Hardware and software

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We are living in a knowledge economy. This means that in future, the competitive edge would be enjoyed by those organizations that are better able to manage their knowledge assets.  However, managing a knowledge asset is not just a concept, rather it requires a whole set of infrastructure to ensure that the organization is better able to leverage upon its knowledge. The backbone for this infrastructure is information system resources. This paper is based on the description and analysis of the IS infrastructure of a local exporter.  The organization has three major departments, HR, sales and marketing, and finance. The idea of this paper is that in order to gain strategic advantage, the organization needs to update its IS resources, especially its softwares.

There are four essential components of the IS resources for any organization, hardware, software, data and people.  This paper would cover the first two.  The first major component of IS resources is Hardware. The organization has one AS-400 IBM server that hosts all the applications being used in the organization. Each of the employees with a desk job is provided with Pentium III computers with 128 MB RAM and 6 GB of hard disk. There are 5 PCs in finance, 6 in Sales and Marketing and 2 in HR. All the PCs have 15 inch monitor and standard keyboard and optical mouse. Each department has its own printers that are being shared by all non-manager employees. The managers have their own personal printers.  The personal printers are laser printers of HP P1005 Laser Jet Black.  However, departmental printers are more powerful in terms of capabilities. These are HP Color LaserJet 2600n. The CEO and directors of each of the three departments are provided with laptops. The laptops are of Lenovo 3000 N200. They have Pentium dual core processors and 2 GB of RAM each; along with 120 GB of hard disk each. All the PCs and laptops have internet connectivity through cable LAN. The network typology is star network. The download speed available varies but usually it is 512 Kbps.  Besides, the organization also has one HP flatbed scanner and fax available in the sales and marketing department.  The only area of improvement seems to be the RAM for PCs which should be upgraded to at least 512 MB to support newer versions of various softwares. They should also have a backup server. The hardware side of the organization is quite alright keeping in view its needs. However, what needs to be improved is the software side.

Currently, there are is no enterprise wide software system. Each department is using its own information systems that have been developed by local software houses from time to time. None of the system is connected to each other. These legacy systems are even using different databases.  This is the major hindrance in getting the single view of the customer.  These isolated systems result in inefficiencies like data redundancy, lack of coherence and inconsistency in the data along with the repetition of work. Thus, it is recommended to either deploy an ERP or develop an integrated information system that covers all three departments, marketing and sales, finance, and HR.  There is also a need to build a CRM to get better connected with the customer. On standard PCs, Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003 are installed, along with the licensed antivirus McAfee.

To sum up, the organization needs to integrate its information systems and make the upgrades in the hardware accordingly, in order to remain competitive and make IT a strategic edge, rather than the loophole.

References

Marakas, G., & O’Brien, J. (2007). Management Information Systems with MISource 2007. New York: Mcgraw Hill Higher Education.

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