Foundation of Information System Report: Harvey Norman IT Solutions

This report, prepared by an IT consultant, examines the information system needs of the Australian retailer Harvey Norman. It begins with a company profile and a needs analysis focusing on the challenges the company faces in its computer retail operations, including aging infrastructure and the need for improved online presence. The report identifies the need for an Enterprise Management System and discusses two alternative solutions: OMNIbus and WEBGUI. It provides a cost-benefit analysis, comparing the pros and cons of each system and recommending OMNIbus. Furthermore, the report explores the choice between in-house IT development and outsourcing, analyzing the risks, advantages, and costs associated with each approach. Finally, it discusses the importance of data analysis for increasing revenue and supporting future business plans, concluding with a comprehensive overview of the IT strategy for Harvey Norman.

Foundation of information system
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Company Profile..............................................................................................................................3
Case needs analysis..........................................................................................................................3
Information Technology..................................................................................................................5
OMNIbus.....................................................................................................................................6
WEBGUI.....................................................................................................................................6
Cost-benefit analysis....................................................................................................................7
Recommendations........................................................................................................................8
In-house development and outsourced IT........................................................................................8
Risks............................................................................................................................................8
Advantages..................................................................................................................................8
Cost..............................................................................................................................................9
Company use of outsourcing...........................................................................................................9
Data analysis..................................................................................................................................10
Benefits of data analysis for the company.................................................................................10
Data analysis to increase revenues and for future plans............................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
The aim of the report is to evaluate the needs of the information system within the company.
Being working as an IT consultant for an Australian company Harvey Norman, it is essential to
help the company with the best IT solution. The company is a retailer and deals in different
products furniture, bedding, computers, communication and other consumer electrical product
and the product that has been selected is computers.
The report includes the analysis related to the company and the overview of the issues faced by
the company. According to the challenges, it has been found that the company needs an
enterprise management system that will support the strategy of the company. In addition, the
identification related to the two alternative information system has been done that can meet the
needs of the company. Further, it includes the discussion related to the choice of in-house
development and outsourcing components that suits best to the company. In the end, there is
discussion related to the data analysis to the company revenue/success.

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Company Profile
Harvey Norman is one of the large Australian-based multi-national retailers who perform their
operations in Australia as well as in different countries. The retail company offer products like
furniture, bedding, computers, communication and other consumer electrical products. The
history of the company shows that the company came into existence in the year 1961 and was
opened by Gerry Harvey and Ian Norman. This has been found that the major business strategy
which is followed by the company is expansion through franchising. The company owned stores
are operated by the independent franchisees.1 The franchisees of the company offer the same
products which are offered in Australia stores. In addition, this has been found that with the large
operations company is dealing with some or other issues which are related to the IT system.
Recently, it was found that the company faced the issue related to the supply of products.
According to this, the company made use of the IT systems which helped to improve the supply
chain system. This shows that the company follow the business strategy of change management
in the company.
Case needs analysis
The operations of the company are increasing with the rise in the issues which can be resolved
with the help of the IT system. The product on which the company focuses is computer. Harvey
Norman deals in retailing of computers and sells them through their stores as it is one of the
major products. They are currently facing the issues related to the retail of computer in stores.
The major business challenges which are faced include: -
1 Harvey Norman, About Harvey Norman Stores (19 November 2018) Harvey Norman
<https://www.harveynorman.com.au/about-harvey-norman-stores>

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 The requirement of the replacement in the ageing infrastructure but retaining the existing
functionality of the computer retails in stores.
 Bringing the rise in the capacity to the effective and efficient support extensive company
services related to the computers.
 The company is looking for the rise in the future growth and increase in an online
presence with the extra capacity and functionality.2
 Harvey Norman is dealing with issues due to the rapidly changing technologies and
future growth related to computers.
The company has the configuration information related to their network that is placed or stored
in different locations. This majorly includes excel spreadsheets, hardcoded in software, in
network design documentation. It include the centralisation of the all configuration data into one
location that offer the benefit to Harvey Norman on different level which include reducing the
overheads of maintaining the information at single location, maintaining data in the accurate and
reliable level and to offer launching platform which contribute in developing the system tools
that can reduce the network downtime.3
This has been identified from the issues and needs of the Harvey Norman that there is need of the
Enterprise Management System. The current system that is followed by the company is to reach
the end-of-useful life and availability of the external support limited. Now, it is the time when
there is a need to build the best design to infrastructure with the help of the IT system. Harvey
2 IBM Software, Streamlining Harvey Norman’s enterprise management system (19 November 2018) Deploy
Partners <https://deploypartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/IBM-SWG-BP-CS-Deploy-Partners-Harvey-
Norman.pdf>
3 DeployPartners, Streamlining Harvey Norman’s Enterprise Management System (19 November 2018) Deploy
Partners <https://deploypartners.com/resources/case-studies/streamlining-harvey-normans-enterprise-management-
system/>

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Norman found on the e-commerce site that the New Enterprise management system is required
to monitor the operations in real-time.
Information Technology
Enterprise management system is considered as the large-scale application software that provide
the support to business process, reporting of activity, information flows and the data analytics in
the complex organisation. The information technology system offers numerous benefits to the
company which shows its importance.4 The effective information system within the Harvey
Norman will improve the process by proper organising the data, making effective decisions for
the company, controlling the data, storing the required information, analysing and planning for
the business and their relevant operations. This impacts the company in a positive manner as they
will be able to manage the retail of computers through stores. In addition to this, the management
of the data through information and effective decision making will contribute in increasing the
sales of the company.5 Further, the different departments of the company make use of the
Information system for their operations and activities. These departments include marketing,
finance, human resources and manufacturing. The major focus is done on the retail department of
products.
Being the IT consultant, this has been found that the work will be performed effectively when
the company will take the help from the expert with the home IT consultants. The company
needs to decide to perform the connection with the DeployPartners who can support to take the
steps to build the information system. Once the DeployPartners will be map out and assess the
4 Kenneth C. Laudon, and Jane P. Laudon. Management information system (Pearson Education, 2016).
5 Kijpokin Kasemsap, ‘The role of information system within enterprise architecture and their impact on business
performance.’ (2018) Global Business Expansion: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications 1078-1102.

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Harvey Norman’s infrastructure to offer a suitable real-time enterprise management system that
can support the critical application. The key functional components of the solution that is built
related to the information system. The department to which the system integrated includes the
work of the environment system, uninterrupted power supply, monitoring the human resource
and the temperature probes that are situated within the distributed storage network.
OMNIbus
The hub of the operational solution is designed by DeployPartner that is Tivoli Netcool
OMNIbus. The system is the master event repository for the fault management system. 6
Pros and cons
This enterprise management system integrates each of the Netcool components that contribute in
delivering the real-time, centralised monitoring of the complex networks with the IT domains.
This server helps the company in handling the events and data sources currently being
experienced with approx. of 400-500 events per hour. This tool allows the company embedded
the network. This infrastructure helps the company in improving the overhead of marinating the
information which is a process followed by retail department. Ultimately, this tool helps the
company in designing the new infrastructure. Though, on the other hand, Harvey Norman needs
to spend the huge amount for managing the infrastructure which is considered as one of the
weaknesses of the system.
6 IBM Software, Streamlining Harvey Norman’s enterprise management system (19 November 2018) Deploy
Partners <https://deploypartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/IBM-SWG-BP-CS-Deploy-Partners-Harvey-
Norman.pdf>

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WEBGUI
WebGUI is considered as one of the effective user-interface that is mainly used by the Harvey
Norman to view the events and network topology graphically.7 This information system works
like a dashboard to reflects the health of sites throughout a company with the use of traffic light
colour system to help in problem areas. This will help the operator to detect the services or the
areas where the fault can take place.
Pros and cons
The major strength of this system is that it supports the company in identifying the faults and
errors in the operations. This will help the company to process their business processes
effectively in support of the competitive strategies. Along with this, the major weakness of the IT
system is that it doesn’t include detecting and acquiring data that can help the company to take
the steps for the betterment of computers retail.
Cost-benefit analysis
The approach of the cost-benefit analysis is used majorly as a systematic approach to analysing
the strengths and weaknesses of the alternative. Harvey Norman makes use of this analysis for
evaluating the decisions, system and values.8 Considering the strengths and weakness of the
company, this has been found that the benefits which are offered by the Omnibus system are
effective rather than the WebGUI. In the comparison of the cost, this can be said that the cost of
OMNIbus and WebGUI is high. This shows that the company should select for the IT system
that offers more service at less cost.
7 DeployPartners, Streamlining Harvey Norman’s Enterprise Management System (19 November 2018) Deploy
Partners <https://deploypartners.com/resources/case-studies/streamlining-harvey-normans-enterprise-management-
system/>
8 Grant Miura, ‘Cost-benefit analysis.' (2018) 14(10) Nature chemical biology 903.

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Recommendations
 It is suggested to the company to select the OMBIbus IT system as it offers high
advantages to Harvey Norman and meets the needs of the company. In addition, this
system helps the company to get the value of the amount paid by them.
In-house development and outsourced IT
In the current era, it is considered as one of the biggest decision to decide between the hiring in-
house developers or outsourcing the web developments. It is essential for the Harvey Norman to
compare and then decide the best for them. These factors include risks, advantages and costs
which are discussed below: -
Risks
In the in-house and outsourcing risks, in the outsourcing risk, the company need to trust the folks
who share different advantages. In addition, there will be confirmation related to the product
quality. On the other hand, in-house requires you to hire viable talent, management of employees
and the turnover of employees. 9
Advantages
The company has the ability to form the culture around the product for the development. The
teams can easily focus on the product with the common goal. Along with this, in-house
development can be flexible due to which the changes can take place according to the needs of
the company. This will make the company aware of every bit of progress, every need of the
9 Evus Tech, The Difference Between In-House and Outsourcing Web Development (19 November 2018) Evus Tech
<https://medium.com/@EvusTech/the-difference-between-in-house-and-outsourcing-web-development-
dd1e00568e8e>

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product and many other.10 Though, on the other hand, the advantage that outsourcing offer
includes skills related to the data science, design, programming with the experience of the
person. Along with this, the company will get numerous benefits like installation, evaluation,
expert opinion and efficient implementation of the tool that meet the needs of the company and
reduce the issues.
Cost
The company need to spend a good amount for the employees to whom they are hiring for
performing the operations within the company. The team of web development will be able to
manage the resources of the company effectively. The employees who are hired by the company
for the current issues will remain in the organisation for long. Though, on the other hand,
outsourcing remains a lot less expensive than owning an IT department.11 The company just need
to pay the amount for the project that they are willing to get it complete by outsourced web
developers.
Company use of outsourcing
Harvey Norman should select the outsourcing by forming the contacts through the DeployPartner
that can offer the benefit by resolving the issues faced by the company. The company can
include their IT consultant with the deploy team so that this can become cost effective and helps
the team to understand the exact needs of the company. Along with this, this will be onetime
payment for the company. In addition, they will get the Information system from the expert that
10 Syed Aitzaz Haider, et al. ‘A Comparative Analysis of In-house and Outsourced Development in Software
Industry.’ (2016) 141(3) International Journal of Computer Applications 18-22.
11 Nagarajan, R., A. Velanganni Joseph, and S. Sujatha. "Behavioural aspects of software project management-in-
house software development." Indian Journal of Science and Technology 8.S3 (2015): 1-9.

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will contribute to the success of the company. There is less risk involved because the
DeployPartner are known in the market that offers fair value to the company.
Data analysis
Data analysis is the process through which the proper applying of the statistical and techniques to
define and illustrate, condense and evaluate data. In other words, the data analysis is a process of
inspecting, transforming and cleansing data with the goal of discovering the useful information
and support the decisions that are taken by the company. 12
Benefits of data analysis for the company
The analysis of data permits the company in determining the essential trends which can use by
them to meet the goals. In addition, the data analysis assists the business in determining the
problems that are majorly faced by the company so that the company can take relevant actions to
solve the problems.13 The analysis of the data offers the competitive advantage to the Harvey
Norman with the help of which they can compete with the competitors in the market. Harvey
Norman can make use of the data analysis in the market for understanding the habits of potential
customers so that they can meet their expectations by offering them appropriate products.
Data analysis to increase revenues and for future plans
The data analysis of Harvey Norman helps in analysing the change in the preference of the
existing customers from which they are earning high revenue. This will help the company to
meet the needs of the existing customers. Thus, the company will be able to earn the profit from
12 Martin Eising, Data Analysis Overview (19 November 2018) Dashboard insight
<http://www.dashboardinsight.com/articles/new-concepts-in-business-intelligence/data-analysis-overview.aspx>
13 Alan Agresti, An introduction to categorical data analysis (Wiley, 2018).

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the existing customers. In addition, the data analysis helps in understanding the preferred items
and their details which can use by them again when the customer visits.14 Thus, the company can
welcome them with their names and offer them the most preferable item with the discounts. This
will help the company to increase goodwill and ultimately leads to the rise in revenue. The
effective use of data analysis in the supply chain management of the company helps in easy
availability of products which leads to revenue from existing customers. The future plan includes
the need for data analysis for evaluating the actual faults and achievement of needs of the
company. This reflects that data analysis plays a vital role in IT.
14 Chris Chatfield, Introduction to multivariate analysis. (Routledge, 2018).

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Conclusion
In the end, it can be concluded that the issues and needs of the Harvey Norman product is
reflected related to the information system. This is clear that the company need an Information
system which helps them in understanding the best solution for computer retails and can help the
business for increasing revenue and improving operations. The two IT systems that are designed
by DeployPartners are recommended to the company which include OMNIbus and WebGUI
with the proper analysis. Further, there is analysis related to the in-house development and
outsourcing that helps the company to make the choice. In the end, the report includes the
discussion of data analysis and its need.

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Bibliography
Agresti, Alan. An introduction to categorical data analysis (Wiley, 2018).
Chatfield, Chris, Introduction to multivariate analysis (Routledge, 2018).
DeployPartners, Streamlining Harvey Norman’s Enterprise Management System (19 November
2018) Deploy Partners <https://deploypartners.com/resources/case-studies/streamlining-harvey-
normans-enterprise-management-system/>
Eising, Martin, Data Analysis Overview (19 November 2018) Dashboard insight
<http://www.dashboardinsight.com/articles/new-concepts-in-business-intelligence/data-analysis-
overview.aspx>
Evus Tech, The Difference Between In-House and Outsourcing Web Development (19 November
2018) Evus Tech <https://medium.com/@EvusTech/the-difference-between-in-house-and-
outsourcing-web-development-dd1e00568e8e>
Haider, Syed Aitzaz, et al. ‘A Comparative Analysis of In-house and Outsourced Development
in Software Industry.’ (2016) 141(3) International Journal of Computer Applications 20.
Harvey Norman, About Harvey Norman Stores (19 November 2018) Harvey Norman
<https://www.harveynorman.com.au/about-harvey-norman-stores>
IBM Software, Streamlining Harvey Norman’s enterprise management system (19 November
2018) Deploy Partners <https://deploypartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/IBM-SWG-BP-
CS-Deploy-Partners-Harvey-Norman.pdf>

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Kasemsap, Kijpokin, ‘The role of information system within enterprise architecture and their
impact on business performance.’ (2018) Global Business Expansion: Concepts, Methodologies,
Tools, and Applications 1098.
Laudon, Kenneth C., and Jane P. Laudon. Management information system (Pearson Education,
2016).
Miura, Grant, ‘Cost–benefit analysis.’ (2018) 14(10) Nature chemical biology 903.
R. Nagarajan, A. Velanganni Joseph, and S. Sujatha. ‘Behavioural aspects of software project
management-in-house software development.’ (2015) 8(3) Indian Journal of Science and
Technology 8.