Pentaho is an open source application software that contains different functionalities that can serve various users especially those in businesses. The system has the following functionalities:
1. KPI Dashboard
The dashboard contains gauges that measure specific accounts of the company like average sales, order cancellation, items per sale and inventory status. It has Territory Value and Product Line options that you can change to view different results of the accounts specified depending on the location and type of product. This is a very nice tool to show the status of the company’s accounts.
2. Product Sales Breakdown
This functionality shows graphs and a table that describe the product sales (graph), sales trend (graph) and total sales by supplier (table). Like the KPI Dashboard, this also has Territory Value and Product Line options that you can change to view different results of the accounts specified depending on the location and type of product. This uses graphs and tables instead of gauges to visualize the company’s performance.
3. Google Maps
This functionality shows a map where you can see different locations or territories. When you choose a specific sales threshold you will see balloons on specific areas. The color of the balloons describes the sales for that area. I believe that this part of the software is an enhancement of existing software; it just added the balloons and threshold ranges to describe accounts like sales.
4. Buyer Product Analysis Report
This part contains drop-down fields - “choose a line” (products) and “output type” (file type of the report to be shown) that presents reports of a specific product and the report on that product depending on your choice.
5. Product Line Sales Trend Analyzer Report
The ‘Analyzer Reports’ looks simpler compared to the ‘Report’. The ‘Report’ contains detailed information about a specific product; the ‘Analyzer Report’ on the other hand, presents summarized information in a graphical form. It is better to use the ‘Analyzer Report’ when presenting it to report viewers particularly the top management of the company since it is very straightforward.
Pentaho is a sophisticated software that targets businesses. Its is best for database management, reports and presentations. It has different functionalities that can be used depending on the needs of the business.
MS Access and Pentaho are similar in some ways like serving as a data management system. Nevertheless, these still have differences. They have different capabilities and features. As mentioned before, Pentaho is an open source application software, while MS Access is not. MS Access is a relational database management system, while Pentaho is a business intelligence system. I think Pentaho is better used in reports and presentations because of its attractive applications and interface. Lastly, I believe Pentaho is simpler and more enjoyable to use compared to MS Access.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Emerging Information Technology Resources
Peculiarly perplexing, this is how I regard our mundane world to be. Thanks for all the technological advancements that help us get through our everyday struggle in our lives, particularly at work.
I have worked for MERALCO for a little over three years now. It’s a relatively large company operating in the country for a long time already. We have been using different information technology resources for a more efficient and effective operation. Using new and advanced IT resources developed today can enhance our performance in the service of our customers.
I have researched on emerging information technology resources that can be used in our organization. These are:
1. MapReduce
This programming framework has the ability to crunch petabytes of data in a fraction of time it would normally take – on commodity hardware, no less. MapReduce is also being incorporated into mainstream solutions from IBM, Oracle, and others.
Since MERALCO has a huge database for millions of customers and other important data, this can help in keeping and accessing these files. We normally do database extracts; this would surely help in the process.
(http://www.infoworld.com/d/infoworld/2009s-top-10-emerging-enterprise-technologies-467¤t=11&last=1#slideshowTop)
2. Data deduplication
This data deduplication solution manages ballooning data in businesses, which typically yields dramatic results. (Ex. Data Domain DD660 Appliance)
We keep so much data in the office and so much data are redundant, from email attachments to backup sets. This data deduplication will place a very important role in the coming years.
(http://www.infoworld.com/d/infoworld/2009s-top-10-emerging-enterprise-technologies-467¤t=9&last=11#slideshowTop)
3. Whitelisting
Whitelisting software adopts the reverse approach of dealing with malwares. These products take a snapshot of a known good system to create whitelisting rules and, thereafter, onitor systems for unapproved applications and even prevent unapproved programs from running.
This software can help in protecting important business data MERALCO has from viruses, worms and other pervasive malware pandemic.
(http://www.infoworld.com/d/infoworld/2009s-top-10-emerging-enterprise-technologies-467¤t=2&last=9#slideshowTop)
All these can bring a great impact to the company’s efficiency and effectiveness in operations, but all these come with costs. First of all, you will need a huge amount of monetary resources to be able to invest in these items. Second, you will also have to train the people who will use these new technologies competently. Lastly, you will have to consider the opportunity costs imputed in buying these technologies like investing in other resources.
I have worked for MERALCO for a little over three years now. It’s a relatively large company operating in the country for a long time already. We have been using different information technology resources for a more efficient and effective operation. Using new and advanced IT resources developed today can enhance our performance in the service of our customers.
I have researched on emerging information technology resources that can be used in our organization. These are:
1. MapReduce
This programming framework has the ability to crunch petabytes of data in a fraction of time it would normally take – on commodity hardware, no less. MapReduce is also being incorporated into mainstream solutions from IBM, Oracle, and others.
Since MERALCO has a huge database for millions of customers and other important data, this can help in keeping and accessing these files. We normally do database extracts; this would surely help in the process.
(http://www.infoworld.com/d/infoworld/2009s-top-10-emerging-enterprise-technologies-467¤t=11&last=1#slideshowTop)
2. Data deduplication
This data deduplication solution manages ballooning data in businesses, which typically yields dramatic results. (Ex. Data Domain DD660 Appliance)
We keep so much data in the office and so much data are redundant, from email attachments to backup sets. This data deduplication will place a very important role in the coming years.
(http://www.infoworld.com/d/infoworld/2009s-top-10-emerging-enterprise-technologies-467¤t=9&last=11#slideshowTop)
3. Whitelisting
Whitelisting software adopts the reverse approach of dealing with malwares. These products take a snapshot of a known good system to create whitelisting rules and, thereafter, onitor systems for unapproved applications and even prevent unapproved programs from running.
This software can help in protecting important business data MERALCO has from viruses, worms and other pervasive malware pandemic.
(http://www.infoworld.com/d/infoworld/2009s-top-10-emerging-enterprise-technologies-467¤t=2&last=9#slideshowTop)
All these can bring a great impact to the company’s efficiency and effectiveness in operations, but all these come with costs. First of all, you will need a huge amount of monetary resources to be able to invest in these items. Second, you will also have to train the people who will use these new technologies competently. Lastly, you will have to consider the opportunity costs imputed in buying these technologies like investing in other resources.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Using MS Access
Ever since I can remember, I only use MS Word, MS PowerPoint and MS Excel in the MS Office. I never bothered to check and explore the other applications in it. I am not good at computers and software applications and sometimes, I get impatient with them if I can’t make them work well. That’s why I was so worried that I will have a hard time doing the MS Access editing. I checked the instructions on the Blackboard learning system, and then I downloaded the file in course documents folder. Unfortunately, I can't open it because my MS Access version is outdated already. I borrowed my officemate's laptop. Fortunately, she has MS Office 2007 on it but still, I had problems opening it. The computer prompts that the file I downloaded had an error. I asked one of my friends what could be wrong with it and why I can't make it work. I tried opening it in my other officemate's computer that has MS Office 2010 and still, it wouldn't work. He told me to download it again. Now what I did was open the link posted in blackboard and downloaded it from there. Finally, I was able to open it!
It was my second time using the MS Access, my first was during our Info-tech class last May 15, 2010. I thought it was hard and complicated, but it was quick and easy. It is just like an advanced MS Excel. It took me longer to get the file from the internet than to do the actual homework. I chose the MikeGarage file and edited the ‘Customers: Table' table. I added two fields in it, the "Marital Status" field and the "Employer" field. I entered my own record in that table, and here is how it looked like:
I was so happy when I finished doing it. I said to myself "yun lang yon?! hahahahaha". I think negatively on things like this too much; that’s why I can’t appreciate them. I learned the basics in using the MS Access, but the best thing I actally learned was how to be patient and how not complicate things. Be optimistic!
It was my second time using the MS Access, my first was during our Info-tech class last May 15, 2010. I thought it was hard and complicated, but it was quick and easy. It is just like an advanced MS Excel. It took me longer to get the file from the internet than to do the actual homework. I chose the MikeGarage file and edited the ‘Customers: Table' table. I added two fields in it, the "Marital Status" field and the "Employer" field. I entered my own record in that table, and here is how it looked like:
I was so happy when I finished doing it. I said to myself "yun lang yon?! hahahahaha". I think negatively on things like this too much; that’s why I can’t appreciate them. I learned the basics in using the MS Access, but the best thing I actally learned was how to be patient and how not complicate things. Be optimistic!
Creating My Own Blog Site
My friend has a blog site where she writes her thoughts, feelings and experiences. It feels nice reading her entries. There are also entries about us, which made me more interested in blogging. I never really had the time to create my own blog site and write about things like this because I thought creating your own site was complicated. However, since we were required to create a blog site for our information technology course, I made mine.
Actually, making your own blog was simple and easy. I chose the www.blogger.com site because I find its name appealing. You just need to input some information about yourself and then wait for a confirmation message through your cell phone. The confirmation message contains a ‘code’ that you will need to input for verification purposes on your first log on. You can update your profile anytime, at your convenience, and then you’re ready to use it. I asked my friend to check if my blog site opens when she enters the URL, just to confirm if I was successful in creating it and voila, it works!
I am more patient and more interested in internet stuff like this over software applications like MS Access. It is simpler and more fun, since I get to see and know about a lot of things and a lot of people. There are interactions in applications like this which draws me into it. Now I have another medium where I can express my thoughts, feelings and tell about my experiences.
Blog. Blog. Blog. =)
Actually, making your own blog was simple and easy. I chose the www.blogger.com site because I find its name appealing. You just need to input some information about yourself and then wait for a confirmation message through your cell phone. The confirmation message contains a ‘code’ that you will need to input for verification purposes on your first log on. You can update your profile anytime, at your convenience, and then you’re ready to use it. I asked my friend to check if my blog site opens when she enters the URL, just to confirm if I was successful in creating it and voila, it works!
I am more patient and more interested in internet stuff like this over software applications like MS Access. It is simpler and more fun, since I get to see and know about a lot of things and a lot of people. There are interactions in applications like this which draws me into it. Now I have another medium where I can express my thoughts, feelings and tell about my experiences.
Blog. Blog. Blog. =)
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