HC1041 IT for Business: POS System Advantages and Disadvantages

This report examines the implementation of a Point of Sale (POS) system within the context of Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery. It begins by outlining the advantages and disadvantages of POS systems, such as replacing cash registers and facilitating decision-making, while also acknowledging drawbacks like costly upgrades and security risks. The report then explores how a POS system can provide competitive advantages through computerized operations, and how a centralized database offers benefits in terms of data management and decision-making. Furthermore, it delves into how the POS system facilitates decision-making by accurately maintaining inventory and streamlining business activities, contrasting this with the inefficiencies of manual information tracking. The report recommends telecommunication options, favoring wireless LAN technology for its suitability to the business's needs. Finally, it addresses the risks associated with POS systems, particularly in terms of security, privacy, and confidentiality, and suggests measures to mitigate these risks, concluding with a recommendation for timely updates and the use of updated anti-virus software to maintain data security.

Running Head: IT FOR BUSINESS
IT For Business

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Advantages and Disadvantages of POS System..............................................................................2
Attainment of Competitive Advantages through POS System........................................................3
Advantages of Having a Centralized Database...............................................................................3
Facilitation of Decision Making by POS System............................................................................4
Recommended Telecommunication Options for POS System........................................................5
Risks of POS System and Protection of Business against Such Risks............................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Recommendation.............................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Small businesses of every size and type are adopting information technology for the purpose of
enhancing their business operations. Such adoption is positively impacting such organizations as
now they are able to cover their incapability in terms of know-how and resources by way of
implementing such technology in business (Turner and Musman, 2018).
Point of Sale or POS system can be defined as centralization of business operations through a set
of hardware and software. Traditional cash registers have altogether replaced with the
introduction of POS systems in the business. It assists businesses in increasing their revenue
along with customizing their experiences for meeting the needs of the customers. This report
focuses on the implementation of POS systems in the case of Four Seasons Greenhouse and
Nursery.
Advantages and Disadvantages of POS System
Advantages-
Replacement of Cash Register- POS systems is capable of replacing the use of traditional cash
registers in the business. It will perform the function of tracking, input and distribution of data
thereby offering useful information to the users for the better management of the business.
Facilitates Decision Making- POS systems performs the function of maintaining data and records
which assists the business owners in effective decision making. The analysis of the records can
further assist the owners in ascertaining the highly profitable items of the business. Decisions
regarding the quantity to be ordered are also facilitated by POS systems (Wu, Straub and Liang,
2015).
Accountability- accountability can be established by the owners of garden center by way of
delegating the responsibility to the capable staff. The ultimate operations of the business are
performed by the staff itself. The owners can only establish the aims and goals to be achieved by
them (Fenz, Heurix, Neubauer and Pechstein, 2014).
Disadvantages-

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Troublesome software based systems- web based systems are suitable to be used by the
businesses as compared to the use of software based systems. Software is incapable of
performing the functions relating to inventory and therefore it needs hardware for establishing
connections between hardware terminals and internet (Eason, 2014).
Overpriced Upgrades- Updates are very important for POS systems for its smooth functioning.
However, the updates require licenses and therefore are very costly and act as the disadvantage
of POS system (Yeh, Lee and Pai, 2015).
Security Risks- POS system linked central networks faces a number of security risks. The
personal information of the customers is at risk when the business uses POS system. Updates are
needed for such systems in order to protect it from such risks (Yeh, Lee and Pai, 2015).
Attainment of Competitive Advantages through POS System
Attainment of competitive advantage will be ultimate result of the implementation of the POS
system. With the implementation of POS system into the business, a number of manual processes
become computerized thereby leading to the enhancement of the business operations. Various
reports and analysis offered by such system can be used by the business owners for the benefit of
the business. The profitable products can be easily identified through this system; therefore, the
owners can increase its production and reduce the production of non- profitable items.
Furthermore, the costs associated with each product can be easily evaluated in the context of the
profitability (Ghapanchi, Wohlin and Aurum, 2014).
Advantages of Having a Centralized Database
The business will certainly benefit as it has a centralized database. A number of advantages are
offered by the centralized database to the business. A centralized database allows a business to
act with faster speed with regard to the management of information and decision making
regarding actions and strategies. This is due to the fact that there are only few layers of data
required to be investigated. The business can easily focus on its vision through the adoption of a
centralized database. Moreover, conflicts are as centralized database bears the responsibility of
collecting ad storing the business data. Furthermore, data redundancy is reduced and data
integrity is increased with the help of centralized database (Avgerou and Walsham, 2017).

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Facilitation of Decision Making by POS System
Inventory can be accurately maintained with the help of POS systems as the business doe no
have to depend on speculation.
Effective Processing of Business activities by POS Systems -
Sales are instantly tracked by the POS systems which, turn, allows the business effectively
processes its transactions on timely basis. The inventory information is also offered by such
systems along with sales information with the help of which business can be maintained in an
effective manner (Chae, Koh and Prybutok, 2014).
Manual Tracking of Information- Effective or Not Effective-
Manual information tracking is considered to be completely ineffective as it does not allow
accessing the operational data. Operational data is very important for managing the business in
an appropriate manner. Manual tracking also do not help in identifying the profitable items as
cost reporting cannot be performed by it in a proper manner (Wu, Xu, Li and Zhu, 2015).
Effective Answers to Different Questions –
Effective answers to different questions are provided by the POS systems. The business gets the
answers to questions like the number of units to be ordered, discarded and sold. The dependence
of speculation by the business is also reduced as the system provides the correct inventory counts
to the owners. In other words, the reliance of business on guesswork is reduced (Chae, Koh and
Prybutok, 2014).
Use of Information for Better Management of the Business
Point of sale system tracks the data at the time of sale and therefore there is no requirement for
the business to perform manual tracking. The information provided by the system can be used
processing of data, updating inventory, compiling sales history, etc. The business operations are
enhanced when the POS system itself perform data tracking and input (Wagner, Beimborn and
Weitzel, 2014).

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Recommended Telecommunication Options for POS System
Types of Networks- the options available for the establishment of network are LAN, WAN and
MAN. Since garden center is a small business, it requirements are also small which can be
adequately met with the help of LAN. LAN has the capability of supporting multiple POS
terminals configured for the purpose of accessing the database server. WAN can also meet the
requirement of garden center but it will proof to be expensive for the business (Piotrowicz and
Cuthbertson, 2014).
Types of Media- wireless technology is recommended to the garden center. The use of this
technology can be made in the form of wireless LAN. The entire industry’s operating mode can
be altered through the wireless technology. Encrypted communication is facilitated by the
terminals with the help of WPA2 security standard. The wireless technologies suggested for this
POS system are infrared, narrowband microwave and spread spectrum (Piotrowicz and
Cuthbertson, 2014).
Risks of POS System and Protection of Business against Such Risks
The maintenance of the security, privacy and confidentiality of the business data. However, POS
system faces risks in these aspects.
Security- security of the business data is compromised when it is exposed to the hackers. This is
the case when older operating systems are used by the business. Sometimes, the systems are
itself fraudulent which gives access to the hackers to easily gain access to business data. Phishing
and some other fraudulent practices are undertaken by the hackers and they also install some
software in the system with the help of which they can obtain the confidential information of the
customers without getting caught. The protection of system security can be ensured with the help
of anti- virus software and making the use of strong passwords for the system. It should further
be ensured that same password is not used by the owners for two systems (Hines and Youssef,
2018).
Privacy- the personal information of the customers is obtained by the business such as names,
credit card information, date of birth, address, etc. Such data is preserved in the systems
maintained by the companies. Hackers make the use of such information by hacking the systems
and servers with the help of spyware. In this way, hackers make unauthorized use of such

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information. The protection of data privacy can be ensured by garden center by way of following
security protocols through its staff (de Gusmão, e Silva, Silva, Poleto and Costa, 2016). Updating
the POS systems on timely basis can also protect the privacy of the customer data within the
system. Privacy is also protected by businesses with the help of multi- biometric systems.
Confidentiality- when the customers provide their personal information to the Four Seasons
Greenhouse and Nursery, they expect that the business will maintain the confidentiality of their
data. However, from time to time, the system faces confidentiality breaches due to which the
trust of the customers gets affected (Moon, Kim and Ham, 2014). When the business and
customer information is accessed by an unauthorized person, confidentiality breach takes place.
This, in turn, severely affects the customers of the business. The confidentiality of the data can
be protected by using emerging technology based software. The emerging threats will also be
covered by such software along with the known and unknown threats. Such software will also
perform the function of protecting the business and customer data from threats and malware and
will offer a trustworthy VPN connectivity (Moon, Kim and Ham, 2014).
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery have made the
effective use of information technology in the form of POS systems. POS system can be defined
as centralization of business operations through a set of hardware and software. POS system
have assisted this business in effective decision making and has assisted in gaining competitive
advantage. The business no longer depends on speculation and is capable of improving the
profitability of its products. Since POS system is a centralized database, it will offer immense
benefits to the business. However, security, privacy and confidentiality risks are faced by the
POS systems which can be protected with the help of certain measures. Wireless LAN
technology should be used by the business for smooth functioning of its operations.
Recommendation
Updates are important for the purpose of maintaining the security of business data, therefore,
POS systems need to be updated on timely basis. Furthermore, the use of updated anti- virus
software should be made so that the security of data is not compromised.

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References
Avgerou, C. and Walsham, G. 2017. Information Technology in Context: Studies from the
Perspective of Developing Countries. Routledge.
Chae, H.C., Koh, C.E. and Prybutok, V.R., 2014. Information technology capability and firm
performance: Contradictory findings and their possible causes. Mis Quarterly, 38(1), pp.305-
326.
Eason, K.D., 2014. Information technology and organisational change. CRC Press.
Ghapanchi, A.H., Wohlin, C. and Aurum, A., 2014. Resources contributing to gaining
competitive advantage for open source software projects: An application of resource-based
theory. International Journal of Project Management, 32(1), pp.139-152.
Hines, C. and Youssef, A., 2018. Machine Learning Applied to Point-of-Sale Fraud Detection.
In International Conference on Machine Learning and Data Mining in Pattern Recognition (pp.
283-295). Springer, Cham.
Moon, Y.J., Kim, W. and Ham, S., 2014. Users' intentions to employ a Point-Of-Sale
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Piotrowicz, W. and Cuthbertson, R., 2014. Introduction to the special issue information
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Turner, A.J. and Musman, S., 2018. Applying the Cybersecurity Game to a Point-of-Sale
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Wagner, H.T., Beimborn, D. and Weitzel, T., 2014. How social capital among information
technology and business units drives operational alignment and IT business value. Journal of
Management Information Systems, 31(1), pp.241-272.

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Wu, S., Xu, Y., Li, Y. and Zhu, Y., 2015. POS: A popularity-based online scaling scheme for
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