MIS Case Study   Term Paper ID:31162 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: This paper is about a company and its efforts to modernize its entire operations ...... More...

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Paper Abstract: This paper is about a company and its efforts to modernize its entire operations using computer technology including EDI Paper Introduction: The MIS Department In this scenario provided we work for a company that has somehowmissed out on the technological revolution that swept the nation for thelast two decades or longer We work in an office of a company in which eachoffice worker does not have their own personal computer Employees mustshare PCs leading to productivity loses The company has also decided itis unnecessary for employees to have their own printers or in thealternative to have the printers networked so that more than Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Another option would be to conduct virtual meetings between the company's five branch locations using what would actually be a more secure self hosted videoconferencing service hosted on the company's WAN and using the T1 frame relay. An extranet is a private network that uses the Internetprotocols and the public telecommunication system to share businessinformation with suppliers, vendors or customers. An article in Fortune(2 1) reminds readers that viruses can infect any unprotected computer;Trojan horse applications can steal personal data, and hackers can invade acomputer and disrupt the company's network. In many states, this is a violation ofthe state labor laws and this company needs to take steps to ensure thatthis specific problem is corrected as quickly as possible. This in turn improves productivity. That connection enables them to be on thelocal area network. The problem of the high cost of business travel could be reduced in a variety of ways. (2 1). The next step,which could be done concurrently, would involve ensuring the security ofthe connection. Once the project was given the green light, theprocess of modernizing this company would begin. In this company's case, it seems apparent thatthere is no network manager if for no other reason than because the companyhas no network. Ifsomeone wants a document printed out from their stand alone system, theymust first copy the document to a diskette or a zip file and then take thatstorage device into a PC that is connected to a printer and print out thedocument.Based on this description, it is apparent that the Boston office's PCs donot have Internet access. Therefore, the company must interview and hire consultantsto design the system, create a capital equipment budget, possibly tonegotiate with vendors, to install, test, debug, and implement the newsystem. The simplest wayto defeat this problem would be contract with a payroll service andtransfer the data via a secure connection to the selected third partypayroll service. . A network design in which each of the five offices has its own local area network for optimum levels of data backup and data security . As mentioned above, the p[project cannot start until management approvesthe concept and the budget. As a result, employees in other cities sometimes do notreceive their paychecks on time. Each of the LANs would be protected by a firewall, and the firewall even at the branch level would need to be sufficiently robust to turn away all but the most sophisticated hackers. This would ensurethat individuals' rights to access would be limited to specific informationand could be accessed only at specific. If they did, the employees would simply e-mailthe documents they needed to have printed to one of the PCs attached to aprinter, retrieve the email message, open the email attachment, and printit. Ultimately, secure access to the WAN would be through the firewall at the Boston office - or whichever office is designated as company headquarters. Currently, not every PC in the office is connected to a printer. There are many other factors to consider before this company is readyto implement the new information system infrastructure. In response to the competitive challenge that has resulted from thefact that one of the company's competitors has developed an extranet forbusiness alliance and information partners and an e-commerce site tofacilitate purchases on line, there is no reason that our company could notdo something similar. Technology & Learning, 25(4): 48.Sliwa, C. The illusion of protection from computer viruses alsomakes it possible that employees who would never open a questionable emailattachment at home are more than willing to do so at work because of whatthey believe to be a protective firewall. . To accomplish this would require little more than arudimentary local area network; one that would be capable of routingrequests to networked printers. Even after the WAN and the LANs are installed, they need to bemaintained. According to one recent survey, mostcompanies using EDI said they are either adding new trading partners orincreasing the number of EDI transactions they do. The next step would involve the purchase of hardware. Another alternavie would be to createlocal area network. Employees mustshare PCs leading to productivity loses. There are a large number of steps or stages in developing this projectplan. . The next step in the process would be to determine the best type ofconnection, and to ensure the security of that connection. The need to transfer the data to a storage device indicates there isno connectivity in the office. We can provide these employees to work at home by providing a PC witha home based firewall that would connect only and specifically to thefirewall at the branch. If the company, even with its current lack of technicalsophistication, decides that it wants to handle this process with itsinternal staff, it could be months or even years before the new WAN andLANs become operational. Depending on how cost conscious the company is, this process couldtake months. One of the complaints is that files are sometimes corrupted or damagedat the Boston office. A router such as those manufactured by Cisco Systems is necessary to access the internet via the aforementioned T1 line. Once all the negotiation over price, terms, delivery, and warrantieshas taken place and once the hardware is in place, the real work begins.The steps or stages in this process involve the following: . For companies notprepared to invest in the infrastructure necessary to transact businesswith customers via EDI, one choice to consider would be an intermediatestep involving using a value added network or VAN to transact businessusing Electronic Data Interchange with the company's trading partners -rather than transacting business directly with them. Even a simple email service would reduce thechances of data corruption. Fortune, 142(12).(2 4). . The company has also decided itis unnecessary for employees to have their own printers, or in thealternative to have the printers networked so that more than one person canuse the same printer. It is probable that an office that lacks Internet access would alsonot have up to date virus scans. The WAN would also have a firewall to protect it from outside attacks as well as from infected files being transmitted from the branches and to company headquarters. Other options would include sending data to the payrollservice using a courier or through personal delivery. Purchasing and installing additional personal computers and printers in each office . The time line and the cost of these upgrades also must be considered. Testing the connectivity of the branch offices . This relates a virtual private network from thehome office to the branch office. An Internet connection via a T1 line to ensue adequate bandwidth, and for the purpose of creating secured connections to the other offices According to Jeffrey Branzburg writing in Technology & Learning (2 4), digital subscriber line (DSL) is a telephone technology that sets up a direct connection over a telephone line from the customer to the phone company, and is not shared. For a fee, the VANbecomes an intermediary between the company and its customers and vendorswanting who prefer to conduct business electronically. ReferencesBranzburg, J. (2 4). It does begin at a lower speed than cable. When an end user believes theirsystem is protected from outside attack, the employees are less likely toback data up, and more likely to visit email sites and downloadquestionable date. This means they have access to everything on the localarea network and to the WAN subject to the same restrictions as if they arein the office. One of the first steps would be to create a preliminary budget.Once that was done, the idea would be presented to senior management fortheir review and approval. An extranet is theexternal part of a company's Intranet For obvious reasons, suchfacilities require very careful attention to security but are becoming anincreasingly important means of delivering services and communicatingefficiently. Ifthe goal is to match the competitors step for step in order to make ourcompany more attractive and competitive, then our company must also createan extranet. Carol Sliwawriting in Computerworld (2 4) reminds readers that EDI is thriving incompanies that use it to exchange purchase orders, invoices and otherinformation with trading partners. T1 are another type of telephone communication. Running tests on the LANs ability to back up data . . Additionally, if a domain were set up and policy restrictions wereimplemented on user accounts and computer accounts and reviewed by thecompany's network manager and senior management this would ensure morenetwork and data security for the local area network. (2 4). Each LAN would be connected to Boston's headquarters through a Wide Area Network, called a WAN. An article in HRFocus suggests that companies should choose large and well respectedpayroll services, and someone who understands payroll tax issues shouldmonitor the third-party's operations. Training the employees on how to use the new software . In addition, the companymust update its anti-virus software from time to time because perhaps theonly thing worse than a PC without anti-virus protection is one that usersbelieve is safe and secure but is not. Alive and Well After All These Years. The employer remains liable for thetaxes until they are paid, regardless of who does or does not make thepayment, and for what reason (HR Focus, 8). Upgrade and update the PCs in each officeAgree on a switch over date in negotiations with vendors and the selectionof a vendor to install the T1 line.Unanswered questions: How can we make it possible for the employees withdisabilities to work from home or from their hospital or elsewhere? . Testing the security of the LANs and of the WAN . In fact, one of the most common ways to catch a computer virusinvolves sharing disks or zip files between PCs. HR Focus, 81(11): 8. . The technical issues that must be learned and thetechnical questions that must be asked and answered in creating the networksecurity protocols alone are complex enough that someone without detailedknowledge of the security options available could take months to study anddecide what type of security is adequate. The proposed network design and information system infrastructurethat would be the most beneficial to this company taking into account bothits current plans and future growth expectations has the followingelements: . This may be the result of computer viruses spreading on sharedmedia. One of the more troublesome aspects associated with the current lackof technological sophistication involves the fact that the accountant isunable to update inventory levels, tax records and payroll information in atimely manner. Another option would be teleconferencing; yet another option would be data-conferencing and still option would involve contracting with a third party service provider to provide web based videoconferencing. Pitfalls to Avoid if Your Company Outsources Payroll. For example, the T1 fiver optic cable linehas approximately 26 lines meaning in theory there could be 26 rather than5 branch locations on the WAN. PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS: PRODUCTS TO WATCH. The network administrator couldimpose other limitations including preventing access to websites, as wellas limiting or preventing copying, printing, and altering data. This is because the storage device media isunstable. The LAN ensures connectivity within the branch office by networking all of the PCs and ancillary devices such as printers in that office through a server. One question thatcomes immediately to mind is the question of disaster recovery. While DSL and cable can be used in the home, t1 lines are business- and education-oriented (Branzburg, 2 4, 48). The MIS Department In this scenario provided, we work for a company that has somehowmissed out on the technological revolution that swept the nation for thelast two decades or longer. Email service between branch locations is a simply and relatively low tech example of improving communications between branches. Without internet access update anti-virusprotection is tedious and not likely to occur frequently enough.Therefore, data corruption and loss of data would be more prevalent in thisenvironment than in a more sophisticated business operation in which anti-virus programs are up to date. The VAN willtransmit data by and between buyers and sellers, and as a value addedservice many VANs create the software that maps, among other documents, acustomer's purchase order and the seller's shipment notification form. Testing the hardware and the software . For example, the operating system being used by the server ateach location must occasionally be taken offline in order to performsoftware upgrades and to install security patches. Computerworld, 38(24): 1. How To: Choose a Broadband Connection. Thehardware requirements of this company would include servers for each of thefive local area networks; network operating software; routers for theframe relay switches; some form of firewall for the Virtual Private Networkfor each office. While the relatively remotepossibility of these events occurring, it is always a good idea to takesome precautions ("PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS: PRODUCTS TO WATCH:2 1). All ofthese would serve to enhance security. Anoffsite disaster recovery site would be the best option to protect thisdata. The structure described above sufficient in size and capacity thatthe company could add additional home users and additional offices withouttaxing the system's capacity. The LANcould be used to generate back up for data storage at the branch level. They directly connect two points, and capable of transmitting data even faster than DSL or cable. We work in an office of a company in which eachoffice worker does not have their own personal computer. One idea to consider involves EDI. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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