Introduction:
We, Nathan, Ian and Cian, want to welcome you to our blog DTFBusiness (Digital Technology for Business). We are three college students studying marketing, in our second year at National College Ireland, but as part of our Digital technology module we have created this blog. The blog will be published 3 times a week on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday bringing new topics, information and insights into the Digital technology space. We are not from a technology background so our blogs will be easy to read understandable to the average joe (like ourselves) but consistently technical for those looking for information on technology.
The research points we are required to cover are as follows:
Our blog will be built up of these six different topics related to technology in the business world today. Each week, we will post three distinctly different blogs that relate to one of the six topics and each blog will add more information than the previous blog. Again, these blogs will be laid out in a clear and easy to follow format so we hope you will understand what our blogs are trying to accomplish.
Other ways to reach us is on social media. We have three social media platforms in the form of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These social media platforms will allow you to follow the progress of each of our blogs, keep up to date with our content, and we will also be posting interesting reads from various technological companies and articles. If you have any questions about our blogs, content or if you would be interested in sharing your views on technology in the business world today, please do not hesitate to contact us through any of our social media platforms. Your feedback will help drive our blogs forward and develop even greater content.
Thank you,
Nathan, Ian, Cian (CEO & Editors at DTFBusiness).
The research points we are required to cover are as follows:
- Discuss how business technologies are relevance to contemporary marketing practice.
- Discuss the dynamic environment of networking and digital communication.
- Identify the importance of the evolution of the internet and the resulting social and political issues.
- Discuss the differing types of business technology and display an awareness of technology management and planning.
- Discuss how technology can assist with innovate, automate and simplicity of tasks.
Our blog will be built up of these six different topics related to technology in the business world today. Each week, we will post three distinctly different blogs that relate to one of the six topics and each blog will add more information than the previous blog. Again, these blogs will be laid out in a clear and easy to follow format so we hope you will understand what our blogs are trying to accomplish.
Other ways to reach us is on social media. We have three social media platforms in the form of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These social media platforms will allow you to follow the progress of each of our blogs, keep up to date with our content, and we will also be posting interesting reads from various technological companies and articles. If you have any questions about our blogs, content or if you would be interested in sharing your views on technology in the business world today, please do not hesitate to contact us through any of our social media platforms. Your feedback will help drive our blogs forward and develop even greater content.
Thank you,
Nathan, Ian, Cian (CEO & Editors at DTFBusiness).
The different types of business technologies and descriptions (The modern business archetype)
Businesses, since the 1900’s has continued to grow, with most countries GDP increasing 10 fold (B, 2009), (but using the UK as a reference) from 1900 to 2000. Seeing this and comparing it to the population growth, we see that businesses grow by tenfold, mostly since the 1980’s, but the population only doubled (Lindsay, 2003), meaning the workforce only doubled. Why is this?
One argument is that the workers got more skilled. I would argue that people didn’t get 5x stronger, faster, smarter to compete with the past. No, the discrepancies are explained due to Information systems. Information systems are hardware, software, programs and processes run by computer power to Capture raw data from organisations or external environment > Convert raw data into meaningful form > Transfers the processed information to people or activities that use it (Source: Dermot’s notes “02a – ch01 – Information systems in business today, slide 1.17”).
The different types of information systems include:
One argument is that the workers got more skilled. I would argue that people didn’t get 5x stronger, faster, smarter to compete with the past. No, the discrepancies are explained due to Information systems. Information systems are hardware, software, programs and processes run by computer power to Capture raw data from organisations or external environment > Convert raw data into meaningful form > Transfers the processed information to people or activities that use it (Source: Dermot’s notes “02a – ch01 – Information systems in business today, slide 1.17”).
The different types of information systems include:
- Transaction processing system (TPS):
Are used to record day to day business transactions. They are operated by users at the operational management level. The objective of this system is to answer routine queries such as how much inventory is in a warehouse, etc. An example of a TPS is NetSuit. - Management information system (MIS):
“Are used by tactical managers to monitor the organisation’s current performance status. The output from a transaction processing system is used as input to a management information system”. Example of an MIS is a sales system. - Decision support system (DSS):
“Are used by senior management to make non-routine decisions. Decision support systems use input from internal systems such as the TPS and MIS and external systems. An example of a DSS is the American governments anti-terrorist systems. - Artificial intelligence techniques in business:
These are processes run, developed and structured by computer programs that learn as they run. The program takes inputs and learns to interpret data for better output. An example of AI in use is SIRI. - Online Analytical processing (OLAP):
“Are used to query and analyse multi-dimensional data and produce information that can be viewed in different ways using multiple dimensions”. An example of OLAP’s is OBM’s Cognos software. (Guru, 2019)
How technology can assist in innovation
This week, we will be looking at how technology can assist in the innovation of products and or services in the business world today. We will do this be talking about a company that has used technology in an innovative manner to help consumers to invest in their products. A great example of this is the cosmetics company L'Oréal. They developed a wearable technology called “My UV Patch”, essentially this technology is a wearable sensor that sticks to your skin. The technology works by calculating how much ultra-violate exposure an individual is receiving. By taking a picture with an Android or IOS device, it will inform the user if they should apply sun cream or not depending on their level of exposure. This type of technology acts as a sort of educational tool where it tells the user which product to use to protect themselves from the sun and how to live a healthier lifestyle. Since it is a wearable patch, it means it’s easy to dispose of it and therefore it makes it easier to adopt this type of technology (Whiteside, 2016). Companies that incorporate technology into their operations are in a do or die situation. They have the ability to be innovative by using technology in an efficient manner or they could be proactive and fall to companies who use technology to their advantage. Companies such as Blackberry and Nokia who were tech giants in the business world fell casualty to technology in a never ending innovative market. Companies who are innovative, follow trends in markets and use technology to either develop a product from these trends or identify a niche in the market from these trends. Technology is a very important tool as it gives organisations the ability to become a strong competitor and it allows them to make better and smarter decisions based on data collected from technology (Devanur, 2018). Companies such as Amazon, Apple and Samsung are where they are today because of their clever use of technology allowing them to innovate products that have changed the world we live in. Companies that incorporate technology but take a backseat when it comes to following trends and gathering data will watch bigger companies take leaps and bounds ahead of them.
|
Social Issues with Social Media: Cyber-bullying
In this digital age that we live in, countless hours are spent on social media platforms. Whether its Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc., users are constantly interacting with one another. And just like in the real world, social issues can arise from social interaction.
Today, cyber-bullying on social media is at its highest, with number of children aged 12 – 15 claiming to have been bullied on social media doubling. Now 9% of young teenagers are being bullied on social media (Simpson, 2019). It might not seem to be a huge a percentage, but you must remember that this is “a bully in the back pocket” as Get Safe Online would call it, it happens 24/7. Nobody want’s their child to be bullied, and the idea that they can be send hateful texts or media so often is quite alarming. UK ministers are proposing the creation of an internet regulator, and a code of conduct for social media companies to sign. Margot James, Minister of State for Digital and the Creative Industries has expressed her dissatisfaction with the sate of cyber-bullying; “Social media companies clearly need to do more to ensure they are not promoting harmful content to vulnerable people” (Rawlinson, 2019). Cyber-bullying is definitely a huge issue surrounding social media, and is a growing problem. The social media companies themselves take a huge responsibility in this issue, and must incorporate regulations to stop bullying online. However, it does start with the platforms’ users like you and I. We all need to be aware of this social issue, and act together in order to eliminate it. |
Technology management:
Information systems are large, complex machines that require specialised software, hardware and people to manage and maintain. Businesses in play today require information, training, competency and specialist skillsets to run these complex systems to their advantage. Roles such as application analyst, cyber security analyst, data analyst, data scientist, database administrator, information systems manager, IT consultant, IT technical support officer, penetration tester, software engineer and systems analyst (AGCAS, 2017), (Bourgeois, 2019) are a handful of specialist jobs for managing and maintaining information systems. Businesses tend to have more than one person in each of these roles to insure their information systems continue running smoothly.
Knowing that information systems are tough to maintain and require a lot of resources, why do we have them? There are many ways to answer this question but the five most common are:
To tie the points together, we need information systems to gather information, which enables us to read, react and make informed decisions based on our perspective of the future provided by the information systems and those who analyse and manage them. This is evident today as “Managers set organisational strategy for responding to business challenges. In addition to this, managers must act creatively by creating new products to compete, or on occasion, re-creating the organisations structure”, which is made feasible by the management of information systems. In the end businesses need management of their information systems as much as they need management of the businesses itself due to their symbiosis and dependency on one another.
Knowing that information systems are tough to maintain and require a lot of resources, why do we have them? There are many ways to answer this question but the five most common are:
- Storage of “big data”
- Organisation of “big data”
- Avoid many forms of crisis
- Easy decision making
- You can define a better perspective for the future of your business
To tie the points together, we need information systems to gather information, which enables us to read, react and make informed decisions based on our perspective of the future provided by the information systems and those who analyse and manage them. This is evident today as “Managers set organisational strategy for responding to business challenges. In addition to this, managers must act creatively by creating new products to compete, or on occasion, re-creating the organisations structure”, which is made feasible by the management of information systems. In the end businesses need management of their information systems as much as they need management of the businesses itself due to their symbiosis and dependency on one another.
How technology can assist in automation
This week, we will be looking at how technology can assist automation mainly in the form of artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence is slowly but surely making strides in the world of technology and by 2037, it is set to create more than 7 million new jobs in the United Kingdom in sectors such as healthcare, education and science. PricewaterhouseCoopers or PWC, which is a company that focuses on audit and assurance, consulting and tax services claims argued that “ AI would create slightly more jobs (7.2m) than it displaced (7m) by boosting economic growth. The firm estimated about 20% of jobs would be automated over the next 20 years and no sector would be unaffected” (Kollewe, 2018). PWC then said that related technologies such as driverless vehicles, robotics and drones would eventually replace human workers, however maintenance jobs on these emerging technologies would slowly rise with them. This rise in maintenance work on these technologies can lead to bigger incomes and increase productivity ideas which as a knock on effect could create newer products and services in the future. (Kollewe, 2018). Technology in particular artificial Intelligence seems to be making our lives easier, however in some sectors, artificial intelligence is taking jobs that humans have been doing for centuries. Will this be a problem in the future? Glen Luk, an investment manager answered this question through the questioning and answering website Quora. In his answer he talks about how 100 years ago, there were many jobs going in sectors such as retail and public transport. Nowadays, artificial Intelligence is slowly claiming these sectors in the form of automated teller machines in supermarkets and in driverless vehicles soon to be a produced globally. Luk sees this as “merely another chapter in humanity’s ongoing drive towards greater productivity and innovation” (Luk, 2018). Granted technology has the ability to replace many human jobs but what jobs can’t they replace? Well according to Quora, jobs such as hairdressers, chiropractors, repairmen and physio therapists are among the list and are in no danger of being replaced by artificial intelligence anytime soon (Eng, 2016). Is the implementation of artificial Intelligence in many of today’s jobs going to affect our everyday lives? We guess will have to wait and find out what the future will hold for us.
For The Sharing Economy, Business is Booming.
The sharing economy is defined in the Cambridge dictionary as “an economic system that is based on people sharing possessions and services, either for free or for payment, usually using the internet to organize this” (Dictionary.cambridge.org, 2019). Basically, a business model that requires the company to rely heavily on its brand community. It can sometimes be call peer-to-peer (P2P), and usually the business connects buyers and sellers via an app.
The most well-known example of a P2P business is Uber. Uber transportation company, that connects driver-partners and riders together via their app. It is an innovative business that has shaken the taxi industry to its core. What makes uber so unique is that it doesn’t own any vehicles, it has no stock. This is what the shared economy is all about, and so many other businesses are thriving through this business model.
The latest in P2P business idea making its way to a city near you is, electric scooters. Bird is a US company founded by Travis VanderZanden a former Uber and Lyft employee. They own Chinese manufactured e-scooters, that they make available across major cities such as Los Angeles or New York City. These scooters are taken from “nests” across the city, and left back to another nest when the customer is finished with them. The most intriguing aspect of Bird’s business model is that they don’t provide charging for the scooters, that’s also done by the community. Users can get paid for charging these scooters at home, a nice little side-income if you ask me.
The sharing economy is becoming so popular, as companies with little funding can get off the ground easy with the help of their brand community. For a lot of P2P businesses, the sky is the limit. Lyft announced lately that they are preparing to go public, beating Uber to this feat. A well-known competitor of Uber’s, they also provide a scooter sharing platform like Bird. Where Lyft hope to break the mould is cutting out paying drivers, they spent $300 million on research & development into autonomous vehicles last year (The Economist, 2019). But that’s a blog for another day...
The most well-known example of a P2P business is Uber. Uber transportation company, that connects driver-partners and riders together via their app. It is an innovative business that has shaken the taxi industry to its core. What makes uber so unique is that it doesn’t own any vehicles, it has no stock. This is what the shared economy is all about, and so many other businesses are thriving through this business model.
The latest in P2P business idea making its way to a city near you is, electric scooters. Bird is a US company founded by Travis VanderZanden a former Uber and Lyft employee. They own Chinese manufactured e-scooters, that they make available across major cities such as Los Angeles or New York City. These scooters are taken from “nests” across the city, and left back to another nest when the customer is finished with them. The most intriguing aspect of Bird’s business model is that they don’t provide charging for the scooters, that’s also done by the community. Users can get paid for charging these scooters at home, a nice little side-income if you ask me.
The sharing economy is becoming so popular, as companies with little funding can get off the ground easy with the help of their brand community. For a lot of P2P businesses, the sky is the limit. Lyft announced lately that they are preparing to go public, beating Uber to this feat. A well-known competitor of Uber’s, they also provide a scooter sharing platform like Bird. Where Lyft hope to break the mould is cutting out paying drivers, they spent $300 million on research & development into autonomous vehicles last year (The Economist, 2019). But that’s a blog for another day...
Technology Planning:
“Due to the technical and precise nature of their work, members of the information technology community pride themselves on their reasoning abilities and will not support initiatives unless they have seen, critiqued, and come to satisfactory terms with the evidence” (Boar, 2001), which means its very to hard to get your information technology planning approved. Information required for a technology strategic plan are as follows:
Technology planning also involves a lengthy process of employing the correct people for the maintenance and management of the systems. Job roles businesses employee for IT systems are:
Most roles in large companies will be occupied by more than one person working in tandem to insure the successful maintenance and management of the information system. This creates other resource drains for the business meaning the planning of IT is a very large scale project with many complex pieces requiring specialist Technology planning.
Bibliography AGCAS, 2017. information systems job offers. [Online]
Available at: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/information-systems
[Accessed 08 february 2019].
Boar, B., 2001. The art of strategic planning for information technology. second ed. new york : John WIley & Sons, Inc..
Bourgeois, . D., 2019. Chapter 9: The people in informance systems. [Online]
Available at: https://bus206.pressbooks.com/chapter/chapter-people/
[Accessed 08 february 2019].
Rouse, M., 2019. IT strategic plan. [Online]
Available at: https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/IT-strategic-plan-information-technology-strategic-plan
[Accessed 08 february 2019].
- Mission statement: States what it plans to achieve and how the IT strategy relates to the organisation’s overall business objectives.
- S.W.O.T analysis: Includes strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to identify both internal and external factors that can affect IT’s ability to contribute to an organisation’s success.
- Goals: the IT strategic plan should be clear about its ultimate goals, including a list of technology investments that the IT department deems a priority for the businesses success.
- IT budget: The IT budget outlines and evaluates the businesses current IT budget and allocates project specific resources and responsibilities with the IT department to meet objective requirements (Rouse, 2019).
Technology planning also involves a lengthy process of employing the correct people for the maintenance and management of the systems. Job roles businesses employee for IT systems are:
- Application analyst
- Cyber security analyst
- Data analyst
- Data scientist
- Database administrator
- Information systems manager
- It consultant
- It technical support officer
- Penetration tester
- Software engineer
- Systems analyst (AGCAS, 2017), (Bourgeois, 2019)
Most roles in large companies will be occupied by more than one person working in tandem to insure the successful maintenance and management of the information system. This creates other resource drains for the business meaning the planning of IT is a very large scale project with many complex pieces requiring specialist Technology planning.
Bibliography AGCAS, 2017. information systems job offers. [Online]
Available at: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/information-systems
[Accessed 08 february 2019].
Boar, B., 2001. The art of strategic planning for information technology. second ed. new york : John WIley & Sons, Inc..
Bourgeois, . D., 2019. Chapter 9: The people in informance systems. [Online]
Available at: https://bus206.pressbooks.com/chapter/chapter-people/
[Accessed 08 february 2019].
Rouse, M., 2019. IT strategic plan. [Online]
Available at: https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/IT-strategic-plan-information-technology-strategic-plan
[Accessed 08 february 2019].
How technology can assist simplicity of tasks?
This week we are looking at how technology can assist simplicity of tasks. We will do this by investigating whether technology is improving productivity or not. When technology came into the workplace, many assumed it would automatically improve workplace productivity. Typewriters were replaced by word processing programmes and spreadsheets later replaced calculators, so it seemed technology was about to make rapid changes to the way we work. At the time however, economists were not able to determine whether technology was improving workplace productivity or not. “The relationship between productivity and technology remains a frequently discussed concept by corporate and political leaders due to the impact on economic growth and the standard of living” (Frosst, L. Brown and Elder, 2004). Nowadays it is clear to see how technology is improving workplace productivity and thus assisting in employee’s completion of tasks. Here are a few examples of how technology is used to simplify business tasks. To start, back when technology wasn’t around. Manual filing was done in businesses and these files were stored in filling cabinets. Nowadays, one single hard drive has the ability to store and maintain millions upon millions of files. Technology has now given employees everything they need on one computer. Instead of travelling all over the building for certain files and information. They have access to a company database that is only a few clicks away. This speeds up their daily tasks by saving them time and effort. Technology now allows employees to work remotely from their own home. This has two benefits, one being it saves an employee time to get into work and they can simply climb out of bed and start working on completing tasks straight away and two, companies that allow their employees to work remotely have reported their productivity levels have risen by 16%. Not to mention job satisfaction levels also rise thanks to technology allowing employees to work from home. Finally, technology gives employees the ability to collaborate with each other through the use of cloud based technology. Employees who are involved in a team that is scattered across the world have the ability to link files and share data through the use of the cloud. This increases their overall productivity through simplicity and thus they are able to complete many tasks using this technology in a quick and easy manner (Mathews, 2018).
Social Media and Politics.
Digital political advertising spending in the United States from 2008 to 2020 (in million U.S. dollars)
As seen above, political advertising spending on digital platforms such as social media has dramatically increased in the last 5 years. With so many eligible voters on social media, political parties and affiliates spend billions to try and capture their vote. 1.4B US$ was spent on digital political advertising in the US in 2016 alone, that was the year of the presidential election and many hold social media largely responsible for the outcome of that election.
For many people social media is a source for political information. And the issue with that is fake news is easily spread on social media. For example, a study done by the Journal of Economic Perspectives outlines the following: For “Top news sites” nearly 80% of website traffic comes from direct browsing and search engines, and around 10% from social media. “Fake news sites” on the other hand, only around 50% of traffic comes from direct browsing and search engines, and over 40% comes from social media (Allcott and Gentzkow, 2017).
Another interesting aspect to social media in modern society is its viral nature. When incidents in the political world come to light, coverage of them can go viral on social media in a matter of minutes. Take the Panama Papers for example, 11.5 million leaked documents detailing financial and attorney–client information for over 200,000 offshore entities. These papers leaked on April 3rd 2016, and within 24 hours the crisis generated 1.9 million mentions online (Panama Papers: The online impact of a global scandal, 2016). This massive social media coverage put politician such as David Cameron under the spotlight, and even led to the resignation of Iceland’s PM at the time, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson.
We’re truly living in an age where social media and politics intertwine, for better or for worse.
For many people social media is a source for political information. And the issue with that is fake news is easily spread on social media. For example, a study done by the Journal of Economic Perspectives outlines the following: For “Top news sites” nearly 80% of website traffic comes from direct browsing and search engines, and around 10% from social media. “Fake news sites” on the other hand, only around 50% of traffic comes from direct browsing and search engines, and over 40% comes from social media (Allcott and Gentzkow, 2017).
Another interesting aspect to social media in modern society is its viral nature. When incidents in the political world come to light, coverage of them can go viral on social media in a matter of minutes. Take the Panama Papers for example, 11.5 million leaked documents detailing financial and attorney–client information for over 200,000 offshore entities. These papers leaked on April 3rd 2016, and within 24 hours the crisis generated 1.9 million mentions online (Panama Papers: The online impact of a global scandal, 2016). This massive social media coverage put politician such as David Cameron under the spotlight, and even led to the resignation of Iceland’s PM at the time, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson.
We’re truly living in an age where social media and politics intertwine, for better or for worse.
How business technologies are relevant to contemporary marketing practice:
Track consumer behaviour:
Nowadays everyone knows what everyone is doing at any one time because you told everyone what you’re doing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, and your personal blog. There are no secrets anymore between you and your friends, family, brands you like, businesses that like you, businesses that want your money, anyone else that will get value from you and the American government…..but you didn’t hear that here! What you do in privacy is not private anymore (Boran, 2016)
This isn’t as bad as it sounds, unless you’re a criminal, then you’re going to jail (you deserve it idiot). For shoppers and information seekers it means tailored ads, tailored information and tailored search results. This is tracked through cookies, location settings and history. In B2B marketing it goes one step further with tools like lead forensics. This tracks the IP address registered by the company which you can use to contact certain leads in the captured company (Forensics, 2016).
You can also look at user behaviour as a whole. Using googles consumer barometer you can see a survey done by google that looks into consumers: www.consumerbarometer.com
This is vital to a marketeer to make decisions in the digital landscape. The ever changing almighty Internet does not simply tell you which way it will swing so Marketeers have the systems like the GCB and google analytics to help them through every step (Thakur, 2017)
Nowadays everyone knows what everyone is doing at any one time because you told everyone what you’re doing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, and your personal blog. There are no secrets anymore between you and your friends, family, brands you like, businesses that like you, businesses that want your money, anyone else that will get value from you and the American government…..but you didn’t hear that here! What you do in privacy is not private anymore (Boran, 2016)
This isn’t as bad as it sounds, unless you’re a criminal, then you’re going to jail (you deserve it idiot). For shoppers and information seekers it means tailored ads, tailored information and tailored search results. This is tracked through cookies, location settings and history. In B2B marketing it goes one step further with tools like lead forensics. This tracks the IP address registered by the company which you can use to contact certain leads in the captured company (Forensics, 2016).
You can also look at user behaviour as a whole. Using googles consumer barometer you can see a survey done by google that looks into consumers: www.consumerbarometer.com
- Audience stories
- The survey data using a graph builder
- Googles curated insights
- Compare digital trend data over time
This is vital to a marketeer to make decisions in the digital landscape. The ever changing almighty Internet does not simply tell you which way it will swing so Marketeers have the systems like the GCB and google analytics to help them through every step (Thakur, 2017)
Technology aids in customer service, customer retention, customer acquisition.
This week, we will be looking at how technology can aid in customer service, customer retention and customer acquisition. When it comes to customer retention, it seems the hospitality industry is beginning to excel at using technology to retain customers. Originally, the hospitality industry relied heavily on big data sets and customer reviews to try and retain their customers but now, digital platforms are now being developed to fully automate the original process of customer retention in the aim of accurately bringing customers back to their business. The digital platform known as “SevenRooms” provides hotels, nightclubs and restaurants with engagement software and marketing automation. The idea behind SevenRooms is to turn first time customers into regular customers. In the restaurant business, customer retention can make the difference between gaining a better profit or barely breaking even. Research claims that customer retention is extremely cost effective. “Increasing retention rates by just 5% can increase profits by up to 95%” (Bandoim, 2019). These businesses in the hospitality industry should invest in customer retention because through the use of technology, many businesses now have the ability to rapidly increase their profit margins. Customer service is also a major reason why businesses increase their profits. For the many companies in Ireland, about 80% of them put the customer first in the aim of being successful. As customers expectations of a company continue to rise, customers are starting the expect many of the companies they do business with to be innovative and to work with them. “Over the past few years, a small number (14 per cent) of financial services businesses are also benefiting from an improved customer relationship because their organisation took steps to invest in digital technology” (Irishtechnews.ie, 2019). Businesses that operate in the banking sector for instance notice by building a relationship with their customers, they are becoming more successful and the majority of this customer relationship building is thanks to the leverage the banks give towards technology (Irishtechnews.ie, 2019).
Analyzing Marketing Campaigns in Today's Business World
In today’s world, business owners must invest in marketing in order to grow their brand and increase sales, particularly in digital marketing. It’s estimated that over 4.3 Billion people are active on the internet (We Are Social, 2019) so there is no better time than now to promote your business online.
The biggest problem with digital marketers today, is measuring the effectiveness of campaigns. 43% of marketers say that proving ROI on marketing activities is one of their biggest challenges (Hubspot, 2018).
The biggest problem with digital marketers today, is measuring the effectiveness of campaigns. 43% of marketers say that proving ROI on marketing activities is one of their biggest challenges (Hubspot, 2018).
Google Analytics is a tool that seeks to alleviate this problem. It is a web analytics tool that tracks and reports on website traffic, and as a business’ website should be the centre of all digital marketing operations it can prove to be quite useful. You can see how many users visited your website in certain time periods, and where on the internet they came from. For example, if you ran a Facebook campaign you can see if it was successful or not be checking the number of users that came from Facebook during the time the campaign was running.
|
Hubspot also provide analytic tools for inbound marketing activities (and sales). Just like google analytics you can see what kind of traffic your website is getting. What pages within your website they use, how long they spend on each etc. These analytics tool help you to decide how to tailor your content for your audience. Hubspot are also very hands on in their service, and will help you to communicate with your audience as effectively as possible.
|
There will always be difficulties in justifying marketing activities, as campaign management can be tough. But business technologies have come so far to provide companies with great analytics tools, to tailor their campaigns to be effective. So, who knows what marketing of the future looks like.
The different types of digital communications and networking
This week, we will be looking at different types of digital communication and networking. The types of digital communication we will be looking at today are LAN, WLAN, MAN, and Wan connections. A local area network or Lan as it is more commonly referred to is a “group of computers and associated devices that share a common communications line or wireless link to a server” (Rouse, 2016). A LAN connection combines both computers and factors connected to a server that is in a distinctly placed in a geographical area such as an office block or a financial district etc. Mobile phones and computers use a local area network connection in the aim of storing files or connecting to other devices such as a printer through the use of cables and wires. This type of connection can serve as little as 2-3 users in a small office to as many as 200-300 users for those who operate in a bigger office. A “LAN networking comprises cables, switches, routers and other components that let users connect to internal servers, websites and other LANs via wide area networks” (Rouse, 2016). A WLAN connection or wireless local area network connection is similar to a LAN connection however a user of this connection connects to other devices wirelessly as oppose to a LAN connection that uses cables and wires. WLAN is essentially a cheaper version of a LAN connection. “High-bandwidth allocation for wireless will make possible a relatively low-cost wiring of classrooms in the United States” (Rouse, 2010). Hospitals and Business are now beginning to change their connection from a more expensive LAN connection to a cheaper alternative in the form of a WLAN connection. A metropolitan area network or MAN connection is a “network that interconnects users with computer resources in a geographic area or region larger than that covered by even a large local area network (LAN) but smaller than the area covered by a wide area network (WAN)” (Rouse, 2005). This type of connection takes all the various different connection in a city and it puts them into one single larger network. These MAN connection can be found in metropolitan areas such as Poland, London and Switzerland (Rouse, 2005). A wide area network or WAN connection is a “geographically distributed private telecommunications network that interconnects multiple local area networks (LANs)” (Rouse, 2016). This type of connection is built up of all the connections of a company’s headquarters, branch offices and cloud servers etc. A WAN connection allows a user to share access to applications, files and servers as long as they are all centrally located resources. This prevents the need to install different application servers in multiple locations (Rouse, 2016).
How Organizations use Various Network
For businesses, sharing information within the company is essential. If an entire business is located in the same location, they can have a Local Area Network of LAN. All the computers and components in the single office or building are connected are physically connected via Ethernet cables, and sharing of information is quick and easy. This also allows a single internet connection to be shared among multiple computers, making it easier for everyone to get online. Larger companies that have workers and offices in different locations require a Wide Area Network (WAN). This usually requires high-speed Wi-Fi to function efficiently.
A common thing companies tend to create within their network, is an intranet. a system of connected computers that works like the internet and allows people within an organization to communicate with each other and share information (Dictionary.cambridge.org, 2019). This is basically a private internet for all the workers of the business, one of the benefits of having a closed company network.
A more abstract and less popular type of network is a MAN network or Metropolitan Area Network. This is a network that covers a city or large college campus. So basically, somewhere in-between LAN and WAN (Although it is technically a lot of LAN networks connected together). A benefit of using a MAN is that it is much easier to communicate within it as speeds are higher than say on the internet. MAN uses fiber optics so the speed of data can easily reach upon 1000 Mbps. Files and databases can be transferred fast (Rehman, 2019). Examples of organizations who use them are government agencies, hospitals, public libraries and universities.
A common thing companies tend to create within their network, is an intranet. a system of connected computers that works like the internet and allows people within an organization to communicate with each other and share information (Dictionary.cambridge.org, 2019). This is basically a private internet for all the workers of the business, one of the benefits of having a closed company network.
A more abstract and less popular type of network is a MAN network or Metropolitan Area Network. This is a network that covers a city or large college campus. So basically, somewhere in-between LAN and WAN (Although it is technically a lot of LAN networks connected together). A benefit of using a MAN is that it is much easier to communicate within it as speeds are higher than say on the internet. MAN uses fiber optics so the speed of data can easily reach upon 1000 Mbps. Files and databases can be transferred fast (Rehman, 2019). Examples of organizations who use them are government agencies, hospitals, public libraries and universities.
The dynamic environment of networking and digital communication: Part 3
Changes over the years:The problems that come from updating technology is that the very thing it is built upon is always playing catchup. The infrastructure, the businesses, the security and the government are all playing catchup to the world’s biggest invention (Rubinstein, 2018). There needs to be a major facelift for the internet to take its next big leap forward and it must come from the back end.
But it’s not all bad as “the increasing diffusion of ICT in developing countries including India and the greater ICT-led convergence across sectors that we are witnessing now follows the emergence of the inter-related digital technology systems driven by Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics (or computation-intensive automation), online platforms, and what is being called artificial intelligence (AI). Several platforms (such as e-commerce, sharing service platform, e-payment platforms, etc.) as well as cloud, Blockchain, etc. are now available as "infrastructural" services and an increasing range of other digitised services (such as data analytics) are being offered through all of them” (Francis, 2019).
The history books will show us that the internet is built on old hardware from the 1960s that has been upgraded and built upon throughout the years (Leiner, 1997). This old hardware is holding back the next big leap forward. You cannot build a tower on top soil because the foundation must be the strongest part of the structure.
But it’s not all bad as “the increasing diffusion of ICT in developing countries including India and the greater ICT-led convergence across sectors that we are witnessing now follows the emergence of the inter-related digital technology systems driven by Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics (or computation-intensive automation), online platforms, and what is being called artificial intelligence (AI). Several platforms (such as e-commerce, sharing service platform, e-payment platforms, etc.) as well as cloud, Blockchain, etc. are now available as "infrastructural" services and an increasing range of other digitised services (such as data analytics) are being offered through all of them” (Francis, 2019).
The history books will show us that the internet is built on old hardware from the 1960s that has been upgraded and built upon throughout the years (Leiner, 1997). This old hardware is holding back the next big leap forward. You cannot build a tower on top soil because the foundation must be the strongest part of the structure.
Why your Business should be on Social Media
Social Media Marketing is the use of social media for communicating with and engaging customers online (Fahy and Jobber, 2012). And simply every business should be doing just that. If you’re a small business, medium business, multinational business or whatever, you need to include social media in your digital marketing strategy. It is estimated that there will be over 3 Billion active users on social media by 2021 (eMarketer, 2017). Now that’s a lot of potential customers right?
Here’s 5 reasons you need to get your business on Social Media:
Here’s 5 reasons you need to get your business on Social Media:
- Increase Brand Awareness
- Be the no.1 source of info on your business
- Create your Brand Image
- Create Brand Engagement
- Provide Customer Service
Conclusion:
The main reason we started this blog was to get over the confusion behind technology and its stigmas of complexity and “tech talk”. So, in the last 5 weeks, we at dtfbusiness have learned a lot about technology and how it affects businesses day to day. Got rid of the clouds of complexity and hopefully made it easier for you all to understand it as well. Shifting through many other blogs, technical documents and setup videos we have shaped a great admiration for those who work in information technology and those who create new technologies and protocols each day, it much be tiring to work your brain so hard so often.
Looking at ourselves, we now understand the dependency from all of us upon technology and the inevitability of growth and acceptance moving forward. The public at large don’t understand the man hours that went into their latest device, how its created and how it has evolved over the many years of technological breakthrough. We hope that those who have come across our blog posts and social medias have left, maybe not with a better aptitude for technology, but at least a greater respect for the power the poses in their pockets.
We want to thank our patrons that have showed their support for our hard work and progress and that they have grown along side us as we take the last steps in our journey. *Holding back the tears*…..its been emotional. *Presses power button*
Looking at ourselves, we now understand the dependency from all of us upon technology and the inevitability of growth and acceptance moving forward. The public at large don’t understand the man hours that went into their latest device, how its created and how it has evolved over the many years of technological breakthrough. We hope that those who have come across our blog posts and social medias have left, maybe not with a better aptitude for technology, but at least a greater respect for the power the poses in their pockets.
We want to thank our patrons that have showed their support for our hard work and progress and that they have grown along side us as we take the last steps in our journey. *Holding back the tears*…..its been emotional. *Presses power button*
Outro:
We here at DTFBusiness thank you for being a part of our five week blog program. We appreciate every bit of input that was given to us through all of our social media profiles. Sadly, all good things must come to an end and we have decided to go our separate ways. We hope that our weekly blogs have given our viewers insights into how technology operates in the world of business and we hope these insights will inspire our viewers to one day create or develop a technology that changes the way we live or conduct business. Best of luck from all of us here at DTFBusiness.
|