Reflection Week - 11

Good Ole Week 11! I am sooooooooooo glad that this week is over, two final exams in one week is enough to throw you overboard. I got a chance to browse over some of the other group projects and they were very informing. I’m not even sure if we were required to submit a reflection this week that shows you how discombobulated I am, between work, school and home, confusion has every right to settle in. I’m starting a new job on Monday for the same company but new division, new duties, new everything so I’m kind of exited about that, I will be working in the Office of Systems as an Application Software Developer. Nothing much other than that so, I’m going to sign out now and work on something else.

Reflection Week - 10

This week has been really stressful. I’ve taken online courses before some partially online/classroom attendance and some totally online. I have never had to do a class project in an online setting; there are pros and cons to this way of learning. #1 You have to have a lot of patience because not everyone in the group will have the same work schedule, some group member may not even be in the same time zone, let alone, country. #2 Participating in a group project online, gives you the avenues of researching more, because everything is done online, it gives you the true perspective of what it means to network because you will have to reach out to other group members to get the job done. This was a tedious experiment as well as a well informed one, but I don’t have any regrets because I work fulltime and I’m a fulltime mother and an online environment suites my schedule more than it would for me to take classes traditionally. I enjoyed being able to create a topic for this weeks discussion thread, that was fun because we each got to ask a question that was of interest to us and we were able to make a contribution to Wikipedia, this was my first time making any changes or contributions to any Wiki’s now I feel like I belong :).

Reflection Week - 9

This week we were given the opportunity to discuss several ethical issues concerning how using information technology in business affects employment, working condition and crimes. A couple of ethical responsibilities were discussed such as should employees be subjected to electronic monitoring of their work activities and email. I work for the Department of Defense and, yes there are circumstances that have warranted for employees to have their work activities and emails monitored. Fraud, waste and abuse has always been a problem in any business environment and many business do monitor employee activity to make sure that there are no unethical work practices taking place using company computers. Computer crimes are also on the rise, whether it is caused intentionally by a criminal or unintentional by an irresponsible individual. We also discussed some emerging technologies in cyber security, one such technology is called the Cyber Defense Technology Experimental Research (DETER). This technology helps DETER to analyze any possible cyber threats in the world and develop new ways to put a stop to cyber security issues. I have included a link below where you can read and get some additional information about this technology:

http://www.citris-uc.org/research/projects/cyber_defense_technology_experimental_research_network

Reflection Week - 8

This week we discuss the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and we had a discussion question about whether web developers should be concern about using the SDLC. One comment I made in regards to that question in which I agreed that, yes it should be used, was that creating or developing websites take planning and you want to be able to have a fully functional website that has the ability to earn, and inform it's intended audience because online businesses and internet related business opportunities are becoming more popular on a daily basis. Being able to create a visually appealing web page is one important aspect of a successful business strategy because good content is essential and without it, your web page is useless and without proper content an online business never gets to reach its full intended potential or reach its potential customers. Like many online companies as with any other business, the main idea behind web based businesses is to support a business while targeting a significant number of users, hassle free, and being able to provide them products, all while keeping security in mind, which is the next topic of discussion next week……

Reflection Week - 7

This week we discussed Outsourcing and I wanted to touch on that a little but more. Outsourcing is basically the process of taking third party resources and paying someone externally to handle them and it has always been a good option within business operations. Outsourcing is not just limited to manufacturing; it has actually affected several other industries but more so Information Technology. One of the problems with outsourcing and servicing in the US is that there are people that are intolerant of other cultures and languages and no matter what you do, there will people that get frustrated that they have to deal with service outside of the US. No matter if we like it or not outsourcing is here to stay. Until service here are low enough, organizations and companies will deem this as an acceptable alternative for most of their clients. I came across a recent issue of CIO magazine that provided a very good overview of the Top Three Outsourcing Initiatives for 2009, below is the link to that article:

http://www.cio.com/article/478098/Top_Three_Outsourcing_Initiatives_for_

Reflection Week - 6

Took my midterm this week, and got two job offers, now I have to select from working as a Application Software Developer or an Information Security Specialist both are great career areas to work in in Information Technology but I have a pretty tough decision to make. I am familiar with some aspect of IA and it is what I’m majoring in at UMUC but I am also interested in the APPSW position because it would allow me to develop live applications for the organization that I would be working for and although I have never worked in this area they are willing to train me to the fullest. So if it were you Prof Les which one of these IT professions would you be willing to work in, your opinion in this matter would be greatly appreciated? Other than that I am looking forward to working on my group project and again it is in one of the subjects that I find an interest in Information Security.

Reflection Week - 5

This has been a very uneventful week. We covered topics from E-Commerce to Dot Com failures and we had a chance to create our own E-Commerce business. Aside from the class but somehow IT related the news headline stated that “Michael Jackson Died and Took the Internet With Him” I’ll never forget that headline, because it claimed that web browsers were so overwhelmed with people searching for articles or news of Jackson’s death that everything pretty much just stopped working. Anyway E-Commerce are used with many application like Email, Online Banking, Shopping Carts and Teleconferencing and many databases management software’s can help a company and help support their operations and management of their businesses like it did for Cognet, which was an Internet Service Provider (ISP).