POS System Implementation and Management

This assignment delves into the implementation and management of Point-of-Sale (POS) systems within retail settings. It examines the features, advantages, and potential difficulties associated with POS system adoption. The analysis covers various aspects such as transaction processing, inventory management, customer relationship management, and reporting capabilities. Students are expected to evaluate the impact of POS systems on operational efficiency, customer experience, and overall business performance.

Running head: IT for Business
IT for Business
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to evaluate the different aspects and advantages of a point of sales
system (POS) that is being implemented in Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery. The Nursery
had been manually tracking and updating the all the sales and transaction data of the business
processes running within an organization. The manual record keeping however has a number of
disadvantages, which includes erroneous data entry. Furthermore, a lot of time is allocated for
manual data update. The implementation of new POS system eliminates all these difficulties and
increases the organizational efficiency. The report discusses the advantages of the POS system
and evaluates the competitive advantages a company can gain with the implementation of POS.
It further discuses the implementation needs and security risks associated with the POS.

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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
1. The New POS system-Advantages/Disadvantages.........................................................3
2. The Competitive Advantage............................................................................................5
3. Centralized Database and its Advantages........................................................................5
4. POS in decision-making..................................................................................................6
5. Telecommunication Options............................................................................................7
6. Associated Risks..............................................................................................................8
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................8
Recommendations................................................................................................................9
References..........................................................................................................................10
Appendix............................................................................................................................12
Appendix 1.....................................................................................................................12
Appendix 2.....................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
It is quite evident that the use of information technology in business has considerably
made it easier to manage the different process running within an organization. With the advent of
technology, use of information technology in business becomes necessary to a large extent.
However, small and medium sized enterprises often face monetary difficulties in implementing
information technology strategies. Similar is the case of Four Seasons Greenhouse nursery that is
located in Colorado. The nursery uses manual registers for tracking and maintenance of data.
However, the profits earned by the nursery were almost negligible. Implementation of POS on
the other hand helped the owners in obtaining a robust functionality of managing the various
processes running within the organization (Laudon & Laudon, 2016). The report discusses the
advantages and disadvantages of implementing the new point of sales in business. It gives an
overview of the competitive advantage the new POS can bring to the business. Contribution of
POS and the risks associated with its implementation is discussed in the following paragraphs.
1. The New POS system-Advantages/Disadvantages
The new point of sales system is designed to automate the different functionalities of
business such as, data input, tracking of inventory sales and so on. The advantages of the new
POS system are as follows (Stadtle, 2015)-
1. The major advantage of implementing the new POS system is that, the organization
does not need to maintain the manual registers in tracking and maintaining the inventory items.
This is an advantage to the organization as the manual data entry is subjected to human errors
and incorrect data entry. This is one of the major reasons of the less profit, as there is no proper
record of the inventory items and sales (refer to appendix 2).

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2. The new POS system provides robust functionality in data input, data tracking and
distribution of data. This in turn helps in easy management of the vital business process (Diallo,
Rodrigues & Sene, 2012).
3. The new POS system helps in accurate calculation of the inventory counts thus
eliminating the guesswork about the orders. This in turn helps the business in operating on a
leaner inventory unit.
4. The accurate data estimation and easy management of the vital process enhances the
decision making process. Timely reporting of all the tasks furthermore helps in proper
management of all the business operations running within the organization.
5. Proper knowledge about the product cost helps in accurate and profitable pricing of the
products there by increasing the profitability of the organization.
6. The new POS system further helps in controlling the employee schedule, which in turn
helps in proper management of the labour expenses (Peppard & Ward, 2016).
However, there are certain disadvantages of implementing the POS as well. The
disadvantages of the new point of sales system are as follows-
1. With the numerous advantages offered by the point of sales system, one of the major
constraints associated with the process is the cost of implementation of the system. An
organization need to invest a considerable amount of money for implementation and
maintenance of the system.
2. There are certain security risks associated with the point of sales system that can risk
an organization’s private and confidential data.

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3. The employees and the staffs are need proper training in order to understand the
operation of the new system.
4. The system will require regular updates and maintenance.
2. The Competitive Advantage
The competitive advantages that an organization achieve by implementing the new POS
system are as follows-
1. The major working principle of the POS system is compiling and integrating all the
business operations in a single place. This helps in proper management of all the business
operations running within an organization, which is a major competitive advantage of POS.
2. The new system helps in proper product review and identification of the most
profitable product, which was earlier not possible. This helps the organization in gaining a
competitive advantage in the market by manufacturing and selling the most profitable goods
(Coronel & Morris, 2016).
3. Proper management of the employee schedule and labour costs further adds to the list
of competitive advantages.
4. Detailed knowledge about the inventory items such as number of units sold, purchased
or discarded gives a clear picture about the condition of the business, which further helps in its
proper management. This gives the organization, a competitive advantage in the market.
3. Centralized Database and its Advantages
The advantages of having a centralized database are as follows-

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1. Centralized database decreases the security risks associated with data storage by
enforcing a staunch control and monitoring of the system.
2. In centralized database system, the stored data is managed centrally, which increases
the consistency of data.
3. Having a centralized database increases the operational efficiency of a business
organization.
4. Using a centralized database minimizes the cost of data storage by eliminating any
redundancy in data management and associated costs.
5. The data processing speed is high and centralized data helps n development of an
accurate report of the activities that the organization or its employees are engaged in (Stair &
Reynolds, 2013).
6. Data integrity is one of the major benefits of having a centralized database.
Therefore, it can be said that implementation of POS will help in proper data tracking and
managing of the financial transactions in the organization.
4. POS in decision-making
One of the major advantages of implementing the new point of sales system in business is
that the system helps in the decision making process by providing all the data that are essential to
evaluate before taking a business decision.

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Accurate estimation of the data and inventory sales helps in processing the business
activities more effectively. Accurate estimation helps in taking proper decisions about the
inventory items, such as the number of items to be purchased or discarded (Hall, 2012).
Furthermore, the new POS system eliminates the need of manual tracking of all the
business processes running within an organization. It is difficult to track manually all the
information needed for proper decision-making as it might include erroneous or incomplete data
entry.
Apart from this, the new POS system helps in effective answering of the questions
associated with the inventory items such as number of items purchased, sold or discarded. This
enhances the decision-making process (Galliers & Leidner, 2014).
The information provided by the new POS system further helps in creating a solid
infrastructure for easy management of the business operations within the entire organization. It
helps in reviewing the labour expenses and the schedule of the employees to establish their
responsibility within the organization more effectively (Pearlson et al., 2016).
5. Telecommunication Options
The telecommunication option available for implementation of POS system within the
organization includes the use of LAN, WAN and MAN. The Local Area Network or LAN
interconnects all different digital devices present within a limited area. Wide Area Network or
WAN on the other hand is a telecommunication network that interconnects the digital devices
over a wide geographical area (Zhang et al., 2012). MAN or Metropolitan Area Network
however, spreads over a larger geographical area.

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LAN will not be suitable to implement in the POS system, as it will restrict the
information flow within a small area. IT is therefore recommended to implement the POS system
in WAN network (Barakah & Ammad-uddin, 2012).
Wireless technology will be suitable for consideration, as it will considerable reduce the
hassle of wires and reduces the implementation cost as well. However, it is essential to establish
a secure wireless channel in order to eliminate the risks associated with wireless networks.
6. Associated Risks
Since the POS system will be implemented in a wireless network, there are a number of
risks associated with the storage and access of the data from the system. One of the major risks is
the security risks. The attackers can target the confidential data stored within the system leading
to data loss (Zissis & Lekkas, 2012). Another major security risk associated with the
implementation of POS is the privacy risk. The private data of an organization might be at risk
due to a cyber attack into the system. Therefore, it is essential to use proper security system
within the organization.
Apart from this, there is a huge confidentiality risk associated with the POS system, as
majority of the employees within the organization can access data (Al Ameen, Liu & Kwak,
2012). Therefore, it is essential to enforce authorization levels to prevent unauthorised use and
access of data.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that implementation of POS in
Four Seasons has provided the nursery with many advantages, major one being the increase in

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sales and profits. The point of sales system has helped in eliminating the need of manual tracking
and recording of data, thereby increasing the accuracy and correctness of the stored data into the
system. The report points out certain disadvantage of the new POS system and discuses the
competitive advantages it offers to an organization. The report further identifies the security risks
associated with the system and recommends the network in which the system is to be
implemented. The system allows the organization in leveraging business data and helps in
gaining a competitive advantage in the market. The business reports can be processed with ease
with the help of the new POS system.
Recommendations
1. It is recommended for an organization to thoroughly research the needs of POS in its
business before its implementation.
2. Proper security checks and installation of security essentials are needed to secure the
data stored in the centralized database.
3. Authorization levels are needed to be imposed in order to restrict the access to the
confidential data stored in the system.

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References
Al Ameen, M., Liu, J. & Kwak, K., (2012). Security and privacy issues in wireless sensor
networks for healthcare applications. Journal of medical systems, 36(1), pp.93-101.
Barakah, D.M. & Ammad-uddin, M., (2012, February). A survey of challenges & applications of
wireless body area network (WBAN) and role of a virtual doctor server in existing
architecture. In Intelligent Systems, Modelling & Simulation (ISMS), 2012 Third
International Conference on (pp. 214-219). IEEE.
Coronel, C. & Morris, S., (2016). Database systems: design, implementation, and management.
Cengage Learning.
Diallo, O., Rodrigues, J.J. & Sene, M., (2012). Real-time data management on wireless sensor
networks: A survey. Journal of Network & Computer Applications, 35(3), pp.1013-1021.
Galliers, R.D. & Leidner, D.E. eds., (2014). Strategic information management: challenges &
strategies in managing information systems. Routledge.
Hall, J.A., (2012). Accounting information systems. Cengage Learning.
Laudon, K.C. & Laudon, J.P., (2016). Management information system. Pearson Education
India.
Pearlson, K.E., Saunders, C.S. & Galletta, D.F., (2016). Managing and Using Information
Systems, Binder Ready Version: A Strategic Approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Peppard, J. & Ward, J., (2016). The strategic management of information systems: Building a
digital strategy. John Wiley & Sons.

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Romney, M.B. & Steinbart, P.J., (2012). Accounting information systems. Boston: Pearson.
Stadtler, H., (2015). Supply chain management: An overview. In Supply chain management &
advanced planning (pp. 3-28). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Stair, R. & Reynolds, G., (2013). Principles of information systems. Cengage Learning.
Zhang, Y., Ansari, N., Wu, M. & Yu, H., (2012). On wide area network optimization. IEEE
Communications surveys & tutorials, 14(4), pp.1090-1113.
Zissis, D. & Lekkas, D., (2012). Addressing cloud computing security issues. Future Generation
computer systems, 28(3), pp.583-592.

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Appendix
Appendix 1
What is a POS system?
The Point of sales system refers to a system that manages and integrates all the vital and
transactional operations of an organization. It provides a detailed estimate about the transactional
processes running within an organization. POS streamlines all the retail operations of an
organization by automating the transaction process and real time tracking of all the transactional
and sales data of an organization.
The retailers can anytime have access to the information related to the retail business. It could be
about customers, inventory or the annual sales regardless, any information could be accessed
from any part of the world. With a point of sales system, the store can effectively manage
returns, as it is a hassle free process with a point of sale software, as it could record returns,
remove items from sales transactions and add the put the product’s number back in the inventory
all in a matter of minutes.
Appendix 2

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