Google's Chrome OS: Now or Never?

Many companies before releasing an updated version of their product or software will sometimes release beta versions of their product before rolling out the actual thing. These beta versions are inherently not perfect and filled with glitches and other imperfections that the company will fix between the beta release and the actual release. However, most companies that offer these types of "test drives" are smaller, lesser-known companies, who are still trying to build good relationships with their clientele. So when a huge super company like Google offers the general public the opportunity to test out not just a beta version, but a beta version of an entirely new concept - the browser operating system, it truly is a rare occurrence.

The concept of "cloud computing" is becoming quite popular today. A lot of daily activities in the business world have already been taken online, such as e-mail, word processing, and photo editing. But the idea that Google has come up with, a computer that's operating is only a web browser with all applications running through it, is not catching on as quickly as it was expected. In Shane O’Neill’s article on CIO.com, Mr. O’Neill points out that the desktop-oriented operating system of the present and past did not stick around because there wasn’t something new developed. The operating systems include “a desktop, a taskbar, a file and folder system, offline access to applications, a Start menu, etc….because PEOPLE LIKE IT THAT WAY.”

I can’t decide which side I’m on in this debate. While I, along with most of the world, has grown up and become so accustomed to the desktop-oriented OS, I think that cloud computing is definitely the future of information systems across the board. As a musician, I have a lot of offline applications that I use to record and write music. For me, I would not be able to comfortably switch to a browser OS until the application capabilities are significantly improved. However, once this happens, I think the speed and efficiency of being able to access anything and everything you will need on a computer from one central hub (the browser) will become the standard for computing across all disciplines.

Stocks are Up (like a Hail Mary)

For years, people have been waiting for Facebook to go public so that they can invest their money in Facebook stock. However, it seems that Facebook is quite adamant to stay a private company. For these people, it seems that they do not have another outlet to invest in. Until now. A new kind of stock market has arisen out of Cambridge, Massachusetts with a new twist. Instead of investing in publicly traded companies like Google and Apple, investors put their money on the stock of none other than professional sports players, like Tom Brady and Lebron James.

As seen in Jon Brodkin's article on CIO.com, StarStreet.com has introduced itself and is ready to be a full-fledged stock market. Still in its beta period, StarStreet.com is already starting off fast and has offered numerous IPOs (initial player offerings) that are drawing the attention of a "new kind of investor with more experience in fantasy sports than Wall Street stock trading." StarStreet functions very similarly to existing stock markets like NASDAQ and NYSE but one key difference is that the value of the market remains stable. However, player values can go up and down each day, just like the real stock market, and prices are determined based on supply and demand, rather than by the player statistics used in fantasy sports leagues.

Sports stock markets are not a new endeavor, but successful ones are rare. One site, OneSeason, tried it, but crashed because there was an unlimited supply of player shares. StarStreet seems to have a better shot at success, according to founder Jeremy Levine, because of a zero-sum market supply and a tightly controlled demand. I think that a sports stock market is an interesting concept, especially since it uses real money. It is similar to betting on sports, but is perfectly legal and not as risky as it your profits would be based on seeking out trends and knowing when to buy or sell, and not on chance.

They Know Everything Now

In today's world, exponentially expanding technologies have widened the reach of everyday electronics and has greatly affected the marketing and information systems landscape. Through data mining, companies can now gather previously unheard of vaults of data on every customer they are trying to reach in an effective and subtle manner. Based on your public preferences on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, as well as your search terms in search engines like Google and Bing, companies can access almost anything they want about you, and easily store it in huge databases.

Many people have expressed qualms with what they feel is an invasion of privacy by these large corporations. In fact, John Kerry is chair of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, and is working to force companies to improve the security of these databases and allow consumers to selectively include what information is found in the database. However, as Joel Stein points out in his article on Time.com, "taking your information without asking and the profiting from it isn't new: it's the idea behind the phone book, junk mail and telemarketing." Stein also points out that worrying about this isn't a new fad either; as early as 1890, records state people expressing concern about their photographs being used without their permission. However, there is still sufficient reason for concern in today's world for the reduced barriers of accessibility for this information.

I, personally, do not think that this increase in data mining is necessarily a bad thing. While some pieces of information (my address, social security number, etc.) I would be partial to have included in every company's database, I think the market research that companies gain from this data mining is very useful to the continued sales of their products. Data mining allows for companies to gather accurate demographic and psychographic data for their target markets which helps them with market segmentation. In this way, I think that data mining is here to stay.

Social Media: Business Ally or Enemy?

With so many websites available for people to visit at any time using the Internet, companies have long put barriers on what sites their employees can access while using the company’s Internet service. However, in our rapidly advancing world, it is becoming necessary, from an IT perspective, to unblock social media in the workplace.

Since social media has such a high volume of users, companies need to be able to embrace it in their everyday actions. For example, it is difficult for online marketing managers to truly gauge the effectiveness of social media advertising campaigns without having access to the sites that they are being advertised on. Also, as Ann Bednarz addresses in her article on CIO.com, “HR teams want to be able to recruit, hire and retain social media-savvy employees, yet they feel hampered by overly restrictive usage policies.”

The challenge in loosening restrictions to social media sites, however, is being able to ensure that the social media access is not detrimental to the productivity within the firm. One solution is to adopt acceptable use policies, which would spell out what purposes social media should and should not be used for in the workplace. However, many times guidelines like these fail to address every single issue that could arise, resulting in many instances of gray area in terms of the intended purpose of the sites.

I think what the issue with social media in businesses boils down to is a lack of trust in employees to stay on task if they are given access to their personal social media sites. In this conflict, I would have to side with the management, even though I am from an ‘employee’ standpoint as a student. If my professor were my boss, and I their employee, and I was assigned work to do for that class, I can guarantee that I would visit my social media sites regularly while doing the work. This access severely slows my progress and can also affect my ultimate performance on the assignments. With this in mind, I think in a workplace, where performance is critical to a much larger group of people, social media could have a negative impact on businesses. It is up to senior management now to decide what is right for their firm and if social media itself can be trusted to be an ally, and not the enemy.

The CFO Landscape is Changing

During the economic recession of 2008 into part of 2009, there was a high demand from top-level companies looking for CFO's whose backgrounds were deeply rooted in pure financial theory and application. The reasoning that the shareholders of these companies used was mainly that they needed someone to fill their top finance position who would be able to make keen, strategic decisions in a time when everybody's finances were failing.

But now the economy is recovering nicely, and businesses in every industry are exploring different candidates to run their financial sectors. Instead of searching for people with purely financial experience, many companies are targeting candidates with operational and managerial backgrounds, in addition to a financial one. According to William M. Bulkeley's article on CIO.com, since CFOs are among the first in line for the succession within the company, "operational experience is a must."

Another reason that businesses are looking for more operationally oriented CFO candidates is that the role of the COO is being steadily spread out to the jobs of the CEO and CFO, and the position is fading away. With this in mind, more finance majors are pursuing job offers not just in the financial sector of businesses but also in the operations and IT areas in order to get the proper experience needed to become a CFO in the future.

After reading this article, I am glad that I have decided to add a double major in Operations to my current Finance major. While I do not know if I will pursue being a CFO as my career, it appears that from senior management down to operational management, it is necessary to have some background in management and operations in order to have a successful career in the field of finance.

Security Update on LinkedIn

This past week, LinkedIn remodeled its security features to make them more accessible to their rapidly increasing clientele. This change has been requested by members of LinkedIn for the last year or two, and was very overdue. The interface for the security settings have been changed from a listed form, where every customizable setting was illogically aligned in different lists across the screen, to a more dashboard-like model, that is much more efficient for users and more in line with the standard model for user profile homepages.

The new features of the dashboard are quite useful, especially when compared to the previous layout. Now, the settings are organized into categories based on the users preferences and the similarity between different actions. For example, the top half of the page, according to Kristin Burnham’s article on CIO.com, “highlights information about you and your account. You can view how long you’ve been a LinkedIn member, change your primary e-mail or password and upgrade to a paid account.” Other features include the ability to view remaining ‘InMails,’ intros, and ad campaign statuses, if the user manages one. Under the top half is where the down and dirty account settings are stored, in a much more accessible form than the previous homepage.

One of the most lauded new features is found on the right side of the page. Here, links to the most frequently asked questions regarding all of the possible settings about your LinkedIn profile are listed for easy access that does not require you to dive deep into the LinkedIn sitemap to find.

As a LinkedIn user myself, these new features are greatly appreciated from the LinkedIn management. In the past, I have had trouble accessing certain features of LinkedIn that I have seen on other people’s profiles, and now with the new, more effective layout, I too can have a very professional LinkedIn profile.

Google's Chrome OS: Now or Never?

Many companies before releasing an updated version of their product or software will sometimes release beta versions of their product before rolling out the actual thing. These beta versions are inherently not perfect and filled with glitches and other imperfections that the company will fix between the beta release and the actual release. However, most companies that offer these types of "test drives" are smaller, lesser-known companies, who are still trying to build good relationships with their clientele. So when a huge super company like Google offers the general public the opportunity to test out not just a beta version, but a beta version of an entirely new concept - the browser operating system, it truly is a rare occurrence.

The concept of "cloud computing" is becoming quite popular today. A lot of daily activities in the business world have already been taken online, such as e-mail, word processing, and photo editing. But the idea that Google has come up with, a computer that's operating is only a web browser with all applications running through it, is not catching on as quickly as it was expected. In Shane O’Neill’s article on CIO.com, Mr. O’Neill points out that the desktop-oriented operating system of the present and past did not stick around because there wasn’t something new developed. The operating systems include “a desktop, a taskbar, a file and folder system, offline access to applications, a Start menu, etc….because PEOPLE LIKE IT THAT WAY.”

I can’t decide which side I’m on in this debate. While I, along with most of the world, has grown up and become so accustomed to the desktop-oriented OS, I think that cloud computing is definitely the future of information systems across the board. As a musician, I have a lot of offline applications that I use to record and write music. For me, I would not be able to comfortably switch to a browser OS until the application capabilities are significantly improved. However, once this happens, I think the speed and efficiency of being able to access anything and everything you will need on a computer from one central hub (the browser) will become the standard for computing across all disciplines.