INSY 440: E-Business, My Experience

Over the past 14 weeks, I have had the privilege to learn about the E-Business at McGill University. We went through a variety of different material that touched upon the actual definitions of E-Business, Performance indicators, Data, Cloud Computing, and the list goes on.

But I feel that along with the technical knowledge I have gained, I've been able to gain a much broader knowledge of the overall world of E-Business, and how it will affect me as a consumer. We learned that more and more businesses have been moving their operations online because of the economic benefits associated with that. Especially since as consumers, we seem to value convenience over privacy, which gives the perfect environment for these new E-Business shops to thrive.


However, this prosperity is not without its risks. I learned that online security and privacy are definitely major concerns for E-Businesses. Although not electronic, Target serves as a prime example of what would happen when a company does not properly secure its information. As I were to start an E-Business, I would for sure be weary of these sort of things.


Overall, it has been an interesting and rewarding experience learning about E-Business. I began my journey 13 weeks ago as the Aspiring Technologists. Although there is still a long way to go, I feel that I’ve had quite a good start.

Along with my learnings of E-Business, I also had the opportunity to apply my knowledge in an actual business case. Looking at the online community Patients Like Me, our team was able to work together to apply our E-Business knowledge to help the company improve its operations.

The End of Windows XP

So there has been speculation that Microsoft will be ending all support to its Windows XP operating system users. The final date has finally been announced for April 8, 2014.

Although users still have the rights to use it, there are scary implications to not having support. One of the main advantages of COTS (Commercial off the shelf) software is that there is a strong support network. With that gone, users will soon to be more exposed to the potential of new bugs and eager hackers waiting to take advantage of new security flaws.

In a report by Bell Media, roughly 30% of Canadians still use the Windows XP operating system. With that figure, it's not surprising to imagine hackers getting ready to reap the opportunities with this soon to be weakened operating system. This of course will lead to many upgrades to Windows 7 and Windows 8, which well undoubtedly benefit Microsoft.

One final mystery we need to realize now is the impact this decision will have on banks. Banks in Canada all run on Windows XP software. With no signs of transitioning out of it, it can be imagined that Microsoft will continue to offer support for those systems. But the question really is when Microsoft will also end support there, and thus forcing all banks to switch over as well. Microsoft is the clear winner in any of these outcomes.

With Windows XP almost at the end of its life, below is a video paying homage to some of Microsoft's other fallen operating systems. Enjoy!