Mobile Teleworking: Some Solutions and Information Security Aspects - Essay Example

Information System Management By Table of Contents Information System Management Table of Contents 2 Information System Management 4 Introduction 4 Company information 4 Section 1 5 Background 5 Problem situation 5 Priorities of problems 8 Recommendations 9 Analysis for Outsourcing 10 Analysis before outsourcing 11 Advantages of Outsourcing 11 Section 2 14 Teleworking 14 Teleworking Office Facilities 16 Teleworking requirements 17 Transition process system and Teleworking 18 Advantages of the Teleworking 19 The need-for more flexibility 19 Costs reduction 19 Improved productivity 20 Increased awareness 20 Quality of life 20 Appropriate technology and the changing business culture 21 Centralization 21 Disadvantages 21 Management difficulties 22 Communication difficulties 22 Social isolation 23 Technical problems 23 Implementation 23 Conclusion 24 References 25 Information System Management Introduction This report briefly discusses the development of the IT department, issues identification and management scenarios for the Chrichton Garden and Plants Company. I am a new IT Director at Chrichton Garden and Plants. The corporate is suffering from lot of different problems regarding the successful management of on the whole company system. As an IT Director, at this stage my basic aim is to identify priorities and manage the different problems that are faced by the corporate IT department. In this report I will present the ways and methods through which we can support the retail and online businesses in a better way. I will discuss about the basic needs for the outsourcing for some parts of our IT operation and system development. Then the second part of this report is aimed to discuss the implementation of the home working/ teleworking scheme within Chrichton. This section will concentrate on the teleworking implementation, its advantages and disadvantages and ways by which we can implemented within the organization. Company information This section provides the brief introduction of the company. Crichton was established as a family business in 1964, increasing and selling plants in marketplaces throughout the Midlands and south of England. The corporation has developed a standing for high excellence at small price and by means of knowledgeable family members manning the marketplace stalls, the business raised quickly. Near the beginning of year 1968, Crichton opened their first permanent shop on a site near busy route just north of London. Through the 70s and 80s Crichtons sustained to develop, spreading into garden accessories like that the garden furniture, children’s play equipment and barbecues and garden planning/ design.1 (As provided in the case study) Section 1 Background This section is about the basic establishment of the corporate information system that was implemented to augment the on the whole business. In 2006, the decision was taken by the Crichton family that they should move into internet based sales in addition to the accessible shops. After protracted negotiations, Crichton brought the diggitin web business, with Hanson becoming a member of the management board at Crichton. Astely was retained to manage the web operation and associated garden design applications. Gee, who was frustrated with an increasingly desk-based role at diggitin left to resume her gardening/landscape business. She remains active in the diggitin online forums, for which she is paid. By 2008 Crichtons permanent workforce had grown to nearly 400 and turnover was up to $42 million. The rapid growth and acquisition has caused significant problems. Many of these are cultural; it remains a family business with Nancy Crichton still exerting considerable control.2 Problem situation The company has developed a very effective business management system, but after few time there have been lot of problems raised regarding the better corporate functionality. The situation is complex and many of problems are interrelated. 3 Here I will present the overview of the IT related problem. The Head Office Systems that is a central database is the central repository of product lines and pricing information within the company. Here the DB2 is running, but acknowledged within the company as "Tonsils". This system handles the data of the Retail Systems. The in-store systems are controlled by ageing AS400 systems. All products are bar-coded with POS terminals fitted with barcode readers and linked to the in-store database. This database controls pricing and reports on stock levels for the shop. The system will warn as stock levels on items drop, but the store manager has to manually reorder stock - this is not an automated process. Here problem lies with this system is regarding the local retail databases. The problem is that the store managers can add their own product lines and change pricing at will, they can also optionally lock pricing on lines to prevent them being updated from the overnight feeds. This was originally designed into the system to allow the store managers the autonomy to run one-off items or local special offers, but has descended into anarchy with stores frequently pricing items incorrectly, not stocking the full range of products and so on. The problem regarding the office system is there non uniqueness. Each store manager has placed the system of there own will. In some cases it was not immediately apparent what these systems were being used for, with even store managers unable to explain the presence of a number of computers within their own stores. It is believed that in at least two cases the PCs were not company owned, they had been brought in by staff. The problem regarding the Online Systems (diggitin) is require for the rapid and immediate stock and pricing feeds via an XML update from Tonsils. 4 Peter Lee - IT Director is facing the problem regarding the corporate data. A key problem within the organization is the quality of data. Store managers have long had the ability to modify pricing and product line information so they can respond to local conditions. This has been a major factor in the success of Chrichton, allowing stores to stock produce from local suppliers with contracts and pricing negotiated by the store manager. There have been mishaps lately, with some stores incorrectly pricing items, which were then sold at a loss. It was not a big deal and the autonomy enjoyed by the stores is a good thing. The online retail side is more of a problem. You were asked to provide an XML feed of product, stock and pricing information from Tonsils which would keep the online store up-to-date. The Web Operations manager Jack Hanson is facing problem regarding the online retail business that is rapidly approaching a crisis point. The feed of product, stock and pricing information from the main Chrichton system to diggitin has never been reliable, but of late has become an extreme problem. Products are missed, pricing is wrong, discontinued items remain in the feed and so on. This lack of reliability has led to a huge increase in customer complaints. Sales & Finance manager Emily Williams stated the problem regarding the inconsistencies in the diggitin sales system. The flow of information from Chrichton to diggitin is a problem: Chrichton design and layout their own paper-based catalogues (using a small Macintosh network), but imagery and product descriptions also need to be sent through to diggitin for the website. Much of this is being done by email, which is causing a lot of work and mistakes - the product photos can be large, which are then awkward to email. Mark Wellington who is Store Director of the Chrichton pointed out the problem regarding the online business that is making a lot of mistakes. Customers are coming into store to complain about an online order. This is frustrating since you dont have access to the online order information (thats all held by the diggitin people), so staff has to spend time ringing diggitins customer service to sort of the problems. It is also bad for business to have customers complaining in your shops. 5 Eddie Wellbart is the Purchasing & Logistics Manager of the Chrichton stated problem regarding the inconsistent information coming from two different systems. The system is currently getting stock requests from the shops through the old Chrichton Tonsil system. They are then delivered to stores by our team of delivery drivers. Store managers have to manually reorder stock and mistakes are frequent. Priorities of problems This section will present the priorities of the main problems that are faced by the corporation. The aim of this section is to streamline the main priorities of the main problems, so that their mitigation will become easier for the overall organizational crisis management. Here are the priorities of the main problems that are disturbing the overall organizational management. Customer dissatisfaction Product price inconsistency Poor integration of systems Big lag between shops and online stores Stock maintenance problems Competition between outlets & online stores Poor IT security in-store Inappropriate use of systems in-store Legal problems with software New data updating system is awkward (XML feed) Recommendations For the betterment of overall organization IT system and online business, there is need for the system redesigned. For this purpose we have to change the overall structure of the system. In this way we will be able to put into practice new, state of the art technology that will be able to handle the overall organizational management system. The first change requires in the online structure of the business. There is need for the run time and on the spot price transformations not the night feeds. We have to make the overall structure more effective to use for the customer satisfaction, fast transaction and consistent pricing for all items. Next we need to implement the new sales web site (E-commerce web site) that will have the ability to provide the upgraded pricing, better interface and easy transaction system. Next transformation I will recommend is in the main Head Office Systems that is a central database is the central repository of product lines and pricing information within the company. In this system we have to incorporate the better client’s management support and handling. This system should able to feed the all client (store system) for the new pricing and plants details (images, price, type, etc.). Here it also needs for to retransform the client management system. These systems are operational in each associated store of the corporate. These system need to provide extra security regarding the change in the prices of plants. There should be only one constant price for all products (on the web also at shop). Another suggestion is regarding the effective customer handling and management. In this scenario there is firm require for the better customer satisfaction and complaints handling. Analysis for Outsourcing This section will elaborate the main analyses of the overall problem mitigation and system enhancement. For this purpose we need to outsource for our overall system handling and management. In this scenario we will choose a single system development company for our organizational system development and implementation.6 The basic reason behind this choice is the reduction in the system implementation complexity. 7 Means when the two distinct organizations will develop our system, then at the time of the both system implementation there can be problem regarding the better support and interaction among the application [OutS-1, 2009]. So it is decided to choose on system developer firm for this task. Analysis before outsourcing In developing organization diggitin, outsourcing is a viable option because many systems need to be built quickly, and special knowledge is needed. Small or medium sized organizations with small IT staffs and small budgets are best served by outside contractors [OutS-2, 2009]. Outside contractors have also confirmed to be a good alternative for large companies in convinced conditions. Making use of outside contractors to present diggitin applications are called outsourcing [OutS-2, 2009]. Large companies may choose outsourcing when they want to experiment with new diggitin technologies without a great deal of up-front investment or a need to rely on experts. Outsourcers can perform many tasks in diggitin applications development [OutS-2, 2009]. For instance, they can plan, program, build applica­tions, integrate, operate, and maintain.8 It is useful to develop good relationships with the outsourcers [OutS-2, 2009]. Advantages of Outsourcing By implementation of our organizational diggitin system through the outsourcing we will be able to obtain following advantages: 9 development time will be reduced user-reaction time will be reduced (feedback from user) user understanding of the system will be improved, its information needs, and its capabilities will be improved cost will be reduced Selection of Outsource If our company decides to outsource a diggitin application, the following representative range criteria should be considered [OutS-2, 2009]: Flexibility Commercial packages need to be personalized or tailored to the definite requirements of an application. Consequently, it is imperative to evaluate the extent to which a package can be adapted and the willingness of the vendor to perform or support the adaptation.10 Information requirements The preferred package should assure the information requirements of the users. Information gathering, storage, and repossession capabili­ties and the database configuration should be suspiciously scrutinized.11 User friendliness User friendliness is imperative. If the diggitin application is tough for a business Professional to use, it will hardly be used. 12 Hardware and software resource The operating system and type of computer that are required by the diggitin package must be well-suited with the presented infrastructure. The CPU and storage requirements are also imperative deliberation. 13 Installation The installation endeavor essential to execute the package should be taken into account. Some packages are multifarious, and their installation has need of extensive session. The installation method may also take a significant quantity of time.14 Maintenance services Because diggitin application requirements could be continuously changing, that’s why continuous maintenance is required. It is imperative to think about how often the package requests to be upgraded and whether the vendor provides assis­tance for its maintenance.15 Vendor quality and track record It is not as much risky to attain a diggitin package from a vendor that has a good repute and track record than from one with a less than-stellar or unfamiliar reputation.16 The superiority of the vendor can be pointed toward by its related experience in the fastidious application and its sales and financial records, as well as its responsiveness to clients requests. To diminish risk, minor applications should be leased first.17 Estimating costs The total costs of diggitin projects are frequently complicated to evaluate and regularly miscalculated. In addition to the obvious costs associated with system.18 Section 2 In this section I will talk about the main and significant suggestions presented by the by some IT staff about the implementation of the homeworking/ teleworking scheme within Chrichton. This section has focused the implementation of the homeworking/ teleworking technology for the better organizational management and online system collaboration. Here it will also be accessed that if this implementation can bring better results regarding the effective communication, data transfer and administrative security. Teleworking At present, information has developed as an important feature for company success. The involvement of information as an "unprocessed material" is greater than ever all the time (Christine et al. 2000). Irrespective of time or position, though, information should simply be obtainable to personnel who are permissible to obtain it (Scholtz, 2006). The requirement for this is the arrangements of information structure. This spreading out will get a move on by the transforms taking position in contact. There has been a sequence from fixed to mobile consumers, by means of satellites investment the assurance of worldwide convenience (Miroljub et al, 2001). Each of these extraordinary potentials of recovering and broadcasting information indicate a massive augment in wide-ranging competence (Mitchell, 2003). At the similar time, still, they augment the threat of information declining interested in the supplies of prohibited people and next being distorted. As a result, there is significant user distrust toward this latest technology in addition to the wide social agreement vital in order to promote from it has not up till now developed (Christine et al, 2000). Teleworking is a resilient process of effort which wraps a wide assortment of work behavior, every one of which engrosses working indistinctly from a manager, or from a customary place of job. Teleworkers can be working or self-employed (Scholtz, 2006). Beneath this deal telecommunications are employed to connect that are doing the effort by means of those charging it. Work can be promoted, adapted, prohibited, watched and transported by means of telecommunication arrangement and structure (Markby, 2000). “Teleworking can be adopted as part-time or permanent and include the people working at house (e.g. advisors in addition to programmers), public working home (e.g. retailing employees) and group’s job at confined centers like that telecottages or region places of work “(Miroljub et al, 2001). “Teleworkers approach in a lot of diversities. A long-distance, continuing teleworker makes use of the bulk of his/her time operational distantly from colleagues. The job place for the teleworker can be permanent or the teleworker could journey among many special locations in an itinerant way or the teleworker could be a nomad, wandering to many places, in concert latest and earlier called” (Markby, 2000). “A short-distance, enduring teleworker mechanism motivating space from co-workers but does this on enduring foundations. Once more, the place for this sort of employee could be predetermined, itinerant, or traveling. A provisional teleworker works from together short and extended remoteness, and from permanent places, nomadic places or nomadic sites” (Mitchell, 2003). Conversing teleworkers plus exertion in a virtual office, it is straightforward to ignore that further than the managerial novelty and indirect endeavor reformation there are people. These groups are hop up in simpler transforms, however their anxieties and distinctiveness cannot be misrepresented as merely as a corporation economize or reconfigures itself (Mitchell, 2003). Entity workers turn out to be teleworkers for a diversity of reasons, and for the majority part these are explained in positive circumstances (Scholtz, 2006). The teleworker from house, in exacting, is frequently represents as a mainly blessed individual, with a life-style in addition to effective life that is to be desired (Miroljub et al, 2001). Teleworking Office Facilities “The Teleworking Office design would bring together self-contained places of work by means of unrestricted regions where communal possessions would be obtainable. All place of work unit would proffer isolation plus contented functioning surroundings” (Scholtz, 2006). If apposite, protected storage services would be offered for users files, orientation papers, or other objects utilizing the building and services could be obtainable from side to side (Miroljub et al, 2001): Typing and word processing services Pre-reserved work suite Operator or voice-mail Easy access to emails Personal computing equipment or docking Telephonic Systems that are used communication Access to outdoor networks Interrupt ad hoc access Preeminent company work suite Regular timetables booking A typical telecentre would provide Teleworking requirements Teleworking is one more resilient operational performance and at the same time as conceptually it has been in persistence for a numeral of years, it is simply now happening to be accepted in a appropriate way in addition to be observed at the same time as one more part of a all-encompassing workers plan. The cause why it is satisfying time to turn out to be ordinary carry out is a lot of and varied. Teleworking will be diverse from a lot of additional supple carry outs stated on top of, in a number of respects, e.g. (Christine et al, 2000): It needs vigilant and systematic preparation from a lot of divisions of the associations, e.g. workers, IT, infrastructure, amenities organization, economics, lawful, strength security etc. Functioning at an expanse will be extra stress on organization abilities, chiefly purpose location, distant oversees and contact. It needs positive reception of the workers linked by means of employees operational distantly, e.g. approach of isolation, and require setting up criteria for the assortment of apposite jobs and natives. Though, Teleworking is previously practiced in the preponderance of organizations, on the other hand in a relaxed ad hoc technique, and as the omission rather than the standard. It is typically kept for those errands, which build up into imperative and will not get hold of completed in occasion, if absent to be completed in the place of work, like that, the vital report for the MD, measurement information etc. The reimbursement of transporting out these errands at home, by means of fewer break, are frequently conventional through boss and consequence in the aptitude to obtain the work complete, on time and frequently to a advanced quality through less in general endeavor (Cynthia et al, 2005). Transition process system and Teleworking This section discusses about the implementation of the Teleworking in the management and handling of the transition processes for our organization. We can incorporate Teleworking for following reasons (Miroljub et al, 2001): Top administration guarantee is desired to hold up the enlightening modification which are probable to be necessary, like that transforms in organization style, organization for consequences not through corporeal occurrence, varies in work carry out and the require for IT and infrastructure hold up. There should be a lively winner to drive through and hold up the programme. A Teleworking strategy and manifestly acknowledged measures require be preparing and broadcasting. A planned proceeding is compulsory towards the vigilant preparation compulsory in order to make the majority of the reimbursement. There requirements to be a direct run in arrangement to investigation and tune the strategies events, charge the force on the organization, employees and clientele and calculate the revenue where probable. Advantages of the Teleworking The need-for more flexibility “The accomplishment of this communications will add further elastic working location and precious problem organization, for every company disaster that is faced by the commerce “(Berry, 1996). Costs reduction “Organizations are looking for to diminish permanent costs. The costs that come off the underneath line of the company. There is as well a drive to switch everlasting expenses to unreliable expenditure wherever this is probable, forthcoming these costs out to the cost centers where they are incurred” (Morant, 2003). This is giving go up to a rush forward in interest, on the fraction of huge organizations, in third-party sites or district offices, which will able to be accredited to precise cost centers (Berry, 1996). The recognition of the teleworking communications is able to diminish the quantity of resources tied up in office amenities and the income these amenities engross for maintenance (Christine et al, 2000). Improved productivity More than ever, there is immensity on companies to become ready for action. There is no room for fulfillment; every viewpoint that adds to staff efficiency must be investigated. The huge probable efficiency strengths of teleworkers cannot be overlooked. Employers are appreciating that commutine, with the time it devours and pressure it causes is not well-matched with high efficiency of human resources (Miroljub et al, 2001). Increased awareness This position is concerning the better purchaser behavior and administration. This accomplishment will blow up the on the whole directorial efficiency as we as the superior purchaser support and management. Here the purchaser will be able to gain new technical and effectual amenities for the online business and manufactured goods (plant) penetrating. By this way their consciousness concerning the improved services will be increased (Christine et al, 2000). Quality of life By plummeting the workload on the managerial worker by given that those all amenities at the matching place will broaden their quality of life of the directorial workers. This technology will move on the employee’s power to grip the system in a well again way (Christine et al, 2000). Appropriate technology and the changing business culture We have reached a summit where the knowledge to enable teleworkirig can be in use for acknowledgement. The amplified power and making use of moveable computers has freed executive from their desks. The setting up of E-mail systems and other more complicated groupware technology has made work smaller amount and less reliant on position (Berry, 1996). Centralization As hypothesized, the extent of centralization was creating to be substantially divergence between those companies adopting telework and those that are not adopting telework (Markby, 2000). Because telework is fundamentally a decentralized knowledge, taking it would get together with a smaller amount confrontation in decentralized IT department. Alternately, federal managers may be portion as "gatekeepers" who irritate pioneering thoughts or who may be deteriorating to accomplish the border occupation competently (Morant, 2003). Centralization was not considerable to the mixture of telework. Therefore, in the middle of those who previously adopted telework, centralization did not take action as an impediment to the assortment of telework (Miroljub et al, 2001). Disadvantages This fraction is about the probable disadvantages of this teleworking technology. Here it will be involved how this technology will proffer some possible disadvantages concerning the successful management and treatment of the organizational tasks. As one would wait for, the services for more flexible ways are counteracted by others which are tempering the taking up of teleworking. It is accessed that major employers were incredulous of teleworking and considered it only to have significance when staffing and preservation of staff were of dangerous significance. Some have reported to feel world-weary that so many endeavors has been put into programmes which were stopped up when labor market circumstances changed, or which failed through bad management (Christine et al, 2000). Management difficulties Here this segment is about the one major complexity concerning the teleworking technology is the effectual management in this communications. The achievement of teleworking offers imperative challenges for managers. Organization by output moderately than by input is the only procedure of observing and scheming outlying teleworkers. It is necessary for managers to entirely confirm the concepts of organization by objectives. This required a more highly accomplished organization and in many cases a higher management in the clouds where teleworkers are worried (Miroljub et al, 2001). Communication difficulties Before permitting the implementation of teleworking within an organization has to think about the communication system. An infrastructure ‘audit’ will illustrate how individuals interrelate within the organization and to be victorious; teleworking must imitate these communiqué systems (Markby, 2000). Technology subsists to deal with most types of announcements: broad band technology for ‘broadband communication’ and slender band technology for a smaller amount complicated communication needs. The critical subject for the carrying out of flourishing teleworking is not techrlology but somewhat a perceptive of the communication system which teleworking is looking for to imitate (Berry, 1996). Social isolation Social isolation is frequently considered to be the greatest disadvantage of full-time, home-based telework from the teleworker’s standpoint. The investigation recommends that teleworkers’ desire for social get in touch with may be a chief moderation in the development of full-time, home-based telework chiefly for boring, recurring types of work (Miroljub et al, 2001). Technical problems Technical troubles are commonly extracted by managers as a cause for not putting into practice teleworking. In a topical examination specially made by the Department of employment, five percent of non-homework employers expect telework to engross technological troubles, whereas less than one percent of practitioners in fact have skilled to deal such problems (Morant, 2003). Implementation We can put into practice this network from side to side an appropriate and intended mode of implementation. The first step is concerned with the marketplace investigation for searching the more efficiently teleworking system. In this system we will put into practice the more in effect standard. Then after that we will make use of a tool which plans to revise the on the whole organizational system through a chronological technique. Because we can not stop the whole system at once, so we have to carry out the system using a step by step method. After this we will select some software developer firm for the development of new system. This organization will use the requirements and propose the new system. After that we will put into practice the system in a chronological way. This accomplishment will also join together the difficulties of each component of the communications. The final phase of this new system will slip in the cost benefit analysis of the implemented technology. Conclusion This report has tried to access the overall Chrichton Garden and Plants Company crisis situation for the enhanced organizational working and performance. After the identification of the potential hazards and difficulties regarding the effective management of the corporate resources it has prioritized them in scenario of their effect on the organizational tasks. The next section is about the outsourcing of our organizational system. This section has concentrated on the main processes and steps that we need to implement for the successful execution of the task. After that the section talks about the teleworking system and associated advantages and disadvantages. It is accessed that it is really fruitful to implement this technology, but there also few problem associated to this framework. This overall report is about the organizational IT system enhancement and crisis management. it is tried to streamline the overall crisis situation and related solutions in an effective way. 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