#1. 3 companies that’re using extranets as an inter-networking platform. 2 applications of these platforms in each company. 2 challenges for designing successful extranet:

In this day and age of modernization and digitization, the business world depends heavily on the Internet due to the fact that this tool allows for the instant transmission as well as receipt of information and data. Businesses operate in different geographical areas inside the same country and even in other countries and continents with multinational expansion campaigns. Undoubtedly, the national and international expansion of companies could not be possible without the Internet.

Apart from the Internet, more and more firms use the extranet. These are secure networks that use Internet technologies to connect intranets of business partners to allow communication between organizations and consumers. The extranet is a part of an organization intranet to which the consumers have access to.

More and more companies have started to create and customize their individual extranets because doing so allows the reduction of internetworking costs while also giving firms a competitive advantage.

1. Fashion and clothing companies such as FOREVER 21. The company website allow costumers to register and start making purchases online. The company can increase sales thanks to e-commerce and collect data about their customers. Moreover, in this way the brand can communicate to their subscribers about promotions, sales or new arrivals. However, challenges arise in the registration process as some customers may find it difficult to keep record on their various brand subscriptions. This causes another problem where data extracted and mined may be skewed because of invalid or unsuccessful subscription.
2. Academic institutions such as GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. When students decide to apply for a undergraduate or graduate program, the university itself allows them to access to their extranet where they can complete their application form. Apart from introducing their personal and professional details, potential students can upload their resumes, transcripts and recommendation letters. With any use of Information Technology, navigation is a significant issue to address as some may not be able to access such resources due to convoluted or congested extranet traffic.
3. Delivery and mailing services like FEDEX. By loging onto Fedex’s or any other delivery service’s website and by utilizing a tracking number users can know at any moment where their order is and how many days it will take the order to arrive at its destination. Problems only arise when such tracking information is mishandled or not registered properly into the system which skews location and arrival time for customers. Maintaining such large scale extranet may also require routine and frequent maintenance which, if not upheld, may lead to server crashes or at least a slow down or impediment in utility.

Source: https://www.allbusiness.com/how-companies-use-extranets-1284-1.html

 

#2. Small as well as large businesses could use social networks to improve their efficiency and help their bottom lines. After reading the information presented in this chapter and other sources, write a two-page paper that identifies two applications of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Yelp in running a small business.

Consumer electronics firms are exploring ways of connecting all manner of personal and household objects to the internet, thereby extending their functionality. Some of these devices are undeniably very useful, such as household thermostats which allow us to log on at a distance and turn on our heating before heading home.

Despite the rush to connect all our household objects to the internet, there is an even more important technical trend which has appeared in the past year or so – the internet of me. Instead of just wanting to hook up our home appliances to the internet, we have started to take our bodies and brains online. The internet of me loosely refers to technology which connects our minds and bodies with the online world. It transforms our biological and cognitive life into streams of data which can be monitored, shared and shaped.

Basic self-tracking technologies have been available for some time. There are the now relatively ubiquitous fitness devices like Fit Bit or Jawbone which track your movements, sleep and other biological functions such as heart rate. In the past few years we have seen a wave of smart-watches released which allow consumers to monitor their emails but also their skin resonance. There is also a wealth of apps that ask you about your moods throughout the day. The idea is that you can work out in which situations you are most happy or sad.

Now consumer electronic groups have gone even further by offering devices which scan your brain. One device called Melomind keeps track of brain waves and offers matching music. You can even get wearable devices for your pet which allow you to track their biological and neurological functions.

Unlike primitive biological tracking devices (such as the pedometer), many new technologies allow the rapid sharing of our most intimate biological and cognitive information. Sometimes this entails people uploading and sharing data about their sleep patterns, how far they have run (and the precise route), or their daily calorie intake. At other times, it can take on more extreme measures. Fervent members of the life-logging movement have devised way to track almost anything which can be tracked.

The Internet of Me platform experience can be as unique to you as your fingerprint. Websites that have worked themselves into our routines and vocabularies have begun to figure out what kind of people we are. By developing algorithms that track our online habits, tech companies have created online experiences that are deeply personal and self-determined.

At its advent, the Internet was seen as the Great Equalizer – globally, all users ostensibly had access to the same content. The amount of content available, however, is vast, and websites like Facebook, Netflix, and Google are overwhelmed by it. Tech companies have found that tracking user habits enables the creation an online universe where you only (mostly) see what you’d like to see, essentially determining the Internet that users are exposed to.

Source: https://www.wired.com/insights/2014/11/the-internet-of-me/