IT for Business: A Comprehensive Report on POS Systems and Advantages

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the role of Information Technology (IT), with a focus on Point of Sale (POS) systems, in modern business operations. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of POS systems, highlighting their significance in data storage, transaction management, and inventory control. The report discusses how POS systems contribute to competitive advantage by enabling data-driven decision-making and improved profitability. It also examines the benefits of a centralized database, including enhanced data integration and security. Furthermore, the report addresses the telecommunication options available for POS systems, the types of networks suitable for business needs (such as LAN), and the potential risks associated with POS systems, including security breaches, privacy concerns, and confidentiality issues. The overall aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of how POS systems can be effectively utilized to streamline business processes, improve decision-making, and achieve strategic objectives.

Running head: IT for business
IT FOR BUSINESS

IT for business
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Advantages and Disadvantages.......................................................................................................1
POS in context to competitive advantage........................................................................................2
Advantages of centralized database.................................................................................................2
Role of POS in decision making......................................................................................................3
Point of sale process business effectively....................................................................................3
Tracked information is effective through manual methods.........................................................4
Type of questions that could be answered...................................................................................4
The data considered to manage the activities...............................................................................4
Telecommunication option in POS..................................................................................................4
Type of network...........................................................................................................................4
Type of Media..............................................................................................................................5
Type of risk in POS system.............................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7
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Introduction
The discussion in this report will be made on the case study concerned to Bloomberg.
The focus will be given to the method concerned to POS. In the recent scenario, technology
has a great role in completing the activities of the company. Without technology, it cannot be
possible for the company to conduct the activities in a proper manner. Less time is consumed
if the technology is taken into consideration. Sales are related to POS. It has been analyzed
that POS is a place where the overall sales of the company take place (Ingram et al., 2015).
POS is a step in which the operations are completed that take place between the
customers and the employees. In this paper, the discussion will be made on the advantages
and disadvantages related to POS. It has been seen that it plays a significant role at the time
of conducting the routine activities. Decisions are also related to the concept and if the
business takes into consideration this technique then functions of the company can take place
in a right direction.
Advantages and Disadvantages
If POS is taken into consideration then it can be analyzed that there are various
advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are:
The advantage is related to the storing of the information. For the company it can be
simple to collect and store the data in less space and in context to it there are many facilities
that are offered like distributing, storing and also managing the proper track of the
information. It has also been seen that there are many important transactions which can be
evaluated in POS and it give assistance in sales so that products that are sold can be managed
in a proper way (Blust and Driscoll, 2017). The information can also be gathered by focusing
on the technique of POS and through this concept; it can be simple to enhance the overall
inventory which manages the history in context to the sales of the products (Larson and
Malone, 2015).
The decisions are considered in relation to the management of inventory and it can be
evaluated that it can help in reducing the conflicts and confusion which can be created in the
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acts taken into consideration by the company. When completing all the units it can be seen
that learner inventory is considered in a proper manner (Medineckiene et al., 2015).
Reporting which is related to the cost also helps in finding out the actual facts
concerned with the products and it can be easy to manage the overall profits achieved or
earned by the company. In this method, the accounting is also one of the factors in which
transparency is maintained. This method helps to manage the transparency in the data which
is gathered (Khilnani and Iverson, 2016).
Disadvantages
To upgrade the overall system is essential on a regular basis so that input can be
increased. There are many risks which are concerned with hacking and also the information
is transferred to the next person who does not have rights.
POS in context to competitive advantage
By focusing on the system of POS, it has been seen that there are many advantages
which help to achieve competitive advantage. With the help of this method, it can be
evaluated that the information is collected which can give impact to the process of decision
making. Accurate decisions can be considered and it will also give assistance to achieve
competitive advantage. Point of sale is considered as a platform which can help the company
to control the data in context to overall products offered by the company. Through this
technique, it can be easy for the company to enhance the overall profits which will help the
business to expand the operations in the market (McLaughlin and Lyon, 2016).
Advantages of centralized database
If the focus is given to the centralized database it can be seen that there are many pros
which are related to it. This is essential for the companies but it is also important for the
small organizations. There are many benefits like it is considered as an easy process which
helps to manage the overall change and just due to this the data can be enhanced. Next
benefit is also related to the high integration of the data which has a connection with the less
data redundancy. The information can be managed in a place that is one of the methods of
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this technique. When the emphasis is given to the high security of the data it can be evaluated
that situations can be controlled where issues take place on a frequent basis.
The time frame is also one of the aspects which are considered so that the data can be
analyzed in a proper manner. With the help of this, it can be easy to maintain the information
which is collected. Management of database is also considered so that the overall process can
be managed and also portability can be maintained. At the time of maintaining the resources,
the impact is also seen on securing the overall information. These points are considered as a
benefit which is related to the centralized database. It is important to maintain a proper
database so that the company can easily achieve goals and objectives.
Role of POS in decision making
Decision-making process and information management can be easy by POS system
considerations. Competitive advantage can be achieved by consideration of the first step that
is in relation to the data-driven decisions that should be properly done (Barney and Ray,
2015).
Point of sale process business effectively
Data associated with product's sale is provided by POS and is necessary for earning
revenue margins and to achieve large market area. Emphasis on improved decisions can be
made such that benefits and discounts can be given inappropriate manner by using real-time
data. Collected data can be beneficial in raising the actions of back office and also customer's
evaluation and knowledge takes place inappropriate manner. By emphasizing on POS data, it
has been considered that it is essential to focus on customized decisions. It is also beneficial
in examining the data that is essential for precise decision making such that competitive
advantage can be achieved. It can also be beneficial in weakness considerations which can be
noticed during sales phase and the activities promotion phase. It has been examined that
tracking of information is easy and effective with the use of POS (Coronel and Morris,
2016).
This can also be worried due to the orders that cut the stock to examine best sellers.
With the use of manual methods it can be finished but if the emphasis is made on the
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management of time thus it can be viewed as less effective. It delivers the similar information
about the order type that is viewed by the customers.
Tracked information is effective through manual methods
It can be seen that with the help of manual methods but it will consume more time
which is not good in the present situation of the business. In the manual methods, there are
many opportunities for getting wrong information and it can lead to wrong decisions. To
track the information is important and it considers the human efforts and also the time and
then also there will be a confusion of in the context of the tracked information (Kim, 2015).
Type of questions that could be answered
There is a large amount of questions that should be answered so that information can
be availed easily. There are also questions which are related to marketing and sales and it can
be easily given by considering the system of POS. The customer queries are also offered
which is considered as valuable for the organization when they make the decisions.
The data considered to manage the activities
There are various types of information that are collected with the help of POS. these
information helps to make proper decisions and also focuses on the field related to
discrepancies. The change in the process is based on the information that is gathered with the
help of POS System (Pavlik and McIntosh, 2018).
Telecommunication option in POS
It has been seen that in the area of telecommunication or the operations related to
telecommunication is available with the four season's greenhouse. The choice is concerned
with the telecommunication that should be considered so that need of the company can be
considered. There are many options which are still present in the company and it has a
connection with the type of network that should be considered (Lam, Lee, and Tsai, 2018).
Type of network
There are many types of the network which are available and linked to
telecommunication. If LAN is taken into consideration then it is the best choice. The reason
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behind this is related to the size of the company. If the organization is small then network
required will also be small. The connectivity of the LAN is high in speed and it emphasizes
on resources which can be considered by the small organization who are also focusing on the
limited financial resources (Lee et al., 2015).
Type of Media
It has been seen that the wire technology can give advantages to the small companies
like four season's greenhouse and nursery. If the focus is given to the wired community it can
be analyzed that it has a good connection and also the hacking issue is less. Ethernet cables
focus on maintaining proper connectivity (Jenkins, Ford, and Green, 2018).
Type of risk in POS system
By proper investigation, it can be evaluated that there are different types of risks
which are related to the use of the POS system. Also, there are many ways which can help
the company to secure the overall risks. The types of risk on which focus should be given are
related to POS system. Privacy, confidentiality, and security are the type of the risks. These
are considered as common risks that are brought with the use of POS system.
a.) Security: as it can be analyzed that the information huge in size can be
stored on POS system and the information plays a great role. So, it is important that the
company should focus on safeguarding the overall information. If security is not
maintained then it can give an adverse effect on the stakeholders. If the information is
hacked then the company has to face a huge financial loss which can impact the growth
of the company. To maintain proper safety it is important for the company to consider
authentication system so that information can be secured (Long, 2018).
b.) Privacy: POS system takes into consideration various types of important
data. This is important to manage the privacy of the data which is stored. It is seen by the
fact that if the information is concerned with the customers and is given in the hand of the
third person then privacy can be affected which can give impact on the goodwill of the
company (Li, Wu, and Subramanian, 2015).
c.) Confidentiality: By considering the use of POS system it has been seen
that there is always an opportunity that confidentiality should be maintained and it should
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not be leaked. If it is leaked then the negative impact can be seen in the overall activities.
Also, on a routine basis, there are huge numbers of credit and debit card which are
scanned and it is one of the major issues which can be analyzed by the large as well as
small companies. It is important to consider firewalls so that the information can be
secured in an effective way (Schwalbe, 2015).
Conclusion
By focusing on the report it can be stated that there are many pros and cons which are
related to the use of POS system. It has been seen that it assist in attaining the competitive
advantage by considering the process of proper decision making. The centralized system can
also be good for the company as it helps to promote the employees and the people by
creating proper decisions. The wired connectivity is linked with LAN and it can also give an
advantage to the company. In addition to it privacy, security, and confidentiality also play a
great role in the usage of POS systems.
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networked culture. NYU press.
Khilnani, R.P. and Iverson, K.N., Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC, 2016. Trusted
operating environment for malware detection. U.S. Patent 9,251,350.
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Lee, S.H., Kim, H.E., Son, K.S., Shin, S.M., Lee, S.J. and Kang, H.G., 2015. Reliability
modeling of safety-critical network communication in a digitalized nuclear power
plant. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 144, pp.285-295.
Li, J., Wu, X. and Subramanian, S., Qualcomm Inc, 2015. Methods and apparatus for
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implications (Vol. 30). Routledge.
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