Yes, finally our KMS project is over. This morning was our presentation. Suppose to be the first group to present but due to one of our member late so we were the last group to present.

Overall, it’s ok. Commented by Ms Teo. But we lack on the point when answering the question raised by our classmates. Next, we suppose to have demo for both products comparison instead of the one we recommend. In addition, we suppose to pause and briefly explain what is going on during the Demo.
Yup. Quite a number of points to take note.

It’s good to have some comments, either good or bad one. At least we can improve on for our next project presentation.

In the answering question: to score the point, we should answer something like this related to enterprise search engine.
When our company implement the enterprise search engine, it helps the logistic department to look for neccessary information. such when they receive an order to ship products to Ghana – Africa, the staff could actually use the search engine to look the information regarding Ghana – Africa. Whether the company did that shipment before to africa and could find relevant information regarding the rules and regulations in that particular country and also the possible contacts.

This might not be available if there is no search engine in their intranet or the staff may have to spend a lot of time to gather those type of information.
However, with the enterprise search engine, the staff can get the information quickly and make better decision to speed up the operation/logistic process.

Research on the differences between an Enterprise Search Engine and an Internet Search Engine, and post your findings.

Here is my findings:
Internet search engines are special sites on the Web that are designed to help people like you and I to find information stored on the other sites. Internet search engines perform 3 basic tasks:

· They search the Internet – or select pieces of the Internet – base on important words – meta tag

· They keep an index of the words they fine, and where they find them.

· They allow users to look for words or combinations of words found in that index;

Enterprise search engine is search engine implemented within a business context for internal users to index internal content or serve internal clients and end-users.

It is targeted to the needs of a particular group of people rather than the public.

To find information on the hundreds of millions of Web pages that exist, a search engine employs special software robots, called spiders, to build lists of the words found on Web sites. When a spider is building its lists, the process is called Web crawling.

The different between Internet and Enterprise search engines are:

Enterprise search – most of the information is not stored as web pages on web servers. They may stored in different containers, including e-mail servers, desktops and laptop systems used by employees, enterprise application databases, content management systems, file systems, intranet sites and external web sites.

Internet – Help the people find the information on the Net. Information is stored as web pages on the web servers.

Enterprise information includes not only the documents, images, and HTML of the Web but also complex data from ERP or CRM systems.

For internet, most of the information are in the HTML, pdf , images or in the form of documents.

Certain information in the Enterprises may have restricted access and only certain employees are able to see it. Enterprise search engines need to come with the security functions of the authentication rights.

The information that put in the internet is available to anyone. Security is not a problem over here.

Sources and Useful Links.

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/search-engine.htm
This website talks about how the internet search engine works.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2006/tc20060515_393086.htm
A news article about the difficulty of the Enterprise search engine to meet the company’s needs.

http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3427921
This articles is about the Enterprise search and services provided by the different vendors.

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/datbus/article.php/2184111
Definition about web search engine

Well, Basically, we have not done the workshop for the data mining yet. So currently don’t have any reflection regarding the hand-on experience. Will blog it after the workshop.

Here is my finding about data mining, pros and cons.

Data mining (DM), also called Knowledge-Discovery in Databases (KDD) or Knowledge-Discovery and Data Mining, is the process of automatically searching large volumes of data for patterns using tools such as classification, association rule mining, clustering, etc..

If a clothing store records the purchases of customers, a data mining system could identify those customers who favour silk shirts over cotton ones.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_mining

Companies are now utilized data mining techniques to exam their database looking for trends, relationships, and outcomes to enhance their overall operations and discover new patterns that may allow them to better serve their customers.

Data mining is a term used to describe the process of discovering patterns (Knowledge Discovery Databases) and trends in large data sets in order to find useful decision-making information.

How data mining works

Data —-> Target Data —–> Preprocessed Data —–> Transformed Data —–> Patterns —–> Knowledge – – > Make decision

Data mining is also called knowledge discovery from database.

Before a data set can be mined, it first has to be “cleaned”. This cleaning process removes errors, ensures consistency and takes missing values into account. Next, computer algorithms are used to “mine” the clean data looking for unusual patterns. Finally, the patterns are interpreted to produce new knowledge.

Example: Records, age, sex, marital status, occupation, no. of children. Insurance company can use to identify customer who took out a particular kind of insurance policy. Rules – a good candidate for such policy. These rules are then used to identify such customers on the remainder of the database. Next, another algorithm is used to sort the database into cluster or groups of people with similar attributes, with the hope that these might reveal interesting and unusual patterns.

When the pattern reveal, it can communicate to their marketing dept – sent out the letter – offer/suggest certain insurance policy to their customers.

Marking/Retailing
Data mining can aid direct marketers by providing them with useful and accurate trends about their customer’s purchasing behavior.

Based on these trends, retailers are able to provide more attention to their customers. For example the case in Wal-Mart. The pattern actually showed that male who buy the diapers also buy beers at the same time. Based on this information, the retailers can make better decision on the arrangement of their products in the shelves.
Final outcome, the manager began to stack the beers next to the diaper shelf. This will enhance the customer shopping experience and their sales will increase.

Banking/Crediting
Data mining can assist financial institutions in areas such as credit reporting and loan information.

For example, by examining previous customers with similar attributes, a bank can estimated the level of risk associated with each given loan. If the bank came out with a new credit card – they can decide who will be the likelihood of their users. Marketers can use the information of the data mining, to call up or send letter to existing customer to promote the new product (credit card).

It also help the credit card issuers reduce their losses – as the data mining can assist credit cart issuers in detecting potentially fraudulent credit card transaction. These types of customers may be rejected by the bank when they apply bank loan. As the database keep their records/history/transactions.

Law enforcement
Data mining can aid law enforcers in identifying criminal suspects as well as apprehending these criminals by examining trends in location, crime type, habit, and other patterns of behaviours.

Researchers
Data mining can assist researchers by speeding up their data analyzing process; thus allowing them more time to work on other projects.

Disadvantages:

Privacy Issues
Personal privacy is the major concern. Information will be captured when you do online transactions. They afraid that somebody may have access to their personal information and the use that information in an unethical way – using your IP address to send out virus/worms , or steal your credit card no to buy things online.

Security Issues
Customer information is stored in the database. This information might have the possibility being hack. It will show that companies are not taking care of the information properly.

Misuse of information/inaccurate information
The company may share the information with the other companies. Eg. Your information is captured in the bank. The bank might share your information to the other banks or financial institution about your financial status. If you have the bad record with the bank on the use of credit card, you will have the difficulty to apply a new credit card with other banks. As they already have your bad record and are unlikely your application will be approved.

Source: http://cseserv.engr.scu.edu/StudentWebPages/hchhay/hchhay_FinalPaper.htm

At the end of the session, we need to answer the quiz again. One way to motivate the student to sit down and listen to the video.
Any trick from Ms Teo. ha.ha.

Come to the workshop session. Everyone of us need to install the MS SQL 2005 Server. As I can’t make it on Fri, I joined the other class.

Yup!!!! The atmosphere is very different from my own class. It is a very hyperactive class.
Manage to install the software into my laptop smoothly. Waiting for the practical part of using the software…..

Yes .. today all of us view the video presentation on COGNOS Powerplay. it is a test drive data mining software.
At the end of the video, we need to answer the quiz to test our understanding on data warehouse & mining and document warehourse.
Data is available anywhere. It is presented in different form. We need to learn how to read the chart in the video.

Basically, the video analyse the america airlines. Eg. which destinations have the highest percentage of on-time arrivals for a specific airline, day of the week, or time of day?

And also the highest percentage on the delay time? the video also analyse the causes of the delay? eg. during peak period, the airline tend to delay longer than usual day.

Imagine you are the airline operation manager. You need to know when to have more frequency of flying? the possible new route of the airline?

Screenshot of the video.

Source:http://www.cognos.com/testdrive/powerplay/index.html?lid=PowerPlay_Testdrive

Well, I would said it depends on the organisation itself. How well the company make use of the data and turn into useful information and it becomes part of the knowledge discovery to the Business Inteligence to make informed better decision and gain competitive advantage.

Business Intelligence refers to application and technologies which are used to gather, provide access to and analyze data and information about their company operations.

Business intelligence systems can help company to have a more comprehensive knowledge of the factors affecting their business such as on sales, production and make better business decision.

Sorce: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Data mining will be able to help the organisations to find the timeliness and quality of information. The organisation will have better understand of their position in the industry as in comparison to its competitiors.

Data mining is an act of excavation in the data from which pattern can be extracted. Also known as Knowledge Dicovery.

Eg. It enables the organisation to reach to the changes in customer behaviour, spending pattern, customers’ preferences and market conditution.

Example taken from the Lecture slide will be the “Wal-Mart Market-basked Analysis”
1.Purchasing transation stored in the database
2.Goals is to identify products that are purchsed together
3.Extraction of buying patterns to understand buying habits of customer
4.Perform actions that may increase sales, such as adjusting inventories and modify floor layout
5.Married male between 21 and 27 who went shopping for diapers also bough beer –> the store began to stack beer cases next to the diaper shelf.

From this Wal-mart case, all the data were available in the database. And that they fully utilised with data and turn into the useful information which the customer purchasing behaviour. Use this information to become the knowledge of understanding the customer and make the neccessary changes according to the needs in order to increase the sales.
Which is place beer next to diaper shelf.

Some picture to illustrate.

Source:http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/dynaweb_docs/0650/
SI_EndUser/books/MineSetNT_T/sgi_html/figures/dataprocess.gif

From the picture, we can analyse that the data come from all different sources. And we need a tools do differentiate them. That is Data Mining.

Better company will use right information at the right time and in the right format.

After that, I went to change my blog skin again. It’s a green color layout with the trees around. I like it very much. It looks very natural.

Next,, I’ll use the other function which WordPress have. Yes!! Post something with protected password.

I found it very interesting. We can put whatever information in the blackboard. Now, we are in the Ms Teo’s point of view. How to make it attractive so that the students will visit the module regularly.
I found that our staff information is the best. As we don’t put our own photo instead we put some Funny/cute photos.
When Ms Teo show it during the lecture, everyone is laughing.
But we are ranked 2nd. Got 1.8%. As we lose on the banner and blog information.
Here is the snapshot of our module:

An enterprise portal supports integration at the user-interface and business-process levels. It provides internal and external users with a personalized and integrated view of the business content (information, applications and services) that they need to do their jobs. However, an enterprise portal is more than just a Web interface to business content. It also offers a rich set of services to gather, categorize, integrate and personalize this content.

Source:http://www.dmreview.com/article_sub.cfm?articleId=6403

One new thing that I have learnt from the IMB WebSphere (Enterprise Portal) is the portal integrate all the information in a single user-interface (like website). It allows users to customize or personalize the interface. And it is user friendly. Just drag and drop the information which you like to appear in the interface.
All in one in a single click.

Last time, company use to have CRM, ERP or even HR system. This may have overlapped information from one another. User may not know where to find the information eventhough there is a system available for them to use.

Unlike for the Enterprise Portal, it integrates with the applications, content, processes and people.
For Example in the IBM WebSphere – one of the tool is Collaboration Tools.
It allows People Finder – Employee Directory, Email, Chat, Calendar, Temwork places and Web conferencing.
The interface is kind of Lotus mail with those functions. With single click, you are able to know the status of the user (online/offline) then you can choose to have a chat with him/her instaneously.
People Finder allow you to find a certain people in the Company and you can see their position and contacts.

There are so much to talk about Enterprise Portal. Do drop me a comment if you wanna to find out more.

Besides that it also my first time do e-learning in my course of study so far. I was not used to it. But as time pass by, I kind of adapt the e-learning environment in NP.
The advantages:
We don’t need to go for lesson. We can submit our assignment or discussion online anywhere and anytime (as long as within the deadline given).
It’s more flexible.
Our works or discussion will be capture in the system. So we can refer to it whenever it’s necessary.
We can get to know other people’s point of view.

The disadvatanges:
It depend on what e-learning methods we had.
1. What I have encountered is submit the assignment online. Once we submitted, we can’t view our works or even other students’ works.

2.Put our comments in the discussion board – We can read other student’s opinion or their research/findings.
It always limited to our own class.

3. Online Chat – Forum. Although we don’t have to go for the lesson – Actual lesson. But we still need to set aside our time for the online Chat. There is restriction on the timing.

Another disadvantage is we don’t know whether our findings or answer is correct or not. As some of the tutor will not go through our e-learning questions.

E-Learning in KMS.
As I mentioned in the previous post, Ms teo encourage the students to participate actively in the discussion board by giving points in various area. Refer to my previous post.
I thinks it is very effective. And also fair for the students who put in effort in the e-learning.

It’s not just restricted to our own class. The discussion board is for the students who took KMS module. More inputs = More knowledge. But will it be information overloading?

Overall, there is pros and cons in the E-learning. In future, beside the Online chat, the tutor may have online conference – meeting. As I noticed that most of our juniors’ laptop equip with the webcam.
So it’s like a virtual classroom. Face-to-face meeting without going to school. The tutor doesn’t need to worry whether it is a real input by the students themselves or asking the other’s students to post for them.