Evaluation of IT Systems and Recommendations for British Home Plc

This report examines the application of Business Information Technology Systems within British Home Plc. It begins by illustrating the use of IT in distinct organizational functions, emphasizing data management, marketing, and process improvement. The report then analyzes the contributions of IT to British Home Plc, including product development, process enhancement, cost efficiency, and competitive advantages. Furthermore, it explores different methods of handling information, such as data storage, data processing, knowledge management, and customer relationship management (CRM), including operational, analytical, and collaborative CRM strategies. The report also evaluates IT systems for supporting value-added change, providing recommendations for practical IT solutions to enhance business operations and achieve desired standards, culminating in a conclusion that summarizes the key findings and suggestions.

Business
Information
Technology Systems
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
Illustrate use of IT in distinct organisational functions...............................................................3
Contributions of Information Technology in British Home Plc..................................................5
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................6
Different ways for dealing with information...............................................................................6
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................8
Evaluation of IT systems for supporting value added change.....................................................8
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................10
Recommendations for practical IT solutions.............................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
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INTRODUCTION
The process associated with developing, maintaining and making use of computer
software, networks and systems is referred to as information technology. Firms make use of
information for making sure that there activities are carried out in an appropriate manner but this
is only possible in case data is present in processed form otherwise it will be time consuming to
extract information (Aasheim, Li and Williams, 2019). To acknowledge the concept of business
information technology, British Home Plc is taken which is rendering services in different
industries. They have not opted to make use of centralised IT systems due to which they are
having loss in their profit. This report comprises of ways in which firm can make use of
information technology in their operations, contributions which can be made, features rendered,
value added change and recommendations by which organisation can deliver their services
according to desired standards.
Task 1
Illustrate use of IT in distinct organisational functions.
Set of elements which work in collaboration with each other for management of storage and data
processing is defined as information system. It acts an important function which is being
rendered by IT as through these operations can be carried out in an enhanced manner (Ali, 2019).
An example can be taken to understand this concept, like by storing the information of marketing
department on database trends of pattern prevailing within the market can be analysed which will
aid to anticipate future needs of individuals. This will aid British Home Plc to enhance their
services as well as meet market demands. By makings its use the activities related with
marketing, sales and other departments can be monitored as well as can be analysed what more
can be done for enhancing their activities. The ways in which IT can be used within British
Home Plc have been illustrated below:
Information technology department
Management of data is critical aspect of each firm which makes it indispensable as well
as complexity increases as manually it becomes difficult to deal with it. British Home Plc may
possess data which is in text, audio or video format. For, rendering services in an appropriate
way it is necessary that it is stored in a proper format so that it can be accessed whenever
required (Carvalho and et.al ., 2019). IT department of British Home Plc is liable for storing data
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in whatever format it is as this will enable all other units to have access to it as per their
requirements. The other function is to ensure management of information as raw data is of no use
until it is being processed and knowledge has been extracted from this. It will aid firm to
formulate decisions accordingly. Apart from this, it is necessary to ensure that what access is
given to whom to make sure that any confidential information of British Home Plc is not
accessed by any employee of the firm (Clayton and Clopton, 2019).
Functions of marketing
It is one of the critical aspects of firm and digitalisation has also created a strong impact
on the ways in which promotional activities are being carried out and customers are reached out.
Marketing department of British Home Plc can make use of social media through which they can
acknowledge what their customers are expecting and they think about products that are given to
them. It can be utilised for making online advertisement, this will lead them to attract customers
to services that are being furnished by them (Gelinas, Sutton Jr and Federowicz, 2019). Through
this, market research can be easily carried out through usage of different search engines to have
profitable opportunities.
Improvisation in processes of all departments
It is important for organisation to enhance processes through which efficiency can be
enhanced and unnecessary cost can be eliminated. British Home Plc can make use of information
technology so that transmission of data can be carried out in an appropriate manner like data can
be transmitted by email rather than distributing hard copies related with each aspect. Virtual
collaboration and video conferencing can be used for collaborating with different teams and
carrying out activities in an impelling manner. Along with this, HR department can render
training to all employees with respect to utilisation of technology.
Enhancement within planning
Enterprise resource planning can be used by British Home Plc for linking distinct
functions of organisation. ERP processes are utilised by firms for management and integration of
all the important aspects of firm. The software will aid within integrating different aspects like
formulation of plans, their marketing, inventory purchasing, and many other functions
(Holsapple, Sena and Wagner, 2019). Along with this, it will aid within strategic and operational
decision making.
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In this way IT can be utilised by British Home Plc in rendering their activities in an
affirmative way. Furthermore, precise results can be attained by this which lead to increased
productivity and profitability.
Contributions of Information Technology in British Home Plc
There has been a wider contribution of information technology within every industry. This
aids them to render their services in an enhanced manner along with high accuracy, it will yield
them desired results (Kappelman and et.al ., 2019). Information technology must be utilized by
British Home Plc for attainment of their objectives. They have been explicated beneath:
 Product Development: Information technology will pace up the methods through which
products as well as their services reach within the market. Organization can exemplify
needs of organization through the usage of proprietary and marketing intelligence.
Manufacturing software as well as computer aided design (CAD) will assist British Home
Plc for making improvisation within their decisions. In addition to this, collaborative
technologies can be utilized by them through which team can work as identical unit and
sub-sections can perform their responsibilities accordingly.
 Process improvisation: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) can be utilized by
management for reviewing sales that is taking place with respect to day to operations
(Müller, Vorraber and Slany, 2019). Along with this, cost associated with operating
metrics as well as unified software platform can be analyzed by leader of British Home
Plc in real time scenario. Diverse legacy systems for marketing, finance as well as other
functional areas can be regenerated that will lead them to have cost efficient and
trenchant systems. British Home Plc can make use of ERP system for carrying out their
operations within precise, accurate as well as in quickly manner to have amplified results.
 Cost efficiency: At initial stage, execution of information technology is costly but it
results within long-term of cost savings that makes them worth investing. This also
results within decrease in errors in transaction and when they being executed. This will
yield British Home Plc affirmative results as their will be decrease within waste that will
lead to enhanced productivity and thereby increases the profitability (Owens, Wilson and
Abell, 2019).
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 Competitive edge: Instant development of products will lead them to improvise existent
systems or processes along with this, it will also lead to save cost. Through this,
organization will be able to attain higher competitive position in the market. For an
instance British Home Plc can opt for developing their own application as well as provide
diverse options associated with selecting items and making payments for them
simultaneously (Paul and Chatterjee, 2019). It will assist them to have strong competitive
position within market as well as grab attention of their customers.
From above, it has been analyzed that there have wider contribution of IT while furnishing
services in context of business organization. Apart from, performing the functions quickly, they
will be carried out in an precise as well as accurate manner. This will aid them to attain their
objectives and goals in given time duration in an improvised way.
Task 2
Different ways for dealing with information
Data storage is defined as term which is used for depository of data in an electromagnetic
and other format by making use of computer system or devices. There exist distinct options for
storing information, they include hard data storage as well as cloud computing (Pearlson and
Saunders, 2019). This comprises of data of users and integrates hardware & software systems
which are used to capture, manage as well as prioritise data. It involves applications, archiving,
data warehouse, cloud storage database and backup appliances. The information is stored in the
form of 0 or 1 which denotes bits. Data processing refers to alteration of raw data to meaningful
information through usage of processes. Data is transformed for attaining affirmative results so
that enhanced solution can be formulated for existent problems. An instance can be taken to
understand this aspect, data is gathered from different sources, and it can be financial, institutes,
medicals or any other. It is necessary to extract the information as per requirements like British
Home Plc deals within travel, retail and other sectors. So information is required in that context
only.
Knowledge management: The storage and retrieval of information for having enhanced
collaboration that is liable for locating sources through which desired outcomes can be attained is
referred to as knowledge management (Popovič, Puklavec and Oliveira, 2019). This will aid
British Home Plc to mine knowledge from information as per requirement of organisation. For
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an example, firm can identify trends which prevails within the market, this knowledge can be
utilised for furnishing their services accordingly. With respect to this, training can be furnished
to employees for orientation of their employees for attaining enhanced sales.
Customer relationship management: The process of combining strategies, technologies
and practices for analysing customer communication in consumer life cycle through which
services can be enhanced is referred to as customer relationship management. This will enable
British Home Plc to emphasise on relationship among employees, individuals and customers
through which requirements can be analysed and served as per that (Raisinghani and Idemudia,
2019). Distinct types of CRM exist which can be used by firm, they are specified beneath:
 Operational CRM: The streamlining of processes like marketing, sales and service
automation. This can be used by distinctive sectors of British Home Plc for generation of
leads, transforming contacts, gathering facts and delivering services through usage of
customer lifecycle.
 Analytical CRM: This will assist British Home Plc for identification of better ways
through which customers can be served in impelling manner. It will enable British Home
Plc to analyse data by which insight can be gained. The top management can develop
efficacious decisions as well as acknowledge sales that have been incurred.
 Collaborative CRM: This is also called Strategic CRM as this will aid British Home Plc
for sharing information among distinct units of firm such as sales, technical & support
and marketing teams (Sebaa, Nouicer and Tari, 2019).
Data management: British Home Plc can store information by making use of distinct
options but it is crucial to manage it in an effectual manner to ensure integrity, availability and
confidentiality. This will assist firm within saving of data from any kind of intruder or external
access such as hacking, wannacry attack or any other.
Communication management: Interaction acts as an important aspect for rendering
activities of firm for ensuring that project is being completed according to anticipated standards
as well as without any errors. It implies that British Home Plc can provide their employees with
important information with respect to what is imperative for whom, duration of task and
responsibilities assigned to individuals (Whisenand and Dunphy, 2019). This will aid employees
of firm to deliver their roles in an enhanced way.
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Task 3
Evaluation of IT systems for supporting value added change.
Firms opt for rendering their activities in improvised way through which they can be a
leader within the market irrespective of situation which prevails within. It is important for British
Home Plc to make appropriate use of information system as this will aid them to formulate
significant utilisation of data along with diminished workload (Zheng, Zheng and Li, 2019). This
will allow them to comply with distinct regulations. By making appropriate use of British Home
Plc, firm can furnish their services at affordable prices and this will lead them to attain higher
profitability. Through effectual usage of system needs can be fulfilled and for this it is important
for each individual to make use of IT systems while delivering their services. This will lead to
boost their morale as by this services can be furnished as per desired standards and also demands
of customers will also be accomplished. Basically, it implies a revolutionary way by which
business effectiveness can be improvised with respect to profitability and productivity in an
enhanced way.
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Illustration 1: Business Value added change

Data is being collected from different sources and stored within the database of British
Home Plc as per their requirements. Along with this, data is being processed by making use of
different software for extracting information. In context to this, it is being distributed within
business processes and management activities on the basis of kind of data it is (Aasheim, Li and
Williams, 2019). This involves customer & knowledge management, enterprise and supply chain
with regards to business processes. With respect to management, an activity involves formulation
of plans, coordinating, control, modelling and decision making. This will assist British Home
Plc to attain positioning along with profits in the market. Furthermore, it will lead to creation of
assenting affect on operations that are being carried out by firm and lead them to render value
added services. Some important assets which will lead British Home Plc to attain their goals
through usage of information technology system are illustrated below:
1. Assistance within business processes: IT assists organisation in furnishing value added
services for workforce of British Home Plc. An instance can be taken to understand this
aspect, like manual management of inventory will be difficult but in case transaction
processing system will be used then it will become easy as well as time will also be
reduced which can be used in other activities (Ali, 2019). It will lead the firm to have
accurate results as well as performance of employees will also be enhanced.
2. Aids in decision-making: Sustainability and performance of firm entirely depends on
ways they devise plans. It is clear from the figure illustrated above, in which raw data is
processed and transformed into meaningful information that can be used by British Home
Plc within formulating their decisions. This can be utilised for delivering services in an
enhanced way as well as mistakes can also be omitted which may lead to heavy loss. In
addition to this, information technology will assist them to have video conferencing
among their different industries. This will smoothen the way in which operations are
conducted.
3. Analysis and information storage: In present context, organisations do not make use of
traditional methods for storage of information as they are costly and it becomes difficult
to access them (Carvalho and et.al ., 2019). This might also lead delay within decision
making. An example can be taken to acknowledge this aspect like if information is
required by any department of British Home Plc then it has to be manually given and in
case IT is being utilised then confidential information can be shared by the usage of
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email. It is always not feasible to deliver information in such a manner. Therefore, British
Home Plc needs to make use of information technology so that their activities become
smoother.
It is clear from above that British Home Plc can have intensified results through utilisation of
information technology. This will lead them to make sure sustainability as well as impelling
performance within the market for longer time frame (Clayton and Clopton, 2019). It will yield
them to render value added services for their customers, employees and overall organisation.
Task 4
Recommendations for practical IT solutions
Information technology will aid firm to have enhanced outcomes as by this they will be
able to deliver services in an amplified manner. It can be understood by taking an instance like
through the utilisation of transaction processing system computations will become easy and
precise (Gelinas, Sutton Jr and Federowicz, 2019). This is suggested that if British Home Plc
develops their own application then it will lead to have better outcomes as more customers can
be attracted towards services which are furnished by them. This denotes that their sales margin
will also be enhanced. Along with this, it is recommended that firm must update their systems as
well as software which they will be using. The reason behind this is that when notification for
update comes they include new features which will aid British Home Plc to have enhanced
features with each update. This also eliminates loopholes if they do exist within the system. It is
recommended that firm can opt for accounting consultancy regulatory system which is
responsible for usage of system for collection, storage, and management and processing. For this
software like XBRL (eXtensible business reporting) can be utilised that are designed to enhance
ways through which financial data is being communicated with higher authorities. This will lead
them formulate decisions in an affirmative way.
It is suggested that cloud computing can be utilised by British Home Plc for storage of
information that will lead to reduce cost related with management and maintenance of
information technology system. They are liable for rendering services within distinct units which
enables them to have access to services whenever they are being required. This will lead firm to
eliminate the cost that is related with saving of information in context of different departments of
British Home Plc. Along with this, cost associated with expensive equipments can be used in
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some other activities. This will lead firm to reduce energy consumption along with minimised
time delays in services. Apart from this, it is suggested that 5G technologies will assist them to
scale down or enhance their operations as per their requirements. This leads them with enhanced
networks which will make their operations easier (Holsapple, Sena and Wagner, 2019). Through
this, employees can share and interact their resources whenever it is being required.
Conclusion
From above, it can be concluded that information technology has important role in
organisation and the ways in which they deliver their services & operations. Through this
amplified results can be attained. It will assist them to render their functions according to
departments in which they work. This denotes that information technology has made wider
contribution in the way businesses execute their operations. Along with this, there are different
options which can be utilised by firms for ensuring that data stored by them is secured and
managed in an appropriate manner so that their performance do not get hampered. Furthermore,
when data can be accessed from anywhere or anytime it becomes easy to formulate decisions.
This will lead them to have value added services which will ensure higher performance and
sustainability in an impelling manner.
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REFERENCES
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Whisenand, T.G. and Dunphy, S.M., 2019. Accelerating student learning of technology terms:
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