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.

According to mobiThinking, In 2009 there were over 5.3 billion mobile subscribers and over half a billion had a smartphone. In 2011, 85% of those mobile subscribers will have web-enabled smartphones. That’s a huge spike in web-enabled mobile users. Although many companies have adopted some of the latest trends of smartphones, there are 3 things that they have not fully capitalized to their full potential. These 3 areas of opportunity can easily help your business adopt to the fast-paced mobile world and improve your customer’s experience:

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

In efforts to further improve the iPhones, maufacurers are putting together a metallic glass to replace the current models. The metallic part would prevent the phone from cracking or breaking as easily, while the glass components still maintain the strength.
This used to be a very expensive process for manufacturers, making it difficult to produce high volume of these products. Thanks to recent technological advances, they have found a process that costs about the same as it does to produce plastic. Although there are no finalized plans yet, the idea is being entertained and may be a feature of the phone in the future making it much more durable and  without ridiculous prices.

The chairman of the Number Resource Organization recently announced that they ran out of internet addresses to give out. The group, that gives addresses to service providers, says they went through their 4.3 billion addresses. Although they have currently run out of addresses, there are already new ones in the works. The new pool of addresses has an additional 340 trillion groups, each containing of one trillion networks. The Number Resource Organization thinks this will not be something they encounter again in the future.

According to Searchignite, the demand for paid searches went up in 2010. While only 17.4% of search ad spending was done through Bing and Yahoo, Google dominated with 82.6% of search ads. The market is up 18.5% from 2009 when search ad spending was beginning to decrease. Retailers had very impressive spending because of the busy holiday season. December by itself had a 44.8% increase. While some speculated that there would be a continued decrease, these numbers prove something different. Leadpile uses ad spending as an option just as many others are continuing to do.

Starting February 10th, people will be able to purchase the iPhone from Verizon services instead of just AT&T. President of Verizon Wireless, Lowell McAdam, recently announced their plans to carry the highly-demanded phone. The prices will remain the same as AT&T’s price with a two-year contract. Although many people are already exciting about having the option to purchase an iPhone with Verizon, it will not offer the 4G network that AT&T does. The Verizon version of the iPhone is still running on the older 3G version, but Verizon claims the demand from consumers to immediately have access to the phones was so high that people should still be satisfied. Despite not having the 4G network, the Verizon iPhone does have the ability to connect to other devices. Customers who are already using AT&T will have to pay $325 to break their contract.

About one in four digital TVs are internet ready and Netflix has decided to continue their success with this market. Already having 16 million subscribers, Netflix will now have its own button on remote controls for  Blu-Ray players, TVs and other electronic appliances that are connected to the internet. Brands like Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba and more will be on board with the new button. The button displaying the Netflix logo will give people instant access to stream movies as well as several popular TV shows from ABC that were added last month.

Apple TVs have continued to make strong sales since their launch 3 months ago. The new product sold over 250,000 units in the first six weeks of being sold. Apple TV offers people a way to instantly stream videos from their iPads or iPhones, it gives people the ability to rent movies for only .99, and it is priced at only $99. Highly due to the convenience and price, Apple TVs are expected to reach $1 million later this week, before the Christmas holiday even happens.

While people ranging from ages 18-30 have been spending more time on the Internet as opposed to the television, others ranging from age 32-44 are starting to do the same. A recent Forrester study revealed that people are spending more time on the Internet than they are watching TV, and it is up 121% since 2005. The average time people in the U.S. use the television is 13 hours, which is now the same as internet use. The rise of Broadband has contributed to these technological advances. E-Commerce remains the main interest on the Internet, followed by social networking which was accelerated because of the utilization of Facebook and other social networks.

Google has come out with their own electronic store and it will be giving Amazon some solid competition. Google has scanned about 15 million books they will be using for their store with 4,000 publishers giving them permission to use their books. 52% of the listed sales price will go to the publisher, regardless of Google mark-downs. The Google store will offer consumers electronic books that can be read on almost any machine, except on Kindle. The alternative to Amazon also claims to have one of the most expansive selections because of their various publishers onboard. With E-Books predicted to hit $1 billion in sales by the end of the year, this gives consumers another option.

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes has introduced a new site named Jumo, which will work much like Facebook only this site is to help a project or issue of your choice. As Facebook has become a very common social network, Jumo aims to be a social network that also gives back to your community. With Jumo, issues such as cancer, public schools, poverty and 3,500 other organizations are brought to light.

Each individual one has their own page with information on the cause like how to help, locations of these places, and who you would need to contact. Providing information or “likes” about yourself can connect you to issues that you personally are interested in or local areas that may need your help.

While Facebook is concentrated on things like friends and social gatherings, Jumo offers a place for people to gather to share or explore issues that others are also concentrated on. Although many focus on the Holiday season to give back, this new site is an outlet to bestow charity all year long.

With so many advances in technology, people are constantly buying new computers and updating to the latest models. This leaves the older model PCs in many people’s storage areas or eventually even thrown away. Thankfully, there are other options. A recent article explains different ways to recycle your PC so they aren’t wasted space any longer and you are being green at the same time. Check out some options to give back or clear some space for the Holidays below.

-The National Christina Foundation donates your old PC or parts of equipment to schools or other non-profit organizations.

-Without a fee, you can drop of your old PC at a Dell location and they will find a Goodwill that is in need of the computer or recycle parts that would otherwise be garbage.

-Your local Best Buy will recycle your old PC for a $10 fee, but this is returned to you in the form of a $10 Best Buy gift card.