Preparing for Tomorrow's Workplace Skills

1. How has information technology changed your life? Describe at least three areas (both personal and school- or work-related) where having access to better information has improved your decisions. Are there any negative effects? What steps can you take to manage information better? (Information, Technology)
2. Visit or conduct a phone interview with a local small-business owner about the different ways her or his firm uses information technology. Prepare a brief report on your findings that includes the hardware and software used, how it was selected, benefits of technology for the company, and any problems in implementing or using it. (Interpersonal, Information)
3. Your school wants to automate the class-registration process. Prepare a memo to the dean of information systems describing an integrated information system that would help a student choose and register for courses. Make a list of the different groups that should be involved and questions to ask during the planning process. Include a graphic representation of the system that shows how the data become useful information. Indicate the information a student needs to choose courses and its sources. Explain how several types of management support systems could help students make better course decisions. Include ways the school could use the information it collects from this system. Have several students present their plans to the class, which will take the role of university management in evaluating them. (Resources, Systems, Technology)
4. You recently joined the IT staff of a midsized consumer products firm. After a malicious virus destroys some critical files, you realize that the company lacks a security strategy and policies. Outline the steps you’d take to develop a program to protect data and the types of policies you’d recommend. How would you present the plan to management and employees to encourage acceptance? (Resources, Technology)
5. Team Activity Should companies outsource IT? Some executives believe that IT is too important to outsource and that application service providers don’t have a future. Yet spending for ASP subscriptions, MSPs, and other forms of IT outsourcing such as cloud computing continue to grow. What’s your position? Divide the class into groups designated “for” or “against” outsourcing and/or ASPs. Have them research the current status of ASPs using publications such as CIO and Computerworld and websites such as Enterprise Apps Today, http://www.enterpriseappstoday.com. (Interpersonal, Information)