profession as well.  Any position available in the real world is available in a virtual world as well. 

Virtual Law firms are another way that information technology is changing how people work.  Virtual Law Partners is a firm that only exists online.  They eliminate a big cost of having a physical office. 

ITBusiness is a website that helps companies to build virtual offices. 

“Their suggestions include: 1) hiring a virtual receptionist and using Skype for outbound long-distance calls, as well as for conference calls; 2) using on-line software, such as Google Docs and Zoho software, for word processing, spreadsheets, and other functions that can be stored and shared online; 3) using a robotic personal assistant, such as Highrise to organize your address book and to create a caseload for each of your projects; 4) outsourcing your calendar, such as Google Calendar, which allows users to see, suggest, and comment on others scheduled activities; 5) holding virtual meetings, such as on the site GoToMeeting and freeconference.com.”

There are pros and cons with everything; having a virtual office and virtual employees is no different.  Technology is constantly changing and improving, employees must do the same.  In order for a job seeker to be employable they must emeries themselves with information technology.  The future job seekers need to have the finger on the electrical pulse of this industry.  Employment and the American Economy depend on information technology.

REFERENCE

http://www.globalization101.org/virtual-jobs/

James Todd

Information Technology bringing it to you hot at Dominos

Information Technology has reshaped how successful business is done in America even our precious fast food Industry. In an Industry where profit margins are slim and competition is fierce, service based industries must be innovative and use technology to gain any competitive advantage that they can. I got the idea to write this article the last time my wife ordered pizza. I personally like Dominos when I want good takeout pizza for a low cost and convenience. I noticed the internet web page up that looked similar to this it was the first time I had seen anything like this.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=643&q=dominos+information+technology&oq=dominos+information+technology&gs_l=img.12...4054.25773.0.36759.30.11.0.19.19.0.114.866.10j1.11.0...0.0...1ac.1.7.img.ErPRMH7WpIY#imgrc=Q_7SiPm19kafhM%3A%3B7h07irfRkvLxtM%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fevbdn.eventbrite.com%252Fs3-s3%252Feventlogos%252F15487947%252F02generic.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdpzitopenhouse.eventbrite.com%252F%3B869%3B280

Another time I ordered pizza to pick up from dominos I went in after work and when I went in to the Dominos to pick up I saw a ticket machine printing away. It was nothing new for me to see orders being recorded or entered into some sort of system at a fast food place but what struck me as this machine was printing away is that it was just internet orders from peoples home computers or smartphones.  It was completely automated and didn’t take any labor or man hours to take the order or record the information aside from the pizza maker tearing off the order and preparing the pizza. As each order from the internet or someone’s cell phone came in it was routed to the nearest dominos location. I couldn’t help but think as I was watching each of these orders come in it was like a cost savings to the company as each order streamlined the process and automatically recorded all data just as the customers put it in without error. This system could provide senior leadership with tons of useful information from peak order times, what promotions work best, where best to target advertising dollars or any information leadership would like to extract with remarkable accuracy. Many times in a lot of classes we talk about how things could possibly affect business but I thought this was an interesting one that I could see in my life with something as simple as a streamlined fast food order giving a pizza shop a competitive edge.

 

 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=643&q=dominos+information+technology&oq=dominos+information+technology&gs_l=img.3...3468.16413.0.17453.30.11.0.19.19.0.143.431.10j1.11.0...0.0...1ac.1.7.img.rjzolBF6aO0#hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=dominos+cell+phone+order+information+technology&oq=dominos+cell+phone+order+information+technology&gs_l=img.12...64244.72238.0.75875.19.18.1.0.0.0.141.1200.16j2.18.0...0.0...1c.1.7.img.1eqxgbPfMBU&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44442042,d.eWU&fp=1f91900e7b97d3d7&biw=1366&bih=643&imgrc=ii_seRyux5a8bM%3A%3Bl4J_s8IRyQ7iLM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fi998.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Faf109%252Ftalkingnewmedia%252FTNM-2011%252FDominosUK-iPhone-lg.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ftalkingnewmedia.blogspot.com%252F2011%252F05%252Fdominos-pizza-reports-that-its-iphone.html%3B410%3B770

Posted by: Jeremy Squires

Newspapers

With IT's advancements the newspaper industry has suffered. Can anyone remember the last time they went out and bought a newspaper? These advancements have changed us to get our information from the internet instead of reading the newspaper everyday to be up to date with what is going on in the world. Instead of wating until Sunday morning to look through the coupon book to see what all of the best deals are now we just go to the  store's website and fould out how much it is. Now all of this isn't necessarily bad it is just different and has caused many job losses.

In between the years of 2008 and 2009 there were a total of 166 newspapers closings in the United States. With all of these closings their have been many job losses. In those two years their was a total of 35,000 job losses.
If the newspapers weren't closing down then they were making cuts. These employee cuts have consisted of paper couriers, manufacturers, members of the editorial staff, and journalists. Paper couriers are given larger paper routes, have harsher penalties, and loss of vacation time. In addition to the employee cuts the newspapers themselves are also taking a hit. Because with the loss of editorial staff members and journalists the papers themselves are not up to the same quality that they once were. The manufacturing cuts have led to smaller papers being produced. IT's advancement is killing the newspaper industry, and soon receiving a newspaper at your front door will be a thing in the past.


References:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/jul/06/us-press-publishing-downturn


Images from Google


Matthew Gilliam

Sharing Economy.

What would you like to rent?

          

          There is a trend developing that is known as the Sharing Economy.  With the economy in the state that it is, people are looking to save money anywhere they can.  You can find a place to stay, a car to rent, a power tool that you need for a DIY project or anything else you can think of for rent on the internet.  This "collaborative consumption" is making people with underused assets money and saving people who would rather rent than buy expensive items money.  Web sites like Airbnb, Relay Rides and SnapGoods connect peer to peer renters to the goods and services they are looking for.  It is no surprise that this trend started to take off after the financial crisis of 2008.  Technology has made it easier for people to find these goods and services that they are looking for.  I have used this type of website recently to book accommodations for an annual vacation that I take.  I saved a significant amount of money over last year's accommodations that I can spend elsewhere.  

          There are some issues that have arisen which can be expected with any new type of business model.  Some local governments are upset that people are renting rooms to people without paying the appropriate hotel taxes.  Some people have even been evicted from their apartments for violating their lease agreements by renting it to others.  Another issue is insuring property and cars that are rented to people.  It took some time for these websites to find an insurance companies to underwrite them.    

          Information Technology has made it easier for renters to find out about their customers as well.  In the past, this would be much more difficult.  Today, you can look up your potential customers on facebook and other social media sites.  You can also do an online background check to give yourself peace of mind before you hand over the keys to your home or car to a stranger.  

Question:  Would you feel comfortable renting your home or car to a stranger?  Would you feel comfortable renting a room from someone you haven't met rather than staying in a hotel?  

Sources: http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21572914-collaborative-consumption-technology-makes-it-easier-people-rent-items 

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21573104-internet-everything-hire-rise-sharing-economy

Help Wanted

It is not surprising that unemployment is high and the demand for information technology 

workers is also high.  The reason for this predicament is most of the workers that are unemployed do not have the technical skills needed for the available jobs and the recent college graduate does not have the work experience to fill the better paying jobs. 

Cisco is one company who is hiring.  They are taking a different approach than most companies.   They work with different universities like San Jose State University and Wichita State University.  The collaboration of company and school students can receive real world training while still going to school.  Cisco offers a certification called “Cisco Certified Network Associate.”  A person must pass two exams that cost $150 each and last 90 and 70 minutes long.  If a student passes, they will be able to apply for jobs that require that certification.  However, they will not be able to apply for the jobs that require experience. 

One company in Wisconsin had 17 information technology jobs and 10 of them were help desk support.  The entry level jobs will be easy for this company to fill.  But the problem is trying to fill the better paying senior level jobs.  The applicant needs to have work experience in network design and understand the health care system.  Where can you find that applicant?  Companies like this one face a real problem.  Because there is such a gap in knowledge and experience, these job openings can be empty for years.

Bob Knott of SWC Technology Partners said, “there’s a shortage of skilled workers across the board, not only at the entry level but at the experienced level.”  SWC does their recruiting on campuses instead of posting on job boards.  SWC hired 46 people and of those 46, only seven came directly out of college. 

As information technology changes, new jobs will be formed.  How will companies find enough candidates to fill those positions?  It takes a student 4-5 years to finish college, and companies want 5-7 years of experience.  That is roughly 10 years before a company will consider them for a mid to senior level position.  The worst part of this scenario is, technology changes all the time and in 5 to 10 years the knowledge that they gained in college might be as useless as a floppy disk is today.

How do you think companies like these will solve their hiring problem?

James Todd

REFERENCE:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/08/27/is-there-a-glut-of-technology-jobs-for-young-people/

IMAGES ARE FROM GOOGLE DOCS

BPO

BPO

How business is done

Today it is becoming increasing rare to find large businesses having complete end to end operations. It comes down to a simple fact if when someone else can do it for your firm and it is not part of your core operations it makes sense to outsource.  From an accounting standpoint it could be said that it makes sense to outsource when it becomes cheaper than your combined fixed and variable cost. In essence when you outsource it becomes a purely variable cost.

So the question then becomes, why the recent surge in BPO in our recent history. I think that the answer is information technology. I think that there has been a lot of pushback as we see jobs being outsourced and lost due to technology and this is not the first time.  I was reading an article and found out that at the turn of the century something like 90% of Americans worked in Agriculture and a lot of jobs were lost as farm machinery became more and more predominate. In the short term I think that it would be little console to those losing their jobs to let them know that the advancement would be better for our economy in the long term.

 I think that today we see history repeating itself again just re-wrapped and repackaged. As we have lost a huge amount of manufacturing jobs due to that fact it can be done cheaper elsewhere we must adapt and go through the growing pains again. Today’s IT further enables BPO by lowering transaction costs, helping supply chains, and tracking quality more accurately.

Question - How do you feel about outsourcing and do you think America should cling to manufacturing?

Jeremy R. Squires

Sources

http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/economy-market-trends/technology-has-had-500-billion-impact-nations-weal/nCXwS/

Pictures

http://www.livingarchives.ca/?q=node/318&pid=la:315&dsID=PNG

http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/feature/2242939/outsourcing-the-tax-function

Telecommuting

One new form of IT that has affected a good amount of jobs lately is telecommuting. It now gives people the option to work all day from their home instead of having to go to the office every day. This gives people the benefit of getting to spend more time with their families, use free time more efficiently, and get more work done. Employees that are giving the opportunity to telecommute are in a happier working environment so they have a higher morale and that will cause them to work harder.

 

 

According to an article done by the San Fransisco Chronicle "an estimated 1.35 billion gallons of gasoline could be conserved annually if every U.S. worker with the ability to telecommute did so 1.6 days per week."  Telecommuting would not only help the employee it would also help companies an average of $1l,000 could be saved annually from each employee that worked from home. 470,000 new jobs could be created in the economy if all of those able to telecommute. Each telecommuter would save any where from $2,000 to $7,000 a year just on gas savings. The chart below shows the total number of workers that telecommute. If their are so many benefits of telecommunication then why don't more people use it?
 by M. Gilliam






Question

Has anyone had experience to telecommuting in their work place? Was it a good or bad experience?

Sources

 http://commutezero.com/support/telecommuting/telecommuting-stats
http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Group-touts-telecommuting-s-green-benefits-3286958.php
http://www.teleworkresearchnetwork.com/telecommuting-statistics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-boKXU3L-pc