MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM 2

Barriers in IT/IS implementation

BARRIERS ON IT/IS IMPLEMENTATION

NCCC. It’s is all about people: Their associates, customers, business partners and community. Since starting out as a textile store in 1952 they continue to grow, expanding to different retail businesses and locations to serve more people.They strive to offer Service from the Heart first of all to their associates.They also maintain solid relationships with their business partners to provide a wide assortment of basic and unique merchandise.They are proud of journey and we continue to pay tribute to o founders and history by living up to core values of humility, caring, hard work, excellence and fun. They live for theiraa vision to be A Leader Who Cares. "
Based on our adopted company, the NCCC, these are the barriers in there IS/IT implementation:


VULNERABLE ISSUES
Viruses are designed to spread into other programs and can wreak havoc in a system, crashes and program malfunctions. This is the most common problem in IS/IT implementation in an organization.

COST
In adopting an updated version of any information system no one could deny the fact that the cost of each step in a program development, analysis and loading is not that super affordable specially if it’s providing those features that would boost your company’s progress in line with information system / information technology implementation. These are the examples of cost to be critically discussed in their so-called “business case”.
Installation Cost – the cost of physical linking the sites in the system (usually involves the installation de novo of such a backbone, which includes the wiring, transmission facility and connectivity equipment)
Communication Cost – the cost in time and money to send a message from
Availability Cost – the extent to which data can be accessed despite the failure of some links or sites
o because of the high cost and complexity, usually requires the participation of the telephone company and other service providers in its design, deployment, maintenance
o is seldom free and requires a fee for participation (line charges) and additional fees for services (not just Internet access but fees for maintenance and value-added services); the higher financial outlays for capital (equipment and lines) and monthly service charges and for operating expenses (such as staff) make such networks relatively more expensive for participants,


KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge barriers to technology adoption:
1. networks are more pricey to participate in, potential participants have a challenging job convincing their management, and the institutions they may want to link to, to play
2. potential participants have to be sensitive to interoperability issues because the new technology may or may not work seamlessly with existing technology
3. potential participants, especially those in the government sector, will need to worry about how the new technology will impact the institutions bid process for technology acquisition
4. potential participants will have to worry about how the new technology will affect the process by which they currently deliver services, and what kinds of retooling would be required on their part (new staff recruitment, new ways of working, new technology capabilities, relationships with new vendors and service providers)
5. usually requires maintenance and monitoring both on the backbone and user ends, and may span several layers: physical, Internet and value-added services, and applications layers; the telephone company and other service provider (such as the ISP) or providers may all have to cooperate to provide monitoring at these layers.
6. usually require a highly-skilled, dedicated, paid staff (and volunteer help) who provide these services; volunteer help alone is not sufficient

BUSINESS CASE
This could be considered as a barrier due to these reasons:
* Studying the problem too long without acting
* Trying to get everyone's agreement first
* Educating without changing structures or expectations
* Tackling everything at once
* Measuring nothing or everything
* Failing to build support for replication




Many have been arguing that using information technology within an organization can bring substantial gains. These gains initiallly arose through increased efficiency as back-off operations, such as accounting, controlling of stock and wage processing were computerized but as organizations became more sophisticated in their information systems then operations transferred to front-office aplications. The strategic use of information technology, as compared to transaction processing or operational control, has gained the most attention. The initial enthusiasm for the strategic use of IT has been reduced by evidence that information technologycan be a competitive burden instead of giving competitive advantege, and that the advantage might not be sustainable.


Common Barriers
• Studying the problem too long without acting
• Trying to get everyone's agreement first
• Educating without changing structures or expectations
• Tackling everything at once
• Measuring nothing or everything
• Failing to build support for replication
• Assuming that the status quo is OK
More Barriers to Change
• Lack of such resources as time and commitment
• Resistance to change
• Lack of senior leadership support or physician champion
• Lack of cooperation from other agencies, providers, departments, and facilities
• Ineffective teams
• Burdensome data collection
Essential Elements for Change Effort
• Define the problem
• Define the target population
• Define effective treatment strategies and establish procedural guidelines
• Establish performance measures; set goals
• Define effective system changes and interventions
• Develop leadership and system change strategy

Automated Election

AUTOMATED ELECTION IN THE PHILIPPINES
ELECTION 2010

As an Information Technology student, my opinion regarding this issue is that automated election shall be imposed for this coming election 2010. Automated election indeed can minimize the problems of the members of the COMELEC as well as the Filipinos all over the world. By using these automated and advanced equipments, voters won’t be able to have a hard time in manually writing their selected candidates and with just click, they are done voting. And when it comes to the volunteers and members of the COMELEC, they will not at least get tired in tallying the votes. When the tallying of votes are manually done, it will probably reach at about approximately two to three weeks of just counting the votes nationwide. In this way, the results are quicker. If this new way of voting will be done and will be imposed this coming election and the next elections to come, the cost of these equipments will be worth buying for and the result of the votes will be done automatically. And with in this way, we can at least minimize election fraud that can cause for the wrong candidates to be elected and be placed in the wrong position.
According to the news that I’ve read, equipments produced by Smartmatic will probably reach at about 11.3 billion pesos. Big amount isn’t it? But if we’ll look at the big picture and just think of the big change that this new technology might bring and contribute to our country these equipments are worth buying for. I believe that by using these equipments, it will widely contribute all the Filipino voters nationwide and even outside the country.

ADVANTAGES OF AUTOMATED ELECTION:

• can guarantee fair and accurate election
• results are virtually impossible to tamper because its levels of security cannot just be matched
• guarantees a flawless electoral process for the Filipinos
• speedy and fraud free election
• ensures credible and electoral process

As I was reading articles regarding this matter, I have read that there are possibilities that the election and the tallying of votes using these equipments can be cheated. Of course, we cannot deny the fact that there a lot of desperate candidates who are eager to win the election and we do not what they are up to. Maybe they just want to serve their fellowmen, or they want to be more powerful or even one way or another. We really don’t know. There are a lot of ways in cheating the election, one way is hacking the system that will be used in the election. This is not impossible, as technology arises there are a lot of possible ways that can be done. For them, money is in control of everything. If the greedy candidates will do their best in order for them to win, they can use their power and hire expert hackers and programmers just to cheat. One of the reasons why our country is still not in progress is because of the greedy politicians stole and continue stealing the money of the Filipinos.
If there are a lot of ways to cheat the election, there are also a lot of solutions and ways to avoid this problem. If each and every one of us will help in safekeeping the votes, we will be able to lessen this problem and at least in this way we will be able to help our country. Lending a helping hand to those organizations who are trying to help the safety of our votes is one way of being concern to our country. In fact it is only a matter of helping your country as well as your countrymen. And by choosing the right candidates that will responsibly take actions in making difference in the country is a big help. All these things might be simple but these things can make a big change. Our future is at stake and we can’t risk our future right? Then if we want change, and if we will fight for it, all these things are not that hard to achieve. And to be honest, no matter what medium or technology we are going to use, if we will going to help change and put the right candidates in the right position, we will be able to make that change and that change starts within us.

“This is a great leap forward for our country. This about making sure that every vote of every Filipino is counted, and counted properly. This about giving the future of the Philippines back to its own people,” Richard Gordon

These are the articles that I have read in the internet:

____________________________________________________________________________________________

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) are now on the mindset of going back to manual counting if Smartmatic and TIM will not resolve their conflict. The COMELEC has given the two corporations until Friday to decide whether or not they could push through with the automation contract for the 2010 elections.
If the two companies cannot push through with the automation contract, COMELEC chairman Jose Melo admitted that next year’s elections might be done manually because the commission no longer has the time to convene a second bidding for a new supplier of machines.
Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., chairman of the House electoral reform committee, told reporters that TIM president Antuñez wanted 500 million php “up front” from its foreign partner. “If you give me a half a billion pesos, all of these problems will be solved.” - This was what the president of Total Information Management Corp. had demanded in a tease manner, but Smartmatic took seriously.“Of course, they took this as a joke but lawyers do not laugh about such things. They took it as a deal breaker. The lawyers thought this was tantamount to extortion,” Locsin said.Locsin said that by making “impossible demands,” Antunez was laying the groundwork for its defense against a lawsuit to be filed by Smartmatic in Singapore. “P500 million is really big because Smartmatic’s bid is already the lowest. You are not supposed to do that, it’s illegal. You cannot just give P500 million profit to somebody. Why will you do that?” Locsin said.
Other option the Commission on Elections is looking will be the joint partnership between Smartmatic and COMELEC, but worst case will be a full manual counting for the May 2010 election as chairman Melo sighted the automation will be “very slim” as” happy days will be here again” for those who will plan to cheat for next year election.

http:\MIS\2010-philippine-automated-election-jeopardy\
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Philippines says plan for automated election on again

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines will hold automated presidential elections next year after the partners of a joint venture that won a $150 million deal to supply counting machines patched up their differences on Friday, officials said.
"We're back to automation," Jose Melo, head of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), told reporters after Filipino company Total Information Management signed a joint venture agreement with Barbados-based Smartmatic to supply 82,200 counting machines.
Lawmakers, political groups and analysts have previously cast doubts over the automated process. Many feared chaos due to potential machine breakdowns and delays in results transmission, which could lead to a failed election and political limbo. But analysts say even manual counting would expose the elections to the likelihood of fraud. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has faced four attempts at impeachment on charges she cheated in the last presidential election in 2004. Melo said the incorporation papers of the joint venture to supply vote counting machines will be filed before the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday and the contract with Comelec will be signed on Friday, the final deadline to automate the elections in May 2010. If no automation contract is signed by July 10, Melo said the Philippines will likely scrap the deal and hold elections manually. The automation should provide results within two days of voting instead of the weeks it takes currently, the agency has said. On Monday, Melo said the plan to automate polls was likely to be scrapped because Smartmatic's local partner broke off from the deal due to differences, but gave the partners until Friday to resolve their dispute.

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-40785720090703

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Automated election fraud

Comelec’s claims:
Comelec claims that the AES (automated election system) cannot be hacked and that the source code will be open for inspection. These are good for Comelec’s PR efforts, but they do not make automated elections safe from fraud. In fact, they are smoke screens that cover the real areas where fraud can take place. The Random House Encyclopedia defines hacking as unauthorized access to a computer, either for fun or for malicious or fraudulent purposes. Hackers generally use microcomputers and telephone lines to obtain access.
In computing, the term is used in a wider sense to mean using software for enjoyment or self-education, not necessarily involving unauthorized access.
How do we safeguard our vote?
In order to prevent automated election fraud, certain safeguards have to be instituted. These include:
1. The OMR machines should not have any network connection. The election results should be copied to USB memory sticks, which can subsequently be loaded to a separate PC that will transmit the results to the Comelec canvassing system at the municipality and to the dominant majority and minority parties, as well as to the citizens arms such as PPCRV and Namfrel.
2. The above parties should be provided with their own PCs to be able to produce their own COCs. If the Comelec COC does not match the COCs produced by other parties, a careful review should be done prior to transmission to the provincial level.
3. The verified municipal COC should then be transmitted to the multiple groups defined above. Again, the Comelec COC should be compared with the other COCs and the reason for discrepancies should be determined.
4. The verified Provincial COC should again be transmitted to multiple parties. The Comelec and Congressional Canvass should again be compared to the parallel canvasses to assure that fraud is minimized as much as possible.
5. Each of the concerned groups should make their results available on their websites for the public to access. If these proposed measures are followed, there will be true transparency and automated fraud will be minimized.

http://business.inquirer.net/money/columns/view/20090706-214009/Automated-election-fraud

____________________________________________________________________________________

Smartmatic commends automation of elections in the Philippines

Manila, July 18, 2006.– In his recent visit to Manila, Philippines, Robert Cook, Smartmatic Vicepresident, revealed the importance of automating the electoral process, stating his company’s experience in other developing countries. In his talk with David Celdran, host of “Business Nightly” aired over ANC, a local television news network, Cook exposed that utmost respect is instantly earned by the winning candidate if the citizens trust the election system.

Mr. Cook said that their experience in various developing countries proves that an automated election process that is run by a sufficiently advanced technology can guarantee fair and accurate elections. With the right technology, results are also virtually impossible to tamper because its levels of security cannot just be matched. The superiority of Smartmatic’s automated election system encompasses an election technology that guarantees a flawless electoral process for the Filipinos.

http://automatedelec.Smartmatic/Smartmatic.commends.automation/

COMDDAP 2009

Last July 2 – 4, 2009 the Computer Manufacturer, Distributors and Dealers Association of the Philippines or COMDDAP conducted a 3 day exhibit, sessions and seminars at the Grand Ballroom of the Apo View Hotel. This was opened to the public including the sessions which the registration is through online. The said event was participated by the leading manufacturers, distributors and dealers of computers and other modern gadgets and systems all over the Philippines. The tech update sessions were scheduled on July 2 to 3. These sessions were free of charge. The said sessions were done by the members of Nexus Group.

All the students under Sir RS Gamboa were tasked to join the said event. Most of us chose the First day of the session since we don’t have any vacant schedule. July 2, 2009, at exactly 1:00 in the afternoon we arrived at the Apo View Hotel, Grand Ballroom. Before we enter the place, we were instructed to get a sticker that shall be worn upon entering the Grand Ballroom. Some of my classmates said that we must first register and write our names in a paper so that we may be able to join the raffle draw but the security guard told us that we are not included. (nawong jud mi ug price.haha.)

When we entered the Grand Ballroom, we saw different booths of the distributors that were part of COMDDAP. We saw hi-tech gadgets, computers and many more. And I said to myself, wow! Kuyaw na jud ang technology karon na panahon.(na-ignorante gud ko kadali.lol). I took pictures all over the place and I was really amazed. It was my first time to join that kind of event and it was indeed a great experience.

After we took some pictures and glanced over the gadgets, we immediately went to the sessions that we chose upon registering online. We entered the Vanda function room the Apo View.

The first session was done by the ERIC Dealer Management System. ERIC DMS is an end-to-end softwaresolution for automotive dealer operation. ERIC DMS range solutions cover Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Vehicle Sales and Administration (VSA), and Service Management (SVM). It is also supported by a robust back-end system on parts and supplies inventory, over the counter sales, purchasing and the requisite financial modules
for financial accounting and reporting. ERIC DMS was part by the
Jupiter Systems Inc.

The second session was from HP. The speaker introduced the amazing device which is called the Thin Client. Thin
clients are computing devices that function as an access device on a network. HP thin client has the solution if your business is facing issues such as Desktop replacement costs, Network Security, Supporting
application software on diverse hardware or Ensuring your data remains accessible and secure. HP is a member of Nexus Technologies, Inc. After the session, the speaker asked some questions and gave the one who can
answer a price. They were given flash disks and t-shirts.

The third session was from Microsoft Dynamic Retail Management System. The Philippine retail industry continues to thrive despite the global financial crisis. Retailers challenged with multi-branch servicing cost need a scalable solution to bring sales orders to its branches promote interbrand stock sharing and send sales information to the head office seamlessly. Find out how you can have enterprise-class tools to analyze data at a fraction of the cost. The need for timely business information helps them improve their bottomline, restore order to multi-branch stores and meet geographical challenges. Retail Management System is part the Nexus Professional Services and Solutions or NPSS.

The last session was Open Source For Applications. We were supposed to leave the session since it was already 5:00 o’clock but we chose to stay because we want to learn more. Although we were already hungry, we never hesitated to stay. Open Source for Applications, as companies cut IT spending by up to 10 percent, its income generating prospects need not suffer. Open Source development for business applications has proven to lower acquisition costs, and decrease vendor lock-in reliance and obsolescence rate so that even commercial software giants have acknowledged the rise of this technology by allowing interoperability. We discovered how the use of internet based Open Source platforms is a viable alternative for developing systems such as corporate, e-commerce, CRM, employment, publishing and collaborative. Some of us were also given chocolates from the speaker.

By joining these sessions, we have learned a lot of things from these new technologies that have been introduced to us. It has been a great help for us as an Information Technology Students. Some of the speakers, taught us not only from their products but also they exceed the line in teaching us some new thing. This experience was indeed a great one.

reference:
http://www.comddap.org/

My future job

What profession I want in the future?

To be honest, I really don’t have any idea on what profession would I have and what would I become in the future. But, as I was researching in the internet, Web developer has a huge salary and can make a lot of money. I’m just being practical! Haha.. Just kidding. Well, I chose Web Developer because of the job description that I have read in one of the sites I visited.

This is the Web Developer Job Description:

PROJECT RELATED COMPETENCIES
Solution Development and Delivery
• Understands technical and functional design requirements.
• Assists in physical and logical database design.
• Creates prototypes for client engagements.
• Designs, codes, and tests technical solutions.
• Identifies system deficiencies and recommends solutions.
Project Execution
• Leads small teams of developers.
• Assists in enforcement of development deadlines and schedules.
• Understands the necessity of and contributes to coding standards.
• Develops internal and external meeting objectives and agendas.
• Prioritizes multiple tasks effectively.
CAREER PATH CORE COMPETENCIES
Communication
• Promotes active listening with team members.
• Contributes appropriately to conversations.
• Accurately prepares written business correspondence that is coherent, grammatically correct, effective, professional and engaging.
Relational Databases
• Understands advanced relational database concepts.
• Demonstrates proficiency with physical and logical database design.
• Writes effective stored procedures.
• Possesses demonstrated work experience with at least one relational database management system.
Programming Languages
• Demonstrates proficiency in at least one structured programming language.
• Creates effective XSL stylesheets.
• Reads and understands XML schemas.
Architecture
• Understands client server and internet systems architectures.
• Demonstrates familiarity with object and component methodology and technology.
• Understands DCOM/CORBA or equivalent.
• Identifies appropriate use of COM objects.
PROFESSIONAL QUALITIES
Leadership
• Follows through with commitments and fosters mutual trust with fellow employees.
• Assumes additional responsibility without being asked.
• Encourages fellow team members to make innovative contributions and embrace new ideas.
Teamwork
• Proactively initiates, develops, and maintains effective working relationships with team members.
• Recognizes the strengths and weaknesses of each team member .
• Demonstrates the ability to cooperate with a variety of people and achieve results.
Client Management
• Anticipates client needs before they arise and presents solutions to project management that encompass issues at hand.
• Understands expectations that were set with client and recognizes when issues/events may affect delivery.
ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Professional Development
• Proactively seeks opportunities to broaden and deepen knowledge base and proficiencies.
• Shares acquired skills with team members through formal and informal channels.
• Encourages more junior employees to take responsibility for their development within the company.
Internal Operations
• Participates regularly in the recruitment of new hires through our interviewing process and involvement in recruiting events.
• Actively contributes to internal programs

http://www.mariosalexandrou.com/free-job-descriptions/intermediate-web-developer.asp

Web developers can be found working in all types of organizations, including large corporations and governments, small and medium sized companies, or alone as freelancers. Some web developers work for one organization as a permanent full-time employee, while others may work as independent consultants, or as contractors for an employment agency.

references:

http://www.mariosalexandrou.com/free-job-descriptions/intermediate-web-developer.asp
http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-774-Who-is-Hiring-Top-10-Jobs-in-Information-Technology/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_developer

AUTOMATED ELECTION IN THE PHILIPPINES
ELECTION 2010

As an Information Technology student, my opinion regarding this issue is that automated election shall be imposed for this coming election 2010. Automated election indeed can minimize the problems of the members of the COMELEC as well as the Filipinos all over the world. By using these automated and advanced equipments, voters won’t be able to have a hard time in manually writing their selected candidates and with just click, they are done voting. And when it comes to the volunteers and members of the COMELEC, they will not at least get tired in tallying the votes. When the tallying of votes are manually done, it will probably reach at about approximately two to three weeks of just counting the votes nationwide. In this way, the results are quicker. If this new way of voting will be done and will be imposed this coming election and the next elections to come, the cost of these equipments will be worth buying for and the result of the votes will be done automatically. And with in this way, we can at least minimize election fraud that can cause for the wrong candidates to be elected and be placed in the wrong position.

According to the news that I’ve read, equipments produced by Smartmatic will probably reach at about 11.3 billion pesos. Big amount isn’t it? But if we’ll look at the big picture and just think of the big change that this new technology might bring and contribute to our country these equipments are worth buying for. I believe that by using these equipments, it will widely contribute all the Filipino voters nationwide and even outside the country.

ADVANTAGES OF AUTOMATED ELECTION:

• can guarantee fair and accurate election
• results are virtually impossible to tamper because its levels of security cannot just be matched
• guarantees a flawless electoral process for the Filipinos
• speedy and fraud free election
• ensures credible and electoral process

As I was reading articles regarding this matter, I have read that there are possibilities that the election and the tallying of votes using these equipments can be cheated. Of course, we cannot deny the fact that there a lot of desperate candidates who are eager to win the election and we do not what they are up to. Maybe they just want to serve their fellowmen, or they want to be more powerful or even one way or another. We really don’t know. There are a lot of ways in cheating the election, one way is hacking the system that will be used in the election. This is not impossible, as technology arises there are a lot of possible ways that can be done. For them, money is in control of everything. If the greedy candidates will do their best in order for them to win, they can use their power and hire expert hackers and programmers just to cheat. One of the reasons why our country is still not in progress is because of the greedy politicians stole and continue stealing the money of the Filipinos.

If there are a lot of ways to cheat the election, there are also a lot of solutions and ways to avoid this problem. If each and every one of us will help in safekeeping the votes, we will be able to lessen this problem and at least in this way we will be able to help our country. Lending a helping hand to those organizations who are trying to help the safety of our votes is one way of being concern to our country. In fact it is only a matter of helping your country as well as your countrymen. And by choosing the right candidates that will responsibly take actions in making difference in the country is a big help. All these things might be simple but these things can make a big change. Our future is at stake and we can’t risk our future right? Then if we want change, and if we will fight for it, all these things are not that hard to achieve. And to be honest, no matter what medium or technology we are going to use, if we will going to help change and put the right candidates in the right position, we will be able to make that change and that change starts within us.

“This is a great leap forward for our country. This about making sure that every vote of every Filipino is counted, and counted properly. This about giving the future of the Philippines back to its own people,” Richard Gordon

These are the articles that I have read in the internet:

___________________________________________________

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) are now on the mindset of going back to manual counting if Smartmatic and TIM will not resolve their conflict. The COMELEC has given the two corporations until Friday to decide whether or not they could push through with the automation contract for the 2010 elections.
If the two companies cannot push through with the automation contract, COMELEC chairman Jose Melo admitted that next year’s elections might be done manually because the commission no longer has the time to convene a second bidding for a new supplier of machines.
Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., chairman of the House electoral reform committee, told reporters that TIM president Antuñez wanted 500 million php “up front” from its foreign partner. “If you give me a half a billion pesos, all of these problems will be solved.” - This was what the president of Total Information Management Corp. had demanded in a tease manner, but Smartmatic took seriously.“Of course, they took this as a joke but lawyers do not laugh about such things. They took it as a deal breaker. The lawyers thought this was tantamount to extortion,” Locsin said.Locsin said that by making “impossible demands,” Antunez was laying the groundwork for its defense against a lawsuit to be filed by Smartmatic in Singapore. “P500 million is really big because Smartmatic’s bid is already the lowest. You are not supposed to do that, it’s illegal. You cannot just give P500 million profit to somebody. Why will you do that?” Locsin said.
Other option the Commission on Elections is looking will be the joint partnership between Smartmatic and COMELEC, but worst case will be a full manual counting for the May 2010 election as chairman Melo sighted the automation will be “very slim” as” happy days will be here again” for those who will plan to cheat for next year election.

http:\MIS\2010-philippine-automated-election-jeopardy\

____________________________________________

Philippines says plan for automated election on again

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines will hold automated presidential elections next year after the partners of a joint venture that won a $150 million deal to supply counting machines patched up their differences on Friday, officials said.
"We're back to automation," Jose Melo, head of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), told reporters after Filipino company Total Information Management signed a joint venture agreement with Barbados-based Smartmatic to supply 82,200 counting machines.
Lawmakers, political groups and analysts have previously cast doubts over the automated process. Many feared chaos due to potential machine breakdowns and delays in results transmission, which could lead to a failed election and political limbo. But analysts say even manual counting would expose the elections to the likelihood of fraud. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has faced four attempts at impeachment on charges she cheated in the last presidential election in 2004. Melo said the incorporation papers of the joint venture to supply vote counting machines will be filed before the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday and the contract with Comelec will be signed on Friday, the final deadline to automate the elections in May 2010. If no automation contract is signed by July 10, Melo said the Philippines will likely scrap the deal and hold elections manually. The automation should provide results within two days of voting instead of the weeks it takes currently, the agency has said. On Monday, Melo said the plan to automate polls was likely to be scrapped because Smartmatic's local partner broke off from the deal due to differences, but gave the partners until Friday to resolve their dispute.

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-40785720090703

_____________________________________________________

Automated election fraud

Comelec’s claims:

Comelec claims that the AES (automated election system) cannot be hacked and that the source code will be open for inspection. These are good for Comelec’s PR efforts, but they do not make automated elections safe from fraud. In fact, they are smoke screens that cover the real areas where fraud can take place. The Random House Encyclopedia defines hacking as unauthorized access to a computer, either for fun or for malicious or fraudulent purposes. Hackers generally use microcomputers and telephone lines to obtain access.
In computing, the term is used in a wider sense to mean using software for enjoyment or self-education, not necessarily involving unauthorized access.
How do we safeguard our vote?
In order to prevent automated election fraud, certain safeguards have to be instituted. These include:
1. The OMR machines should not have any network connection. The election results should be copied to USB memory sticks, which can subsequently be loaded to a separate PC that will transmit the results to the Comelec canvassing system at the municipality and to the dominant majority and minority parties, as well as to the citizens arms such as PPCRV and Namfrel.
2. The above parties should be provided with their own PCs to be able to produce their own COCs. If the Comelec COC does not match the COCs produced by other parties, a careful review should be done prior to transmission to the provincial level.
3. The verified municipal COC should then be transmitted to the multiple groups defined above. Again, the Comelec COC should be compared with the other COCs and the reason for discrepancies should be determined.
4. The verified Provincial COC should again be transmitted to multiple parties. The Comelec and Congressional Canvass should again be compared to the parallel canvasses to assure that fraud is minimized as much as possible.
5. Each of the concerned groups should make their results available on their websites for the public to access. If these proposed measures are followed, there will be true transparency and automated fraud will be minimized.

http://business.inquirer.net/money/columns/view/20090706-214009/Automated-election-fraud

_____________________________________________________

Smartmatic commends automation of elections in the Philippines

Manila, July 18, 2006.– In his recent visit to Manila, Philippines, Robert Cook, Smartmatic Vicepresident, revealed the importance of automating the electoral process, stating his company’s experience in other developing countries. In his talk with David Celdran, host of “Business Nightly” aired over ANC, a local television news network, Cook exposed that utmost respect is instantly earned by the winning candidate if the citizens trust the election system.

Mr. Cook said that their experience in various developing countries proves that an automated election process that is run by a sufficiently advanced technology can guarantee fair and accurate elections. With the right technology, results are also virtually impossible to tamper because its levels of security cannot just be matched. The superiority of Smartmatic’s automated election system encompasses an election technology that guarantees a flawless electoral process for the Filipinos.

http://automatedelec.Smartmatic/Smartmatic.commends.automation/

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NEW CITY COMMERCIAL CORPORATION

The New City Commercial Corporation is one of the leading company in Mindanao as well as the whole Philippines. NCCC is Considered one of the largest retailers and wholesalers of groceries and other goods in Davao and owner of the humongous NCCC Mall of Davao. Since starting out as a textile store in 1952 they continue to grow, expanding to different retail businesses and locations to serve more people. They strive to offer Service from the Heart first of all to their associates. They also maintain solid relationships with their business partners to provide a wide assortment of basic and unique merchandise.
June 4, 2009 – Saturday. We were scheduled to interview Engr. Irvin Rhey Miclat, the Supervisor of Hardware, Software and Networking services of New City Commercial Corporation located in Gempesaw St., Uyanguren. We interviewed Engr. Miclat in the NCCC Mall food court together with his loving wife. We asked him questions regarding our topic given to us by our instructor. He shared some ideas and gave us enough information about our questions. These information were enough to comply the tasks given to us.


These are the information that we have gathered from Engr. Miclat:


ICT Department of NCCC:

Information and Communications Technology Department or the ICT department of NCCC aims to be updated and interactive in terms of technology progress so that the company will be competitive enough and be able to be informed of the outgoing rise and development of technology industry. They are the one who handles the IT/IS of the New City Commercial Corp. and they are the one who are behind of the outgoing success of the company in terms of Information, Communication Technology. No wonder, NCCC is still competitive in terms of their technology.
Under the ICT department are:
Application Group, Hardware Software and Networking Services Group (which is headed by Engr. Miclat) and Operations Group.

• Applications Group – which is headed by a manager, In charge with Systems Development, Applications development & support.

• HARDWARE NETWORKING SOFTWARE - which is headed by a supervisor, involved with Hardware maintenance, Network maintenance, Applications Software maintenance, Infrastructure Software maintenance.

• OPERATIONS GROUP – which is headed by a supervisor
Assigned in MMS (Merchandise Management System ) : is an automated information system to keep track of the inventory in a warehouse or store. Usually the merchandise can be grouped into product lines. Thus, the MMS shows the exact number of products a business has in stock at any particular time. An active role in the benchmarking, cost benefit and risk analyses and definition of service needs.


Best Practices in IT/IS:

As what we’ve learned from the New City Commercial Corporation’s best practices in IT/ IS the Information and Communications Technology Department or ICT conducts or gives proper documentation to the management in every system or procedures that they normally do.

• operating Point of sale or point of service (POS or PoS) can mean a retail shop, a checkout counter in a shop, or the location where a transaction occurs.
• before the usage of POS by the end-users, there will be standard using operation done to ensure complete details and accurate information.
• in every changes and decisions done by the said department in terms of changing or switching to old system to new one, a business case or case study, and cost analysis must first take place and be conducted and of course this includes proper documentation.
•avoiding malpractice in recording issues(When the company provides extremely poor/good products or service.) in the company through proper documentation.

The Risks that are associated with business and IS/IT change:

The probable risks or challenges that their department might encounter are the changes or switching of their system and their security. As technology arises, the company must adopt to the fast changing environment in order for the company to be competitive and updated.

OPERATING SYSTEMS - is an interface between hardware and user; an OS is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer. Cooperative memory management, used by many early operating systems assumes that all programs make voluntary use of the kernel's memory manager, and do not exceed their allocated memory. This system of memory management is almost never seen anymore, since programs often contain bugs which can cause them to exceed their allocated memory. If a program fails it may cause memory used by one or more other programs to be affected or overwritten. Malicious programs, or viruses may purposefully alter another program's memory or may affect the operation of the operating system itself. With cooperative memory management it takes only one misbehaved program to crash the system. If the Operating System will not be upgraded, risks like less security would occur and its vulnerability issues. These issues are hone to be used by the hacker to crack system and probably destroy the system. Therefore, they will be forced to upgrade in order to support the IT needs of their system.


Security (FIREWALL → UTM DEVICE)

FIREWALL - is a part of a computer system or network that is designed to block unauthorized access while permitting authorized communications.
UTM DEVICE - good UTM device offers battle-tested technology. Many times vendors build a UTM device around one all-star feature, sacrificing the quality of others for an overwhelming breadth of defense.
In order for the company to secure their system and their necessary data, they should upgrade their security to the newer one. With this, they may be able to conduct their business safely. But prior to this changes, the ICT department must conduct a business study or a case to study to analyze the difference of each security and to consider also its cost.




References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
http://www.nccc.com.ph/

New City Commercial Corporation - NCCC Mall of Davao

I have gone through different choices of companies to choose from. To be honest, I really had a hard time in complying this assignment. It was just yesterday that we were instructed how to introduce the company/companies we have chosen. In terms of choosing the appropriate company, it was really hard indeed. I should have to understand the company’s services, its IT & IS management and even the whole company itself. I tried my luck the night before the deadline, I submitted the only company I chose together with its profile. Luckily, Dr. RS Gamboa approved my proposal.

The company I chose was the New City Commercial Corporation - NCCC Mall Davao, located in MacArthur Highway corner Maa, Davao City. This company has established a reputable name in the retailing business for almost 30 years in the places (Davao City, Tagum City and Palawan). They are all about people: Their associates, their customers, their business partners and community. Since starting out as a textile store in 1952 they continue to grow, expanding to different retail businesses and locations to serve more people. They strive to offer Service from the Heart first of all to their associates. They also maintain solid relationships with their business partners to provide a wide assortment of basic and unique merchandise. NCCC owners integrate values and strategies in improving their company in favor of its associates. Their employees, associates, receive lawful wages, adequate trainings and other benefits. They also enjoy fun activities as part of our continuous improvement.

DEPARTMENT STORE
They assure their customers an unparalleled experience in shopping pleasure by providing a wide range of choices in both basic and exciting merchandise at reasonable prices. All these with a touch of warm and efficient customer service from the heart.

MALLS
Definitely your home away from home, they offer a wide range of services, products, entertainment, and a friendly mall team that will make you ‘feel at home’. Humbly serving customers from all walks of life,they have the best tenant relations with local entrepreneurs as well as established national tenants to provide only the best and the most unique. They are the place for people and events as they house the biggest event venue in the city.

CORPORATE STAFF OFFICES
Responsible for providing the various needs of their different business units are a pool of specialists that belong to different Corporate Staff Divisions ( CSDs) and offices such as PEOPLE ( Organization and Human Resources Department ) , Marketing , Engineering , Information and Communication Technology ( ICT ) , Fixed Assets and Supplies ( FAS) , Finance , Merchandise Planning and Control ( MPC) , Operations Planning and Standards ( OPS ) , Business Development ( BizDev) and Corporate Administration . Associates belonging in these support groups work together to make sure that business operations are running for the best interest of our customers.

All medium to large organizations depend on Information technology for their continued survival. Management information systems do not have to be computerized, but with today's large, multinational corporations, computerization is a must for a business to be successful. Management information systems can be used as a support to managers to provide a competitive advantage. The system must support the goals of the organization.
Business/IT alignment is a desired state in which a business organization is able to use information technology (IT) effectively to achieve business objectives - typically improved financial performance or marketplace competitiveness. Some definitions focus more on outcomes (the ability of IT to produce business value) than means (the harmony between IT and business decision-makers within the organizations).

This alignment is in contrast to what is often experienced in organizations: IT and business professionals unable to bridge the gap between themselves because of differences in objectives, culture, and incentives and a mutual ignorance for the other group's body of knowledge. This rift generally results in expensive IT systems that do not provide adequate return on investment. For this reason, the search for Business / IT Alignment is closely associated with attempts to improve the business value of IT investments.

It is not unusual for business and IT professionals within an organization to experience conflict and in-fighting as lack of mutual understanding and the failure to produce desired results leads to blaming and mistrust. The search for B/I alignment often includes efforts to establish trust between these two groups and a mechanism for consensus decision-making.

Ultimately, value must come not just from the IT tools that are selected, but also in the way that they are used in the organization. For this reason, the scope of B/I Alignment also includes business transformation, in which organizations redesign how work is accomplished in order to realize efficiencies made possible by new IT. Thus, implementing IT to achieve its full potential for business value includes not only a technical component, but also an organizationalchange management component

In a general sense, the term Information System (IS) refers to a system of people, data records and activities that process the data and information in an organization, and it includes the organization's manual and automated processes. In a narrow sense, the term information system (or computer-based information system) refers to the specific application software that is used to store data records in a computer system and automates some of the information-processing activities of the organization. Computer-based information systems are in the field of information technology. The discipline of business process modelling describes the business processes supported by information systems.


References
http://www.nccc.com.ph
http://www.nccc.com.ph/index/about/
http://www.nccc.com.ph/index/job/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business/IT_alignment

Related links:
http://www.it.iitb.ac.in/~kamlesh/Page/Reports/oos-project-report.pdf
http://www.comp.glam.ac.uk/pages/staff/tdhutchings/chapter1.html
http://www.u21global.edu.sg/portal/corporate/docs/PDAFS/770_17logos_v3.pdf
http://www.scribd.com/doc/396076/Foundations-of-Information-Systems-in-Business

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’" ~
Revelation 21:3-4

Reflections on the First meeting on Management Information Systems

June 18, 2009 at around 12:50 noon our facilitator entered the room. Most of us were not surprised that Dr. Randy S. Gamboa will be our facilitator in Management Information Systems because according to our friends from higher years, he’ll be the one to handle the said subject. When the clock reached at exactly 1:00 in the afternoon he started his usual classroom routine which is the prayer. Since he had been our former teacher from the past subjects we had, it is in his rules that the class should start with an opening prayer. One of our classmates led the prayer and after that he called the first timers or the so called “virgins” from the class were asked to go in front and show us what they got. Most of my classmates who were asked to go in front came from USeP Tagum. Sir Gamboa asked them to give a brief description about themselves and show a little “patikim” with their talents. All of them were forced to sing because nobody wanted to dance (I guess they don’t want to look like “kengkoy” dancing in front without music..hahaha.lolx.). Later on, after he baptized the “virgins” he gave us the classroom’s rules and regulations. He also described himself as very strict on his students in terms of wearing the school uniform and in coming to school late or being absent (or else you’ll sing. No choice. hihi..J).

To be honest, I really felt nervous when Sir Gamboa started discussing and asking for our opinions and insights about the subject. Gosh! Even though we had this kind of discussions before, I still didn’t feel at ease because I absolutely think that this subject is really hard. And according to Sir Gamboa, he will be giving a lot of projects (weew! Pressure!). He gave us the meaning of Management which simply means in all business and human organization activity is simply the act of getting people together to accomplish each ones desired goals. We also learned that management comprises Planning, Directing, Organizing and Controlling or PDOC for short.

After the introduction of the said subject, he gave us a lot of assignments because he won’t be meeting us for about one or more weeks and he’ll definitely be back on June 07 (busy ang career ni sir.) and we were tasked to register in the forums and create our blog account in order for us to post the assignments and other discussions on the said subject. He also asked me to create a yahoogroups on two subjects he handles (pressure again!)

weew! (Aja!..)

GOOD LUCK and GOD BLESS sa atong tanan! Chill lang sir huh? C-H-I-L-L..