In this era where every company is trying to gain a competitive advantage over others, the use of information technology is vital in staying ahead of competitors. The United States government definitely falls into the category of companies attempting to increase their effectiveness and quality of their IT components. In a recent article published on BusinessWire, it was noted that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has struck a deal with an IT firm BAE Systems to strengthen their IT performance. The article states that, “DIA and BAE Systems will achieve a dramatic reduction in recurring enterprise operations costs through innovations in services automation, knowledge management, remote management processes and information-sharing” (Ramjug).
I feel that the DIA is doing something very smart by investing into new technology that will help with the functionality of many of the organizations activities. The growing segments of information technology and security have many organizations investing money into these aspects. While the DIA may not be a bottom line company, that doesn’t mean they cannot invest in ways to reduce costs. Cutting costs through knowledge management and information-sharing can be accomplished with the use of many growing IT technologies. Ubiquitous/Cloud computing is a new technology that is allowing more people access to information. The use of cloud computing would allow more people in the organization to access the information they needed, which would cut out the time wasted for waiting to receive the information. As Francis Bacon once said, “Knowledge is power.” Businesses want to protect their knowledge and information, making business intelligence a vital part of many organizations. What is so great about ubiquitous computing is can also add to the security of a business’s information. This new availability and sense of security for the DIA could prove to be a very worthwhile investment.
Over the past couple years, businesses have been focusing a lot on their relationship with customers and their service to them after a purchase. Another aspect that the DIA is looking to enhance is customer care. Many businesses and organizations are using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in order to enhance the satisfaction and therefore loyalty of customers. This goes along with the last primary support function in the value chain, service after the sale. One can clearly see the measures taken by businesses to restore service after the sale by the many articles that condone businesses for outsourcing customer service. CNN and Businessweek have had articles published discussing the negative effects of outsourcing customer service. “Sending jobs overseas may be good for the bottom line in the short term, but frustrated customers will vote with their wallets,” says Bruce Weinstein of CNN. “The problem with outsourcing customer service is that this practice creates nothing but negative word of mouth” (Weinstein). Jeffrey Pfeffer wrote for CNN about how big companies such as Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, and Dell have all tried outsourcing customer service but received such bad results that they brought their customer service programs back to the U.S. Bringing customer service back to the U.S. and CRM are helping businesses to get back on the good side of customers and restore their trust in the companies.
Works Cited:
Pfeffer, Jeffrey. "A Penny Saved, a Customer Spurned - Mar. 1, 2006." Business, Financial, Personal Finance News - CNNMoney.com. 01 Mar. 2006. Web. 22 Feb. 2011.
Weinstein, Bruce. "The Ethics of Outsourcing Customer Service." BusinessWeek - Business News, Stock Market & Financial Advice. 27 Sept. 2007. Web. 22 Feb. 2011.
We usually think of information technology as something used by businesses to function more productively, and the Defense Intelligence Agency is not your typical business. It does, however, provide a service, mainly the defense of our country. Other blogs have shown that information technology is being used for all different companies that provide a variety of services ranging from retail, to health care, to national defense. The Defense Intelligence Agency uses what they call military intelligence, which is synonymous to information. It should be pretty evident that implementing newer systems to collect, order, and structure that information could be very beneficial. Our national debt is very large, and a big part of that debt is defense spending. By using these enhanced IT technologies the DIA can cut down its spending, which will help lower national debt. While the article does talk about how new technologies will lower cost and better protect important information, they are missing an important point. Another reason it is important to stay on top of the newest technologies is to know how they work. The DIA needs to understand the structure of IT used by other companies in order to extract information from those companies, the very information they will input to their information system.
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