1. Discuss how information systems are linked to business objectives of an organization.
Information Systems are all the procedures that involve computer-based systems that allow a business improve in all different fields. It can help in the management, database, finance and overall in every type of business-related processes. The main objective of Information Systems is to be able to gather data, manipulate the data and spread the processed output to finally have a feedback and arrive at the desired objective.
Business Objectives of an organization are the ones that involve all the last-mentioned fields to have the best possible impact on the client experience. Information Systems and business objectives of an organization are related because they have an expectancy to provide the best possible service meaning to be a complete, reliable, economical, accurate, accessible, secure, relevant, simple and verifiable service that can encompass the business objective.
2. Describe the “ideal” automated class registration system for a college or university. Compare this “ideal” system to what is available at your college. *
My ideal automated class registration system is one that is very user-friendly so that just by looking at it you could know how it works and there is no need to be explained by someone else. In terms of the services that it can provide I would like it to be very organized so it displays the current fees, the classes timetable and has modules and marks all in one same system.
At AIT the automated class registration (JIVI) is very good but it lacks an environmental GUI which means that it is easy for the user to understand how it works, also when it comes to marks and modules it is separated to another system (Canvas) so you need to go into another webpage to be able to see your courses and its modules and marks. In general, it works as expected but there are services that are buggy and don’t work properly.
3. You have been asked to participate in preparing your company’s strategic plan. Specifically, your task is to analyze the competitive marketplace using Porter’s five-forces model. Prepare your analysis using your knowledge of a business you have worked in, or have an interest in working for.
The first factor to analyze is the rivalry among existing competitors, in this case, we need to be able to analyze which are the characteristics that make us better than the other competitors and see in what we can improve in order to surpass the competitors and be a better option for the consumers.
The second factor to analyze is the threat of new entrants, we know there’s a threat for new entrants when entry and exit costs are low, for this we need to improve the technology of the business so it can maintain the business so the competitors don’t get an advantage over the service.
The third factor to analyze is the threat of substitute products and services when there is a demand for the product and the consumers are able to get similar products that can satisfy their needs. In this case, we need to establish a competitive advantage by lowering costs and try to get a good spot in the markets so the business is the first option for the users.
The fourth and last factor is the bargaining power of customers and suppliers, where customers could have a lot of bargaining power so we need to find a competitive advantage to retain our customers, for this, we need to find what are the customer preferences and make changes in the business infrastructure to get an advantage. In the case of suppliers, we have to find a bargain that can be positive for both our business and the suppliers so they can keep supplying and don’t lose the supplier.
4. Based on the analysis you performed in Question 3, what possible strategies could your organization adopt to address these challenges? What role could information systems play in these strategies? Use Porter’s strategies as a guide.
The strategies for competitive advantage is according to the threats of the market, practically to find what suits the needs of the customers.
Cost leadership is one of the most important strategies because what customers look for is low-costs for the service, this is a very difficult strategy to include because you have to find a cost that can give your business a profit and also have a big demand from the customers, in this case, I would find the perfect price , a good option is to have two available prices one for low-cost users who just want something that satisfies their need but don’t include fancy services and the other price for high-cost users that can afford to have a better and fancy service for the price, with this we can have a big impact on the market and with more people using the service they are more likely to acquire or upgrade to the high cost to get better services, this is an strategy used by a lot of the big companies for example Apple which releases an iPhone every year that has an upgraded version of it (iPhone Plus) so by more people buying the normal iPhone they know the service so it can influence to make them buy the “upgraded” version. Information Systems helps the Cost Leadership by having fewer costs for the business with better services as systems that are automated and don’t need too many people managing the business this can also increase the business productivity so there are more sales.
Differentiation strategy by having a service that the other competitors don’t have this can make the business have an advantage in the market and be the customers first option. The role that Information Systems have in Differentiation is that you can get a better technology with computers and automated services so it is easier for everyone to use the service.
5. Briefly describe the hosted software model for enterprise software and discuss its primary appeal for SMEs.
Hosted Software Model for enterprise software basically means that the whole software is made, installed and hosted by the software manufacturer so it is accessible by whoever pays for the software and get all the services from it.
Its primary appeal for Small and Medium Size Enterprises is that it is open-source which means that the enterprise can easily access the service with low costs and experiment powerful software capabilities without having a high cost, this allows the enterprise to manage their software from the host and they don’t have to employ an IT person to maintain its business applications also it is easier to implement and it is managed by experts so you get non-buggy and effective software.