Inventory Management to Cloud Computing - Essay Example

The inventory function is one function that is central to any organization’s entire business, hence it should be kept in-house rather than outsourcing to companies like Cloud computing because it might further increase the chances of fraud and theft. The opportunities and risks that may arise would be:

Opportunities:

• Specialist vendors would really manage the inventory management system more efficiently if they get a good knowledge of the company’s activities, culture, environment, etc.
• Time would be saved
• Cyber embassies, if created, would really help in obtaining data from far away locations.
• Data could be retrieved quickly if the region of operation of the company is the same where the cloud computing office exists.
• The focus of the business would divert towards the improvement of the business rather than focusing on the inventory management system

Risks/Threats:

• The inventory management function might not be easily understood by Cloud Computing
• Having older and newer licenses would both have their respective complications.
• Data could not be easily accessible in any other regions e.g. a company operating in the EU would not be able to store its data with a U.S vendor.
• The data might be hacked
• The distant vendor would not be able to save data for a long period of time (i.e. as required by the SOX in the U.S.).
• The data might not be kept secure by Cloud’s own employees (an issue of confidentiality).

The risks of Cloud Computing outweigh its benefit, hence it can be said that it would not be highly beneficial to outsource the inventory management function to Cloud Computing (Robert Plant, 2011).