HC1041 IT for Business: Impact of IT on Business Decision Making

This report examines the importance of information technology in business, particularly focusing on the role of Point of Sale (POS) systems. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of POS systems, their contribution to gaining a competitive edge, the benefits of a centralized database, and how POS systems aid in decision-making. The report also explores telecommunication options for POS systems, associated risks, and protective measures. Using a nursery case study as an example, the report highlights how POS systems provide insights into product profitability, enabling informed business decisions. It concludes that IT, especially POS systems, is essential for businesses to track details, make effective reports, and improve overall performance.

HC1041 IT for Business

Table of Contents
Introduction-.........................................................................................................................................2
Use of resources-...................................................................................................................................3
Content..................................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................8
References.............................................................................................................................................9
1

Introduction-
The need for information technology is of great importance in various industries these days, no
matter what the size of the industry is or with what product the industry deals with. Small industries
and medium-sized industries have seen the positive effect by using technologies in their business;
however, they are not well versed with the technology and don’t have the resources to expertise as
big industries have it with them and make the best use of technology to enhance their industry. As
the case study mentioned shows the importance of information technology which can be used to
keep a track on various matters such as sales, orders etc which are difficult to keep a track of if they
are manually kept records. The system allowed them to track records about the products ordered
and kept a check on products and we can see well this in the mentioned case study the business was
going in the loss but when the business made the use of information technology to keep the record
of the business it realized a profit. Thus this report basically revolves around the need for
information technology in business. There are some tools and methodologies which are used in
order to enhance the business which is mentioned in the report.
2

Use of resources-
The point of sale system is widely used by the businesses from cafes to truck dealers it is found the
most effective way to keep a note of even the slightest detail about the customers from the
customer information to the purchase history every detail is jotted in here. Especially for the food
services, it keeps down the inventory to smallest denominator, to keep the food cost to a minimum
this is a great tool. The POS system can take the credit card in a few seconds and don’t take time to
process it; the process is done in seconds. With the POS system for the food industry, it can overlook
the weak point very fast and so one can plan strong points easily. POS systems can be used
anywhere and anytime even when managers are not present in the office. POS system is an efficient
tool that can be used at ones for mobile and tablets and helps in enhancing one's sale and gain profit
in one's business and help them to take better decisions for future (Groups, 2017).
There are a number of POS systems which are developed which can be used in accordance to the
need of business requirements, to name a few there is clover, square, revel, shopkeep and toast all
these versions are incomparable as they are designed for different purposes and tasks. The best
thing about the POS system tool is that it is easy to use and easy to understand so it makes it easier
for the user or even for a naïve person to use it effectively and efficiently without facing any
difficulties and can be used by business to keep a track of sales and other related information.
Clover POS system-
The clover POS system is very easy to use and it doesn’t require any professional help for installation
or other things and a lot of tutorials are present which can be seen to know how to use it. It is highly
versatile fast and sleek which makes it highly efficient to use. This can be used for keeping a track of
customer data cards or if one wants to put customer rewards it is the best tool which can be used. It
can be used offline in cases if the connection is lost in between transactions then it would be
completed when the connection is back (Wall, 2015).
Square POS system-
The square POS is much easier and doesn’t require any additional hardware to run just the tool to be
installed and must be updated timely. Square takes the data and shows up to the smallest
denominator which is useful to get an overview of the system for a week, month or an hour. It can
also tell the data about the employees and can tell who most efficient worker of all was. It just costs
15 $ per month which can be effective to keep a track of emails for a small company.
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Toast POS system-
It has highly interactive server which makes it efficient for a busy hour where bills can be split by just
dragging and dropping in order to keep a track of what customer has ordered and can free the
customers easily this is an effective tool for restaurants when the hour is a busy hour and a lot of
customers are paying bills at same time in order to make no confusions on bills this method is the
most effective method which should be used (Hopkin, 2017).
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Content
1) Advantages and disadvantages of POS system-
Advantages of the system is that it improves efficiency, helps to maintain efficient stock market also
helps in keeping the employee record and helps to make accurate reports as we can see it in the
case study with the help of POS system they were able to manage the accounts well and get to know
which product makes the most profit and which made least.
Disadvantages of the system are that it needs a continuous flow of internet and the applications are
need to update regularly most of the systems use web which charge monthly subscriptions
moreover there is a lot of risk to the customer as the debit and the credit card details are displayed
which can be a threat to the customers.
2) How will the system help to gain competitive advantages?
As the company opted for POS system the detailed report about which item was most profitable
helped them know which products helped them make more profit and their real cost perspective
helped them to realize which items helped them gaining more profit and helped them get to know
about decision making which in all helped to gain competitive advantage in market.
3) What are advantages of a centralized database system?
There are several advantages of having a centralized database system such as it improves data
preservation as the data is located to the centralized body and is not disputed over the system,
 It improves the physical security as the data is located in a centralized body and that is fault
tolerant setup. As the data is centralized can be only attacked by one body.
 Data integrity is maximized and redundancy of data is minimized to a large extent as there is
a single storing place thus it’s a primary record and redundancy reduces to a large extent.
 Any updates which are made are directly sent to the end user too as we can see in the case
study where all the data is centralized to a single unit in order to avoid data redundancy and
maintain data integrity (Toast, 2016).
4) How POS system can help in decision making.
As the POS system can maintain a track on the history of sales it provides a robust in tracking,
distributing and inputting the data to provide useful conclusions as it was mentioned in the case
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study of the nursery thus they could quite be sure about the products which yield them with
maximum profit which helped them in taking a clear decision.
The POS system can track the information effectively and we can track it too manually as all the data
is stored in a database that can be understood easily and it keeps the history in the database only
which can be easily searched into manually. The questions regarding to the purchase the product,
the history of the products purchased, the profit acquired and the details about the customer and
everything which is related to the business can be answered by POS as the nursery case study
mentioned told them about the product which is maximum sold and helped them in future decision
making. The information which is stored in POS system is entirely about the business which is about
the sales of a particular product, the profit acquired, details about the customers who purchased the
product, the information about the sales and order of the product by the company is stored in the
POS system (Brealey, 2012).
5) Telecommunication options for POS system –
WAN is the best telecommunication option which can be used for a POS system as it has secure and
fast data communication between different devices and the data which is transmitted is reliably and
at a very low-cost WAN can be used to solve a potential problem by accessing remote support
agents. Wide area network can be used for remote functions such as uploading or programming new
POS parameters with q-programming it can also be used sales data which can be directly sent from
the office network to the home network to analyze it much efficiently and properly by sending up
the reports directly from office to home. The data transmission is totally reliable and is inexpensive
(Tian, 2016).
Wireless technology system is better than wired as it does the same functions which the wired ones
do but it costs less and uses less space to set up a server through the use of servers tablets and
phones can be directly connected and can be used to place order of the customers need it will help
in attending more customers per day which in all will increase the productivity and revenue of the
business.
Wireless technology is old and bulky to set upon but can be effectively used for the POS system but
it will cost more and is not as much effective as the wireless system is the wire which is used is
optical fiber if traditional method of POS is involved.
6) What type of risks does the POS system bring and how to protect the business against the
risks?
6

The risks involved with the POS system is that it can access into network and can steal the
information about the business strategies and thus can risk the product the company is selling to
protect against the risks ant viruses must be installed and there should not be remote access to the
system in any form there should be strong passwords which must be updated constantly so no
amount of information can be leaked in any form the system should be secured and must have its
own secured internet access which should be entirely secured for the POS network apart from all
the technical measures the employees must be well versed with the technology so that it can’t be
mishandled by an outsider. The information which is related to the business must be confidential
within the business team (Beck, 2009).
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Conclusion
Information technology which is widely used by both small scale and large scale industries has
become a must so that the company can make better decisions for future. In the nursery case study
which is mentioned also uses POS system to make decisions as the POS system is giving the company
insight about the product which is gaining them maximum profit which helps them taking better
decision for future business. The POS system is an effective way which helps in keeping a track of
minute details about a business and can give insights about the products, sales information about
the customer etc. The system has become a essential part for every kind of business to make
effective reports on the sales and the history of the business the products sold and all the other
information which is related to the business. The importance of information technology has been
seen by the businesses as the traditional method of jotting all the details related to the business is
not really a great option its tiresome and a very lengthy process which is not even giving the exact
details which are needed for the further decision making for the enhancement of the productivity of
business. This report summarizes the importance of information technology for a business, the
advantages of using this tool and how this tool is effective in enhancement of a business and
increase its productivity.
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References
 Beck, U. (2009). World at risk. Polity.
 Brealey, R. A., Myers, S. C., Allen, F., & Mohanty, P. (2012). Principles of corporate finance.
Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
 Groups, Q. (2017). Advantages and Disadvantages of POS Systems. Retrieved from
https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/blog-details/307
 Hopkin, P. (2017). Fundamentals of risk management: understanding, evaluating and
implementing effective risk management. Kogan Page Publishers.
 Tian, F. (2016, June). An agri-food supply chain traceability system for China based on RFID &
blockchain technology. In Service Systems and Service Management (ICSSSM), 2016 13th
International Conference on (pp. 1-6). IEEE.
 Toast, I. (2016). What is a POS System? Point of Sale [Definition]. Retrieved from
https://pos.toasttab.com/what-is-pos
 Wall, J., Von Behren, R., & Paya, I. C. (2015). U.S. Patent No. 9,008,616. Washington, DC: U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office.
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