Application For Analyzing Online Product Information By Web Content Mining

With a tremendous information growth in worldwide wed and increases in adoption of internet by many business and individuals, Internet has turned into a data source which contains information required by many E-businesses and other. Internet has a vast collection of data but it is not easy to extract the information which you need from the abundant data available in the Internet. The process of exacting patterns from data is referred as data mining. Data mining is used to fetch information (of what we want) from the abundant data. Web based data mining is the application of data mining techniques to discover patterns from the web. By web mining we can automatically discover and extract information from web documents and services. Web mining can be broadly defined as finding, fetching and analysis of useful information from the Internet. Web mining is classified into three types based on the way you fetch the data from the internet.

Web structure mining: Web mining here is done based on the relationship between Web pages linked by information or direct link connection. This structure data is discoverable by the provision of web structure schema through database techniques for Web pages. Web structure mining aims at developing techniques to take advantage of the collective judgment of web page .

Web usage mining: This type of web mining allows for the collection of Web access information for Web pages. Web usage mining is known as Web log mining and click stream analysis , it focuses on techniques to study the user behavior when navigating the web.

Web content mining: It refers to the discovery of useful information from web contents, including text, image, audio, video, etc. Web content mining describes the discovery of useful information from the content of web pages or Web documents.

In this project we built a web based data mining application (using opensource technologies) which is based on web content mining concept. This project is mainly divided into three phases. First phase is related to data extraction from web. Second phase deals with data transformation and loading. And tabular,bar,pie chart reports (as per the client required dimensions) are generated in Final phase.

The factors that CIO should consider in order to implement the Open Source ERP effectively in the organization

•    Select ERP Package according to Business process functional fit:  The CIO should select ERP package which provide functionality fit between Open Source ERP system and business requirements. The logic of Open Source ERP system may not conflict with the logic of business. The higher the fit is the lower are the customization and implementation cost. Functionality fit has high impact on total cost and implementation time. In order to find appropriate Open source ERP package CIO needs to setup a team to do analysis of current business processes of the organization then study available Open Source ERP packages in the market, start with web sites like SourceForge.net. Select and implement those modules that support organization business processes, execute small pilot projects and evaluate the results of implemented packages to select required Open Source ERP package.
•    Check Open Source ERP system license terms are compatible with their business requirements: Many open source ERP vendors follow GPL license which include complex terms like Copy left. According to such license type any improvement and derivative works organization create also released under the same license terms so CIO should understand the terms of the open source license before they adopt an Open Source ERP package into organization. CIO should take help of consultant who provide support for Open Source Licensing process.
•    Check strength of the community: The CIO should understand what types of communities (people) are involved in the Open Source ERP project in order to check sustainability and continuity of project development related tasks.  If large numbers of people are actively involved means less vulnerabilities, security issues, maturity and sustainability level of Open Source ERP project increases.
•    Check for Open Source ERP application adopted by other companies: The CIO should evaluate the Open Source ERP system by doing analysis regarding how many other companies implemented successfully Open Source ERP. Many Open Source ERP vendors showcase the various clients’ reviews that have adopted and are using their product. This process motivate CIO and create some assurance the Open Source ERP implementation is feasible, especially if CIO find an existing client similar to their enterprise.
•    Check for Commercial Support: The CIO should check for commercial support is available from selected Open Source ERP system vendor. The voluntary support from community is not sufficient for critical applications. Most of open source ERP vendors provide support through other vendors involved in the project that provide different type of supports like customization related support, maintenance related support, provide training , certification services and 24*7 production assistance.
•    Check for Quality assurance process: The CIO should verify what types of Quality Assurance processes used by the Open Source ERP developers. Because ERP systems integrates all business processes. If the quality assurance processes are not up to organizational standard then CIO can choose other Open Source ERP option or allocate some budget in order conduct the missing QA process either internally or by a third party vendors.
•    Check for Documentation process: Some Open Source ERP Communities will have major focus on Software development and give less importance to documentation processes or they can be poor in documentation. To implement or customize such application is very difficult task because standard documents like administrator guide, installation guide or user manuals are not available or not provide sufficient information regarding processes. So CIO should verify all required documents are provided by community or not. How frequently they update the documents? Is documents are accessible from online community portals? What type of documentation formats are used by communities?
•    Check for customization, re-engineering and integration efforts: The CIO should evaluate what types of efforts are to carry out customization, re-engineering and integration process throughout the organization.  The cost of customization changes based upon the system architecture design if system is module driven then it is easy to modify the particular module and test with other modules, how cleanly the code is written , core modules and third party APIs are well documented or not. The third party module plug-in support architecture provided or not, what type of upgrade effort required in customized module after core modules are updated. Some time Open Source ERP processes are needs to change dramatically as per business process requirement there might occurs staff resistance and change management, training processes are involved so CIO should have action plan ready for these processes.  The CIO should also produce feasibility documents by conducting pilot projects in order to integrate Open Source ERP modules with existing Legacy systems which are running into the organization to support mission critical business processes.
•    Check for Security updates: The CIO should evaluate what type of efforts Open Source ERP vendors are taking to provide security related process like deliver security patches in time, identify and fix vulnerabilities before attack can exploit them, keep track of security flaws and patch developed to solve those issues. Generate accessible Security related patch version control systems. Check vendor is using best security related practices in every level of software development lifecycle. The CIO can also allocate some budget for security audit for selected open source ERP packages and fix those flaws internally.    

Issues in Open Source ERP

• Licensing Issue: The most of the Open Source ERP system uses GPL (Generic Public License) schema which includes complex terms like Copy left so any change you make to the software must be released under the same license. This type of license make sure that all code modified version of the software remain free and open in the same way the original software was. The organizations who are not aware of such type of licensing terms will explore their business strategic logic through embedding such logic with code and submitting modified code to open source community. Noncompliant use of open-source software also can result in copyright infringement. Some Open Source ERP vendors are offers the software free, there is no licensing fee but user needs to subscribe for support, services and product enhancement via an annual subscription.

• Support Issues: Open Source ERP software development uses extreme distributed software development approach. The communities are located around the globe and solve issues through emails, forums, discussion boards that are logged in publicly brow sable archive. But such type of support is having limitation because the community members can not able to create exact problem related simulation by just reading issue related information. If community members are not active then delay is introduce in support activity. Some communities are having small user base those are interested to actively provide support for applications so such product is not ready to provide reliable development, support and training for mission critical systems.

• Documentation, Quality and Security Issues: The security aspect of Open Source ERP system is a key concern for organization because first of all such systems are developed by different communities and secondly source code is available for everyone. Some communities will update code frequently which also leads to create security loop wholes and also they will take a long time to develop security patches. Some Open Source ERP system requires applying lot of security patches to stay secure which create security patch management overhead.

Some Open Source ERP providers are very poor in producing user, administrator and developer related documents. Document formats are inconsistent, incomplete information and generating documents at the end of project development approach will create major problems while implementation, customization and up-gradation activities.

The lack of coordination among Open Source ERP development teams can potentially result in redundancy of developed modules. The frequent product releases satisfy the end user who receive quick patches for bug they found in earlier product releases but it can be frustrating to other end users who want more stable, less frequent software release and also version management system become complex to handle. The decentralize approach of many Open Source ERP projects makes it hard to enforce a generic consistent user interface, standardize common APIs , maintain documentation and coding standards and consistency between module integration interface design

Features of Open Source ERP

• Cutting down The Cost: The important benefit of Open Source ERP is they are available at free cost. The Commercial ERP packages are very expensive and require huge budget to carry out implementation, upgrade, training, associated consultancy and maintenance processes. Since the initial investment is high to implement Commercial ERP, Companies will find very difficult to pay whenever renewal is made to existing license systems. Current Open Source ERP systems provides wide range of platform support and use model driven approach which enable broader application adaptability, faster deployments and rapid application customizations at lower cost.

• Lesser dependence on the Vendor: The Open Source ERP applications can save huge amount of investment require for vendor management activities. An Organization can setup own house team to deal with Open Source ERP application activities. No need to approach vendors for each and every issue. They can fix the errors or modify the source code according to their needs and save time and money required in product support cycle. The Open Source ERP vendor management process is very flexible than commercial ERP vendor management, organization can easily switch the vendor if they are not happy with vendor service.

• Flexibility: The Commercial ERP systems are designed and developed by vendors such way that the structure of such system reflects best practices but it is the vendor not the customer that is defining what best mean. These systems are very complex and major modification is impracticable. Most of the companies who implements commercial ERP systems change their work process according to systems requirements. Changing the business process to fit the requirement of the system is not a good option because they provide competitive advantages to the business. With Open Source ERP, organization can modify the application features according to their requirements. Integration with other existing legacy system is also possible where some time not possible with commercial ERP system where code is tightly held by the vendors. With Open Source ERP organization can customize system functionality to meet business requirements.

• Implementation Process: The implementation process of Opens Source ERP systems is less time consuming and not complex because most of the Open source ERP systems are developed by using module driven approach. The Company can hire vendor to implement the system or they can setup small unit into their organization to implement system using module driven implementation approach.

OpenSource ERP

In Current economic situation, implementation of ERP systems in small or large organizations have become necessary in order to reduce operational cost, facilitate day to day management and support strategic planning. In many organizations CIOs are facing major Commercial ERP system related issues regarding cost management, vendor management, complex implementation, integration with different systems , customization of ERP system with business processes, change management and licensing issues. The Open Source Software movement has made tremendous impact in the business world. Well managed open source software development reduce restrictive license related cost, improve software quality, reduce software development time and provides customer specific customizable applications. Many organizations have gained benefits from open source software by reducing cost involved in implementation, integration, licensing and customization with existing business processes. Instead of all these open source software benefits CIOs should carefully deal with open source ERP applications because may be implementation of such systems reveals business processes and logic, which are key strategic assets of business, if CIOs are not aware of licensing process of open source ERP software. Also CIOs need to focus on security related concerns, version control related issues, accountability and code quality related issues.

Technology is so advanced to capture, distribute and reuse knowledge (management activities) then why knowledge brokers are required in the organization?

Technology is so advanced which help people in the organization to document their knowledge and store it into organization repository. Other employees can use that centralize repository to learn and reuse that knowledge to solve problems or create new processes. Now a day’s every organization is having own internal knowledge sharing web based portals and also having membership with external (open source/proprietary) knowledge portals (online web based knowledge repositories). User can access these knowledge databases 24X7 from anywhere. Then can put their comments. They can video chat with the person who is the owner of the knowledge information. In the organization some systems are having inbuilt AI (Artificial Intelligence) which will monitor problem solving patterns and build new knowledge or update previously created knowledge and also suggest different knowledge approach to solve the problem. But Still knowledge brokers are required in the organizations because such type of employees motivate and initiate knowledge creation and sharing activities. In an organization every employee is having his/her own capacity of learning or understanding. Knowledge brokers help them by giving knowledge as per their requirements and understandable level (so employee can utilize this knowledge and also participate in creating new knowledge). Knowledge brokers are act like human portal they can integrate knowledge captured from different domains, implement knowledge in new ways, establish standards to access or create knowledge.

Generally In the organization knowledge brokers are higher level managers (act as important asset) who have lot of years of experience in multiple domains and also have solid network with different organizations (by attending conference, by presenting papers, by doing social activities, By performing consultancy service to other or for government companies). They can perform both the roles (vertical role) running business unit and (horizontal role) share their knowledge with their peers in other business units. They know how to follow systematic approach to collect ideas from people working within organization and from other organization and then filter, context the knowledge using appropriate ways. Knowledge brokers help organization to increase their operation efficiency by implementing best knowledge sharing process among business units, improve decision making process by creating culture of taking advice from peer (Share their thoughts and views) before taking actual decisions. Knowledge broker also setup reward sharing (incentives) processes to motivate knowledge sharing (give and take) and also formalize cross unit interactions so both unit can integrate their expertise to solve business problems and create plus share knowledge among different units. So though technology is advance knowledge brokers are required to establish knowledge management related culture, motivate employee, and provide guidance to initiates and share knowledge management related activities .

What factors Company should consider while measuring information systems benefits?

Organizations are using Information Systems to achieve multiple goals. Like information systems help different business sections to maintain valuable information flow between them.  Higher level managers can access necessary information as per their recommended format (without delay). IS systems are heavily involved in developing, assisting and maintain business strategies.   Also information systems act as product or act as service to support organization activities. Information systems are used in many business (organizational) internal and external processes (areas). Information systems usage is changes according to business goals, organization environment and organization culture so there is no one standard approach (factor) to measure information system (or we can say we cannot measure all information benefits using one approach).

The main factors involved in measuring information systems benefits are mentioned below

1)    Organizational performance (meeting time and budget target, work quality) :  This factor includes ability of system usage to meet deadline and milestones, operating within budget and doing quality work.  To measure this factor company can implement information system in one section and compare the productivity of people who are using information system and productivity of people who are not using information system.

2)    Business Values:  Business value deals with market place goals.  The system involved to improve business value they have direct impact on company’s relationship with its customers, clients or suppliers (meeting customer requirement, providing customers satisfactions, maintain customer loyalty).  For example several information systems implemented to help marketing unit to analyze current customer as well as potential customer.  The company also experienced higher customer retention and lower direct sales costs.  The information systems affected their sales directly through the marketing decisions the system supported, thus the value of the investment could be stated in business terms.

3)    Product or service (Business profitability measures, cost, cycle time):  An information system can be offer in the form of product or service to improve organization revenue.  So in this case value of information systems can be measure in the form of business profitability measures such Return on Investment, Return on Asset and Return on Equity.   Also company can measure information system benefit in terms of customer relations, employee morals (after implementing system employee productivity is increased or decreased) job satisfaction, retention & personal growth and cycle time or how long it takes to accomplish a complete assignment. Faster cycle time means complete more tasks in within less time (saving hours). The cost and cycle time measuring factors are changes according to organization goals (as per market requirements).