Unit: BSBSMB412 Introduce cloud computing into business operations
The following questions are based on all materials in the textbook:
Question 6
Case Study - The Antique Boutique
Consider the following case study scenario.
The Antique Boutique
You have recently joined an establishment and successful family antiques business. It has grown from a business that originally offered second hand goods (sources mainly from deceased estates) through to one store, to one that offers genuine antiques through five shopfronts.
Alvin Anderson is your boss. He has been the general manager since XXXXXXXXXXHe is a third-generation owner of the business, having taken over from his father. The business was founded by his grandfather, in a Victorian country town in the 1960’s.
Over the years, as the scale of the business grew, the business model evolved to sourcing and reselling better quality, true antiques. The business also outgrew its original small-town location. In the 1990’s Alvin’s father opened another store in a nea
y, larger town.
In 2005, with bank loans backed by a buoyant and growing cash flow, Alvin opened two main stores. One was in a large Victorian city and another in the outer subu
s of Melbourne. In 2015, he again expanded the business, opening his latest and fifth store in Canbe
a, and it too is doing quite well.
As the business has grown, the essential business processes have remained remarkably similar, however, they are now far more numerous, complex and varied. And, despite his business acumen, Alvin is not very savvy with computer technology. He even struggles a bit with email and Word, but is getting the hang of both.
Alvin sees technological advances all around him. He senses that, in failing to understand and apply relevant technologies, he is missing a lot of economies and efficiencies as well as additional opportunities for the business.
He is also hearing a lot about the advantages and promise of the cloud, yet, he is not sure what it really means and what it applies to. But he feels it may form part of an approach to overhauling his information and computer technology (ICT).
When it was a two-shopfront operation, the business had modest information and computing needs. Each store has a cash register and EFTPOS terminal to facilitate sales. Thinking themselves quite advanced, they also had a
ochure-style website with some nice photos, basic contact and location information. And that was about all.
Financial records continue to be maintained manually by a part-time bookkeeper and a young sales assistant handles email enquiries that come via the business’s free Hotmail account. Phones also continue to be the main way that the stores communicate with each other.
Alvin needs your help!
Alvin recognises there is more he needs to know, and this is where you come in.
Presently, there is no-one in the business he can refer to, even though he regards two of his five store managers as tech savvy. These managers have installed their own computer systems and internet connections and seem to be operating quite well on their own.
So, with no overall ICT strategy for his business, and not knowing where to start, he is hoping you can help. He sees from your CV that you have recently undertaken this unit of study, and he is asking for your advice on processes and strategy for the business to adopt regarding ICT.
Working with Alvin, your role, as an ICT Adviser, is to advise on how the business can adopt relevant ICT to consolidate it into a single, cohesive entity from its cu
ent five successful, yet virtually independently operated shopfronts.
Additional Information:
Each store’s cash registers have manual ove
ide for accessing the money in the event of a failure.
Each store’s EFTPOS machines are run on electrical power and phone line. Last time they were updated was XXXXXXXXXXAll terminals are through ANZ bank. Each store has Manual Transaction Processing vouchers and any such manual transactions are authorised via an 1800 number, as a backup for the terminal failing. Merchant support is also via an 1800 numbe
Fees involved:
Establishment Fee $90
Annual Fee $30
Monthly Fee $40
Merchant Fee (minimum) $20
Despite the contingency options, the cash register and EFTPOS machines are considered absolutely essential due to the failure to be able exchange cu
ency if these systems are down.
Each store cu
ently only has one Windows computer in the manager’s office. Alvin replaced all existing computers at the same time as acquiring a computer for latest shop in Canbe
a, he spent $1600 per computer.
All core desktop applications are from the Microsoft Office Suite. Each store uses Office 2010 (purchased and fully installed on existing computers in 2011 for $296. Can be installed on up to 5 computers). There are no more allocations left under the cu
ent licence. Each store utilises Outlook, Word, Excel and Publisher. Employees assist each other with learning these programs.
The bookkeeper uses MYOB AccountRight Plus version 19.7 (purchased by the business for an initial cost $ XXXXXXXXXXThere are no ongoing fees. There is one file per store. The bookkeeper backs-up the company files onto an external portable hard drive before closing the program each time. The bookkeeper takes the portable drive with them. The main copy is left on the shop computer. Payroll is completed in a manual ledger by Alvin and he enters the amounts into MYOB. Sales and Purchases functions in MYOB are not utilised for the normal daily business processes.
The bookkeeper produces quarterly reports for each store and exports them to excel where the data can be used to create charts displaying information requested by Alvin. Alvin advised the bookkeeper what information he needed (Tax Liabilities, Sales Statistics, Performance, Position, etc.) to evaluate the store and the bookkeeper designed the reports. At the end of the financial year, the bookkeeper produces an additional copy of these reports displaying the full year information.
Each store has a multifunction printer connected by LAN. Internet is connected to an ADSL router by LAN. There have been no issues with LAN connectivity. There is room within the LAN setup to expand to another 9 devices in each store. The LAN wires are unseen within the office partitions and therefore do not pose any issue with being accidently disconnected. The LAN hub is housed neatly in a wall cupboard in the manager’s office.
Internet (ADSL) and phone are provided by Telstra. Alvin recently changed the plan for each of the shops to that below. He has already spoken with Telstra and mentioned he is looking at cloud computing. They have advised that he can upgrade his plan at any time. The next plan up also offers unlimited data and mobile calls included for $25 extra per month. Alvin does not see the need for mobiles or mobile data for himself or for his shop staff.
Telstra Business Bundle Plan (M) $100 per month per store
Data: 1000GB excess charged $1 per GB (charged per MB) or part thereof capped at a maximum of $300 per month.
Local Calls: Included
National Calls: Included
Mobiles: 55c call + 36c per minute
There are cu
ently no back-up processes in place except for the MYOB back-up as mentioned previously.
Website was setup and is maintained by manager in Canbe
a. The manager would like to eventually have a database of products online and allow customers to purchase online. It is still in its infancy due to limited time. The website host is Hosting Australia and was chosen due to the price and because the host servers are located in Australia (Melbourne). The average visitors per day is cu
ently 10.
Hosting Australia Plan – Small Business $9 per month:
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Email: Unlimited
Databases: Unlimited
Uptime: 100%
CPU Core: 1.5
RAM: 2GB
SSD Storage: 30GB
Q6a.
Required:
Complete the ICT Audit for Antique Boutique
After reading the case study, prepare an ICT Audit for the Antique Boutique of their cu
ent systems.
Complete the following ICT Audit templates by filling-out the ‘Comments’ column with
ief information you have discovered about the cu
ent systems at Antique Boutique.
For line items in the templates for which information has not been provided, you should write “No information provided” or N/A.
Other Notes:
You are not required to prepare the following audits (and these templates have not been provided in this assessment):
· WiFi Audit – No WiFi cu
ently in use
· External WAN Audit – No WAN in place
· Remote Access Audit – No remote access in place
· File Servers Audit – No File Server in place
· Document file management and backup – You have not been provided with details. This may be provided by management later. Not required now for this assessment.
ICT Audit: The Antique Boutique
Critical Systems Audit
Tick if done
Comment (
ief)
Identify:
• The major transaction or information systems that the organisation relies on.
Interfaces:
For each identified system, find out:
• What input information it needs and where it comes from.
• What information outputs it supplies directly to staff.
• What information, if any, it provides as inputs to other information systems.
Business exposures:
• For each, identify the business processes which stop if the system stops.
• Find out if the business has a ‘wet weather plan’ enabling it to operate at a basic level in the event of failure of any critical system.
Business satisfaction:
• Ask around to gauge the mood of the people in the organisation about how well each critical system is ‘bedded in’ and how well it fulfils business needs.
Reliability:
• Find out about the history of failures, if any, of each critical system and thereby obtain a picture of overall reliability.
Technical risks:
• Identify any critical dependencies and single points of failure for each system. That includes big things like what happens if a main computer or server fails, and little things like whether kicking a plug out could stop the system entirely.
Hardware and performance:
• Identify the hardware the system runs on, and whether there is anything special about its
and or configuration that makes it precisely right for its job.
• At the same time, ask around to gauge the system’s response time, and whether it is performing well enough.
Disaster planning:
• Identify the disaster recovery plan and process that will swing into action to repair the situation if/when the system does fail.
• At the same time, identify who the critical people are who would coordinate that type of recovery.
Their input will be useful later, when considering how cloud computing might assist in disaster recovery.