Discuss about the IT for Business for Blooming with Technology.
Business organizations in the current times are making use of technology and its components to enhance the speed, accuracy, quality, management, and execution of the business operations. The benefits that the technologies provide to the large, medium, and small-scale organizations are significant. Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery is based out of Colorado. The nursery was based on the use of manual activities and operations before it entered a new Point of Sale (POS) system in the year 2008. The POS system has replaced the manual processes and activities with their automated counterparts and has provided immense benefits to the nursery (Moon, Kim and Ham, 2014). Similar benefits may be availed by other small and medium scale enterprises by introducing technological components in their architecture.
The new POS System has provided numerous benefits to Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery. Sales processes and history could be tracked through automated measures leading to enhancement in efficiency and time-savings. The real-time sales data could be accessed and the robust functionality led to streamlining of the inventories. There were items that performed better than the other and a few that were not performing as per the expectations. The sales associates could get the reports from the POS system to develop the sales processes and strategies accordingly. The members of the staff could also be managed better by allocating them with the respective sales goals to be achieved. The employees also had the sales targets set in advance which led to the enhancement in their productivity levels. The decision-making processes and operational efficiencies also improved along with the competitive edge to the organization (Kim and Lim, 2011).
The system led to significant changes in the business processes of the nursery that were not easy to adapt to. The employees had to be trained on the new system. Also, the POS system led to the emergence of security and privacy issues for the data and information sets. Some of these included denial of service attacks, data breaches, malware attacks, man in the middle attacks etc. that had adverse implications on the information properties as confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
The POS system implemented by the nursery provided it with competitive advantage in the market. It is because the sales employees could get the real-time sales data which enabled them to develop the sales processes and strategies as per the demands of the customers. The changes in the market trends and associated patterns could also be identified to meet the customer expectations. The POS system also provided the nursery with the opportunity to resolve the sales queries of the customers and improve upon the interactions and responsiveness (Nachtmann, Waller and Rieske, 2010).
As a result, the nursery could set a distinguished name in the market and also succeeded in gaining competitive edge by offering the customers with the products and services as per their expectations.
There are various advantages that centralized database offered to Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery.
Decision-making processes at the Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery improved with the implementation of POS system.
This is because the system provided the sales employees with integrated sets of the processed data and information on a real-time basis. It enabled them to develop the sales processes and strategies as per the demands of the customers. The changes in the market trends and associated patterns could also be identified to meet the customer expectations and take decisions accordingly. The detailed product costs could be obtained from the system which assisted in the process of pricing. The prices could now be set to gain maximum profits and revenues. There were automated reports on the inventory details, sales data, and customer details that could be extracted from the system. All of these reports were used in the decision-making processes so that the perspective and viewpoints of all the entities and areas were considered (Lin, Ha and Lin, 2015).
The demands of the customers in the market keep on fluctuating. The organizations need to make sure that they carry out the business operations in a scalable fashion so that they may be adjusted to the changing needs of the customers. POS system at the nursery provided it with the ability to obtain these changing demands and the decisions could be taken as per the customer demands and preferences. The customers and public interests were always placed at the top priority that allowed the organization to take correct decisions at all times.
The types of networks recommended for the organization include Local Area Networks (LANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs). The local area networks are recommended as the employees present in the office premises at different locations could easily communicate with each other using the network connectivity and tele-communication mediums, such as instant messages and emails. The interactions between the departments could flourish as an outcome. There are also remote employees and stakeholders that also need to be communication with on a regular basis. It may be done through tele-conference calls, emails, meetings, and messages. Wide Area Networks (WANs) have been recommended for such long-distance communications.
Wireless mode of communication has been recommended for the nursery as the employees primarily use notebooks and laptops any carry them to the other departments. The wireless media would allow them to move freely without disturbing the connectivity and communications. There are however; wired technologies, such as Ethernet would be needed for extremely secure communications.
Fibre Optics Cables shall be used for the wired communications as these will offer numerous advantages as compared to coaxial cables and twisted pair cables. Some of the benefits include extremely high bandwidths, longer distance communication, lesser security risks, resistance to electromagnetic interference, and small size of the cable (Andres, 2004).
The wireless technology that shall be used as a primary mode of networking and communication shall be Wi-Fi. There are Wi-Fi routers developed by numerous vendors in the market, such as Cisco etc. that shall be installed in the organization. These are the communications that may be done in close proximity of the router that will be set up. Satellite communications shall be used for long-distance networking and communication with the remote resources and stakeholders. Mobile communications and Bluetooth technology shall also be utilized.
There are a few risks that are associated with the implementation of POS System. These risks are associated with the security, privacy, and confidentiality of the information and data sets. The users utilizing the POS system will carry out the related functions using a device, such as notebook, laptop, tablet, or Smartphone. The loss or stealing of these devices will put the information and data sets to the risk as the privacy and the confidentiality of the data may be compromised.
The POS system will utilize wired and wireless technologies using various network connections. These networks will comprise of several access points which may lead to the emergence of network-based security and privacy risks, such as denial of service attacks, flooding attacks, man in the middle attacks, eavesdropping attacks, message and media alteration attacks. In case of the occurrence of such attacks, the integrity and confidentiality of the data and information sets associated with the POS system will be compromised (Jouini, Rabai and Aissa, 2014). The malicious entities may also infect the system with the injection and release of malware codes, such as worms, logic bombs, Trojan horses, viruses, ransomware, spyware, and adware. There may also be issues of data leakage and data breaches.
There are certain controls and countermeasures that the Four Seasons Greenhouse & Nursery and the other organizations making use of POS system may incorporate. These controls include the installation of advanced security tools as anti-malware and anti-denial tools along with intrusion detection and prevention systems. Data encryption, advanced access control, multi-fold authentication, use of firewalls, and security reviews & audits are some of the other measures that shall be used to avoid and detect the security, privacy, and confidentiality threats and attacks.
Recommendations & Conclusion
The POS system that is installed in the Four Season Greenhouse & Nursery along with the other organizations must be done after adequate planning and analysis. There shall be feasibility and compatibility analysis done in advance to avoid any issues in the advanced stages. Also, there must be security control measures implemented to avoid the information security risks and attacks. POS and other automated systems have the capability to provide the benefits only when the usage is correctly done.
The POS system implemented by the nursery provided it with competitive advantage in the market. It is because the sales employees could get the real-time sales data which enabled them to develop the sales processes and strategies as per the demands of the customers. The real-time sales data could be accessed and the robust functionality led to streamlining of the inventories. The detailed product costs could be obtained from the system which assisted in the process of pricing. The prices could now be set to gain maximum profits and revenues. There were also a few challenges that came up. The system led to significant changes in the business processes of the nursery that were not easy to adapt to. The employees had to be trained on the new system. The types of networks that may be used along with the POS system include LANs and WANs with the type of cables as fibre optics. There were certain risks found with the system, such as security, privacy, and confidentiality of the information and data sets. The risks could be prevented and controlled using advanced security tools.
References
Andres, M. (2004). Fabrication of Optical Fiber Devices. Fiber and Integrated Optics, 23(2-3), pp.85-95.
Harm, S., Yazer, M., Monis, G., Triulzi, D., AuBuchon, J. and Delaney, M. (2014). A Centralized Recipient Database Enhances the Serologic Safety of RBC Transfusions for Patients With Sickle Cell Disease. American Journal of Clinical Pathology, 141(2), pp.256-261.
Jouini, M., Rabai, L. and Aissa, A. (2014). Classification of Security Threats in Information Systems. Procedia Computer Science, 32, pp.489-496.
Kim, Y. and Lim, J. (2011). A POS system based on the remote clientâ€Âserver model in the small business environment. Management Research Review, 34(12), pp.1334-1350.
Lin, Y., Ha, N. and Lin, K. (2015). The Role of mPOS System in Process Change and Strategy Change: A Situated Change Perspective. Technologies, 3(4), pp.198-218.
Moon, Y., Kim, W. and Ham, S. (2014). Users’ intentions to employ a Point-Of-Sale system. The Service Industries Journal, 34(11), pp.901-921.
Nachtmann, H., Waller, M. and Rieske, D. (2010). THE IMPACT OF POINT-OF-SALE DATA INACCURACY AND INVENTORY RECORD DATA ERRORS. Journal of Business Logistics, 31(1), pp.149-158.
Wu, Y. and Lafortune, S. (2012). Comparative analysis of related notions of opacity in centralized and coordinated architectures. Discrete Event Dynamic Systems, 23(3), pp.307-339.
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