chapter 5 of Management Information Systems 14th Edition by

chapter 5 of Management Information Systems, 14th Edition. by Laudon

5-1 Examine the case entitled “Portugal Telecom Offers IT Infrastructure for Sale” on pages 167-168.
· How does information technology help Portugal Telecom solve its own business problems?
· How does PT use technology to help other companies solve their business problems?
· What steps has PT taken to increase the energy efficiency of its Covilha facility?

Solution

· How does information technology help Portugal Telecom solve its own business problems?

Answer :

Mobile Corporate Apps

Portugal Telecom corporate mobile applications are designed to improve the productivity of companies, leveraging the use of mobile equipments, like smartphones or tablets.
By using PT’s apps, company employees can perform several activities on-the-go taking advantage of all their available time during the day (e.g. HR approvals when waiting for a meeting) or accessing the information right on the spot when needed (e.g., inventory data to fulfil a customer need).

These solutions target companies with employees that are constantly on-the-go and need to access corporate information anytime anywhere. The applications run on the following devices: Android; Apple® iOS 4.2 and 4.3; Windows Phone 7.

The usage of corporate applications improves workers’ productivity by enhancing operational efficiency, business process promptness, information accuracy and Innovative mobile business processes.

IU4SAP

IU4SAP stands for Infrastructure Utility for SAP, meaning the delivery and charge of a system infrastructure and its management services in a “pay its overall usage and no more” service model like Utilities.
The service has 2 pre-configured packages of services, Basic and Plus, with different sets of management services and SLAs. Each package can be tailored to a different number of users according to customer needs.

With IU4SAP, PT wants to meet companies’ needs by drastically reducing SAP running costs through cloud infrastructure and pre-configured management services.

By paying a monthly fee that includes specialised services, instead of buying licences, hardware and space, this service allows companies to turn Capex into Opex. Furthermore, it also increases autonomy, versatility and scalability of the SAP platform, keeping companies focused on their core business by migrating to a hosted model.

Currently, PT is the only Cloud Services Provider in Iberia and one of the few in the world with a triple SAP certification: SAP Partner Centre of Expertise; SAP Certified in Hosting Services; SAP Certified Cloud Services Partner.

Remote Desktop

A Remote Desktop (computational capabilities, storage and apps) is made available through a central system. This remote desktop is accessed either by a basic device (thin/zero client) or by a laptop.
A similar user experience to a “traditional” desktop is made available by both an identical graphic interface to a common desktop as well as set of identical features.

The platform is based on partnership with leading player in desktop virtualisation, Citrix, which guarantees high levels of performance, redundancy as well as availability.

The solution is adjusted to the SME and Corporate segments, addressing the Cloud Computing infrastructure layer (IaaS). With this service, companies can significantly decrease TCO, increase productivity, by enabling the access to corporate desktop (files and corporate apps) from several devices, with reinforced security.

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Contextual Advertising

Portugal Telecom is one of top two players in the Portuguese online advertising market. PT currently offers its customers a wide range of advertising services through different channels, from online to mobile and IPTV, by using a series of tools that help brands and agencies (both SMEs and large corporations) to develop their campaigns, select the target segments, execute the campaigns, and finally obtain all the analytics necessary to assess the success of a particular campaign or channel.

Currently, PT has several advertising platforms, such as SAPO Anúncios (e.g. banner ads, email marketing, etc.), SPOTYAD (mobile advertising through promotional SMS and MMS) and IPTV advertising (online advertising on TV through interactivity).

Digital Windows

The digital storefront solution is the response to retail companies\' need for differentiation in customer interaction, with more dynamic and appealing content. With this solution, PT breaks today’s standard in storefront advertising, allowing the customer to choose the content that he/she is really interested in.

With Digital Windows, companies can improve the ability to convey content in a much more attractive and dynamic way compared with traditional formats, as it allows customers to choose the information that they are really interested in. It also enables cost reduction, as content can be centralised and remotely managed.

Audience measurement

Based on a camera and image processing, this system not only registers the number of people that enter or attend a store, but also retrieves essential statistical information such as gender, age and viewing time, providing truthful customer profile information and advertising targeted to a specific customer group.
With this cloud-based service, companies that exploit public spaces (e.g. retail chains and shopping centres) can benefit from a truthful system that helps them to measure customer response and provides reliable information about consumer preferences.

SAPO Voucher

SAPO Voucher is a multiplatform e-commerce service (through specific website, mobile devices and television) that provides premium exclusive daily deals to the Portuguese market, giving customers the opportunity to benefit from significant discounts (minimum 50%) in products and services from top companies.
SAPO Voucher explores Portugal Telecom´s advertising channels and segmentation expertise to attract the best companies to.

Through this service, hundreds of SMEs can have access to alternative advertising services in a 100% performance/no risk revenue model.

Private Services

Secured Virtual Data Centres with high performance and availability. It allows hosting of all kinds of corporate applications, such as: web portals, data bases, content management, SEEs, ERPs and CRM systems. A self-care, user friendly, web portal that allows managing resources such as servers, implement multiple network areas, establish load balancing between servers, firewall security policies, without the need for any kind of aid or specific knowledge.
The solution is adjusted to SME and Corporate segments, addressing the Cloud Computing infrastructure layer (IaaS). It also reduces lower TCO due to the pay-as-you-grow model and ensuring reinforced data and network security.
The platform is based on partnership established with the leading player in virtualisation, VMware, guaranteeing high levels of performance, redundancy as well as availability.

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Secured Manged Services

Service that monitors the IT infrastructure of a customer and detects malware, thus preventing attacks based on information received from the customer IT network. It is supported in the platform HP ArcSight and ensures top quality managed security service, 24-7 computer security incident response services and improves business efficiency as it reduces losses due to IT problems.

SmartCloudPT Solutions

Website where customers can purchase and manage online PT’s cloud services. It also explains the cloud computing concept, its advantages and the benefits of choosing PT’s cloud services. SmartCloudPT Solutions are organised into 4 families – Web, Applications, Resources and Security – and it offers free trials. It also includes case studies.
Customers only need to register and log in to purchase the available services, which are billed in the customers’ PT invoice, together with other PT services, as the SmartCloudPT Solutions website totally integrates with PT’s legacy billing systems.

In this website, PT offers partner solutions that are combined with PT infrastructure and services at lower prices, ensuring better time to market, with no need for implementation processes, as well as ease of use and purchase.

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tmn Drive

tmn drive is a navigation app for smartphones, where user has access to a map of Portugal with thousands of points of interest included. tmn drive is free of charge for end user for life and is available for most Android phones (including tablets), iPhone and iPad. tmn drive also integrates with social networks (facebook and foursquare). The maps are stored in the phone which enables offline navigation.
Unified Communications

PT Unified Communications deliver the possibility for each user to establish contacts using the most convenient device, at any moment. This creates a collaboration mood which integrates contact channels like IM, SMS, Voice, Video and Social Networks into the same communication. This is used to automatically route the contact to the best device of a given user, using the best channel at any moment.

It enhances productivity through collaboration and fixed-mobile convergence, as well as scalability (both in terms of size and features) with reduced investment risk (pay-per-use model) due to cost predictability.

Videoconference

PT Videoconference solutions allow users to attend meetings with colleagues, suppliers and customers face-to-face without physical presence. The solutions is hosted in the cloud and benefit from the global network established with several companies.

With this solution, SMEs and large corporations can lower costs, due to reduced need of travelling and accommodation, and improve communication with several stakeholders.

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Instant website

Ready to use, all in one solution that allows customers to quickly create their company’s website with a 100% unique design and everything needed for businesses to be online. With no need for upfront investments and a small monthly fee, Instant Website includes a self-care portal to manage, configure and update the website, as well as site hosting, domain and email accounts.
It includes an innovative and differentiating technology that gives customers the possibility to transform their online presence into a live-action and interactive experience. This new technology provides real time information to customer’s website visitors and real time monitoring of visitor navigation for personalized interaction to foster contacts, sales and customer loyalty.

How does PT use technology to help other companies solve their business problems?

Answer : Portugal Telecom has focused its B2B strategy on the development of advanced ICT solutions that go well beyond mere connectivity services. In fact, PT has positioned itself as a business partner for the major corporations in Portugal and abroad, helping them do more with fewer resources, keeping the focus on their core business. To this effect, PT has developed its offer around four key customer needs: (1) operational efficiency; (2) mobility and collaboration; (3) security; and (4) customer relationship. For each of these needs, PT currently has a wide range of solutions spanning from next generation connectivity to IT/IS services.

What steps has PT taken to increase the energy efficiency of its Covilha facility?

Forecasting trends and behaviour is of strategic importance in modern business, especially in a sector marked by intensive investment patterns and a high pace of change. In this context, exploratory innovation plays a key role in reaching the standard of competitiveness required to be successful and maintain a sustainable business, ensuring market leadership in the long run.

Apart from internal capabilities developed in this field, PT Portugal is also an active member of an innovation ecosystem, containing strategic partners from suppliers to other telecommunications operators, universities and research institutions.