MATRIX

Archive for December, 2009

With each passing day, the technology is getting advanced. It could not be truer for the computer technology. The information technology is on the verge of scaling new heights. Many new internet companies have become worldwide hubs for individuals across the world, offering freelance services. Whether it means an IT related workforce or just plain data entry portal or projects, those in the third world countries have taken great advantage of this sort of opportunity.

Freelance outsourcing has become a sort of a cottage industry, employing thousands of gifted computer scientists, developers and related professionals across the globe. Rich internet applications are becoming the norm as connectivity through broadband technology is being made available more readily. More web sites are transforming into web services that are interactive and have the capacity to keep individuals on the web kept, more focused.

Even the desktop applications are moving towards advancements. There are certain computing technologies available that remain novelty. One of them is touch computer systems. It remains the most promising candidate to cater to the needs of the next generation.

Online web surfing is becoming popular and many people have started to work on home based businesses and solutions for their earnings. It not only gives convenience and freedom of time but also relieves one of the stresses of official confines.

Social networking is one of the prime internet utility now a days and it is picking up pace as new web sites and internet users are rapidly growing in number. Here few rules affect the issues; first and the major rule among them would be the power of context, whenever the popularity of any web site or product rises, the context in which it was launched becomes of high relevance.

New social networking web sites are now continually fulfilling the demands of its users; they are helping people make new business contacts, find freelance work and find the best dinning or shopping places in the city.

The web sites usually sport a disclaimer notice, which thoroughly covers freedom of expression. The internet is thus far the freest governance in the world, it is fully covered by the cyber laws that allows people and permits them to do meaningful discussions even on topics of grave sensitivity and controversies.
As in the past centuries, say for example in the 17th century, the scholars associated them selves with many societies and communities through the exchange of letters. Today’s teenagers more specifically are doing the same by utilizing their potentials in a more easily accessible environment of cyberspace technologies with quite few risks involved.

The information technology and computers are playing a vital role in the world’s fast growing technological changes. Communications are becoming easier and the place once the mediums of television and radio had in an average person’s life are now almost taken up by the computers. The rapid growth of internet utility is bridging the gaps between all humans regardless of region , area or even genders and this technology stands really above all the others because there are no rigid rules present which could be considered confinement to the development of technology.

This article is also available as a Podcast on “The RootCause” podcast series available on iTunes.

As our country begins what I can only hope is a new era, I find myself wondering about the future of our industry. Information Technology took a very hard hit in the Dot Bomb Crash of 2000. I was under contract to Lucent Technologies at the time and the impact there was enormous. Jobs were lost by the thousands, and so were retirements. Now, in 2008 and 2009, we see another financial bomb–but we also see a new vision.

In 2000, the world discovered that just being on the Internet did not guarantee success. Prior to that, business was doing well at moving money around, if not actually producing much. The cash had to keep moving or it would settle to the ground and people would notice that there wasn’t that much new money–just the same funds moving in circles–redistributing. Maybe that is what finally happened. Maybe the music stopped and everyone realized that there weren’t enough chairs for everyone–and panicked.

The financial bomb this time is a bit different and as I am not a financial consultant, I will not try to explain it–even if I fully understood it—which I do not. My concern here is the impact of this market on my industry, the Information Technology Industry. This time it seems, we are not dead center on the bull’s eye–instead we are the arrow point. We went through our decimation and many of us retired, retrained in other fields or just gave up. Others stayed on and have continued to grow with the technology. It’s leaner and meaner and there are far fewer of us to do what needs doing. But, it is also the foundation of the new economy to come.

New energy systems and a rewrite of the way that the Health Care Industry does business will be heavily steeped in Information Technology. Our skills are going to be in more and more in demand as companies around the world, and here in the United States, scramble for ways to create a sustainable future for our planet and our respective countries. We will be right in the middle of it. Are you ready for that? Are you really?

One side effect of the trimming down of our industry has been reluctance to invest in upgrades, to improve efficiency of systems and, most importantly, to create. Older equipment and technology are often still in place–in mission critical positions. Products at the end of their support cycles, that are still working, are still in place. After all, why fix what isn’t broken? Money is tight.

Here is why you should fix it while it is still working.

(1) Because it IS still working. Once a component fails, you will end up scrambling to replace it–making bad decisions and building sloppy installations.

(2) Because new software tools, operating system manufacturers, (think patches), and other manufacturers of equipment, do not perform regression testing back to the beginning of time. If your operation system or other software tools are past that magical line in the sand, new—supposedly helpful—patches and upgrades could break your systems in unforeseeable and unsupportable ways.

(3) Because it is not about keeping your position in a company or in a market. It is about creating new technologies, processes and markets. The old ways don’t cut it anymore and whoever creates a solution to a problem, regardless of country or marketplace, will drive the economies of the world–and of their niche in the global marketplace. If your company creates products or provides services, you need to be on the crest of the wave.

President Obama has asked us to be willing to make hard decisions and to work to create the new technologies that will drive the world’s economy. I for one, embrace the call. Let’s stop trying to make our money by moving money from one pocket to another and begin once again to create. You, the people of the Information Technology Industry, are going to be right at the heart of it. Technologists, look for companies that want to be there too. Information Technology Managers, look for people with passion. Let the wonder that first led you to master an aspect of the magic of technology once again inspire you. This is our moment. This is our challenge. It’s time once again to have some fun with this stuff!

Almost every business in the world nowadays makes use of a computer system in one form or another. So, given that you are using a computer in your business, you might want to ask yourself if you are getting the most out of it.

1. Make A Database Of Products Also, Customers

Once your business grows to a certain size it doesn’t make sense to keep track of everyone you do business with on paper. You will want to have a full database of customer names, contact details, addresses, and a record of their transactions with you. A number of cheap softwares are available that let you do just this, but it’s also possible to make your own database using open-source technologies like PHP and MySQL.

2. Graph Sales Also, Make Predictions

Once you have your data all sorted neatly, you can go a step further and get your computer to produce charts, graphs, and even predict what sales will be like in the months or years ahead. Using this data, you can track what marketing campaigns work and that didn’t work so well.

3. Marketing Materials

You don’t have to buy a top of the line graphic design package if you don’t want to. Various pieces of software allow you to do just one thing, for example, create a business card design or a brochure. You will still have to pay for good card stock if you are making business cards, however.

4. Sell Over The Internet

You can use computers to set up a website that has an online store. You can also open a merchant account to use as part of your home business over the phone or by post, with you simply entering the card numbers and amounts into a website to process the payments.

5. Back Up Records

Sometimes, the importance of backing things up can only come from learning things the hard way. Regardless, if you are smart you will have some kind of system-restore software installed on your computer. Better yet, make a complete backup of your computer on an external hard drive.