Discuss Technology in Twenty-First Century (Essay Sample)

Abstract
Most businesses use these three trends of technology: Social Media; Cloud Computing; and Big Data in running their day-to-day activities. Cameron’s Coffee, a $40 million dollar premium coffee manufacturer in Shakopee Minnesota would like to try these three trends of technology. However, research has to be conducted to show the extent as to which it would gain from these trends of technology before the busy executive takes a risk (Petersen C., n.d).
Statement to the problem
Provision of recommendations to a busy executive on use of these three trends of technology: Big Data; Cloud Computing; and Social Media. This will be Cameron’s Coffee president in particular.
1. Social Media
a. Social media is the communal use of several online communication channels through: response of information; interaction process; sharing of relevant content; and finally collaboration. Social media has several platforms that are readily available on internet such as Google, Face book, Wikipedia, Twitter and LinkedIn (Films on Demand, 2014).
Businesses use social media in the following ways: Through social platforms, businesses can improve their public relations by simply delivering messages instantly to several people around the world. However, public relations as a role of social media requires the businesses to embrace transparency and craft compelling messages to their target audience; businesses use social media platforms to support their customers, therefore reducing the hidden cost incurred through traditional customer support. It also enables them to receive feedback from their customers across the world simultaneously; businesses use social media platforms to conduct market research on their new and existing products (North Social, 2009). This provides them with an opportunity to get the emotional and rational needs of the customers; businesses conduct brand marketing using social media platforms to foster between their brand and their customers; businesses use social media platforms to promote their products; businesses use social media platforms to educate their customers on how to use their products and even motivate them to continue using the products; businesses use social media platforms to create virtual retail shops which helps them to increase their sales volume; businesses use social media platforms to create a pool of brain power which enables them to develop new product ideas and to show potential market opportunities; finally businesses use social media platforms to manage their relationships with their customers (North Social, 2009).
b. The following are the two recommendations on how Cameron’s Coffee can use Social Media: Cameron’s Coffee executive can use social media platforms to support their customers; and Cameron’s Coffee executive can use social media platforms to create a pool of brain power which enables them to find potential market opportunities (North Social, 2009).
c. By using social media platforms to support its customers, the Cameron’s Coffee executive will be able to cut the hidden cost incurred through traditional customer support. It will also enable them to receive feedback from their customers across the world simultaneously (Films on Demand, 2014).
By using social media platforms to create a pool of brain power, Cameron’s Coffee executive will be able find potential market opportunities for the newly established roasting plant in Shakopee and also to get more qualified employees (Smith J., 2012).
2. Big Data
a. Big data refers to a data that has the following three properties: velocity; variety; and volume (Dumbill, D., 2012). A Big Data has high velocity, more variety and large volume. When a data exceeds the processing capacity of the available database systems of a given organization, it becomes a Big Data.
The following three ways is how businesses use Big Data: Businesses are able to improve their operational efficiencies through establishment of earlier information about supply chain management; Businesses are able to keep a range of both structured and unstructured data from several sources (Dumbill, D., 2012). Examples of structured data include; intelligence information from partners in the industry, customer relation management data and purchase histories (SearchCloudComputingTechTarget.com, 2014). Examples of unstructured data include; social media videos, blogs and feeds; and businesses use Big Data to get their required expertise for the data analysis at affordable cost and to share the available resources among the members of the organization.
b. The following are two recommendations on how Cameron’s coffee can use Big Data: the executive of Cameron’s Coffee can use Big Data to keep a range of both structured and unstructured data from several sources (SearchCloudComputingTechTarget.com, 2014); Cameron’s Coffee executive can use Big Data to show earlier information about its supply chain management process.
c. By use of Big Data to keep a wide range of both structured and unstructured data, the executive of Cameron’s Coffee will be able to get access to important data such as intelligence information from partners in the industry, customer relation management data, purchase histories, social media videos, blogs and feeds which it can use to enhance its marketing process (SearchCloudComputingTechTarget.com, 2014).
By use of Big Data to show earlier information about its supply chain management process, the executive of Cameron’s Coffee would be in a place to improve on how its existing roasting plants functions and that of the newly installed plant in Shakopee (Petersen C., n.d).
3. Cloud Computing
a. The act of storing programs and data for future reference over the internet and not the readily available computer’s hard drive is what is referred to as clod computing (Griffith.E, 2013). Internet is normally called cloud because it is almost everywhere just as clouds. This type of data storage is very easy and convenient to the user because it relieves him/her the burden of managing both the software and the hardware of the organization (Griffith.E, 2013). Most businesses, especially small businesses have embraced the use of cloud computing due to the following services they get from it: Productivity whereby it is able they are able to record their working period, generate invoices and even calculate the cost of work per minute; project management whereby they are able to get online design and functionality for most of their projects; Customer relationship management through sales forecasts, basic customer service tools, e-mail marketing, real-time data sharing and custom dashboards; creation of a wide database with various options; file-syncing services; management of finance to the businesses through online applications; to conduct online data storage, collaboration or even back-up through online services such as Google Drive and Sky Drive; and Information and Technology tools and management to the businesses through Pure Cloud (Lynn, S...