As we continue to incorporate technology into our business, it’s important that many businesses start incorporating their Information Systems Department (ISD) into their business organization. Traditionally, the day to day operations of a business and those of the ISD were completely separate from each other. The ISD’s main functions were to manage systems and infrastructure development, computer operations and training in IS (Information Skills).

Recently those functions have evolved, and they did so because of one important role: the end user. The end user has transformed the main functions of the ISD from a technical to a more consultative function. This transformation has lead to a creation of a partnership between the ISD and the end user which has created a very vital relationship between the both. No longer is the ISD just an IT department, they now use IT as tool to solve many problems that end users face on a daily basis. In return, end users also benefit the ISD by recommending different uses of an organizations information resource to help a business run more efficiently.

As an organization’s computing needs get more complicated, it becomes very difficult for the ISD to fully manage all of the organization’s information resource, and this is where the end user can share more of the ISD’s responsibilities. In complicated organizations, like Hospitals, banks and other large corporations, the ISD can’t simply manage the organizations information resources itself, it has to heavily rely or share the role with the end user. The end user can then help manage the information resources at the department level and the ISD can manage those at a corporate level. This type of structure helps larger or complex organizations become more effective because information resources at a department level are managed by the end users, who are directly using those resources. The ISD can then gear their focus to more complicated information resources that can help the organization as whole become more effective.

There’s no question that the role of the ISD has dramatically changed from a technical to a consultative function, but as managing information resources get more complicated, it’s more important that the end user and the ISD work closely together so they can innovate and create solutions to help the organization run more effectively. Therefore, creating a relationship that is perfectly balanced between the ISD and the end user should be a strategic goal for every business at any size.

1. Do you think of an industry out there taking advantage of consumers?
2. Or, do you think about an industry providing people with relief and peace of mind during this financial crisis?

Most people would say answer a.  But is that true or do we need to educate ourselves regarding this part of the financial industry?  Who are the people that need these payday loans and do they have other options?

According to www.census.gov the official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent, which was up from 14.3 percent in 2009.  In 2010, 46.2 million people were in poverty, which was up from 43.6 million in 2009.

Those are staggering numbers.  People are having a hard time making ends meet. From 2009 to 2010 an additional 2.6 million people were at poverty level.  Where did they come from?  Middle Class families?  Low Income families?   Who is out there helping them get back on their feet?  The banks?  With the foreclosures on homes, the increased account fees, overdraft fees and high credit guidelines… what do you think?

What sort of monthly expenses do all of us face? Rent/Mortgage, utility bills, insurance, car payment, food allowance just to name a few.  If you are running out of money at the end of the month what would you sacrifice?  Your electric bill?  Your rent?  Your car loan?  Or just overdraft your bank account?  All of those choices involve late fees or overdraft fees and may incur being harassed by credit agencies or having your electricity turned off, being kicked out of your home or having your vehicle repossessed.  None of those sound like viable solutions to me.

According to www.wikipedia.org the definition for a payday loan is “a small, short-term loan that is intended to cover a borrower’s expenses until his or her next payday.”   That is truly what a payday loan is there for.  Many times you will hear payday opponents talk about high interest fees, but when you research these fees in comparison to bank charges and late fees of missing necessary payments and/or possible repossessions/foreclosures/losing electricity, going hungry etc. – which sounds better to you?

So before we judge the financial institutions giving payday loans or the people receiving such loans – let’s make sure that we look at the situation from all angles, and form an educated decision.

NFC capabilities: Get enrolled now!

Most of all retailers and small business have a merchant Point of Sale machine that handle debit and credit card transactions, and now is the time for those machines to get upgraded to handle the onslaught of NFC enabled mobile phones that will be soon shipping within the next 2 years. Be ahead of the curve and get signed up or upgrade soon. This will not only give you a competitive advantage over other retailers but it will keep customer satisfaction high, as many consumers will be eager to try this new form of payment.

Get Proactively Involved with E-Coupons and Rewards.

Many consumers are shifting their shopping from actual stores to online retailers like Amazon or eBay, and they do so because they have great confidence that they will get a better deal online then they would at the store. Therefore, when they’re met with a tempting deal at a store, they hesitate and choose to look it up and buy it online. Actively applying discounts and reward points will give that customer an emotional sensation to buy now, rather then later, will help your business win that sale immediately. E-Coupons and rewards can be used in conjunction with NFC enabled phones and apply automatic discounts and reward points when an enabled NFC phone is used as form of payment at the register. Such a feature is being rolled out with Google’s own offering of Google wallet and I recommend you take immediate action to differentiate yourself before it becomes the norm. Remember be proactive, not reactive. Customers always love to be rewarded without having to chase down discounts.

Compatible Websites: Make your website compatible to mobile web browsers.

Many of the huge retailers have already jumped on board with creating specific mobile applications pertaining to their company for the two larges phone ecosystems: Android and the iPhone. However, not everyone has an Android or an iPhone so creating many different types of applications for each specific mobile operating system can be expensive and time consuming, especially for smaller businesses. In addition, with the large pool of applications between Android and iPhone, only 1 of 4 applications downloaded actually get used. Therefore, when creating website for your company, make sure that your site is mobile browser friendly. Make things simple and accessible to customers without having them to zoom in on a page that’s meant for your laptop on a small 4 inch portable screen. In addition, if your website requires the user to fill out a form — for example loan applications — please make it mobile friendly. I can’t tell you how many times I started to fill out a form on my phone but just quit because it was just too much work.

Some of these tips sound like common sense but it will make you wonder why it isn’t a uniform standard across many retailers and companies. The truth is that the most of these initiatives will eventually become standard, but the key to your business is to be ahead of the curve and give your customer that friendly mobile experience and satisfaction they haven’t felt anywhere else.

Source: mobiThinking

The bottles are made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other materials. Eventually Pepsi plans to use orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers from its food business.

The company plans to test these new bottles in 2012 with a few hundred thousand bottles and once they are positive they can produce the bottles at the necessary scale, they will transition all products over.

The pricing will range from $499 – $829.