Effective Online Business Solutions: A Case Study On Data Management Systems For Small Business Units

About ‘Never Forget Flowers’

The report deals with a case study on a consulting company which have been approached by a small business unit to find effective online business solutions for them. The report has prepared a detailed analysis on data management systems that are needed by small business units. The aim of the report is to provide the business unit with a systematic system to manage information of the clients and its business to increase their sales. The merits and demerits of managing data online and how to improve the situation has also been mentioned.

The case study begins with a consulting company APIC which is itself a small company and is engaged in providing online business solutions to other small business entities that are in search of effective online business procedures.

Never Forget Flowers is an online flower seller which delivers decorated flower bouquets based on specific orders at different locations like home or office. The organisation is headed by Ben Nielson who also serves as the manager of the organisation. The organisation has a dedicated face book page where it takes orders and does not have any retail store where it sells its products. The business has seen a steady growth and receives a fair bit of profit from the sales. The main area from where the sales of the particular organisation are derived is the word of guarantee from the previous customers.  The company being an online retailer is in confusion on how to standardize an effective flow of managing information via the internet which can help it to increase the amount of sales as well as the profit margin.

It would be better to suggest an effective Point of Sales system for the organisation to address its problems. The application of such a system will help the florist to overcome the current problems regarding the management of the system.

Data Management System or Database Management System is a unique computerised maintenance of information in which the service users are able to form information. Store the information; modify the information and also removing the information from the system. The information in the particular system can be managed easily and effectively (DeBrabant et al. 2013).

The online Florist seller Never Forget Flowers faces problems in maintaining detailed information of the different clients that it serves. The gradual business expansion of the mentioned organisation has made it more problematic for them to carry on their operations smoothly (Avram 2014). The mentioned business entity is in search of a detailed solution for information flow to find a solution to its problems.

The Need for Data Management Systems

Data management or managing information in a business can be termed as the growth and integration of different systems, structures, strategies which is needed to manage the information to run the organisation efficiently (Bharati and Chaudhury 2015). Managing the information of the organization refers to the skills that are required by the management of the company to effectively scrutinize the information and then improve it.

APIC recommends ‘Never Forget Flowers’ to use Cloud computing based technology to get rid of the problem that they may face in the future expansion of the business.  The following technology helps organisation to reduce costs and increase their percentage of savings. There are also 

APIC conducts a detailed analysis to understand the problems that Never Forget Flowers faces to maintain a detailed information flow. First of all the researcher finds out that the mentioned florist needs to identify the information and the value of information that it needs to store (DeBrabant et al. 2013). Storing this information does not help the company as they need to come up with a solid plan of its own to edge out the other similar players in the market. The implementation of information can be done in a variety of ways,

1. Simple information storage- The organisation must create and maintain a separate file in the official drive and update it every time with new information. The file name created will be the same to maintain transparency. The organization can also create a centralized server and instruct the employees in the organization to adhere by the rules to store all the documents in that particular folder.
2. Maintaining Different Levels- Never Forget Flowers can implement different levels while managing information. The files can be divided into some sub files depending upon their importance (Avram 2014). The files which stores financial details of the office can be termed as important files while other files which contains generalised information are much less important than the others.
3. Back Up- Small organisations like Never Forget Flowers have a much small base of customers in comparison to the large firms. The organisation must keep a back up of its information to make sure that it does not face any difficulty while retrieving any lost data (Bacon et al. 2014).
4. Selection of Storage- The organisation must identify the problem that it faces and accordingly select the type of information storage system that it needs. There are different types of storage system that can provide the effective solutions to tackle the problem efficiently. Some of them are direct attached storage or cloud storage. 

The introduction of a proper data management system in ‘Never Forget Flowers’ has both benefits as well some serious issues. The researcher has effectively pointed out the details regarding the following things in this report.

A lot of issues bother the organization while it implements the new technology,

• Decentralized Information System- The information that the organizations access is commonly becoming too much broadened. The information services are being stretched to unidentified limits by different implementation process. It is difficult for the small organisation to properly store the information as because maintaining such complex information is quite difficult for organizations with limited capability.
• Information Security- The proper security of the information is a priority for the different types of information stored by the organization. The small size of the mentioned organization makes it more vulnerable as loss of any information will crumble the organizational structure (Bharati and Chaudhury 2015).
• Staff Resistance- The staffs in ‘Never Forget Flowers’ are in a tremendous dilemma over the introduction and implementation of the new data management system which is totally new to them. The complex features of the system have made it difficult for them to understand the program. The management of the organization fears that such a problem may lead to degradation in the quality of service offered by the company.
• Improper Storage of Information- The inappropriate storage of information leads to grave results as they might get damaged or convert in a state which makes it unusable.

As compared to the issues there are also some benefits that the organisation receives due to the integration of such a technology.

• Saving Finance- Never Forget Flowers is a small online retailer and thus their main aim is to save finance as much as possible. Online database software systems help the company to avoid any additional payment of license fees or all computers that are used by the organization. Therefore the use of online management systems helps to save money.
• Customer Satisfaction- The concerned organization already has a healthy customer base and is in search of a proper information flow system that makes it more efficient (Demian and Walters, 2014). The implementation of the system will help the organisation to reach to different customers and provide quality services.
• Access- The database management system can be accessed from different areas which help small firms like Never Forget Flowers to garner the information at any point of time. The information is available everyday which helps to improve the organizational efficiency.
• Business Flexibility- The flexible system of online database management systems helps the organisation to make payment for only the storage system that is used by the organisation. The management of the company does not have to think about buying new softwares rather they stops the use of other softwares that helps them to save money.
• Online gathering of Information- Collection of information through online means is one of the main advantages of cloud based software solutions used by the organization (DeBrabant et al. 2013). The information is gathered easily from a customer or a worker of the company. The information received is treated as a new record.
• Data from E- Mail- The target of the organization is to obtain a chain source of information which can also be achievable through emails. The collection of information through e mails helps the organization to gather and collect data by different ways and makes it easy for them to manage the information.
• Preparation for Disaster- The organisation has to be extra careful to avoid disaster. The floral company as mentioned in the case study is a small scale online organization and thus it will face problem if cases of data discrepancies occur. The new technology will help the organization to keep integrated back up for the offline information. In case of any difficulty the organization can easily recover the information.
• Projects become Faster- The implementation of database management system in the company will help the organisation to take up new projects and complete it within a short time (Bacon et al. 2014). Never Forget Flowers is gradually expanding its business and EPIC has provided them with the perfect database management system to increase their sales. The company which was only based on a face book page has now released its own mobile based application to reach out to a whole new generation of customers.
• Using the Same Tools- Small organizations like the one mentioned in the following case study fails to compete with the other big market players because of the enormous mismatch in their funds (Enck 2014). The database management system helps the organization to use the same marketing tools as used by the larger organisations.  

The research conducted here has pointed out to some latest trends in managing information.

1. Bridging Database- The latest trend of different database systems is creating a link between the SQL and the No SQL. This helps the service users to receive the benefits of both.
2. Automatic management- The latest development of the management system is the automatic update of the different information. The automatic updates help the organization to ease the work pressure and maintain guilt free information.
3. Security- The maintenance of the management system has been one of the most important topics that need to be highlighted while implementing the database management system. IT professionals are engaged to provide the best security measures to the organisation.
4. Efficient management- An efficient management system helps the organisation to manage their works easily and carry out all the tasks in a short span of time. 

Following are some recommendations that can be made in context of implementing Database management systems in small business organizations.

• Providing Proper Training- Proper training must be given to the users of the system especially the employees who will be actively participating in the new system. The organisation must be prompt enough to provide the proper training in absence of which the company may suffer loss.
• Regular collection of information- The information related to every customer or product must be updated on a regular basis to make sure that the latest information is available every time. The collection of information on a regular basis helps to maintain sustainability.
• Reviewing- Reviewing the management system every time helps to sort out any kind of problems that might exist. 

Conclusion

The assessment is based on finding an effective information management system for ‘Never Forget Flowers’ which is an online floral company. APIC which has been appointed as the consulting firm has suggested the use of cloud computing based technology to meet the future demands of the organization. The uses of the particular system in the organization have been discussed in the report. Apart from discussing the use the issues and the merits of the cloud based technology to gain a continuous system of information flow have been discussed in detail. After analysing the report thoroughly the report points to some specific conclusions. Small organizations must have a proper information management system that helps it to manage its business effectively and garner huge profits. The implementation of such a innovative system can help the organization to maintain a competitive edge in the market and gain sustainability. 

References

DeBrabant, J., Pavlo, A., Tu, S., Stonebraker, M. and Zdonik, S., 2013. Anti-caching: A new approach to database management system architecture. Proceedings of the VLDB Endowment, 6(14), pp.1942-1953.

Avram, M.G., 2014. Advantages and challenges of adopting cloud computing from an enterprise perspective. Procedia Technology, 12, pp.529-534.

Enck, W., Gilbert, P., Han, S., Tendulkar, V., Chun, B.G., Cox, L.P., Jung, J., McDaniel, P. and Sheth, A.N., 2014. TaintDroid: an information-flow tracking system for realtime privacy monitoring on smartphones. ACM Transactions on Computer Systems (TOCS), 32(2), p.5.

Bharati, P. and Chaudhury, A., 2015. SMEs and competitiveness: The role of information systems.

Demian, P. and Walters, D., 2014. The advantages of information management through building information modelling. Construction Management and Economics, 32(12), pp.1153-1165.

Bacon, J., Eyers, D., Pasquier, T.F.M., Singh, J., Papagiannis, I. and Pietzuch, P., 2014. Information flow control for secure cloud computing. IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management, 11(1), pp.76-89.