F1: League Management System

I enjoyed the blended learning style of last week's class. The mixture of lecture, class discussion, and team activity helped me consume the material, digest it, and then apply it to a real world situation via the group activity. 

Speaking of the class activity, our efforts focused on crafting the strategy and architecture for launching a web-based league management application. This application would initially be aimed at providing logistical, scheduling, scoring, advertising, and statistical services for community, recreational, and school sport leagues. Based on the experience of our teammates, there is market opportunity for this type of application, particularly in the Northeast Metro Atlanta region. 

Here are the items we discussed in terms of the application and business model architecture.

Network /systems infrastructure: 

• To lower startup costs, use powerful web services to host and deliver our application.
• Linux VMs at Amazon Web Services
• Restful web services
• Use of standard Put, get, post, delete statements 
• C++ offers great performance
• Justification: scalability, performance, integration, 

Data mgmt 

• MySQL
• Standards: XML, Json, https
• Justification: almost free

Business Logic

• Listed here are the services and broad business requirements that this app would satisfy.
• Notifications, Directions/Maps, Schedules, 
• RSS
• Push

Client side (HW-SW)

• Mobiles & tablets
• Develop standard compliant app for all platforms with an emphasis on mobiles and tablets
• iOS, Android, BB, Windows

Development tools

• Source code control 
• Assembla
• C++: great performance
• Standards: XML, Json
• MySQL Workbench
• XCode

In short, I think this is an exciting app with great potential. There are many segments that could be served and costs could be kept low due to the many cost effective internet technologies at our fingertips.  Kudos to Travis for his creativity and technical vision.

Davis

E1: Archimate

The Archimate can be brutal! No really, I enjoyed learning about the different enterprise architecture frameworks as well as how to apply them to my business model canvas. I am thankful that we are exploring such useful tools in this program. The entrepreneurial spirit of this program so far has been refreshing and inspiring. Looking forward to more practical applications of MIS strategy, data modeling, Java, XML, etc.

SLIDE OF THE WEEK

52% of all capital investment is IT related....I love this slide on multiple levels. For the sake of blog brevity, I'll stick with just two reasons.

1) Strategic Implications: Not only will IT projects continue to stream through the pipelines, they will become increasingly more tied to core business strategies. The CIO role will continue to gain more and more power, and so will managers and directors who possess a sharp mix of IT and business skills.

2) Job Outlook: No rocket science here. I'm thrilled with this reality because it bodes well for future employment opportunities. Fast forward 15 years and I'm confident that the ROI of this graduate program will be favorable!  Great choice fellow UGA MITs!

Later,

Davis

D2: FutureNet

Let me start by saying wow.....these are fascinating videos. Its interesting to hear the different perspectives from these authoritative figures on the future of the internet. It still blows my mind that:

• A) the internet is only 30 years old
• B) how powerful TCP/IP has proven to be

Similarities
Kelly's and Berner-Lee's visions share more similarities than Cerf's. First, Kelly's and Berner-Lee's ideas are more abstract and almost sound like science fiction at times. The next similarity is that both visionaries emphasize the concept of linked data. It interesting to think about the potential positive impacts of connecting data across machines, countries, and continents. Exhibit A = telemedicine.

Differences
Berner-Lee's style was more technical, and Kelly's was more artistic. Vint Cerf's presentation is more academic but very practical. Cerf's presentation also focused more on the network aspects of the Futurenet rather than the data aspects.

Soapbox
To be honest, the linked data conversation makes me paranoid. I'd rather not share my private, personal data with other individuals....and certainly not with billions of people over the internet. Kelly's "one machine" concept scares me too as it reminds me of the movie, Eagle Eye, a good film about a super computer that turns evil, tracks people's every move, and creates absolute chaos. Finally, the interplanetary network project and development of new protocols are very exciting. I'm very interested to see development in this area.

Thanks,

Davis

D1: Internet History and Infrastructure

The course content continues to be intriguing and challenging. I enjoyed class last Thursday especially the Q&A scavenger hunt and the interactive discussion of the answers.

Cliche of the week: (paraphrasing) "You don't know where you're going, unless you know where you've been."

While some cliches drive me crazy, this one always rings true to me. In my opinion, for an individual to truly be a thought leader or expert on a subject, they must have a comprehensive 360 degree understanding of the issue or topic at hand. For instance, would you hire a pianist to play jazz standards at your wedding who has only studied and performed contemporary pop music over the last four years? There is very low probability that this person would be a great jazz artist without having studied and listened to hours of the jazz greats such as, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Hunter, Charles Mingus, etc (I could go on for hours....).

Anyway, the same is true for internet technology expertise, which emphasizes the significance of our class from last Thursday. How can I expect to be an innovator in information systems and internet technology without knowing the history of our internet infrastructure? I look forward to exploring the resources that Dr. Piercy has shared with us in order to continue understanding "where we've been."

One final thought of caution: while knowing where you've been is paramount to understanding an issue, it can also stifle innovation and productivity. One must not be complacent with the mindset, "we do it this way because that's how we've always done it." As UGA MIT students we must challenge ourselves to constantly reexamine why things are the way they are and what, if any, are the areas for improvement.

adios,

D

Lessons from Corporate Strategy and Entrepreneurship

Have to say I'm thoroughly enjoying all of the content of the course, and, quite frankly, its been inspiring in ways.

I have a B.B.A. in information systems so this has been a nice refresher on corporate strategy and management theory/practice. However, the UGA MIT version has a different angle that introduces several ideas that we never discussed on the undergraduate level. Nevertheless, I've always been fascinated to study these topics, and then apply them to the real world by seeing how different corporations implement them well or butcher them.

The entrepreneurship presentation last week by Chris Hanks from the Terry College was inspiring and hilarious! Over the weekend my mind has been racing on different venture ideas. As a former entrepreneur, I've experienced the good and bad of running a business, but I certainly haven't considered it lately. Its good to learn about organizations at UGA, which can support these ventures. I have no doubt that I will tap into these resources at some point in the near future.

The most critical thing for me over the past week is how the course content is reinforcing the importance of having a sound business strategy that fleshes out the internal issues of a venture (business model canvas) as well as the many external challenges (SWOT, 5 Forces, PEST, etc).


Adios,

Davis