Information Systems Management and Strategy Report - Analysis

This report provides an overview of enterprise systems, explaining their functionality as cross-functional systems that oversee various organizational functions. It highlights the advantages of enterprise systems, including increased efficiency, improved customer service, enhanced data security, and cost reduction. The report emphasizes the importance of integrating information systems into project management, detailing how this integration can lead to project completion within budget and timeline, improved communication, and better project tracking. The report also provides examples and references to support its claims, making it a valuable resource for understanding the role and impact of enterprise systems in modern business operations and project management.

Information Systems Management and Strategy

Contents
Enterprise system and its working...................................................................................................3
Advantage of enterprise system.......................................................................................................4
Importance of integrating information system into project management........................................6

Enterprise system and its working
Due to advancement in technology and changing needs of customers as well as business
organizations, the use of information systems in business has increased. These information
systems help in efficient working and keep the organization updated. During the phase of
introduction of information technology in businesses, every organization used different
information system for every function of the business. For example, human resource department
would be using different software for automation of departmental processes and sales and
marketing department would be using different software. This use of the different software was
due to the fact that this software was not able to share information with each other at that point in
time. This problem was mitigated with the introduction of enterprise systems.
Enterprise system can be defined as a cross-functional system which can oversee different
functions of organization single handily. With the help of enterprise system information in
relation to a different department is not required to be put manually in another department (Sykes
et.al, 2014). The information system of the organization will update the information in all
departmental systems.
Functioning of these enterprise systems is based on a set of integrated software which is
governed by a single centralized database. For effective automation of business processing, an
organization is required to list out the processes which they want to automate and link them to
different other processes that are affected by such processes. For example, sales department
processes should be connected to inventory management department processes in an enterprise
system. This is very important state otherwise integrations process may not be properly
developed (Monk & Wagner, 2012).

Nowadays, pre-packaged enterprise systems are available in the market which can be customised
as per additional requirements of the business units. But still, large organizations generally
develop their own enterprise system with the help of software vendors.
Advantage of enterprise system
1. Increases efficiency and effectiveness of business processes
One of the biggest advantages of using enterprise system in business is that information is stored
in more organized manner. This helps in increasing efficiency in business processing as the time
required in information retrieval is quicker as compared to other systems. For example for
ordering stock, inventory manager is not required to ask sales department about sales figures to
estimate required stock. Inventory manager can see sales report of previous months on an expert
system.
2. Improvement in customer service
Due to the advancement of technology, expectations of customers have increased from
businesses. People will prefer a vendor with more variety of additional customer services as
compared to other vendors (Leon, 2014). For example, a customer will prefer an online vendor
who is giving services of instant 2-day delivery as compared to other vendor delivering goods in
5 days. These additional services can be provided by a business organization with the help of
expert systems. For example, 2-day delivery service can be provided by an organization if its
information processing is fast that is a result of using enterprise systems.
3. Security of customer data

In previous years we have seen various cases in which virtual security of a company is breached
by hackers that resulted in the loss of important customer data like credit card information,
personal details, contact information etc. There are laws that state that primary responsibility of
securing personal information of customer lies with the company and in case of default such
organization will be held responsible. This security breaches can result in a financial loss as well
as a reputational loss for a company. Security measures taken in expert systems are very strict as
it is based on centralized functioning (Laudon & Laudon, 2016).
4. Reduction in overall cost
It is a fact that initial investment cost implementation of the expert system is very high but in
long run, these are very cost efficient. Annual running cost of the company is reduced with the
help of expert systems. This released money can be used by businesses in a more productive
manner such as providing better business experience to customers.
Importance of integrating information system into project management
Project management is a network of various processes which are performed to achieve a
particular goal and objective. The risk involved in project management is very high as it required
various financial and other resources of a company. This risk can be improved and project
management processes can be made efficient with the help of project management information
system. Here we will discuss how the integration of information system in project management
can lead to the development of an organization.
Information system helps in integration of various processes of project development that result in
the completion of the project within given time and budget (Schwalbe, 2015). Information

required in one section of project management is updated in whole project management system
on a real-time basis. This helps in saving time in unproductive communication channels. This
also helps in evaluating the performance of employees working in project management process
and deciding incentive and motivation programs for them.
Integration of information system in project management is very helpful in keeping regular track
of the project status. Managers can oversee the overall functioning of the project in detail with
the help of a variety of report generated by the project management information system. Any
deficiencies in project processing can be identified at the initial stage of the project and required
modifications can be made accordingly. Information system also enables organization in
improving the reporting requirement of project management. Project managers can provide
detailed reports to the top management with the help of information system (Kerzner, 2013).
One of the biggest limitations that result in failure of project management process is a deficiency
of communication in project management process. The process of communication can be
improved with the help of information system. All the actions taken in project management
process are recorded and kept at a centralized location in a project management information
system. All the employees working in project management process can access this information
anywhere and anytime.

References
Kerzner, H. (2013). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and
controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2016). Management information system. Pearson Education
India.
Leon, A. (2014). Enterprise resource planning. McGraw-Hill Education.
Monk, E., & Wagner, B. (2012). Concepts in enterprise resource planning. Cengage Learning.
Schwalbe, K. (2015). Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Sykes, T. A., Venkatesh, V., & Johnson, J. L. (2014). Enterprise system implementation and
employee job performance: Understanding the role of advice networks. MIS quarterly, 38(1).