Cruising On the Wi-fi Waves

Smartphones, smart watches, smart boards, now smart ships. Cruise ships, that is. For any of you who have previous traveled aboard a vessel of the sea, you know the struggles of on-board internet. Super slow speeds, practically dial-up, on the few computers in the "library" room keep ships stuck in the late 20th century. Well, not anymore. Royal Caribbean has announced their new SmartShips and Carnival has announced their new "Got Wifi?" campaign, with other cruise lines quickly following the fleets.
Fortune magazine does a good job of mentioning three key points to this new innovation incorporated into the ships - a step toward the future, new customer opportunities, and customer satisfaction. Faster wi-fi is the key to these upcoming successes in the cruising industry. "O3b Networks, a company that provides ship-to-shore communication systems, started working with Royal Caribbean back in 2011 to upgrade its internet connections. It developed a new type of high-throughput satellite which quadrupled connection speeds, according to Steve Collar, O3b’s CEO". These new speeds transport cruising from a pre-connected time into the current era. Because of the new internet availability found on board, businesses can now take their business conferences, training, and other trips via cruise ships without losing connection to the business world they need to stay connected with while on the trip. Whether this be via internet communications or simply business workers working on the vacation, it means many new customers for cruise lines. But business workers aren't the only new clients gained; millennials that can't seem to be separated from their connections can now stay connected while cruising, opening a whole new world to them.  With wi-fi so readily available now, people stay connected to social media, posting and sharing how much they're loving their cruise-cation, thereby promoting the cruising company and expanding their customers in that aspect as well. After a few trials of the new wi-fi systems were imposed, customer satisfaction jumped 50% because of the connections now available. Such improvement shows wi-fi is a strongly desired aspect of life nowadays, and now not only is it readily accessible from the seas, but the accessibility and connectivity are ever expanding and increasing to support the high demand of the quick-paced connected world we live in.
Unfortunately, the Fortune article fails to mention the losses this new implementation brings forth. It also focuses only on the wi-fi aspect although it is clear more advanced technologies are involved in the new smart ships emerging.
While it is true that this is a major step for cruise lines and cruise-goers, the importance of escaping the prison of a strong cellular or internet connection shouldn't be given up so easily. The world is full of natural beauty, and cruises are certainly a great way to get to experience a lot of that beauty, but if your nose is in your phone 24/7, why bother going on a cruise when you could do the same thing from home?

Fortune Article

Sunny Delight Beverages Company Gets Innovative

            Sunny Delight Beverages Company has chosen startup company Birst to minimize the amount of data analytic operation systems used in the company. The firm downsized from 8 different business intelligence applications to one single version of the truth.  This has resulted in reducing overtime costs of production noticeably; moreover, Sunny Delight Beverages Company now hopes to focus Birst’s cloud solutions towards sales (Boulton). This post will highlight promising aspects of Sunny Delight Beverages Company and three considerations.

                One major point of the article by Clint Boulton is the profit. With the help of Birst, Sunny Delight Beverages Company was able to see a broader picture of the company’s operations. In that vantage point, they saw instances where employees had to work overtime on the weekends in order to complete shipments that happened to be more costly over the weekends. Birst was able to find this weakness; moreover, they highlighted it as an opportunity for improvements. Another major point is the accessibility of the Birst application to “business managers with little technical know-how” (Boulton). The decision made by Sunny Delight Beverages Company to choose Birst is a key factor in their success. They chose a company founded by a man whose aim is quoted as providing a well-rounded mastered product. “We are not trying to make BI simpler, or dumb it down, or just do a piece of it, but do the whole thing, do it right, and bring automation to it to make it a lot more productive” (Peters). While the system was highly advanced in data operations, the system also produced quick results for front end users. Lastly, the adaptability and amorphous quality of the system is another highlight of the article.  Sunny Delight Beverages Company recouped costs on transportation, next they look to find opportunities to improve sales. 

                Still, there are points emphasized in the article that readers should note and understand. One, Business Intelligence analytics systems are not always amorphous, and many companies are still behind in consolidating technologies to advance business operations. Secondly, companies like Sunny Delight Beverages Company are still in the process of switching over to edgier and more complete tech systems resulting in redundancies that disguise problems.  Contrastingly, one factor of success lies in the utilization of the product; it does not lay in having an application that does not match the company’s width and depth operationally.  Lastly, the importance of the front end experience should be noted; both Boulton and the chairman of the analytics operation both mentioned the user experience. In this regard, readers should consider when technology is too advanced for a user, when a user is operationally too advanced for the technology it uses, and when is the right time for the user to make a switch to a new technology.   

 Sources

 Boulton, Clint. "How Sunny Delight Juices Up Sales with Cloud-Based Analytics." CIO. CIO.com, 14 Sept. 2015. Web. 15 Sept. 2015. http://www.cio.com/article/2983624/business-analytics/how-sunny-delight-juices-up-sales-with-cloud-based-analytics.html#tk.cwhp

Peters, Brad. "Enterprise BI, Business Intelligence Software - Birst." Birst. N.p., n.d. Web. https://www.birst.com/why-birst/

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