User Behavior Mining in Software as a Service Environment

User Behavior Mining in Software as a Service Environment Abstract—Software as a Service (SaaS) provides software application vendors a Web based delivery model to serve large number of clients with multi-tenancy based infrastructure and application sharing architecture. With the growing of the SaaS business, data mining in the environment becomes achallenging area. In this paper, we suggest a new metric along with a few existing metrics for customer analysis in a Software as a Service environment. Keywords: Software as a Service, SaaS, Customer Behavior analysis, Data mining in SaaS Environment I. Introduction With the rapid development of Internet Technology and the application software usage, SaaS (Software as a Service) as a complete innovative model of software application delivery model is attracting more and more customers to use SaaS for reducing the software purchase and maintenance costs as it can provide on-demand application software, and the users can adjust the functions provided by services to meet changes in demand. SaaS is gaining speed with the considerable increase in the number of vendors moving into this space[1]. The SaaS model is different from a regular website model. In a regular website model, users of the software directly interact with the software application. But in the case of a SaaS model, users interact with the application through the service provider. The difference between a regular website model and a SaaS model can be shown in figure 1. Figure: 1 II. Motivation Software as a Service (SaaS) is being adopted by more and more software application vendors and enterprises [2].SaaS is beneficial for the customers in such a way that, a customer can unsubscribe from the services whenever he wants which makes it a challenge to manage customer relationships. One of the characteristics of the SaaS business model is that one SaaS service needs to serve a large number of customers, among which considerable portion are customers for whom services are offered on trial basis. As there is competition in the market, both trial and paying customers may move their business to another service provider based on their requirements. It is essential for a service provider to retain the customers from migrating to another service provider. Previous studies show that a small increase in retention rate would lead to a considerable increment in the new present value of the customers. To withstand the competition in the market, a service provider should satisfy the cust omers by understanding their current behavior and predicting their next move like if they are having any problems in using the services, how much are the customers satisfied based on the seriousness and activeness of the customers. III. Related Works A lot of work has been done in the area of analyzing the customers’ behavior on website model. Various methodologies are stated by various authors on various processes in mining the web. In [3] Sindhu P Menon and Nagaratna P Hegde, analyzed the views and methodologies stated by various authors on various processes in web mining. In [4] R. Suguna and D. Sharmila listed out work done by various authors in the web usage mining area. In [5] the authors Jiehui Ju. Et.al, gives a quick survey on SaaS. It covers key technologies in SaaS, difference between Application Software Provider and Software as a Service Provider, SaaS architecture and SaaS maturity model and the advantages that SaaS offers to small businesses. In [6], the authors Espadas et. al, presents the analysis of the impart of a set of requirements and proposes guidelines to be applied for application deployment in Software as a Service (SaaS) Environment. In [7], the authors Ning Duan, et. al, proposed an algorithm and two metrics which work with the collaboration among the users of a customer in a Software as a Service environment. IV. Problem Definition In a SaaS Environment, an effective relationship with the customer depends on how much the status of each customer is understood. In order to understand the status of a customer, it is necessary to study the behavior of ehte customer form time to time. It is necessary to predict the customers’ seriousness and activeness in using the service. This prediction may help the service providers in improving their business strategies. In a business to customer website model, the mining is done based on selected metrics like visit frequency, average depth, average stay time etc. In the case of SaaS model, there is another level of users who actually use the service. So, regular user behavior metrics may not yield accurate results in the case of SaaS model. If individual customer’s user’s behavior is studied, then the difference between the customers may be identified. A lot of research is done on user behavior analysis in regular website model but those methods used for user behavior analysis may not guarantee accurate predictions. So an extra parameter or metric is to be considered. As in the SaaS model, a tenant is the direct customer of the service provider and the actual users of the service are the users of the customers, one way to study the behavior of the customers may be by summing up the individual user’s metrics of a customer to evaluate the customer’s behavior. But this way ignore the individual differences of the behaviors of the users of a customer. In addition to these regular web usage mining metrics if collaboration among the users is also considered in the analysis of customer behavior, it may yield better results than just using the regular metrics. But previous works done in user behavior analysis in SaaS uses only collaboration metrics in the analysis which ignores almost half of the analysis data. The experiment done aims at using collaboration metrics along with another metric which works with the data not considered in the collaboration metric calculation so that all the available data is considered in user behavior prediction. V. Experiment The experiment is done in two phases, namely Data Collection Phase and Data Processing Phase. In the Data collection phase, the necessary data (like server log files, transaction history, etc) are collected. In the second phase i.e. in Data Processing phase, the actual analysis takes place. This phase is further divided into individual modules like preprocessing, pattern discovery, and pattern analysis. Preprocessing is a process of refining the sever log data and transaction history removing noise in data (if any) and populating database for further use in next modules. It includes data cleaning, user identification, session identification, transaction identification. Pattern Discovery is the process of discovering the usage patterns from the cleaned raw log data. As in this experiment, it is not regular usage patterns that are to be considered, collaboration patterns are to be considered. Regular usage patterns are the sequences of activities that are performed by the users individually. But, collaboration patterns are those that are performed by users by interaction. Collaboration patterns are not the transaction patterns rather they are the patterns of users that collaborate to perform a transaction. Definition of Collaboration: Collaboration is defined to happen when different users of a customer work on the same business object during a certain period of time. For example, in a Human Resource management SaaS service, the vacation request is submitted by a regular employee user of a customer and then is approved/rejected by manager user of the same customer. Here two users of a customer are involved in the process of granting a leave. This is called collaboration. After the raw data is cleansed, the data used for collaboration discovery may contain details of the transactions performed by the users of any tenant with tenant id(tid), user id (uid), transaction id (transaction_id) (may also be called business object id), date, time, service id (sid). In this table more than one user may be involved in the completing of a transaction. Algorithm: Collaboration User Set Identification Input: Table 1 that consists of the transaction details Output: Collaboration_Table with collaboration transaction details Initially Collaboration_Table is empty Get first record from Table 1 Insert details into Collaboration_Table While end of table 1 not reached Get next record from table 1 Search for transaction_id in collaboration_Table If found, update collaboration user set and no_of_users Else Add details to collaboration_table as new record Table 1: Sample table showing the contents of Table 1 Table 2: Sample Collaboration Table Pattern analysis plays vital role in the experiment. This module deals with the behavior analysis based on the collaboration patterns extracted above. From [7], there are two type of collaboration. They are random collaboration and repeated collaboration by certain group of users. The first type of collaboration can indicate the activeness of the customer no matter which users are involved in the collaboration process. It can be called as Active Collaboration Index (ACI). The second type of collaboration can be described by the usage patterns among the users of a customer. It can be called Patterned Collaboration Index (PCI). A high ACI value tells that a customer is actively using the SaaS service and if such a customer is still a trial customer, it probably shall be the high priority target to get it converted into paying customer. A high PCI value tells that a tenant is seriously using the SaaS service with relatively strong loyalty, cross-selling or up-selling opportunity can be explored for such a customer. The formula to calculate ACI and PCI are as follows The AppCNorm is the normalizing factor indicating collaboration characteristic of SaaS service. While some SaaS service are rich with collaborations and others may not be. In order to balance the difference among different SaaS services, this normalization factor is employed. Where Pni denotes the collaboration pattern i of customer n, N is the total number of customers, and m is the total number of patterns in customer n. supp(pni) is the support value of pattern Pni, and len(Pni) is the length of the pattern. These collaboration metrics works only with the collaboration data and neglects the remaining data which is almost half of the data. Hence another metric can be added along with the above metrics which considers the non-collaboration transactions. As the new metric is for non-collaboration transactions of a tenant, it can be called Average Usage Index (AUI). This can be calculated using the formula This AUI increases the accuracy of prediction of activeness of the customer along with ACI. VI. RESULTS For this experiment, the data created is for 100 customers of a Software as a Service provider who is providing 6 different components of an application as different services. Among these 100 customers, first 50 are taken as paid customers and the other 50 are taken as trial customers. Table 3: Summary of transactions Table 4: Sample pattern list Table 5: Sample Calculated Metrics From the above calculated values, we can observe that though T0 is a paid customer, less ACI and PCI values indicate that this customer is not using the services to the full and hence revenue generated from this particular customer is not appreciable. Rather, this customer may be planning to unsubscribe from the service and hence is an important target for the service provider to retain the customer. In the case of T45, it has high ACI value, high AUI value indicating active usage of the services and high PCI indicating that this customer is completely migrating his business onto the SaaS service generating the service provider more revenue. Among the sample trial calculated values, customer T50 is active and serious and hence, there is a high probability for this customer to convert into paid customer. On the other hand, customer T89 is not very active and is not serious indicating that he may be facing technical difficulties in using the services and hence should be helped with or is thinking to unsubscribe from the services. Table 6: Summary of Calculated metrics From the above table, for any tenant to be considered active in using the services, minimum ACI and AUI values needed are 1 and 1 respectively and minimum PCI value needed is 2. VII. Conclusion The metrics ACI and PCI are introduced in previous works done by Ning Daun, et. al in [7] which works with collaboration data and leaving the non collaboration data. In our work, a new metric is introduced AUI which considers the non collaboration data also in customer behavior analysis. Still further, frequent pattern analysis can be applied on this non collaboration data to get usage patterns and so the analysis can be further improved. VIII. References [1] Wei Sun, Xing Zhang, Chang Jie Gou, Pei Sun, Hui Su, IBM China Research Lab, Beiing 100094, â€Å"Software as a Service: Configuration and Customization Perspective† IEEE Congress on Services Part II, IEEE 2008. [2] E. Knorr, â€Å" Software as a Service: The Next Big Thing†, http://www. infoworld.com/article/06/03/20/76103_12FEsaas_1.html† [3] Sindhu P Menon, Nagaratna P Hegde, â€Å"Requisite for Web Usage Mining – A Survey†, Special Issue of International Journal of Computer Science Informatics: 2231-5292, Vol-II, Issue-1, 2, pp. 209-215. [4] R. Suguna, D. Sharmila â€Å"An Overview of Web Usage Mining†, International Conference of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887), Vol. 39, No, 13, February 2012, pp. 11 – 13. [5] Jiehui, et. al, â€Å"Research on Key Technologu=ies in SaaS†, International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Cognitive Informatics, 2010, pp. 384-387. [6] Espadas et. al, â€Å"Application Development over Software-as-a-Service platforms†, The Third International Conference on Software Engineering Advances, 2008, pp. 87-104. [7] Ning Duan, et. al, â€Å"Tenant Behavior analysis in Software as a Service Environment†: Service Operations, Logistics and Informatics (SOLI), 2011 IEEE International Conference, pp 132-137, July 2011.

Manage own performance

Explain the systems and procedures and codes of practice relevant to your personal work role: 1. 2 Why is it important to plan work and be accountable to others? It is important to plan your work and be accountable to others to enable you and your organization progress. This helps to determine work objectives, It allows you to know what results are possible and what the best path to the desired outcome should be.Being accountable to others can bring a sense of ownership to the process by making you now that others are counting on you to perform a task and deliver results. It can also help keep you on track. 1. 3 / 1. 4 Explain the purpose and benefits of agreeing realistic targets for work and who would you agree these with? Purpose: The purpose for agreeing realistic targets for work is to keep everyone on task and focused on accomplishing a target that Is possible, not out of reach.This way, everyone can contribute effectively and reach targets efficiently Instead of struggling and going off track. Benefits: Having a target shows you the path that you want to take, you can then Greer on the most effective way to achieve the target and also create a plan that will give you a time scale of things to be done. This brings fast and reliable compliance to the tasks at hand. Who with and how? Compromising with my manager, we discuss some realistic/ achievable targets that I will be able to achieve and create a plan to show the most effective ways to achieve the targets. . 5 Describe the ways which you plan work to meet agreed targets: First of all It Is important to look at how much time you have to complete the agreed targets. Then he next step would be breaking the target down in to parts, this will then give you a much clearer idea of what you can do to complete the target. You can then give yourself deadlines to complete each part of the target, instead of trying to do everything at once. You need to make sure you put the most Important and time any problems tha t occur along the way, you will have time to solve them. . 6 Explain the purpose of keeping other people informed about progress: The purpose of keeping other people informed within your organization is so that everybody is aware of the progression towards the targets that have been set. Also keeping people informed of your progress eliminates the confusion of the same thing being done more than once. 1. 7 Explain the purpose and benefits of letting other people know if work plans need to be changed: People need to be made aware of any changes as soon as possible so that they can also change what they are doing.It also makes them feel involved in what's going on, they might also give you feedback whether they agree with new changes or not. 1. 8 / 1. 9 Describe the types of problems you may encounter during work and who would you go to for help and why? Equipment Breaking – I would inform the person that is in charge of ordering the equipment. Also I would inform my manager. O ther employees being absent – I may be asked to do extra hours or a Job that is out of my comfort zone. I would talk to my manager about anything I am unsure on or that I can't do.People not giving me enough information – If I am doing a particular Job and I have not been given enough information to complete the task, I would then ask questions about things that I am unsure on. Colleagues or clients asking me questions that I don't know the answer to – If I don't now the answer then I would try and point them in the direction of someone who does know the answer. 1. 10 Why is it important to recognize and learn from your mistakes? Firstly of all it is important to own to the mistakes that you have made, instead of trying to shift the blame onto someone else or denying that you are at fault.Once the mistake you have made has recognized, you can then start to look at ways to prevent this from happening again. Wars you can do this are; taking extra training if you t hink it is required, asking another member of the team, for example your manager, or Just sing your own initiative your own work and how would you set these? Purpose & benefits: It is important to set high standards for my work because then it will help me to do the best I can and help me to be recognized at work in a positive way. Also at the same time I am setting myself a challenge rather than keeping to standards that can already achieve.How would you set these? To set myself new high standards for my work, I would first look at areas of my work which I am able to do comfortably and with ease, then I would see what I could do to improve the standards even more. . 3 / 2. 4 What is the purpose and benefits for taking on new challenges should they arise and why is it important to be able to adapt to change? Purpose & benefit: Organization have to change from time to time to keep up with other competitors and also keep in tune with new technology that may become available over the y ears.Why is it important: It is important to take on new challenges and be able to adapt to change because this will show my employer that I am capable and a strong part of the organization. It will also help improve and learn new skills along the way. 2. / 2. 6 Why is it important to treat others with respect, honesty and consideration and how do you use this in your workplace? Why: It is important to treat others with respect and to be honest because It creates a good working environment in the work place, which will effect the happiness of others in the work place.This is also makes the team look good as a whole. How: Being honest and treating my colleagues with respect will build a strong, trustworthy relationship which you can only benefit from. 2. 7 Describe the types of behavior at work that show honesty, respect and inconsideration and explain those that don't: Types of good behavior that show honesty, respect and consideration are: Types of poor or bad behavior that show di shonesty, no respect and lack factorizations are: Taking the blame for your own actions, if you have made a mistake.Not asking questions when you encounter a problem and you don't know what to do. Not interrupting someone when they speak to you. Not taking the blame when you are at fault. No being bothering to help Having a positive attitude towards work. Being a bad team player Being trustworthy Being disrespectful

To Learn English as an English Teacher

Omar Alfaro Reyes ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES TO LEARN ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE Why learning English as a second language? Nowadays learning another language is important because it is the most common language in the world, almost 60% people in the world use English regularly. Sometimes people think that learning English is difficult because most of the students can have different difficulties and problems in learning another language for example they make mistakes in their pronunciations, grammar, spelling and vocabulary usage.However it is worth for the wealth of information and the opportunity to open up for a person, for instance, the use of information and communication by internet or traveling abroad the world, they are two advantages for learning English. Also most of the students think to learn English is difficult because they speak English as speak Spanish or because students have lack vocabulary and they are two disadvantages to learn English as a second language. The ability to speak English fluently opens up a world of information and communication for a person.Information and communication by internet is a good idea for people or students that can surf in the web sites for looking examples or exercises about grammar for studying more in English. This is the best way for people can study another language, for instance the use of internet will allow them to chat with people from all over the world in chat-room. The second advantage is traveling abroad the world. English is often spoken in other country as a universal language for example Trinidad y Tobago, Puerto Rico and other ones. Knowing English is a great advantage to learn English because they can improve their knowledge in a real way.A much more serious problem for learners of English is the extent of the vocabulary. People think they can speak English as speak Spanish, this is the reason for a lot of misunderstandings happen when two non-English people talk with each other in English. S ometimes is confused because the people do not practice a lot and they are think that is really difficult. Second problem is that people have lack vocabulary, also for people are really difficult to learn English because they want to communicate but all the time is stressful for do not have a lot of vocabulary. 0% of people in Mexico think that English is really difficult to learn for instances because they do not have feeling for learning English and this are big disadvantages to learn English. In conclusion, the most important thing to do in this situation is to maximize your opportunities: to speak English, and not only speak English also try to practice a lot and try to understand in class and use English whenever possible outside the class. If you follow these rules, you will not have problems to learn a second language.

Evolution vs Intelligent Design Essay - 3313 Words

The suggested separation between church and state in contemporary America is not what the framers of our constitution and our country had in mind as they wrote the words â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.† After deconstructing the words, the most insignificant adjective â€Å"an,† tells us that the framers wanted to restrain Congress from installing any one religion as the official religion of the state. Those immortal words say nothing about religion informing congress or society on policy, education, or progress. I maintain that the first amendment’s establishment clause regarding religion was to protect citizens’ free exercise of religion from state interests and†¦show more content†¦Darwinian evolution is the theory that life after appearance and over time endured mutation and adaptation through natural selection to eventually yield modern man from the same sou rce, a single cell. ID is the theory that life exists in its present forms as the product of a purposeful design. Both theories use natural science to support their ideological conclusions such as embryology, genetics, and biochemistry. A key to these theories being comparable is that they both suggest that a preexisting being sparked life on Earth. Within evolution this point is highly debated and denied by many, however the father of evolution, Charles Darwin, expressed in the Origin of Species his belief that the first cell received its spark of life â€Å"by the Creator.† (Darwin 1900, 316) This will soon be important as a reason why evolution should not be taught in public education at all if you believe that the first amendment means a separation between church and state as evolution at its roots tells us that God created life on earth. ID at its roots also asserts that an entity also lit the initial sparks of life on earth. A core difference between the premises of these two theories is found in their assertions of the identity of this being and will be analyzed next. In contrast, these theories are substantially different. Darwinian evolution assumes that after the emergence of the first living cell eons passed as that cell self-replicated and began theShow MoreRelatedEvolution vs. Intelligent Design Essay3619 Words   |  15 PagesThe Evolution of the Creation Controversy in Twentieth Century America The fact of evolution is the backbone of biology, and biology is thus in the peculiar position of being a science founded on an improved theory, is it then a science or faith? Charles Darwin The empirical detectability of intelligent causes renders intelligent design a fully scientific theory. William Dembski Introduction Questions on the origin of life and of the universe must have permeated human thought sinceRead More Intelligent Design vs. Evolution Essay928 Words   |  4 Pagesoriginally came from. 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