Assignment given by ECA graduate institute: Case Study on Mobile Traders

Activity provided by the institute is given in the pictures below:

We have chosen case study on mobile traders for this activity. All the questions have been answered according to that.

Q1. Research the application of a suitable business model for the telecommunication service provisioning, ensuring that it meets the agreed customer requirements. Document the research.

The business model for telecommunication and service provisioning

The active business model of telecommunication services should be including all the factors that boost the functions of the firm. These functions include achieving objectives, management, and governance, generating incomes and reporting and compliance. For mobile traders, the most appropriate business model is a functional focus business model. This model focuses on customer management, infrastructure tools, and finance model tools. It has four management layers and five functional areas of management. These layers involve the business management layer, service management layer, network management layer and element management layer. In five functional areas, there are fault management, configuration management, accounting management, performance management, and security management. Whereas the for the customer management the, business model focuses on customer relationship, target customer, distribution channel, value proposition, and customer preferences. For a proper assessment of finance model tools, there is the usage of data collection tools, budgets, projections, and forecasts. Mobile traders' finances include the cost structure and revenue. The infrastructure tools of the business model for telecommunication and services provisioning is in a wide range. There is a broad network covering business partnerships, value configurations, and core capabilities. The tools may also include contracts, agreements, calculations, and assessments.

Q2. Research and obtain the business requirements and business specifications, critically analyse them against the accepted industry practices and use these to provide data for the model.

Business requirements and specifications

The supplies of business are composed of all the factors that are required to meet the needs of the organizations. It is to make business model profitable, reliable and feasible. Mobile traders for fulfilling their business requirements, need to focus on business application, business plan, existing system, and mission statement. The business application includes main and core functions of the organization. Then the second requirement is a business plan; it involves the registration details, sustainability plans, and risk management strategies. In the existing system of mobile traders, the ICT system, communication system, operational system, and business model system is focused. For the mission statement, organizations form a formal statement that includes the vision of all the desires and aims of the firm. Mobile traders have a wide explanation of specifications. It has four outlets including head office. In its planned specifications all shops will be networked, Email facilities will be provided for all staff, Stock information to be centrally stored for each shop and all shops have access to the information. It also includes the Electronic tills to record sales and interface to stock details and EFTPOS facilities for each shop.

Q3. Determine and document the business drivers and requirements of the internal and external key stakeholders and customers.

Business drivers

Business drivers are the range of processes, conditions or resources that are essential to the continued success and achievement of sustainable growth that applied to an organization. It is essential that all organizations are aware of the business drivers that will impact their organization to enable provision for them in business models that are to be developed. Mobile traders' business drivers include stakeholders, development team, project team, users, sponsors, and key stakeholders. When preparing to make the identification of mobile trader's business requirements, it is important to identify and explain the role of internal and external stakeholders relevant to the activity. It is essential to understand the roles of internal and external stakeholders in relation to the gathering of data relevant to the identification of business requirements in relation to ICT. The internal and external stakeholders include reporting, decision making, and analysing information conducting activities, and conducting different work tasks. To identify the roles of stakeholder relevant to the identification of mobile trader’s business requirements, it will be necessary to conduct a stakeholder analysis of each group of stakeholders within the mobile traders.

Q4. Evaluate the business objectives and customer requirements for input into the model. Document this evaluation.

Business objectives

Business objectives of mobile traders can be identified through analysis of the organizational strategy and related strategic plans. The business objectives are the range of goals and focus that the organization has. The organisational strategy allows the organization to grow in the direction that has been planned. It is a plan of action that has been designed in order to achieve a specific goal or resolve a specific problem. A strategic plan is an internal document used to communicate and explain the organization's goals and objectives, each of the actions that need to be carried out in order to achieve these goals and all of the other critical planning steps and elements related to the organizational goal in question. The objectives of mobile traders set out by the organizational strategy. It provides business goals, growth goals, marketing plans, and goals for the future. For mobile traders, the customer requirements are all the factors that they need in order to maintain satisfaction with the organization. It is related to the price, product features, accessibility, and reliability. The customer requirements of mobile traders can be analysed through similar markets, statistical analysis, and customer feedback. Customer requirements of mobile traders include the availability of technology, performance plans, and parameters of resources. It also involves quality assurances, legal policies and continuous improvement in standards.

Q5. Research the tools and templates for analysing business models, and provide reports on the technical design and specification.

Tools and templates for analysing business models

There is a range of tools and templates that can be used for analysing business models and these can be used for providing reports on technical and design specifications. Research tools and templates may cover action research, case study, experiments, mathematical models and stimulation, interviews, participant observations, statistical data analysis, surveys, and questionnaires. The technical design may be related to the technical elements that the organization needs to meet in order to make sure that the models developed will be supported by appropriate technology. Technical specifications are the range of parameters, requirements, and features that the technical design needs to have. A range of data can be collected from collaboration with other experts or mentors; these professionals may be able to provide other perspectives and other ways of looking at the information collection process. Other experts or mentors may have a range of further information that can be collected as a part of the research program. Mobile traders can also analyse the business models through physical items analysis which is the strategic review of physical items in order to obtain further data and information about a physical item.

Q6. Develop and document technical solutions for the customer, in response to the drivers and business requirements.

Technical solutions are the solutions related to technology that a business can use for meeting the needs of the customers. Technical solutions may not necessarily be related to technology but they can be related to management, implementation and the use of technology.

Some of the technical solutions for Mobile Traders are:

·       Mobile Traders are having 4 shops, having different products at different times. Hence, it is important for them to have stock information stored centrally. All the stock information of the shops must be stored and all the shops must have access to this information. Database management software is used for this purpose. Oracle DBMS is one of the most popular software which can be used by Mobile Traders.

·       Electronic Cash Registers will be used for recording the sales and interface to stock details and Electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS) facilities shall be provided for each shop. Point-of-sale terminals and other such machines can be used for it.

·       Websites should be developed for the customers which will be connecting company with the customers. Website developers and Website hosting services will be used while creating a website.

·       Security majors shall be taken for the prevention of the interference of unauthorized users in the confidential material of the company. These majors could be some malware software, such as CCleaner or Avast etc.

·       Safe computing environment shall be provided to the employees and access to sites should be controllable. This can be gained by getting Role-based access control (RBAC). There are different software which helps you in gaining RBAC. The basic model of RBAC is

Source: The Rubik's cube model: A metadata-driven approach to access control in modern ECM systems (2014)

Q7. Evaluate the various costs involved in implementing ICT technical solutions for the customer. Document this evaluation.

COST EVALUATION TECHNIQUES

Cost-Benefit analysis should be used in evaluating the cost of the solutions. In this analysis cost is compared to the benefits it is providing. After this evaluation business must decide which solutions are they going to use in solving their businesses.

For implementing these solutions a lot of traditional things will be changed. Hence, employees require training for using the stated ICT products and services. Along with that, further licensing will be required for using the software.

Oracle DBMS

Pricing of Oracle DBMS solutions is between $92-$460 for personal use and $4,750-$47,500 for businesses.

Electronic Cash Register:

Casio SES10 Entry Level Cash Register with Single Station Thermal Printer is one of the feasible options for ECR. It costs around $285 and an EFTPOS of CommBank offers different fixed rate plans, ranging from $29.50 per month and so on. 

Website Development and Hosting

The cost of website development is different and depending upon the requirements of your website. Here is a website cost calculator which is giving a rough estimation of the costs that may incur according to the features.

 Avast Antivirus Software

The cost of avast antivirus with all the features included is $69.99 per year.

Some more employees will be required for implementing all these solutions. Hence, some hiring cost will also be incurred in the process.

Q8. Produce a cost-benefit analysis to assess the viability and the optimum timing for deploying the technical solution, for the maximum ROI

Cost	Benefits
Oracle DBMS $4,750-$47,500	Automated database system, cloud storage, backup, and recovery, database support
ECR $285	Speeding checkout time, accuracy, security, inconvenience, and training
EFTPOS $29.50 per month	Efficiency and lower labour costs, lower risk of theft, fast transactions
Website $750 - $2500	Satisfaction, increased customers, long-term clients, access to information.
Avast $69.99 per year	Secures computer, protects your computer from malware etc.

Q9.Investigate a range of vendor products, and determine, and document, the one which is most suitable to meet the needs and technical requirements of the customer.

There are various vendors available for all the products. Oracle has been chosen for the database management products because it is one of the most reliable software and is trusted by most of the organizations.

Casio SES10 Entry Level Cash Register with Single Station Thermal Printer has been chosen for ECR because Casio is one of the most trusted organization and most of the organizations use their ECR systems.

Avast is one of the leading antivirus software. From individual people to organizations all of them trust Avast and works with it due to its feasibility and trustability.

Q10. Produce a report, documenting technical solutions addressing business specifications and recommendation against the requirements of the customer.

·       Easier access to the information is required by customers for which website will be developed and Mobile Traders can also start their own call-center or they can outsource call center services for their organization.

·       Customers need to know which stock is available and where having a Database management system will help the organization in fulfilling that requirement with a lot of ease.

·       Electronic Cash Register is going to help the customers in knowing their amount of sales and also brings a trust factor for the customers. Since there is no interference of the human and so there will be fewer mistakes.

·       Having a website helps a business in getting more business, by getting more customers through the search engine optimization. Websites give access to information for the customers as well as the business itself.  

Q11. Review and assess the business constraints, opportunities, and objectives. Document the review and assessment

1.1.  Business constraints, opportunities, and objectives

When analysing business specifications to produce technical solutions, it will be necessary to evaluate the impact of technical requirements on the business. As a part of this the business constraints, opportunities, and objectives will need to be reviewed and assessed. Business constraints are all of the factors that apply to the organisation that provides some kind of restriction, parameter or boundary. Business constraints include resources access, technical capability, finances, skills and knowledge capability of the organization and compliance with the needs of the organization. The business objectives are the goals and plans of the organisation; it is important to make sure that these are suitably quantified and that the objectives of the organisation are able to be achieved using the particular technical solutions that have been developed and put forward. Business opportunities are all of the factors that the business is able to achieve, access or use in order to enable them to reach their objectives. Mobile trader's business opportunities relate to networking, profit, market changes, growth, and partnerships. It is important to make sure that all of the business constraints, objectives and opportunities are reviewed and assessed to make sure that they are quantified, reported, investigated and measured.

Q12. Determine, and accurately document, the technical requirements, according to the input-output, interface, process flow or quality requirements

It will be necessary to determine the technical requirements according to the input-output, interface, process flow or quality requirements. The input-output for the organisation are all of the factors that need to be applied, implemented or used in order for the organisation to be able to get out or achieve the desired results. A system will have a range of system inputs and outputs, and these will need to be carefully assessed in order to determine the technical requirements that apply to them. A process flow is a manner in which a process that is conducted flows through the ICT system and the organisation. It will be necessary to map the process flow and then to assess what technical requirements apply to each of the processes that will need to be conducted in order to complete the processes to the required standard. The management of quality within an ICT organisation is extremely, and it will involve a range of data monitoring and collection of information from the system, it will be necessary to make sure that all quality requirements are assessed and investigations are conducted into them in order to identify what technical requirements apply to each specific requirement. Once all of the technical requirements that apply to the input-output, interface, process flows and quality requirements have been determined, it will be necessary to ensure that these are clearly documented so that they may be included in final technical solutions that are to be implemented into the organisation.

Q13. Critically analyse and accurately document the hardware, software and network requirements which are required to suit the business plan.

Hardware requirements:

·       Computer systems will be required for the employees.

·       Internet routers will also be required for assessing the internet.

·       LANs and WANs might be required for some of the solutions.

·       Electronic cash register and payment at the point of sale machine is also required.

Software requirements

·       Avast Antivirus software is also required for implementing the stated ICT solutions.

·       Different software for the communication between the employees and shops will be required.

·       Oracle DBMS is the requirement for the implementation of the database management system.

·       Website hosting is also required and so is the Web Domain.

Furthermore, new employees shall be hired. An IT department has to be maintained which can manage all these software and make changes according to the requirement of the business.

14- Build and document the business platform, based on IT/ICT solutions 

The Cloud Computing IT-based platform will support the development, testing, deployment and of all the applications and service. For Mobile Traders, the business platform based in IT Solutions would give the company a holistic approach to an automated and an integrated environment, enabling them to grow to the next level.  The Business platform will be based on the following factors

·       Suitability

·       Accessibility

·       Price

·       Required Features and Functions

·       Configuration

·       ICT Hardware and Software needs

·       Organizational needs 

The following components would be needed by Mobile Traders for the implementation of the platform:

·       A Hardware

·       A Browser

·       An application

·       A virtual machine

15- Investigate and document, the processes which are in need of being changed by a business solution

In order to leverage a successful business platform, there are a number of processes that would be changed at Mobile Traders to improve the performance, reduce costs and enhance profitability. It will be very important for Mind Traders to ensure that the processes that need to be changed are comprehensively investigated. The business process at Mobile Trader can be broken down into three different types

Operational

This creates a value stream and consists of the core business activities. This may involve invoicing the products, updating the employee information at Mobile Traders

Management

For Mobile Traders, this would include employee oversight, budget, and corporate governance

Supporting

These are all the activities that support other processes at Mobile Traders such as technical training, accounting, and finance and recruitment

Other processes that would be needed to change are

·       Database design

·       Configuration management

·       Hardware and software

·       Infrastructure

·       Application Hosting

16- Accurately document the impact of the technical requirements of the business

When documenting the impact of technical requirements, there are a number of factors that should be considered at the Mobile Traders

A descriptive detail of the requirement

The company aims to come up with a business platform that will support the business processes in a highly effective manner, ensuring that the business activities are carried in a highly effective way, minimizing the errors and increasing profitability. This system would require the company to implement a change management program

17- A description of how the requirement would be attained is achieved with the help of a technical solution

The requirement would be attained by introducing cloud software that would be based on information technology. This would be attained by implementing a change management program. This would involve training the employees and giving them all the necessary skills that would be required to handle the new cloud-based system. Without essential training, the staff would be unfamiliar with the new system and hence, this would lead to a number of errors. Nevertheless, a trained workforce would prove to be an essential asset to Mobile Traders. The technical solution here is the cloud-based system.

The cloud-based system at Mobile Traders will offer a number of advantages for the company. The impacts are as follows

Cost Savings:

This is the most vital benefit which in terms of cost savings. With cloud computing, Mobile Traders can significantly save on capital costs with no in-house storage or application requirements.

Reliability

A managed service platform makes cloud computing a reliable business platform, which is more consistent than the in-house infrastructure. Mobile Traders can be benefited from a large pool of redundant resources along with a quick mechanism.

17- Document and submit the technical requirements and solution overview to the management for feedback, making appropriate recommendations and offering optimum design solutions.

Recommendations to the manager

For an effective implementation of the system, the following recommendations could be made

·       The management must conduct an effective market research before implementing the new system

·       The management must make sure that the system is tested before going for a complete launch

·       The management must ensure that the cost of implementing the system is less than the benefits

·       The management must make sure that the users are well aware of the system before they could use it

·       The management must make sure that the system provides long lasting and profitable solutions to the Mobile Trader

·       The management must ensure that the cloud computing system achieves its objectives

18- Analyze the feedback, and corporate change as required, documenting the changes and distributing the final business solution to the internal and external shareholders.

The final outcome must be beneficial for the stakeholders. The stakeholders are the ones who are affected by the organizational outcomes.  The stakeholders would be given a formal proposal where the company would introduce the system of cloud-based. The proposal would high light the benefits that it gives to the company and what benefit it would give to the stakeholders.