What Do You Think? Keeping Up to Speed

Have you ever seen a hamster running on a hamster wheel in its cage? That hamster wheel can remind us of technology. Like the hamster wheel, technology just moves along, and all of us jump on the technology hamster wheel, running hard trying to keep up. We hope to keep pace with the relentless change of technology through an entire career but it sometimes feels that the faster you run, the harder it becomes to keep up.

Technological change is a fact, and the most appropriate response is deciding, "What am I going to do about it?" One strategy is to bury your head in the sand: "Look, I'm not a technology person. I'll leave it to the pros. As long as I can send email and use the Internet, I'm happy. If I have a problem, I'll call someone to fix it."

A strategy that depends on the expertise of someone else ("the pros") is fine, but it will not give you a competitive advantage over anyonein fact, it will give someone else a competitive advantage over you. If you develop your competitive advantage elsewhere, then you might be okayprovided your competitive advantage remains relevant.

Is this strategy consistent with being a team player in your department? If an IS expert says, "Every computer needs an 8 TB disk," are you going to nod your head and say, "Great. Sell 'em to me!" Or will you know enough to realize that it is a big disk (by 2017 standards, anyway) and ask the expert why everyone needs such a large amount of storage? Maybe you will be told, "Well, it's only another $75 per machine compared with the 2 TB disk." At that point, can you consider a selection using your own decision making skills, and not rely solely on the expert recommendation? The prudent business professional in the twenty-first century has a number of reasons not to bury his or her head in the sand as far as technology is concerned.

At the other end of the spectrum are those who love technology. You will find them everywherewhether accountants, marketing professionals, or production-line supervisors, who not only are knowledgeable about their own field but also enjoy information technology. Maybe they were IS majors or had double majors that combined IS with another area of expertise (e.g., accounting). These people read CNET News and ZDNet most days, and they can provide the latest updates on IPv6 addresses. Technology lovers are sprinting along and

keeping abreast of technology. They will use their knowledge of IT to gain a competitive advantage throughout their careers.

Many business professionals are in-between these extremes. They do not want to shun technology, but they have no desire or interest in becoming technophiles (lovers of technology) either. So, what should you do? There are a few useful strategies. First, do not allow yourself to ignore technology. When you see a technology article in the newspaper or online, read it. Also read the technology ads. Many vendors invest heavily in ads that subtly instruct their potential customers. Another option is to participate in seminars or attend professional events that combine your specialized field with technology. For example, when you go to the bankers' convention, attend a session or two on technology trends for bankers. You might also develop important connections with similar minded individuals and/or companies.

Probably the best option, if you have the time, is to get involved as a user representative in technology committees within your organization. If your company is doing a review of its CRM (customer relationship management) system, for instance, see if you can get on the review committee. When there is a request for a representative from your department to discuss operational needs related to technology, sign up. Or, later in your career, become a member of the business practice technology committee, or whatever they call it at your organization.

Just working with such groups will add to your knowledge of technology. Presentations made to these groups, discussions about uses of technology, and ideas about using IT for competitive advantage will all add to your IT knowledge. You will gain important contacts and exposure to leaders in your organization as well.

Remember: You choose how you relate to technology, now and throughout your career. Assess your ambitions and choose wisely.

Questions

1. Do you agree that the pace of technology is relentless? What do you think that means to most business professionals? To most organizations?

2. Think about the three stances with regard to technology presented here. Which camp will you join? Why?

3. Provide a two-paragraph memo to yourself justifying your choice in Question 2. If you chose to ignore technology, explain how you will compensate for the loss of competitive advantage. If you are going to join one of the other two groups, explain why, and describe how you are going to accomplish your goal.

4. Given your answer to Question 2, assume that you are in a job interview and the interviewer asks about your knowledge of technology. Write a three-sentence response to the interviewer's question.

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Using Knowledge

4-1. Suppose your roommate, a political science major, asks you to help her purchase a new laptop computer. She wants to use the computer for email, Internet access, and note taking in class. She wants to spend less than $1000.

What CPU, memory, and disk specifications would you recommend?

What software does she need?

Compare prices using www.dell.com, www.hp.com, and www.lenovo.com.

Which computer would you recommend, and why?

4-2. Microsoft offers free licenses of certain software products to students at colleges and universities that participate in its DreamSpark program (formerly known as the Microsoft Developer Network [MSDN] Academic Alliance [AA]). If your college or university participates in this program, you have the opportunity to obtain hundreds of dollars of software for free. Here is a partial list of the software you can obtain:

Microsoft Access 2013

OneNote 2013

Windows 2012 Server

Microsoft Project 2013

Visual Studio Developer

SQL Server 2014

Visio 2013

Search www.microsoft.com, www.google.com, or www.bing.com and determine the function of each of these software products.

Which of these software products are operating systems ,and which are application programs?

Which of these programs are DBMS products(the subject of the next chapter)?

Which of these programs should you download and install tonight?

Either(1)download and install the programs in your answer to part d or(2)explain why

you would choose not to do so.

Does DreamSpark provide an unfair advantage to Microsoft? Why or why not?

4-3. Visit the Open Source Initiative's website at www.opensource.org. Summarize the mission of this foundation. Find the definition of open source on this site, and summarize that definition in your own words. Explain this foundation's role with regard to open source licenses. Summarize the process for having a license approved by the foundation. Describe the advantage of having the foundation's approval.