Organisational Structure in Atlassian
Discuss about the Organisational Structure Of The Information System In Atlassian.
In Australia, technology has empowered firms to do their work in a better and smoother way. There are large numbers of accounting software available in the market (Belfo and Trigo, 2013). All these are used by various companies in different industries. IT field has expanded a lot and the companies like Atlassian which is also the biggest Australia based IT firm have developed many products related to software accounting systems. ERP systems are highly beneficial method for system acquisition as it is helps in achieving of the goals and objectives of the firm. This report shows the organisational structure of the information system used in Atlassian as well as the problems that arise due to this structure. It also provides system flowchart for the sales procedure. Control problems existing in system has been given. In the other section of the report regarding the software accounting systems has been provided.
According to Kallunki, Laitinen and Silvola, (2011) it is essential for every firm to have an organisational structure that supports its information requirements. Every member plays a vital role in the organisational structure and hence their roles may be clearly defined. Atlassian has incorporated Hierarchical organisational structure and at each level different types of information gets generated. It is having more than 70000 consumers and more than 2300 workers works under it. It offers its services in the business of Project managers, It officials, content managers as well as other developers. Due to huge number of nodes present in the organisational structure, large amount of information gets generated. Information levels are divided according to the structure present inside the firm. For example top level supports strategy related planning process as well as decisions related to policy making. Below this level of information resources, there is second level which helps in the process of tactical planning and making of decisions for controlling management operations. Third level in the information system architecture helps in managing and controlling operations which has to be done on daily basis. At every organisational level needs of information is different so as to make decisions related to work at that level.
The structure they have adopted has a led to many types of problems related to daily operations of the firms. Such issues may due to many structure based elements or say the faults in the system. These operational problems reduce the work efficiency of the organisation and hence ultimately destroying the productivity of the organisation (Toth, (2012).
Problems Arising due to Organisational Structure
Hall, (2012) believes that any complexity in the organisational structure leads to operational issues. This is due to the fact that operational problems get generated because of errors that are done at various levels. The larger the organisational structure, the more will be chance that errors gets generated. It might arise because of internal and external factor related to its business. Since so many information sources are linked with the firm hence very large number of nodes gets generated. All these nodes act as a way through which information can be breached. Managing data abstraction has become a common problem in such organisational structure which is a dire need of the entire organisation including Atlassian. Most of the information systems have rigid structure which increases the chances of data loss as due to lack of flexibility data from all the sources cannot be collected. In case the data is of strategic importance or gives the idea regarding the business environment, not accumulating such data can be a loss to the firm.
Organisational structure that is too complex requires timely maintenance (Lim, 2013). Due to structural complexity, the maintenance is generally done by IT professionals which are again a problem for the company. Apart from this, it is also seen that information systems are not easier to operate, this calls for the need to give training to all the employees according to the need. A revision of outputs and inputs needs to be done so as to check that data does not remain vague. It must be done by the help of IT staffs or by the suppliers of such systems.
Bodnar and Hopwood, (2012) suggests that system acquisition method must be incorporated within the firm as per their requirements. It also depends on the type of work they are performing. Atlassian like companies performs many types of operations and hence requires all the systems that are dynamic in nature and provide unique solution to the company.
Galliers and Leidner, (2014) states that commercial software are those that are those which is made for selling of particular products and services of the firm. Such proprietary software has been adopted by the firm for the purpose of record management like MS office, Office writers etc. On the hand customised software is another type of system acquisition method which is developed as per the need of the organisation. These systems are developed as per the desire of the firms which also assists in eliminating external intrusion and alterations that are made according to changing requirement of the company. ERP or Enterprise resource planning is a system acquisition method that assists organisations in resource management planning (Schorr, et al., 2013). It is also called as business process management software and hence permitting the organisation to utilise a system of integrated application for controlling the operations in the business as well as the activities of the firm in a better way. Such systems are capable of making forecast related to the demands of the firm products. This plays a vital role in the sustainable utilisation of resources. Data integration is an essential feature and is provided by these systems and hence large amount of data can be manipulated on daily basis (Wagner, Moll and Newell, (2011).
System Acquisition Methods
Atlassion support, (2018) gives the idea regarding the fact that Atlassian has adopted ERP systems as a system acquisition method. It is also because of the reason that ERP systems are helpful in managing of the resources which is major challenge for the firm of such a large scale. The Atlassian has to deal with such a large number of consumers hence they need to have unique and dynamic software that is capable of aligning all their resources. Since a huge numbers of customers are availing services at once hence these software are highly essential. It also helps in smoothening of the operations in the business and has a trade processes that is genuine. It eases the work process by streamlining the all the task and bringing collaboration among different units. This is due to the reason that data gets filled in the centralised system. It also improves mobility and reduces the operational cost.
As per Atlassion, (2018) such flowcharts are generally a physical design technique that indicates the operations and activities which is performed in the organisational system. This flowchart indicates the process utilising which the Atlassian processes its business and sells its products in the market worldwide. Taking use of the software applications along with the system flowcharts can help in measuring the operations related to business as well as control of sales. System flows chart plays a direct role in the designing of the training and development program and the initiation of such programs can be done with the help of such charts. On the other hand accurate accounting services as well as innovative services can be provided with assistance of system flowchart.
Such type of flowcharts smoothen the work process and gives the way using which sales can be enhanced. It is understood to be the part of sale that is started through the company. Utilisation of system flowchart can help in identifying the errors in the revenue and sales hence play a role in increasing it. It is done by providing accounting services to their large number of consumers.
On the other hand Gullkvist and Jokipii, (2013) suggests that various types of control problems exist in the system of any organisation. Since large numbers of controls are available with the firm hence huge amount of problems also exist in the system. Most common forms of control problems are Detective control, Corrective controls and Preventive controls. Various types of controls are available at different levels of the firm. In the firm’s operation, several types of risks get generated. Most common type of risk in the internal controls is Frauds, Access, Mischief and Errors. Such problems exist even when internal control shield is implemented at Atlassian. It is due to the reason that external forces finds the weaknesses in the control system and then attacks it. Along with this some other control problems which is dealt by Atlassian is cyber security and data collection (Atlassion, 2018). With the development of cloud based software and the increasing activity of hackers, the data linked with the firms is always at a risk. Protection of data is crucial and hence various techniques are applied. Because of increasing attacks by hackers, there is an increased probability that data could leak to unauthorised personnel.
Control Problems in the System
Christauskas and Miseviciene, (2012) believes that due to several reasons, probability that the data present with the firm may get corrupted is higher as many a time hackers just attacks with the intension of corrupting the data. Generally it is hard to identify such attacks and may lead to improper information generation. It can be critical in the case of financial data for example frauds related to financial statements. Any mismanagement can lead to financial frauds to the users of Atlassian which could prove disastrous for the revenue and profits of the organisation. On the other hand because of enhanced application complexity, the firm is unable to eliminate the application related frauds.
Cassidy, (2016) suggests that accounting software which are utilised by the firm is categorised as an Accounting information system. It is commonly utilised in processing of transactions as well as recording it whenever it is done different handle module. Adding to this it can be stated that accounting software relies on the cost and complexity. It also empowers firm to take difficult financial decisions especially in regards to the management of expenses that is done on weekly basis. IT firms like Atlassian utilises accounting software for gaining more revenue and returns, enhanced productivity as well as improved security to the financial data.
They have developed accounting system for them and their requirements of the clients. Their most common software accounting packages are Jira and Confluences. In the bug detection and removal as well as identifying the flaws in the business process or project management, Jira is highly beneficial. It is a tool that is developed for the agile teams who can use it as per their project requirement as it is highly flexible in nature. It helps their consumers in scaling up the tools that can give them idea regarding dynamic and fast changing work environment (XebiaLabs, 2018). Their tools achieve appropriate balance between the standardisation and client’s freedom. They provide all their tools as a package so as to improve the performance of the firm. Their major competitors in the market of Australia are Intuit Quickbook, Trello etc.
This company is operational in more than 170 nations and it serving more than 70000 clients in approximately all the industries (Atlassion, 2018). This got possible as they are trying to make continuous innovation in their work process. Both their products helped them in having control over larger part of the market. Recently Xero has made their mark in the industry but still Atlassian is marked as a biggest partner firm of the organisation that are operational in Australia. With their product expansion plan they might to able to capture larger part of the market. Their market shares in major countries have been showcased in the table.
Country |
Market share |
United states |
40.83% |
Switzerland |
1.15% |
China |
1.15% |
France |
3.04% |
Netherland |
3.35% |
Canada |
4.04% |
Australia |
4.30% |
U.K. |
5.77% |
Germany |
22.06% |
Data Protection and Cybersecurity
Atlassion, (2018) suggests that so many competitors are present in the software accounting package industry. Some of the large competitors are Intuit Quickbooks, Xero and myob. Apart from this there are various others like VersionOne, Bugzilla, Axosoft, Github issues etc. Some new competitors have taken their market share like Liferay, dotCMS, Adobe CQ, Google search Appliances, Siteimprove etc. Xero is becoming the market leader in the present time as it provides a software platform that is specifically designed for unified agile teams and DevOps.
Atlassian’s organisational structure along with the product strategy distribution model gives them competitive advantage over the other competitors in the market (JIRA Software, 2018). For the project teams whether start-ups or established firms, their products are helpful for both. Product of their having attributes like highly adaptable, easier to take in use, designed for team work, being versatile in nature, integrated and open etc. All these makes them better than most of their competitor’s products. Some more traits of the model include being simple and affordable, highly innovation driven, having organic nature as well as being scale oriented and data driven. These traits help them in accessing the environment present and hence making it suitable for the current business environment. This ultimately helps in attracting huge number of potential clients towards their software packages.
Doar, (2011) suggests that there are severe gaps present in the system which also creates many kinds of challenges for the clients of the firm. In order to achieve higher product sale all these issues needs to be removed. Due to increasing hackers activities the risks are increasing at much faster speed. It is essential that they provide safer environment to the clients as hackers try to steal or corrupt the data for their personal use. Number of frauds have also increased hence maintaining the higher standards of their products has become difficult. Industry requirements are changing at much faster speed and hence more flexible software are needed. A better data abstraction feature is required in the current business environment.
In the challenges and gaps that are present in front of the firm, it has become essential for them to change their operational security measures (Soudani, (2012). This may include improving their firewall system that is protected with the help of passwords or other authentication software. Apart from this they also have to ensure that they have a greater control over the software accounting systems. Their ERP systems have to be risk protected. It must provide their clients with highly efficient network security infrastructure that could help them in generating a strong system by which they can maximise their benefits.
Accounting Software in Atlassian
Conclusion
From the above report a conclusion can be derived that various operational issues arise due to the hierarchical organisational structure. A pyramidal information system has been installed in Atlassian. They have taken use of ERP system as a system acquisition method. Its sales flowchart smoothen its work process. There are many control problems exist in the system. Xero Jira, Myob and Intit Quickbooks are the leaders in the market. Its product captures a larger part of the market in many countries. There are many gaps and challenges present in the system which needs to eliminated through various tools.
References
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