IT for Business: POS System

This report discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the new POS system, how it helps in gaining competitive advantages, the advantages of having a centralized database, how it could facilitate decision making, recommended telecommunication options, and the risks associated with the POS system. The report is based on the case study 'Blooming with Technology' and is relevant for IT for Business course.

Running Head: IT for Business
IT for Business
POS System

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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the new POS system?.........................................................2
How will this POS system help the business gain competitive advantages?................................................3
What are the advantages of having a centralized database?.........................................................................4
How could this POS system facilitate decision making?.............................................................................4
Recommend telecommunication options for this POS system.....................................................................5
What type of risks does the POS system bring and how to protect the business against the risks?..............6
References...................................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
This report is about the questions and answer about the case study “Blooming with Technology”
and about the point of Sale system. The advantages and disadvantages of new POS system are
discussed according to the case study. POS is helpful in gaining the competitive advantage as
well as if it is connected with the Telecommunication Networks; it works wonders in the
enterprises.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the new POS system?
System of POS has some advantages and some disadvantages as well. This system was
converted into a new one in the year 2009.
Advantages are:
 There are many POS systems available in market. One has to choose carefully form t
hem. They are faster in performing and the installation is cheaper.
 The POS system deployment is very simple.
 This system helps in the evaluating errors which are created by humans and saves money
for long term.
 The transactions from the bar code scanner facility are quicker and save the time for the
customers (Adeoti, 2013).
 If the POS system is web based, then the installation is almost zero percent of a necessity.
 Web based point POS system give the leisure of not worrying about the software updates,
backups and system reconfiguration.
 In the POS system which is typical, the business owners are needed to pay for software
and hardware but typical pint of scale generally consists of software updates, technical
support etc (Lin et al., 2015).
Disadvantages

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 Reliability in Connection: The connection of internet which is reliable and ISP are
needed for maintaining the POS system which is web based. In case of the internet
outrage, one cannot have an access to that particular system. Though there might be the
fail safe options in the place, it still is inconvenient of waiting for system in getting back
up and operating (PLOMP et al., 2012).
 Costly software upgrades: Not like other web based systems which provide free upgrades
that keep up to date software upgrades always comes with the high cost which are
attached to them. Each time when the upgrade is required and mandatory, one will have
to pay for the new license and the software when the business expands.
 Costly fees: The POS system which is web based as costly and the subscription is
charged in the systems as an investment for the long term.
 Less Convenient: These type of systems are very less convenient in the usage. One needs
more than just the computer for the access of t he inventory counts and reports with the
software based systems.
How will this POS system help the business gain competitive advantages?
There are a few ways as to how the subscription of the POS can help in gaining of the
competitive advantage. Considering the case study of Four Seasons Green House and Nursery
which is located in Colorado, the software is updated: The business company’s pays for the
software license and the version which is new are created by the provider will always expect the
customer to purchase the software version from there only. Technology and retail market is
changing day after day and one should not get trapped for the updates repeatedly. With the
subscription of the POS, one will never have to pay again as they are included. This can work as
an advantage in beating the competitors. Unlimited Support: Software issues always tale more
time. When the POS does not work, support is needed. When the solution is licensed, the
problems will be figured out. POS always is able to track the stock which is internal as well as
the schedule replenishment stock from the external sources. Management of the inventory is also
very important. It is helpful in the margins of profit gaining. With such gains, the higher
authorities also work in an efficient manner and the objective is always to obtain good results.

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POS also helps in the processing of the sales in terms of unit and decreases the wish to enter the
data like data entry is done and this makes the people of the business save lots of time and effort.
With such results, the managers can deliver more tasks to the staff and the management of other
functions becomes easier. This way it can gain the competitive advantage (W. & Namusonge,
2015).
What are the advantages of having a centralized database?
There are few advantages of the centralized database systems. They are:
 Data Transformation: With the help of centralized data management, it can be easily
transformed and managed by the experts who can do the programming and various kinds
of analysis about the study.
 Security of data: Data is easily and safely secured with the documentation done in the
way that it is not feasible for everyone to access the data unless someone is given the
privilege to do that. Due to this the need to store the data on multiple platforms also
decreases (EDM, 2018).
 Sharing the data: Compass data repositories and the staff who is experienced in
programm9ng gives the facility in the creation and exportation of the data in various
formats. On the basis of the request, data dumps can be created too in the formats that are
created. In the addition to this, the stored data on the individual place can be accessed
multiple of times by tightly managed privileges.
 Disaster Recovery: Data repositories always do have a backup on the regular basis and tit
can be again stored in case of any of the failure of the server. Redundancy of the
hardware is maintained at the server as well as the infrastructure levels. Along with this,
the management of the professional server insured that more than 99% of the system
uptime is maintained (Iacob & Moise, 2015).
How could this POS system facilitate decision making?

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Decisions which are effective should and can be taken in a very easy manner irrespective of the
situations if the help of the POS system is taken. Those decisions will always gives the benefit in
handling perfect operations. Be it any type of the activity, POS will take care of that and those
activities are also done in the very specific and smooth manner. The managers and the staff who
work for the information will perform the activities aptly. With the help of the POS, the goal
becomes is to minimize the work done by the employees of the company manually because the
information is important and should be managed at the single place so that it is easily tracked
by taking help of the database (Wong et al., 2017).
Recommend telecommunication options for this POS system.
LAN, MAN and WAN are the most widely used telecommunications network in today’s world.
Although there are many other networks which are being used today such as PAN, EPN, VAN
etc. but these there are the most relied and favored of all others. All such networks can be used in
the POS system for the support. These are the medium of the communication and connection in
between the world (Thakor & Joshi, 2017).
LAN: This is the network which works in the computer groups which are places in the same
building or the company. They are connected together for the connection. It gives high speed and
it is inexpensive like other networks (Dodonov et al., 2010).
MAN: The full form is Metropolitan area network and it is larger than the LAN and yet smaller
than what WAN is. IUB network is one of the famous examples of the MAN. It can be used in
different location but the locality has to be the same.
WAN: This is wide area network and as the name suggests, it is used in the wide area. There is
no restriction related to the geography etc. The speed of Wan is very high and it is relatively
expensive due to the area it covers (Ersoy & Panwar, 1993).
A few cables are used by the technologies which are wired are UTP or unshielded twisted pair
cable, coaxial cable, shielded twisted pair i.e. STP, wireless LAN’s and fiber optic cable.

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Technologies which are wired are cliché and are used such as Radio receivers, broadcast, TV,
cordless, garage, door openers, wireless computers, satellite TV, headphones, GPS etc (Braine &
Yorozu, 1998).
What type of risks does the POS system bring and how to protect the business against the
risks?
There are a few risks which are involved in the implementation of the POS system. They are:
 Security: Keeping the data secure should be the first and the utmost priority of the
organization as it contains sensitive information. In case if any hack happens, it will
become the threat to the business. So, all the information should be kept safe and secured.
For doing this, the experts should be hired who can handle to secure the data effectively
such that it can be managed well (Trendmicro, 2014).
 Confidentiality: After keeping the data safe, confidentiality is the second major thing
which should be kept in mind. The passwords should be kept secured so t hat the data is
not leaked and easily kept confidential (Tri, 2018).
 Privacy: Privacy is somewhat linked to security and confidentiality. All these three actors
are almost one. The data which is recorded can be kept private by keeping it secure and
confidential (Tallysoft, 2016).

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References
Adeoti, O., 2013. Challenges to the efficient use of point of sale (POS) terminals in Nigeria.
African Journal of Business Management, 7(28).
Braine, G. & Yorozu, M., 1998. Local Area Network (LAN) Computers in ESL and EFL Writing
Classes: Promises and Realities. [Online] Available at:
file:///C:/Users/Nidhi%20Vyas_JPR/Downloads/jj-20.2-art3.pdf [Accessed 22 May 2018].
Dodonov, E., Mello, R.F.d. & Yang, L.T., 2010. A Network Evaluation for LAN, MAN and WAN
Grid Environments. [Online] Available at:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2601/5e1bc511185b733c76a62ae4f7d1f5655933.pdf [Accessed
22 May 2018].
EDM, 2018. Why Should You Have a Centralized System? [Online] Available at:
https://effectivedatabase.com/why-should-you-have-a-centralized-system/ [Accessed 22 May
2018].
Ersoy, C. & Panwar, S.S., 1993. Topological Design Of Interconnected LAN/MAN Networks.
Journal of Selected Areas in communication, 11(8).
Iacob, N.M. & Moise, M.L., 2015. Centralized vs. Distributed Databases. Case Study. Academic
Journal of Economic Studies, 1(4).
Lin, Y.C., Ha, N.H. & Lin, K.S., 2015. The Role of mPOS System in Process Change and
Strategy Change: A Situated Change Perspective. Technologies, 3, pp.198-218.
PLOMP, M.G.A., RIJN, G.V. & BATENBURG, R.S., 2012. Chain digitisation support by point-
of-sale systems: an analysis of the Dutch product software market. [Online] Available at:
http://postprint.nivel.nl/PPpp4899.pdf [Accessed 22 May 2018].
Tallysoft, 2016. 3 POS System Security Risks You Need to Recognize. [Online] Available at:
tallysoft.http://www.tallysoft.com/news/3-pos-system-security-risks-you-need-to-recognize/
[Accessed 22 May 2018].

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Thakor, J.B. & Joshi, N.C., 2017. Computer Networks. International Journal of Science and
Research, 6(5).
Trendmicro, 2014. Point-of-Sale System Breaches. [Online] Available at:
https://www.trendmicro.com/content/dam/trendmicro/global/en/business/capabilities/solutions-
for/point-of-sale/wp-pos-system-breaches.pdf [Accessed 22 May 2018].
Tri, R., 2018. 7 Ways your Point of Sale Security is at Risk. [Online] Available at:
https://posoncloud.com/7-ways-your-point-of-sale-security-is-at-risk/ [Accessed 22 May 2018].
W., N.V. & Namusonge, G.S., 2015. Role of Inventory Management on Competitive Advantage
among Manufacturing Firms in Kenya: A Case Study of Unga Group Limited. International
Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 5(5).
Wong, T.E., Srikrishnan, V., Hadka, D. & Keller, K., 2017. A multi-objective decision-making
approach. PLOS, 12(6).