Business Information System

Answer :

Executive Summary

The advancement in the technical field has made the organizations to consider this aspect. The proper use of the information system can enhance their business operations and make the organizations able to take proper decisions based on their relevant data set. Along with that, the introduction of the cloud services also makes the organizations able to understand the fact that the backup of the data set is very much important for them. Along with that, the importance of the different cloud services has also been discussed and how these types may create impact to the organizations is also discussed in this study.

1.  Introduction

In this technical era, the organizations need to implement the proper information system into their account in order to maintain the smoothness in their business operation. Along with that, the information system also enhances the capacity of the organization to store an ample amount of data that are very much important for their business operations. In addition to that, Stair and Reynolds (2013) opine that, the manufacturing industry also needs to maintain their inventories by implementing proper data warehouse software. Along with that, the organizations also use the business intelligence in order to understand the trend of the business process. Based on the proper identification of the trends the organizations make them able to take proper decisions regarding their business. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the importance of the information system for the small business organization, Zodiac cycle part manufacturer (ZCM). 

2. Significance of information system in business

In order to gain an ample amount of benefits from the information system of ZCM, the management needs to exploit all the capabilities of the system. The information system mainly uses the different inputs from ZCM in order to generate accurate set of information that can enhance the business performance of ZCM. In order to enhance the effectiveness of the information system, the management of ZCM may add more data set to make their information more accurate.

Figure 1: Components of the information system

(Source: Stair and Reynolds, 2013)

The information system can enhance the communication process of ZCM. According to Galliers and Leidner (2014), Email is considered as one of the process that can make the communication process more effective. This type of communication process makes the employees of ZCM to work in a collaborative way. Along with that, the information system can also enhance the operations of ZCM. The information system mainly offers ZCM a set of more complete and recent set of information that allows ZCM to operate their operations more effectively and efficiently. In addition to that, the information system helps ZCM to have an advantage regarding the cost over their rival organizations and make them differentiated in terms of customer service.

Moreover, the proper information system helps ZCM to take proper business decisions. As the information system provides the organization with the updated set of information, therefore ZCM is able to make good business related decisions that can make them able to stand in the competitive world. In addition to that, the updated information system also helps ZCM to keep an ample amount of records that can enhance their business performance.

3. Trends of the business environment

The business organizations need to grow with the economy of the market. The organizations need to understand the different aspects of the emerging market and based on that the information system helps the organization to grow in the market. Nowadays, the organizations are dealing with the large amount of data and they need to use the different information system tools to get the data analyzed. In order to maintain the inventories of ZCM, the management of the organization needs to implement the data warehouse software. Along with that, the business intelligence technology also helps the organization to manage the trend in the market. It helps ZCM to take proper set of decisions regarding their business operations. In addition to that, Cassidy (2016) said that, the database management system also helps the organization to have a proper backup of their data set and make the data set safe and secure.

However, the traditional database has certain amount of loopholes. Therefore, the cloud database has taken the place of the traditional database. The cloud database provides the organizations with the proper amount of security features that can make their data set safe from the third party service providers. Along with that, the information system can also be used as the medium of communication. According to Willcocks (2013), it enhances the level of flexibility in terms of communication and enhances the level of performance for the employees. The concept of data mining also helps the organizations to extract an ample amount of data from the data warehouse in order to mitigate certain issues that have happened earlier. As ZCM is a manufacturing organization, therefore the use of data mining can be considered a well-established part of the information system for them.

4. Challenges regarding the maintenance of the information system

The use of information system has become an essential part of the organizational functions. However, there are some sorts of challenges regarding the utilization of the information system. The SMEs have to face an ample amount of challenges regarding the proper maintenance of the system. One of them is the operational challenges. ZCM has faced an ample amount of challenges regarding the operational facts. Bad communication in between the different stakeholders and the lack of understanding in between both the entities make the operational processes tough for ZCM. In addition to that, the requirements are not at all clear for the management and they have to manage the change management process regarding the implementation of the information system (Hashem et al. 2015). Along with that, ZCM also have to face a level of increased cost regarding the implementation of the information system. Along with the operational challenges, ZCM also have to face certain amount of technical challenges regarding the implementation of the information system. The organization need to understand the technical needs that can suit to their organization. In addition to that, the management of ZCM also needs to identify the right decision patterns that can make their business operations smoother.  

5. Cloud computing and different types of cloud services

The concept of cloud computing is considered as the type of internet based computing that generates the resources of the shared computer processing. According to Raineret al. (2013), the cloud storage provides the users with an ample amount of data space that they can use in order to store their important data set. As the cloud platform enhances the flexibility regarding the technological infrastructure resources, therefore the organizations tend to shift towards the cloud platform. In addition to that, the cloud platform also ensures the reduction of the cost regarding the data storage concept. Along with that, the maintenance of the cloud-based applications is very much easy to access and these are not required to be installed in the workstations of the users.

Figure 2: Advantages of cloud computing

(Source: Hashem et al. 2015)

Jinet al. (2015) said that, there are mainly three types of cloud services. These are Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The SaaS mainly delivers an application to the business organizations through a client of web browser. One of the SaaS applications is Jira that is a tracking application created by Atlassian, a technological organization in Australia. The IaaS mainly provides the hardware along with the operating systems. Amazon EC2 and Rackspace are the few examples of the IaaS providers. On the other hand, the PaaS adds a proper amount of support for the environment development (He et al. 2014). Amazon EWS is considered as an example of the PaaS provider. As ZCM mainly deals with the manufacturing of the cycle parts and have the logistics department, therefore they may use SaaS into their account. More specifically, they can use the Jira application tracking software that can make them able to track their logistics vehicle.

Figure 3: Types of cloud services

(Source: Jinet al., 2015)

6. Recommendations regarding the cloud services

In order to implement the cloud services properly in a SME, the organizations need to follow certain steps that can be helpful for them. At first, the organizations should identify the proper set of data and the different operations regarding the processing of data that needs to be passed through the cloud environment. Ainsworth Games Technology has recently joined the cloud platform in order to store their large amount of data set in the cloud platform. The organizations need to define their exact requirements for the technical and legal security. In addition to that, the organizations should carry out a risk analysis in order to identify the different security measures that are considered as the essential element for the organizations. 

Moreover, the organizations also should identify the relevant type of the cloud services for their planned processing system. Along with that, choosing a proper service provider in the cloud platform is also need to very proper. The organizations should choose a service provider who offers an ample amount of guarantees regarding the security aspects and other different features. Moreover, the organizations also need to review the different internal security policies in order to strengthen their security features and they have to monitor the changes that are occurring over the time. Adelaide-based Imagination Games has the ranking of 17 recently started to use the cloud platform in order to make their data set safe and secure from the intruders. 

7. Conclusion

After summing up the entire study, it can be said that the requirement of the information system is very much essential for the organizations in order to maintain their regular activities. The use of information system generates the smoothness in terms of communication along with the flexibility in the working environment. Moreover, the study also concluded the fact that, in order to handle the large volume of data for the organizations, the cloud platform is the best alternative for the organizations. Therefore, it can be said that, the organizations need to be very much aware regarding the different cloud services provider before implementing the cloud service into their account.