IT 210 Milestone 2 PDF

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IT 210: Business Systems Analysis

Milestone 2 Technology Solutions and Recommendations Southern New Hampshire University

IT 210: Business Systems Analysis

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Contents: Technology Solutions

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Technology One

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Technology Two

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Recommendations

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Technology Solution

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Overall Benefit

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References

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Tables

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IT 210: Business Systems Analysis

3 Technology Solutions

There are many elements that a business must consider before it decides on which technology will serve the business and their customers in the best way possible. The owner of the business in this case study has several technological requirements she needs to address as she positions her business to move toward online sales. Through the use of a decision matrix, the owner was able to narrow down her choices to cloud computing and intelligent technologies as two possible solutions to meet her needs. Each of these technologies has the ability to address the business’s needs for integrated online shopping, manage inventory and shipping, provide order status and online payment processing, facilitate collaboration internally and externally with staff and customers, manage customer contacts, provide reporting, and manage the current brickand-mortar process. Both technologies offer similar abilities to help the company grow, but the best course of action for the owner of this business would be implementing an intelligent system first. Intelligent systems will be able to provide the information needed to help accurately forecast sales, develop dynamic pricing models, and gain a better insight to what their customers desire. Technology One: Cloud Computing The business in this case study would benefit from the implementation of cloud computing because this technology enables a retail business to use big data and can help with supply chain visibility. Big data can help to reveal customer shopping patterns and trends. Through the use of cloud computing and the information gained from big data, this will help the owner to improve merchandising decisions and better manage the business’s inventory. Through better management of the business’s inventory, it allows for real-time data gauged properly and to make sure the items being purchased are there and ready for each customer. Having a

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properly stocked inventory is the most important asset to a retail business because if the business does not have the correct level of inventory, the business could lose out on sales and gaining potential customers. Through the use of cloud computing, a retail business is able to rack its inventory in real time which includes store orders, stock availability, and shipping details (Davidson, 2020). Cloud computing can provide the business from the case study the ability to consolidate their data from the brick-and-mortar sight with the newly forming online sales department into a single system. Through the consolidation of information withing the cloud, this business will be able to save time by easily accessing data. Also, having a single system to store all the business’s data will help to lower operational costs. Even though cloud computing in the retail industry can provide real-time access to all operational and functional data, decrease expenses, and improve business decisions, cloud computing has its risks that must be realized by the business owner. A risk that a business owner takes by using cloud computing is the possibility of experiencing data security issues. Security risks are a reality for any business when it comes to storing data and online sales. Multiple serious threats, such as virus attacks and hacking of a business’s site, are considered to be the biggest cloud computing data security issues (Educba, 2020). Virus attacks and hacking are ways a person can gain entry to a business’s software and steal sensitive data or disrupt business operations. The owner of this business needs to be aware of the risks when it comes to adopting cloud computing as one of the technologies to grow her brick-and-mortar and online sales. If the owner of the business does her due diligence by reviewing her vendor’s security, check for known security vulnerabilities, and make sure her contract includes proactive security practices, she will be able to then reduce any security risks that may arise.

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Technology Two: Intelligent Systems If the business owner uses intelligent systems technology, she will be able to help change the face of her business’s brick-and-mortar store as she adds online sales services as part of her business model. A key component to using an intelligent system in a retail business is that this technology will allow the business to make more informed consumer product recommendations. Through the use of intelligent systems, businesses are able to provide a better shopping experience by meeting each customer’s specific needs more accurately (Tagliabue & Leon, 2017). Intelligent systems will help this business to more accurately forecast inventory needs and provide the ability monitor stocking of items in real-time. Intelligent systems will also help this retail business connect with their customers and provide them with the shopping experience they desire, while still helping to grow the business into new avenues without wasting any extra time or money. Intelligent system technology can help this business connect to their customers through the system’s ability to process the data it receives, which then allows the program to learn and adapt to each shopper’s wants and needs. The owner of this business needs to be aware of the limitations of intelligent systems. One of the main barriers of using intelligent systems is that data is often siloed, inconsistent, and of poor quality. Intelligent systems can make customer data difficult to access because this data can be scattered and duplicated across multiple systems, which means there can be multiple versions of the truth (Savitz, 2013). By not being able to review valid data, this could create difficulty for the owner of this business to coordinate marketing, sales, and customer service both in her store and with online sales. All of these issues combined together demonstrates the challenges businesses can encounter when trying to create value from the data provided by

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intelligent systems (NI Business, 2020). Another gap that could be an issue by using intelligent systems within this retail business is the cost. If this retail business does not have staff that is familiar with the use of intelligent systems, the business will have to outsource the work to maintain, repair, and upgrade the program being used. If this occurs, the cost from having to pay for these expenses could be beyond what the business’s budget will allow. Recommendations The recommended intelligent system to help this-brick-and-mortar business transform itself into a competitive force in the online sales market would be done by installing Dynamics 365 Commerce. The business in this case study needs to have a technological solution that can meet all of its technological needs since the focus of this company is to generate new revenue through e-commerce. Since the business owner currently has a brick-and-mortar location, by adding online sales to her business model she will need a diverse piece of software that can aid in growing her online business while still helping to manage the brick-and-mortar store’s processes. This is where Dynamic 365 Commerce can exceed the business owner’s expectations.

Technology Solution: Dynamic 365 Commerce Dynamic 365 Commerce is an end-to-end retail answer that can deliver unified commerce across all avenues including sales, mobility, intelligence, and productivity to help retailers and workers achieve more in a cloud first, mobile first world (Intelligent Systems, 2020). Dynamic 365 Commerce will be able to meet the owner’s business needs since this piece of software can operate business process, such as merchandising and inventory. Dynamic 365 Commerce also has channel management capabilities, and the program can better engage shoppers through personalized customer experiences. Dynamic 365 Commerce can help the sales associate personalize the customer’s shopping experience by storing and providing data

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about each customer’s preferred shopping interests and brands. Through the use of this information, it allows Dynamic 365 Commerce to expand a customer’s choice both in the store and online. This software will allow the business to offer access to their full product catalog in the store and online, no matter the stock levels or location of the product. Ultimately, Dynamic 365 Commerce will enable this business to create brand loyalty through personalized customer engagement, along with increasing income with improved employee productivity, improve supply chain efficiency, and deliver superior business outcomes. Overall Benefit Dynamic 365 Commerce can enhance efficiency in a retail setting by delivering a consistent shopping experience across different channels and for different devices (Dynamicweb, 2019). This program has the ability to grow as the business in this case study grows. Dynamic 365 Commerce has flexible and expandible integration. As the owner moves her business into the market of online sales, this software will allow her to off each website customer and office personnel the ability to have real-time access to inventory, historical data about past orders, and account management. The ability to have easy and timely access to this type of data will help the owner make informed decisions when it comes to managing inventory and adding new product lines so her business can run at maximum efficiency. As technology continues to advance businesses such as the one in this case study, this business must transform themselves so they can compete and grow. If they do not make this transformation as the world becomes more technologically advanced, the business will not be able to grow and thrive. As retail customers continue to drive retail market sales through the sue of mobile devices, adding clou computing and intelligent systems software will help meet the business owner’s needs as her company expands and transforms. By choosing the correct

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software to provide great customer service yet still meet the needs of inventory tracking, stock availability, store orders, and shipping details, this small retail business will be able to reach their operational goals and be competitive in the online sales market.

IT 210: Business Systems Analysis

9 References

Davidson, B. (2020). Cloud Computing is Changing Retail: Here’s How. Retrieved from https://www.percentotech.com/bobyjdavidson/cloud-computing-retail/ Dynamicweb (2019). Ecommerce for D365 Operations (AX) Cloud Solutions. Retrieved from https://dynamicwebapac.com/d365-operations-ecommerce Educba (2020). Top 20 Cloud Computing Issues and Challenges. Retrieved from https://www.educba.com/cloud-computing-issues-callenges/ Intelligent Systems (2020). Dynamics 365 Retail. Retrieved from https://www.isystemsgroup.com/resources/microsoft-dynamics-365-for-retail/ NI Business (2020). Artificial Intelligence in Business: Risks and Limitations of Artificial Intelligence in Business. Retrieved from https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/risksand-limitations-artificial-intelligence-business Savitz, E. (2013, February 15). Why Retailers Need to Focus on Mastering Customer Data. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentra/2013/02/15/why-retailers-need-tofocus-on-mastering-customer-data/ Tagliabue, D. & Leon, G. (2017, November 28). The Importance of Artificial Intelligence in Retail. Retrieved from https://www.gestoos.com/2017/11/28/importance-artificialintelligence-retail/

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Tables Table 1 Decision Matrix...