Business Information Systems Zodiac of Cycle Part Manufacturer

Question: Discuss about the Business Information Systems Zodiac Cycle Part Manufacturer. Answer: Introduction Business Information systems can be referred to the systems which are used by the businesses to improve their systems and the processes. These systems are also used to enhance the value of the business and help it to acquire, manufacture and deliver the goods and services in a better way. These systems help the organisation to take valuable decisions in the global fast changing world. There are numerous components like people, hardwares and softwares which works together in order to complete functions like planning, organising, controlling and for making decisions. The main purpose of this report is to discuss about the future IT needs of the company and how the company can meet the challenge of providing satisfaction to the stakeholders. Being hired as an IT consultant at Zodiac Cycle Part manufacturer, the decisions have to be made and consulted with the directors regarding Cloud computing option for small to medium enterprises. Importance of Information systems in todays business and trends of business environment which requires information systems In the present business environment, the information systems play an indispensible role. Information systems processes all the data and information of the business and manage the workflow of the company in an efficient way. It helps in minimising the errors and maximising the efficiency of work which helps company in fulfilling the goals and objectives of the company. It is important because it brings operational excellence and helps business in designing the offerings as per the customers. The present complex business environment needs information systems so that the stakeholders can be managed efficiently and more satisfaction can be gained (Nowduri, 2011). It has become a part of day to day operations of the business. The businesses invest in the information systems so that the tasks and targets can be completed properly. For e.g. the banks introduced ATMs so that their tasks can become easier and faster and they can serve their customers even better than before. It brings competitive advantage and improves the decision making of the company (Lipaj Davidavi?ien?, 2013). Business environment is changing constantly and its trends require business information systems for managing the current complex environment of business. There are trends in business environment which needs information systems. A new trend in business environment which is related to business environment includes cloud infrastructure, data collection automation, big data or Internet of Things. Cloud infrastructure is the model which is offered as a service to the companies and allows them to manage complex and large scale operations. The companies have to make payment for availing these services. Data collection automation is the latest trend where the information is collected online. This data will be used by the companies to identify the opportunities in the emerging markets and to meet competition (Bourheois, 2014). Internet of things can be understood as the interconnection between different computing devices which are used to manage data. Big data are the large sets of data which are used to analyse the data, trends or other patterns so that the future decisions can be taken. These latest trends help business to have a complete view of the data and information related to business (Shaughnessy, 2011). Management challenges in building, operating and maintaining information systems in Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Implementing information systems in the business is not easy. It needs lot of funds and also efforts especially when the organisation is smalls scale and does not have much expertise to implement Business information systems properly. Information systems are now a very important part for most of the businesses whether large or small scale as it provides many benefits but the management of the businesses in Small and medium sized organisations face challenges in building, operating and maintaining them (Zafar, et. al., 2015). The reasons behind this are many. The small and medium sized organisations lacks in expertise and talent which knows about the information systems and their operations. They lack in financial support and also in experience. The employees in small sale businesses move to the larger organisations when they find better opportunities. It becomes tough for the small sized enterprises to retain them as they cannot higher high salaries and better opportunities than larg e sized organisations (Singh, 2012). The employees of the small scale organisation also face a challenge when they need to adopt the changes in the systems. They face a challenge when they need to pay higher amounts for getting these services (Harding, 2013). Even if the services are bought, they face challenge in maintaining them as it requires good infrastructure. So, it is very difficult for the small and medium sized organisations to build up and maintain the information systems for better business and performance (Nowduri Al-Dossary, 2012). Cloud computing and types of cloud computing which can be used by ZCM Cloud services are the services delivered on demand over internet. The companies which use computer resources buy these services of networks rather than building its infrastructure in-house. These systems are used as per the requirement of the client for generating new applications, storing data or for managing data online. These services helps in cutting own the costs of the companies and hence, increases the profitability of the companies (Kumar Goudar, 2012). The services can be used individually or with the combination of in-house services. As per Candrlic (2013), there are three types of cloud computing which can be used by Zodiac Cycle Part Manufacturer are: IaaS PaaS SaaS The basic cloud service which provides the computer resources over the internet and it is suited for the companies who need cloud services for temporary projects or for experimenting. The customers pay for these services on the basis of their usage. It eliminates the expenses of the companies which are to be paid on setting hardwares and softwares (Juinor, 2016). This form of cloud service provides applications to the businesses on internet and the provider manages the hardwares and softwares on its own. This form of cloud services provide applications and are also called web based softwares which secures and the data of the companies and increases their performance (Juinor, 2016). My suggestion as an IT consultant would be that the organisations should consider their budgets and goals and then should choose from the available cloud computing services. The company should keep in mind that they should buy what is needed and should not pay for everything. Recommendations to implement successful cloud computing for SMEs Cloud computing has seen a considerable growth in recent years and the reasons for its adoption are that it is improves the overall performance of the organisation. But implementing cloud computing for SMEs is not an easy task. There are lot of challenges which hamper the implementation of the same. Huge investment is needed for adopting cloud and managing it. It is recommended that the small and medium sized enterprises should analyse their needs before purchasing the cloud services. The needs should be analysed to know what the actual need of the company is. The companies then need to identify the cloud providers in the market and the type of services they require (Posey, 2013). The business should make a plan so that it can manage the complex situations and the cloud services can be purchased as per the requirements. The companies should pay as per their usage and should notice whether their performance and efficiency has increased after the implementation of cloud computing systems or not. Cloud computing is adopted and implemented worldwide by many businesses. These businesses have identifies their requirements and gave a new direction to their business. For e.g. Companies like MediaMath have moved to cloud. Media math is a digital media buying platform which develops tools for the managers of marketing. It requires huge data every day and it creates complexity. To handle this complexity, the company turned to the cloud services to gain deeper insights and to bring innovation in its services. It has allowed the company to perform better than before. Another example can be taken of Etsy, which is an ecommerce site which offers home made products. The comp any migrated to cloud to bring cost efficiency. The company has taken help from BIG Data to analyse data and take decisions in future. Conclusion It can be concluded that Cloud computing has become an important part of the businesses irrespective of their size and transactions. The companies are using cloud because it simplifies the processes and bring cost efficiency. Proper planning should be done before implementation the cloud services to identify its usage to the company. It is also seen that the small and medium sized enterprises are facing challenges in implementing cloud as they lack in experience, taken and funds to implement it successfully. It is concluded that ZCM should plan first and then buy the services. They should pay as per their usage which would control their cost and will maintain an overall efficiency of the business. References Allouche, G 2013, 7 Well-Known Companies Who Have Moved to the Cloud, Smart Data Collective. Bourheois, D T 2014, Information Systems for Business and Beyond, The Saylor Academy. Candrlic, G 2013, Cloud Computing Types of Cloud, GlobalDots. Harding, C 2013, Cloud computing for small businesses: it's time to follow the herd, The guardian. Juinor, R M 2016, Cloud computing News, IBM. Kumar, S Goudar, R H 2012, Cloud Computing Research Issues, Challenges, Architecture, Platforms and Applications: A Survey, International Journal of Future Computer and Communication, Vol. 1, No. 4. 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Zafar, A, Almaleh, A I, Alshahri, S, Alqahtani, S S Alqahtani, N D 2015, Role of Information Systems in KSA Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer and Communication Engineering, Vol. 4, Issue 5