STP’s Business Background
Question:
Discuss About The Introduction Risk Management And Insurance?
Based in Wollongong, STP Company specializes in cabinet making. Recently STP has expanded to office premises in Sydney, Bathurst and Lithgow. The company have in place a state of the art computerised manufacturing facility to produce a wide range of cupboard and drawer fronts that come with varied styles and colors. Their new equipment allow them to produce new fronts much quicker. Cupboard and drawer fronts come complete with fixings and handles so that that can easily be fixed by technicians. STP is also currently considering having vans carrying samples of their product and staffed by people who can install the products.
STP has outgrown their current office arrangements. They also do not have customer accounting as customers pay cash on ordering. Since, STP has recently expanded, they are receiving a lot of enquiry from builders, developers and clients and need to implement customer accounts. STP is also using an outdated stock control system which manages only small stock. Communication between branches is limited and not streamlined. STP is also using standard office software on standalone machines in each location which are not fit to handle all their information requirements. STP does not have formal business processes and relies on casual operations between builders and clients. There is no effective customer’s management software and customers keep ringing to check their orders and are sometimes fed with invalid information due to a limited stock control system. There are no means for STP management to generate reports from existing business procedures.
The current existing has challenges including the following:
- Lack of process integration
- Does not keep record of customer data and information
- Lack of up-to-date information for both staff and clients
- The existing system has no capacity to generate management reports
As a result of the challenges with the current systems at STP, it is important to install new procedures by performing business process re-engineering in order to re-align business operations with objectives of the business. It is also important to ensure that information in all branches is streamlined and can be accessed real-time so that customers can get the right information and for workers to access the right information. It is crucial to implement tools and technologies for ensure that all business software’s are integrated together for efficiency and effectiveness such as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) application. STP also needs to install a methodology to help engage their customers such as a customer relationship management (CRM) software.
This project will include all the branches of STP including the headquarter offices in Wollongong and new branches in Sydney, Bathurst and Lithgow as well as focus on future expansion for STP.
Challenges Faced by STP
The goal of this project is to help STP achieve their strategic goals by doing the following
- Implementing effective procedures through business process re-engineering (BPR)
- Installing a customer relationship management solution in order to be able to create and maintain customer accounts
- Implement an enterprise resource planning software solution in order to integrate business systems
- Install data and information security procedures in order to ensure data security
- Establish hardware and software acquisition and management procedures.
Strategic alignment involves the process of making business operations parallel to business objectives for efficiency and productivity (Advance Business Consulting, 2009). Thus, if routine business operations match an organization’s goals, there results the achievement of objectives and productivity. STP strategic goals include having an updated stock control system, access to updated information and have effective business processes. Implementing an integrated system, a customer relationship management and performing business process engineering will help the business attain its strategic goals.
The proposed business solutions will help the business achieve the following benefits
- Implement effective business procedures to enable operation efficiency and productivity
- System integration solutions will ensure data is centralized and updates and users can access updated information from all the company branches
- Customer accounts will help STP to improve on customer experience and better engage with customers
- Increased customer base with retention of existing customers and additional of prospective clients
- Cost savings from better managed and operated procedures
For a business to successfully manage its operations, it requires the setting up of a network that include all the computing devices, technologies, tools and more to allow information sharing and enhanced collaboration (Cisco, 2017).it is therefore crucial to ensure that an organization’s network is secured from un-authorized persons and systems in order to protect company data and information. There are many procedures that STP can use to implement the network security for the systems.
Data security involves protective measures used to stop illegal access to databases, network websites and other systems (Techopedia, 2017). Securing data is a very important for STP in order to ensure business continuity. Data security also information security measures will therefore protect data for ATP from theft, deletion or corruption. Technologies to ensure data security include technologies include data backup, data erasure, encryption techniques (Techopedia, 2017). One of the major data security technique is encryption which involves encrypting digital data for hardware, software, hard disks and other computing devices in order to prevent access from hackers and illegal users (Sawle & Baraskar, 2016).
- Data confidentiality will guarantee that data access will only be for approved company staff through data security policies and procedures
- Data integrity will ensure that STP only works with accurate and valid data and that it if secure from manipulations of any
- Data availability will ensure that all the information STP need to perform operations is accessible
- System authentication will confirm that employees have been approved as STP staff members
- System authorization will allow only certified persons to access and work with company data, information and systems
Advances in technology has enabled the development of mobile computing devices. Mobile devices have become increasingly common and many people are using to do them personal functions as well as they have become a critical tool in many modern organizations (Ayubi, et al., 2016). With features including access to Internet mobile devices are increasingly being used by staff in business organizations to perform operations in a technology referred to as bring your own device (BYOD) (NIST, 2017). As such, in addition to traditional threats such as viruses, worms, malware, and denial of service, for company networks, mobile devices are more susceptible to attacks (Homeland Security, 2017). To ensure the security of mobile devices that can be used in the company, STP requires to implement a framework for mobile device strategy that expounds on analysis, design and actions (Brodin, 2017). It is therefore very vital to ensure mobile device security in order to successfully perform business operations. An emerging technology, mobile device management (MDM) is one of the technologies in place to provide a solution to mobile device insecurity challenges (Barthwal, 2016). Mobile device management (MDM) provides organizations with the facility to install, monitor, integrate secure and manage multiple mobile devices such as tablet computers, smartphones, notebooks and personal digital assistants (PDA’s) (Barthwal, 2016). STP can therefore implement mobile device management in order to ensure the security of the entire computer network as well as the security for mobile devices. STP can implement mobile security management through the following procedures (Souppaya & Scarfone, 2013):
- Implementing mobile device security policies and procedures
- Develop mobile devices threats system models
- Implementing and testing selected mobile device solutions before deploying them
- Regularly maintaining mobile device security
- Fully securing all mobile devices before allowing company staff to use them
Challenges with Current Systems at STP
STP needs to acquire the right hardware and software in order to achieve their strategic objectives. Some of the factors that can influence the type of hardware or software procured include the cost, compatibility, hardware/software support (Stephanie, 2016). Important software and hardware requirements that STP needs in order to achieve their objectives include
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications – these are software solution that integrate business operations so that they can be combined and used together including production, manufacturing, sales and marketing, servicing and more (NetSuite, 2017). For STP ERP will allow system and process integration for increased efficiency.
- Customer relationship management (CRM) – is software solution that is implemented by businesses to assist with taking in and managing client engagement and interactions for improved customer satisfaction and informed decisions. STP will be able to get a lot of information from CRM and be able to enhance customer orders submission and processing
- Other integration software solutions – implement other applications that work together with recommended software’s for enhanced operations
- Server Hardware – a server is used to serve client requests and for ERP and CRM solutions to work effectively, they need servers for data storage and data management (Dell, 2017)
- Disk storage devices – storage information disks will enable STP to store all information in one central location or single database for easy access (Techopedia, 2017).
Business continuity refers to the capability of an organization to continue with its operations even after a calamity or disruptive circumstance (Business Continuity Institute, 2017). At STP, business continuity will allow business processes that will help in identifying probable threats and their influence on business operations and will provide frameworks for developing business flexibility in terms of capacity to have effective responses that enables organizational survival. In order to survive and achieve its objectives therefore, it is crucial that STP creates a business continuity plan. Business continuity planning will help in better responses towards attacks, natural disasters, hacking, hardware failure, software failure and more, all of which focus on ensuring the business sustainability (SANS Institute, 2002).
A risk is well-defined as an indeterminate condition or event that, if it transpires, can result to either positive or negative effects on project purposes (Hillson, 2004). Risk management refers to the process of identifying, assessing and dealing with risks. The focus of risk management is to guarantee that uncertainty does not affect business processes by deflecting business goals (Dorfman, 2009). Risks can result from many situations including threats, improbable financial markets, system failure, and lack of business processes, natural disasters, credit risks, legal liabilities, attacks or nay unpredictable events. To ensure business continuity therefore, it is important for STP to develop a risk management plan. Since STP is heavily dependent on IT systems including a computerized solution to actualize business operations, it would be crucial to plan against IT risks. To effectively handle risks, it would be important for STP to follow the procedures of dealing with risks in an efficient manner which including risk identification, risk analysis, responding to risks and risk control according to (Rabechini & Monteiro de Carvalho, 2013) Some procedures that can be implemented by STP to ensure business sustainability and continuity include:
- Data backup and recovery in the event of data loss
- Insurance premiums for natural disasters
- Adopting new technologies that are geared to improve business productivity
Conclusion
The digital shift has transformed life as well as the working environment. New technologies including cloud computing which is the access of software and services over the Internet, Bring your device (BYOD), which allows employees to work using personal mobile devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) which focuses on connecting objects together for collaboration are some of the newest technologies changing the work environment. Thus, to gain and maximize on a competitive advantage, it is important for business organizations to adopt information technology developments.
Proposed Solutions for STP
Computerized information systems are beneficial for businesses as they enable better transaction recording, improved management reporting, enhanced decision making and expert capabilities. As a result, they improve business operations efficiency and improve on productivity and boost continuity. The information systems manager therefore recommend that STP deploys the software and hardware systems discussed in the paper in order to accommodate the recently experienced changes including expansion through new branches, to improve on business operations, increase productivity and maximize business continuity. These recommendations include:
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