IT 210 Final Project PDF

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IT 210: Business Systems Analysis

IT 210 Business Systems Analysis

Final Project Christine Lampson Southern New Hampshire University

IT 210: Business Systems Analysis

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Contents Introduction

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Problem Statement

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Two Technologies

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Business Requirements

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Objectives

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Project Description

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Key Technology Requirements

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Competitors and Technology

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Technology One: Mobile Computing and Mobile Commerce

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Technology Two: Social Computing

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Technology Solutions Technology One: Mobile Computing and Mobile Commerce Technology Two: Social Computing Recommendations

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Technology Solution

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Overall Benefit

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Security Considerations Security Features

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Third-Party Vendors

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Internal Safeguards

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References

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[Tables]

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IT 210: Business Systems Analysis

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Fashion DeZines (FD) Limited is a small brick-and-mortar company and been in business for over twenty years, operating solely as a brick-and-mortar business selling designer clothing, shoes, and handbags for men and women for many years. Jane Brown, Chief Executive Officer, has realized that the business to reach on-line shoppers, it has to venture out into e-commerce. As a business analyst employed to the company, I have been asked tasked to research two technologies used by at least two competitors, and then make recommendation on the technology that will meet requirements that will position the store for entrance to e-commerce.

Problem Statement1 Sale of FD’s merchandize is mostly from customers who walk into the brick-and-mortar store, which poses a problem for the business because competitors in the same industry are already established in e-commerce. The website does not allow customers to browse items in a catalog with prices, which will frustrate customers and cause them to take their business to the competitor. The goals of the business owners are to promote growth with an online presence and become more customer-focused by streamlining the processes involved in integrating the brickand-mortar business with e-business; ensuring that the security and privacy of customers personal information, such as credit card numbers, address and telephone numbers, are kept secured; ensuring the security of the data; and ensuring that the business’ suppliers and technology vendors understand and are bounded by confidentiality.

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Two Technologies selected After preparing the decision matrix for all seven possible technologies, and based on the results, I decided to choose the following two technologies: i)

Wireless, mobile computing, and mobile commerce: Wireless is telecommunications which allow electromagnetic waves to carry signals between communication devices without wires; mobile computing refers to a connection between a mobile device and other computing environments in real-time, while mobile commerce refers to conducting e-commerce transactions in a wireless environment over the Internet.

ii)

Social computing: This is a type of information technology that combines social behavior and information systems to create value for customers and focused on improving collaboration and interaction among people and the content generated by the user.

Business Requirements Objectives The objectives of this project are to i) identify and research two different information technology solutions that would will allow Fashion DeZines to venture the e-commerce market competitively, ii) research market competitors that use those technologies and iii) make recommendations to Jane Brown and her business managers of the technology solution that will help to compete with others in the industry in providing excellent customer service, and ultimately be profitable.

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Project Description The purpose of this project is to determine which technology solution Fashion DeZines will be able to use to establish and maintain a competitive advantage in the e-commerce market. This project will also assist the business owners to understand the factors associated with implementing new technologies and therefore enforce knowledge management on the changes internally and externally in order for staff to be efficient.

Technology Requirements In order for the business to effectively meet the goals, the chosen technology solution should be able to meet the following important key technology requirements: i.

Integrate online shopping

ii.

Manage inventory and shipping

iii.

Provide order status checking and online payment processing

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Facilitate internal and external collaboration with staff and customers.

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Mange customer contacts.

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Provide reporting.

vii.

Manage the present brick-and-mortar processes (sales, payments, inventory, customer

contacts) Competitors and Technology Fashion DeZines has been in business with its brick-and-mortar store for many years, and has built up a good relationship with customers. However, with the rapid advancement of ecommerce, the company’s on-line customer base has been on the decline due to an ineffective

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website and short staff. Two of its leading competitors in the same industry are Zappos and Nordstrom. As stated earlier, Zappos is an online store that sells shoes and clothing. The company has been around since 1999 and has become very successful since its inception. The core values of the company have been centered on being adventurous, creative, building honest and open relationships with customers, and delivering excellent customer service, among others. Conducting business centered on these core values over the years has helped the company to maintain an edge in e-commerce and m-commerce. Nordstrom Rack (a division of Nordstrom Inc.) has been in business since 1991, selling clothes, shoes, jewelry and accessories. The store expanded from a small shoe store, into a leading fashion retailer in e-commerce, and continues to grow. The company prides itself with having the most current trends and brands for customers to choose from, at very low prices whether in store or online. Like Zappos, Nordstrom ensures customers receive quality customer service, driven by strict business standards, for example the “one-rule” which is “use good judgment in all situations” (erply.com)

Technology One: Mobile Commerce and Mobile Computing Nordstrom Rack, a retail store of its parent store, Nordstrom, has been in business for over forty years (www.nordstromrack.com). In 2015, the company recognized that “mobile is

an important enabler of convenience as customers increasingly desire a more seamless shopping experience,” and hence decided to invest over $3.9 billion to fund further online expansion of its mobile commerce (Dyakovskaya, 2015).

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Technology Two: Social Computing Zappos, another a successful online company competitor of Fashion DeZines, has been in business since 1999 and was founded by Nick Swinmurn out of a desire to find the right pair of shoes. As told in the story on www.zappos.com, Nick was unsuccessful in finding a pair of shoes in brick-and-mortar stores, or online. He then decided to start his own online retail store to sell shoes that would meet customer satisfaction. According to Digital Spark Marketing (2016), since the early days of social media, Zappos has been successful at using social media to execute its marketing strategies, which played a significant role in their growth as well as helped them to maintain a competitive edge. The company’s “social media strategy is built around its website and the five social media platform (Digital Spark Marketing, 2016).

Technology Benefits Zappos’ success is attributed to the company’s ability to combine adaptation and social media integration to build its customer base. The company focused exclusively on e-commerce and has set the mark for its competitors to follow (Digital Spark Marketing, 2016). In order for Fashion DeZines to compete alongside Zappos, or even surpass them, they have to implement a successful e-commerce process that would allow its customers to order goods online and pick up at the brick-and-mortar store, free of cost. .

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Technology One: Wireless, mobile computing and mobile commerce. This technology scored “yes” on the Design Matrix for all the technical requirements listed by the management of Fashion DeZines. 

Technical requirement #1 – Integrate online shopping: Wireless, mobile computing and mobile commerce facilitate the integration of online shopping through real-time wireless connection between mobile devices and the Internet. Customers, through Wi-Fi connections and data services, can browse websites to purchase goods and services, access books and news information, interact with friends via email, texts or social sites.

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Technological requirement # 2 - Manage Inventory and Shipping: This technology allows businesses to manage inventory and shipping. Owners can see real-time inventory levels of goods available, as well as order and ship goods from their mobile phone. As noted by by this article before the advancement of mobile technology, companies used spreadsheets, barcodes, and other inventory tools to manage inventory and shipping, but now with mobile computing and mobile commerce, they can do so more efficiently (www.commandmobile.com).

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Technological requirement #3- Provide order status checking and online payment processing: This technology allows employees to check order status and process online payment via mobile commerce solutions. Customers can make purchases from their phones anywhere and anytime.

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Technological Requirement 4 - Facilitate collaboration internally and externally (with staff and customers): Wireless and mobile computing allow employees to stay in touch with business operations from their mobile phones via emails, and text messaging, and

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mobile commerce allows customers to conduct transactions from their mobile phones, from anywhere. 

Technological Requirement 5 - Manage customer contacts: Mobile computing allow businesses to access customer contact information stored on the company's database, from their mobile phone over wireless connection, using customer relationship management application. According to www.gocanvas.com, using a customer relationship management (CRM) app can “be a helpful tool to small business managers and sales teams by allowing them to collect basic details on prospective customers.”

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Technological Requirement 6: Provide reporting. Mobile computing can facilitate reporting. Smart phones, laptops and PDAs today, allow business managers and their employees to be in touch, to send reports back and forth through emails, text messages and video chats. In an article from Strategic Growth Concepts, “mobile technology allows people to use company data and resources without being tied to a single location. Whether the staff is in the office, travelling to meetings, or even working from home anywhere on the globe, mobile devices can help them keep in touch, be productive, and make use of company resources.” (http://www.strategicgrowthconcepts.com).

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Technological Requirement 7- Manage the current brick-and-mortar processes (sales, payments, inventory, and customer contact): Having a mobile POS system throughout the store can encourage higher levels of customer engagement and customer satisfaction, as noted by pointofsale.com. Integrating a POS system into the business, can be a challenge for small business owners because, like all technology systems, the implementation cost is a factor. They also have to contend with the cost for mobile hand-held devices that facilitate this technology.

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Technology Two: Social Computing also scored a “yes” on the Design Matrix for six the technical requirements listed by the management of Fashion DeZines, except for requirement # 2 as show below. 

Technical requirement #1 – Integrate online shopping: Yes, social computing is able to integrate online shopping. One way the small businesses are boosting sales via social computing, is by placing small banner ads social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, which allow a consumer to conduct purchases from the social medial site.

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Technological requirement # 2 - Manage Inventory and Shipping: This technology does not allow business to manage inventory and shipping.

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Technological requirement #3- Provide order status checking and online payment processing: No, social computing is able to check order status and process online payment.

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Technological Requirement 4 - Facilitate collaboration internally and externally (with staff and customers): Yes. This technology can facilitate collaboration /engagement externally as well as internally between employees and customers. Due to the need to keep up with the rapid change is social media technology, more and more comprehensive social solutions help enterprises to better understand, engage and influence the customer requirements and their preferences, as well as enable companies to better engage with both employees and customers.( www.happiestminds.com)

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Technological Requirement 5 - Manage customer contacts: Yes. Social computing can assist businesses in managing customer contact using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. According to CRM Search, “social

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networking sites are increasingly being used to funnel customer engagement into businesses with customer relationship management software solutions”, and that organizations that are willing to make the investment are gaining unlimited access to consumers.

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Technological Requirement 6: Provide reporting. Yes and no! The viral networking capability, through social computing affords managers the ease of creating, aggregating and disseminating information to employees and customers. However, I didn’t find and information that says social computing facilitates providing reports.

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Technological Requirement 7- Manage the current brick-and-mortar processes (sales, payments, inventory, and customer contact): Yes, social computing is able to help manage brick-and-mortar processes to drive profits upward by influencing customer online interactions while in store. I support the point made by Hootsuite, that it is important for businesses to understand how to connect customers’ online experience to their store-experience because this is the easiest and most cost effective way for businesses to engage with these customers, both inside and outside the store. (www.hootsuite.com)

Recommendations One of the main drivers for Zappos’ success is the company’s ability to understand that prospective customers are very busy in every-day living and the mere fact that they visited Zappo’s site, they are seeking a product. Zappos invest in user-friendly mobile applications that allow customers to not feel pressured into making a rushed purchase decision. If they lose

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connectivity or got distracted with another task, the “interface remembers where a browser leaves off and returns them to that point when interaction is resumed” . (www.retaildive.com). From the success of Zappos, it is evident that the company has perfected the use of many of the different technology solutions and platforms that allow the company to remain successful. Based on the results from the decision matrix, my recommendations to Fashion DeZines would be to the mobile commerce and mobile computing technology, along with social computing. My recommendation to the managers of Fashion DeZines, would be to develop (or strengthen) the core values for the company and ensure that every employee understands the importance of conducting business by these values, and what they mean for building customer happiness. They should also decide on how the new technology solution will be implemented and develop steps to do so.

Technology Solution Based on the findings of in the Decision Matrix, and the requirements given by the managers of Fashion DeZines, it appears that both Wireless, Mobile Computing, and Mobile Commerce technology and Social Computing would work together in helping the company to reach customers as easily as its competitors. They would also allow the company to venture into the e-commerce market, as well as improve sales in the brick-and-mortar store. In light of the fact that Fashion DeZines’ website is very basic, it would not be able to handle the new technology solution unless website development is included in the project.

Overall Benefit Some of the overall benefits to using M-commerce technology are, i) faster purchases, especially if the customers are doing so through a mobile app. ii) better customer experience for

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customers if they are able to navigate through apps/sites with few challenges. iii) it gives companies direct connections to customers through push notifications. iv) cuts down on marketing costs if customers can be reached directly and quickly through their mobile devices. https://thinkmobiles.com. If Fashion DeZines choose to implement the recommended technology solutions, it would greatly improve the company’s ability to provide the line of designer clothing, shoes, and handbags both in its brick-and-mortar store and through m-commerce. It will meet all the technology requirements laid out by the managers and position the company to compete on the ecommerce and m-commerce market alongside its competitors.

Basic Security Considerations Online customers want to feel assured that their private information used online for purchases, will be kept confidential and remain safe. It is therefore paramount that if the business owners of Fashion DeZines choose to adopt the recommendations of this project, the would have to identify the factors that contribute to breach of security and put measures in place to eliminate/diminish threats. Some of these threats are wireless networks, small network devices such as iPads, mobile phones, and thumb drives, to name a few. There are also deliberate threats to security that must be considered, which are theft of computers and/or mobile devices such as iPads and smart phones; espionage; extortion of information; alien software, identity theft, etc.

Security Features Mobile commerce today have gotten so advance that users are able do almost everything with/and from a smartphone. According to this article, with the use of what is called Near Field

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communication (NFC) technology, mobile phones have become our wallet, thus ma...