2016 Fall MGIS 402 Final Paper [Your Last Name] MGIS 402 Final Paper [Put Your Paper Title Here] Submitted by [Your Name] [Your Email] [Date] [Please save your file as your name_2016 Summer MIS final paper. 10 points] 1 2016 Fall MGIS 402 Final Paper [Your Last Name] [Put your final paper title here] 1. INTRODUCTION [In this section, you need to introduce the background of your target customer such as business name(5 points), address (5 points), business, its customers, picture of the business store(5 points). Please make sure the business company is a local small business: 60 points. ] 2. CURRENT PROBLEMS [The Current Problems section will present the current information system used by this business company and the problems caused by the old system.] 2 2016 Fall MGIS 402 Final Paper [Your Last Name] 3. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS [The proposed solutions section will present how you upgrade or design a new information system for this business company. You need to explain why you choose the recommended vendors and products (30 points)] 4. PRICE ESTIMATION [The Price Estimation will present the prices of your solutions. You need to make at least two price options for your customer to choose. You need to use a table to summarize the prices (20 points)] 5. CONCLUSION [The final section will be your final recommendation] 3 2016 Fall MGIS 402 Final Paper [Your Last Name] REFERENCES 4 Running head: IT SYSTEM APPLICATION 1 IT System Application Name Institution 2 IT SYSTEM APPLICATION INTRODUCTION The target customer is Pop's Ice Cream & Soda Bar. The address of the customer is; 1916 Memorial Ave SW, Roanoke, VA 24015 Phone: +1 540-345-2129 The customer deals in the production and sell of the Ice creams and other Ice cream related products. The customers of the business are the ice cream lovers and it has no gender or age restrictions. 3 IT SYSTEM APPLICATION CURRENT PROBLEMS The business is currently being faced by various IT challenges that have impacted negatively on its performance over the years. The older version of the IT system that is used has been a major impediment on the growth of the business based on various aspects that are involved in it. The flowing are the challenges that are being faced. Integration challenges The business is significantly suffering from integration issues and this is due to inability of the current system that is being used. The system is old and thus it cannot effectively integrate various aspects of the business. For instance there is challenge when it comes to linking the sales and the payments that are made outside the business premise. This is due to technologies that are being used. In addition, it has been able to make the business to incur tremendous losses financially and also be in a position to not effectively document all its business activities. Hence, making it hard during financial management to understand the operation of the business outside the premises. Backup and Data Recovery Challenges There is poor backup system by the business. The backup system is not up to date with the current technological advancements that are being used. The backup system of the business is small, and it is also not secure. I have noticed that the company is doing its back within one of the main computers that is at the management office. This is risky since if the main computer crashes it will be difficult to recover some of the data that might have been backed up. For instance, I have learned from the management that there are certain scenarios in which the main computer often crashes although data is not lost. This is serious since a time IT SYSTEM APPLICATION 4 might come when it will crush, and no data will be saved. This can paralyze the performance of the business since crucial information can be lost. Furthermore, this seems to be an expensive way of using IT since data recovery by experts is always an expensive endeavor. Security Risks The business IT system is not secure as per the required standards. There are various loopholes that exists that makes it easier for hacking and information to be stolen. The old system has not been fitted with the proper cyber security systems. Lack of proper cyber security is a costly endeavor since it allows for the business to be hurt is significant manner. Stealing of the secrets of the business is serious issue that can be done by anyone including the business’ rivals. This makes it easier for the rival business to know what the business is planning which in the end will make the business to face serious competition. Absence of strategic IT planning The business is not well organized regarding the information technology that is used. There is no strategic planning that is being used by the organization, and thus it is difficult for the business to ensure that the IT system that is used is up to date with the current standards and requirements as well as to ensure that there is effectiveness in their application and uses. In fact, the business has no personnel in charge of the IT, it is only the owner who is charge, and the owner has basic computer skills which are not that helpful. Lack of skills by the employees The business has ten employees who are not conversant with the manner in which the IT used by the business functions. This greatly hinders the overall performance of the IT system that has been employed by the business. In some of the cases, while doing my analysis, I have been able to realize that they are only conversant with payment system which is using Microsoft Excel 5 IT SYSTEM APPLICATION application. Hence, they are susceptible to making any IT mistake that might impact negatively on the system. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS The following are the proposed solutions that should be adopted by the business to ensure that it improves its IT system. Integration improvement The business should ensure that all the IT systems that are used are linked together efficiently. The best method that has been proposed by Rai and Tang (2013) is to adopt a holistic integration strategy. Since the business is using two different forms of technologies that tend to clash at some point. Hence the business will have to ensure that there is the adoption of one of the technologies that is currently being used or a standardization is done to ensure that there is no conflict when the two systems are being used. This is important since dilution of various technologies tend to make the employees who are using them to lose their proficiency when it comes to applying them. Backup and disaster recovery Since the business is small and it has limited budget, the best solution in this case will be for the business to adopt one of the widely used reliable backup and recovery software. This will be cost effective as compared to hiring a permanent IT specialist. The most effective backup and recovery software for small business is the Acronis True Image 2017. This is because it is a software that is cost effective and has the potential to serve the business effectively. It will allow the business to back up the files as images which can be the whole PC and it can be saved to an external hard drive or an FTP. According to Wood et al. (2010), the best software for backup and recovery is that which can back up the whole PC. IT SYSTEM APPLICATION 6 Improvement of security It is paramount for the business to have mechanisms that will be able to stop the cyberattacks that might be faced due to the poor security that it has. The first aspect that the business should be to ensure that the passwords that are being used are super strong as indicated by Ericsson (2010). That is they are numbers in between to make it hard for the hackers. The business shall be advised not to use the common names that relate to the owner or any activity of the business. The second aspect is that the business shall be involved in constant updating of the system and the software that are used. Updating the software will always fix some security bug issues that might compromise the security of the IT system. In this case the business shall do a routine check for software updates once or twice month. Creation of integrated IT planning The business will have to develop an IT strategic plan that will be implemented in phases. The first phase will involve the training of the owner of the business with the necessary skills that is required to ensure that the IT system of the business is well-structured in a manner that allows for the smooth execution of the process that is involved. The training shall involve how to conduct an effective data backup and recovery. This will be based on the software that has been selected for the business. The second phase will be to ensure that better computers are installed within the business that are up to date and meet all the requirements needed by the security measures that have been adopted. Training the employees The lack of skills by the ten employees of the business poses a serious threat to the effectiveness of the IT system. Hence, training will be based on the applications that are used by 7 IT SYSTEM APPLICATION the business in conducting the day to day activities. Also they will be trained on the basics about the backup and recovery of the data. PRICE ESTIMATION Sample 1 Activity Cost Integration improvement systems purchase $800 Backup and Data Recovery software purchase and training $1200 Improvement of security through adopting anti cyber-attack systems $1500 Creation of integrated IT planning (Owner’s) #1000 Training the employees #1300 Total $5800 Sample 2 Activity Cost Integration improvement $500 Backup and Data Recovery $1000 Improvement of security $1200 Creation of integrated IT planning #800 Training the employees #1800 Total $5300 CONCLUSION The analysis of Pop's Ice Cream & Soda Bar has indicted that the business has various challenges related to the IT system that is being used. However, if the solutions that I have proposed can be adopted then there can be a significant change and improvement in the IT systems that ate being used. 8 IT SYSTEM APPLICATION SUMMARY The paper is about the application of IT system by Pop's Ice Cream & Soda Bar. It has been able to cover the challenges associated with the IT system that is applied by Pop's Ice Cream & Soda Bar, and also the solutions that can be adopted to improve the IT systems. In addition, there has been price estimation that has been done. 9 IT SYSTEM APPLICATION References Ericsson, G. N. (2010). Cyber security and power system communication—essential parts of a smart grid infrastructure. IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 25(3), 1501-1507. Rai, A., & Tang, X. (2013). Research Commentary-Information Technology-Enabled Business Models: A Conceptual Framework and a Coevolution Perspective for Future Research. Information Systems Research, 25(1), 1-14. Wood, T. et al. (2010). Disaster Recovery as a Cloud Service: Economic Benefits & Deployment Challenges. HotCloud, 10, 8-15.
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