Case 2: Lufthansa Taking Mobile Computing to the Skies

1. Case 2: LufthansaTaking Mobile Computing to the Skies Lufthansa wants to • Keep 3,500 pilots • Trained on the latest technology and procedures • Plugged into the corporate infrastructure • Informed about schedules, weather events, and other facts that affect their jobs • Control costs • Provide Internet access to passengers

2. Case Study Questions • Are many of Lufthansa’s challenges identified in the case similar to those being experienced by other businesses in today’s global economy? Explain and provide some examples. • What other tangible and intangible benefits, beyond those identified by Lufthansa, might a mobile workforce enjoy as a result of deploying mobile technologies? Explain. • Lufthansa was clearly taking a big risk with their decision to deploy notebook computers to their pilots. What steps did they take to manage that risk and what others might be needed in today’s business environment? Provide some examples

3. Are many of Lufthansa’s challenges identifies in the case similar to those being experienced by other businesses in today’s global economy? Explain and provide some examples. • While the specifics of each challenge are particular to Lufthansa’s situation, many are shared by other global organizations. Examples could include: • Provide a mobile workforce with equipment that fits their needs while it does not get in the way of accomplishing their objectives (not only technical specifications, but also upgrades and updates, stability, etc) • Distribute training and other non-directly value-adding activities during non-productive periods both to maximize efficiency and reduce downtime • Provide adequate support to mobile operations while keeping a tight lid on cost and being able to justify the investment • Redefine processes to accommodate new mobile technologies and needs of a distributed workforce – including communication, meeting and decision making practices

4. What other tangible and intangible benefits, beyond those identified by Lufthansa, might a mobile workforce enjoy as a result of deploying mobile technologies. Explain. Examples • Increased, all-around, communication, both with the organization and with personal relationships (family, friends, etc). Especially important for a highly mobile workforce such as airline pilots. • Remote access to corporate applications, important since increasingly more of the employee’s interaction is self-managed (payroll systems, expense reports, etc.) • More productive time spent at customer locations and streamlined order taking and processing • Ability to timely collect and report data on the competitive environment, both for the own organization and competitors (prices, volume, advertising, etc)

5. Lufthansa was clearly taking a big risk with their decision to deploy notebook computers to their pilots. What steps did they take to manage that risk and what others might be needed in today’s business environment? Provide some examples. Steps taken to manage the risk: • Ensured that technical specifications for the equipment were acceptable to both pilots and the union, given the very special work environment they would be used in • Increased the chances of user buy-in by providing convenient alternatives to traditionally cumbersome tasks (such as carrying manuals and technical documents around) • Standardized on a unique hardware and software platform to reduce support and upgrade costs • Structured the process in phases, pilot and general deployment, to both assess feasibility and obtain feedback before mass implementation

6. Training users (pilots) in the skills required to operate and become productive with the new hardware and applications, if they did not have them already • Ensure that project analysts and support personnel had the skills required to carry on a project of this magnitude

7. Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 • Group mini case Report & Presentation Due on February 12 Mini case: Delta, Northwest Airlines, and Vancouver Airport: The business Value of Customer Self-Service Kiosks (87)

8. IT Hardware Left: The on-board L2 cache. Right: The Pentium® Pro processor core with 5.5 million transistors. Source: Intel

9. Learning Objectives • Understand the history and evolution of computer hardware. • Outline the major technologies and uses of computer peripherals for input, output, and storage. • Identify and give example of the components and functions of a computer system.

10. Learning Objectives 4. Identify the computer systems and peripherals you would acquire or recommend for a business of your choice, and explain the reasons for your selections.

11. Microcomputer Systems • Personal Computer (PC) – microcomputer for use by an individual • Desktop – fit on an office desk • Laptop – small, portable PC

12. Microcomputer Systems • Workstation – a powerful, networked PC for business professionals • Network Server – more powerful microcomputers that coordinate telecommunications and resource sharing in small networks

13. Information Appliances • Hand-held microcomputer devices • Personal digital assistants (PDA) • BlackBerry • Video-game consoles • Internet enabled cellular phones

14. Hardware: Your Physical InterfaceCharacteristics of CPUs and RAM

15. Motherboard: components bus , chipset, CPU, memory

16. Motherboard: chipset • components of the chipset • memory controller • I/O controller • bus controller • cache controller • types of chipsets

17. Motherboard: bus system • data bus • address bus • system/control bus • expansion slots • ISA, EISA, VESA,SCSI, PCI, AGP • How local bus works?PCI vs VESA • Bus speeds: Pentium 4 and AthlonXP

18. What’s a BUS? • A collection of wires through which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another. • A bus connects all the internal computer components to the CPU and main memory. There's also an expansion bus that enables expansion boards to access the CPU and memory • Every bus has a clock speed measured in MHz

19. All buses consist of two parts -- an address bus and a data bus. The data bus transfers actual data whereas the address bus transfers information about where the data should go. • The size of a bus, known as its width, is determines how much data can be transmitted at one time. For example, a 16-bit bus can transmit 16 bits of data, whereas a 32-bit bus can transmit 32 bits of data.

20. Semiconductor memory • Microelectronic semiconductor memory chips • Used for primary storage • Advantage: • Small size • Fast • Shock and temperature resistance • Disadvantage: • Volatility: must have uninterrupted electric power or lose memory

21. Two types of semiconductor memory • RAM: random access memory • Most widely used primary storage medium • Volatile memory • Read/write memory • ROM: read only memory • Permanent storage • Can be read but cannot be overwritten • Frequently used programs burnt into chips during manufacturing • Called firmware

22. Bit and Byte • Bit (short for binary digit) • Smallest element of data • Either zero or one • Byte • Group of eight bits which operate as a single unit • Represents one character or number

23. Representing characters in bytes

24. Computers use binary system to calculate • Decimal • Octal • Binary • ASCII

25. Measuring storage capacities • Kilobyte (KB): one thousand bytes • Megabyte (MB): one million bytes • Gigabyte (GB): one billion bytes • Terabyte (TB): one trillion bytes • Petabyte (PB): one quadrillion bytes

26. Main Memory • basic concepts • memory banks (0,1,2): 64 Meg to 1 Gig • SIMMs (single in-line memory modules), DIMMS (dual in-line memory modules), SDRAM (synchronous DRAM) • SIMMs older, DIMMS old, SDRAM newer PCs • additional references • Upgrading memory

27. Updating Memory • RAM is sold in the form of chips contained on small circuit boards called memory modules. • Most PCs have three DIMM sockets on their motherboards, and one or two of them are usually free. Adding RAM is as simple as plugging in new DIMMs

28. Disk drives • Hard-drives • Overview • Speed • Interfaces: IDE, SCSI, SATA, IDE vs SCSI • CD and DVD • basics: CD standard and DVDstandards • xA measurement of CD or DVD drive speed. Each x translates to either 153,600 bytes of data per second, the data rate of the CD-audio or 1,250,000 bytes per second, the data rate of the DVD-video. • USB flash drives • Overview

29. Magnetic Disks • Used for secondary storage • Fast access and high storage capacity Source: Corbis. Source: Quantum.

30. Types of magnetic disks • Floppy disks • Magnetic disk inside a plastic jacket • Hard disk drives • Magnetic disk, access arms, and read/write heads in sealed module • RAID (Redundant arrays of independent disks) • Disk arrays of interconnected hard disk drives • Fault tolerant with multiple copies on several disks

31. Optical Disks

32. Uses of optical disks • Image processing • Long term storage of historical files of images • Scan documents and store on optical disks • Publishing medium for fast access to reference materials • Catalogs, directories, etc. • Interactive multimedia applications • Video games, educational videos, etc.

33. Disk drive performance • Fragmentation • Compression. • Cache • Swap file (paging file)

34. Fragmentation Fragmentation means two things: File fragmentation: a condition in which individual files on a disk are not contiguous but are broken up in pieces scattered around the disk; Data Fragmentation: a condition in which the free space on a disk consists of little bits of free space here and there rather than only one or a few free spaces.

35. Compression • Zip • Winzip

36. Example In John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address, he delivered this famous line: • "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country." The quote has 17 words, made up of 61 letters, 16 spaces, one dash and one period. If each letter, space or punctuation mark takes up one unit of memory, we get a total file size of 79 units. To get the file size down, we need to look for redundancies.

37. "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country." • "ask" appears two times • "what" appears two times • "your" appears two times • "country" appears two times • "can" appears two times • "do" appears two times • "for" appears two times • "you" appears two times our dictionary: Our sentence now reads:

38. "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country." • full phrase takes up 79 units. • Our compressed sentence (including spaces) takes up 37 units, and the dictionary (words and numbers) also takes up 37 units. This gives us a file size of 74, so we haven't reduced the file size by very much.

39. Others • graphics cards: • monitors: resolution, size, analog vs. digital • printers: ink, laser, color, speed. • Modems: phone lines, cable and DSL • scanners • digital cameras

40. Hardware: Your Physical InterfaceConnecting Devices • Connecting devices enable your hardware to communicate with each other. • Busses – system and expansion. • Expansion – slots and cards. • Ports and connectors – USB, serial, parallel, and IrDA

41. Hardware: Your Physical InterfaceConnecting Devices

42. Keyboard and mouse ports USB port Serial port Parallel port Hardware: Your Physical Interface

43. Hardware: Your Physical InterfaceConnecting Devices • Popular connectors include: • USB (universal serial bus) –the most popular means of connecting devices to a computer. • Serial connector – usually has 9 holes but may have 25, which fit into the corresponding number of pins in the port. • Parallel connector – has 25 pins, which fit into the corresponding holes in the port.

44. Hardware: Your Physical InterfaceConnecting Devices

45. Hardware: Your Physical InterfaceConnecting Devices • IrDA (infrared data association) ports –are for wireless devices that work in essentially the same way as the remote control on your TV does.

46. Radio Frequency Identification • RFID • Tag and identify mobile objects • E.g., store merchandise, postal packages, pets • Use RFID chips to transmit and receive radio signals • Chips half the size of a grain of sand • Passive chips: • do not have power source and derive power from signal in reader • Active chips: • Self-powered

47. RFID versus bar codes • RFID • Scan from greater distance • Can store data • Allows more information to be tracked • Privacy concerns due to invisible nature • RFID Controversy

48. Additional Readings • www2.una.edu/compcenter/csglossary.htmwww.beginnerspc.com

49. Why do you think that Aviall failed in their implementation of an airplane parts and components inventory control system? What could they have done differently? • Reasons why Aviall failed would include: • The ERP system did not support adequately Aviall’s business strategies. • The ERP implemented did not improve the basic operational support system needed by Aviall to provide timely supply chain management. • The ERP system project did not adequately address the issue of systems integration between applications. • The implementation of the ERP failed due to inadequate consideration of the magnitude of the project.

50. What Aviall could have done differently would include the following: • Project planning through the use of some form of a systematic development process. • Analysis of the business requirements prior to making decisions about the software to acquire for the ERP system. • Project management should have been a higher consideration of Aviall.