Four Seasons Greenhouse: POS System Implementation Report

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This report analyzes a POS system for Four Seasons Greenhouse.

HC1041
IT for Business
Individual Assignment
Student Name:
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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
1) What are the advantages and disadvantages of the POS system?..........................................3
2) How will this POS system help the business gain competitive advantages?.........................4
3) What are the advantages of having a centralised database?..................................................5
4) How could this POS system facilitate decision making?......................................................6
5) Recommend telecommunication options for this POS system..............................................7
6) What type of risks does the POS system bring and how to protect the business against the
risks?..........................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
Point of sale (POS), is the grouping of hardware and the software which is generally used to
build a unified business operation. Its main function is to maintain the business transactions.
POS system can examine the data and figure out all the sales accounts. By integrating the bar
code scanners, POS is used to improve the price accuracy.
For this thing, this report is developed for the Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s POS
system. This report is categorised into six sections. In the first section, the discussion of the
advantages and disadvantages is done with respect to the new POS system. In the second
section, the discussion is done regarding the competitive advantages associated with the
business gain. In the third section, the discussion is done regarding the advantages that are
associated with the centralised database system. In the fourth section, the discussion is done
regarding the decision making associated with the POS system. In the fifth section, the
discussion is done on the telecommunication system that is associated with the POS. and in
the last section, the discussion is done to protect the Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s
business while opting POS system.
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1) What are the advantages and disadvantages of the POS system?
Advantages:
 Inventory Management: It has an extra level inventory management level. The main
advantage is that it provides the real-time inventory data and it saves hours to manage
a working inventory.
 Greater accuracy: It will remove the manual keying in the items and packets. With this,
it also deducts the account units for the vendor items and removes the entries of sales
transactions.
 Employee tracking: POS uses the specific identification code for the tracking of
employees; the transactions details are also tracked. By this merchant can also find out
behaviour of the strong and weak sales figures.
 Accurate reports: The reports have a very important detail of the daily bases taking and
outings provide the detail to merchant about the business success. According to the
greenhouse and Nursery, they reviewed a report by new system and found out that most
of the prod.
 Performant loyalty program: All the information regarding the customer is saved by
this system. It is beneficial when a customer is adapting the product, and it also
determines the favourite product of the customers (Martin, 2017).
Disadvantages:
 Costly software upgrades: An upgrade is necessary every time; a user has to pay the
charges for new software and a licensee. A very high cost attached to the upgraded
software.
 Problems caused by hardware: It is very time consuming to connect the hardware and it
also very costly in price. If the problem is occurring in the connection, then it consumes
lots of time to solve.
 Security risks: There is a risk of exposing the personal information regarding the debit
card and the credit card while purchasing the software.
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2) How will this POS system help the business gain competitive
advantages?
Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s business can be gained through POS in the
following ways:
 Software is always updated: When a new version is created, the users have to provide
purchase it again. As the technology is constantly getting changed, so Four Seasons
Greenhouse and Nursery’s users don’t have to trap in to change the software and pay for
it repeatedly.
 Get on-going education: A person needs training when they don’t know how to use
something. With a contribution solution, Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s
operator has operated to constant education and training by the provider because it’s
included in a subscription. This allows a person to stay modest.
 Lower upfront cost when expanded: To open or repurchasing a new system, a very
high upfront cost has to be pay, but POS have this benefit. It provides Four Seasons
Greenhouse and Nursery with the low upfront cost, and it increases the business growth.
 Access to unlimited support: When the POS isn’t supporting, and software issues create
then with licenced software user has to find out the problem issue and needs help from
outside. In any type of scenario, there is a loss of money and time.
 Create stronger Omnichannel strategies - Integrating POS with multiple platforms
order e-commerce, management, loyalty and mobility enables to cross channel customer
experience.
 Develop more fluid, seamless operations – It connecting with third-party platforms such
as ride-sharing provider Uber and online delivery apps such as Uber Eats and Grub Hub
(Tasysafeonline, 2018).
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3) What are the advantages of having a centralised database?
Advantages for Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s centralised database are:
1. Improve reliability and update speed: In-Database centralized storage facility is very
effective and very inclusive data access. It provides a higher quality component which makes
it good in quality it simply can say it more reliable than local storage. Database is being run
on a storage that is centralized for the end users. It is opposite to the concept of local storage
applied to that computer.
2. Improve physical security: In centralise database stored data represent the physical
security risk. If mobile, laptop and notebook get stolen or lost, an unattended system like a
PC or another system can be under risk of data being stolen from local storage. The
centralized database can provide the security to the data from the physical access that can be
directed from the single location or the group of people.
3. Easy sharing of ideas is possible through analysts: There are many organisations where
the strategy is made for the team and individual. The strategy of centralizing the analytics and
the information is the first phase. The new ideas can be shared through the strategy of the
organization which is a good potential for knowledge (Magazine, 2017).
4. Organisation can be focused on a singular vision: The elimination of the inconsistencies
is done from the workflows as the collection of data is done for the sole purpose that is
communicated with everyone. The direction of the vision is kept throughout the organization.
5. Security levels can be reached at a high level: Centralised database is provided good
security for data and any other information. There is a high level of data security which is
developed for the business setup.
6. The cross-functional projects can be worked upon: The communication speed can be
increased which occur for all business improvements (Gaille, 2018).
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4) How could this POS system facilitate decision making?
Main purpose of implementing POS (Point of sale) for a Four Seasons Greenhouse and
Nursery is to make business operations simple and more effective. With the help of POS
Manual and automated, an important process for a managed Four Seasons Greenhouse and
Nursery’s business can be done easily. As a result of the Greenhouse organization in
Colorado give at the time and ensure reduce the time and there is no mistake in any results.
Human mistakes are one of the most common reasons business can lose money (Krasnoff,
2018). By implementing a POS (point of sale) that is effective and suitable for Four Seasons
Greenhouse and Nursery’s business, they can avoid human errors completely by manually.
POS system for a business is high invention and offers great benefits and possibilities for
businesses to run more effectively. POS can boost the productivity of your business
significantly with software. Make sure you choose the right software suitable for your
business in order to gain a lot of benefits for your business. Many questions are there to make
business effectively. Following decisions of Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery can be
made easily:
 What day and hours should business be open: If sales do not exist during the first and
last hour? This decision should not be made based on one week of data. Seasonal and
holiday issues also need to be taken into consideration.
 What type of items should be selling: What types of items consumers expect and how
much shelf space an item takes up?
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5) Recommend telecommunication options for this POS system
Use infinity for telecommunication in POS software system. It is very fast to meet with
customer demand to get what they want. There are some types of network in
telecommunication they all network used according to greenhouse and nursery organization.
Types of Network:
1. LAN (Local area network) - LAN (Local area network) is generally a group of networks
and include in devices. A wireless link is sent and communication line to a server. Four
Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery can use this for the communication of mobile, and other
devices include to share network storage. The number of users that can be connected to the
Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s LAN can range from 3 to 4 members to 100
members in a large building (Beal, 2018).
2. WAN (Wide area network) – WAN (wide area network) is a connection of computers
that are spread across a geographical area. It connects with a different smaller network. It can
connect with more Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s network. The computers at the
WAN can interact with the computer that is placed at a different Four Seasons Greenhouse
and Nursery’s location (Rouse, 2018).
3. MAN (Metropolitan area network) – MAN (Metropolitan area network) interacts user
with a computer in many Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s locations for area.
Types of media
Wireless technology: Different types of wireless technology can be used by Four Seasons
Greenhouse and Nursery are:
 Wifi
 Lightwave transmission
 Microwave transmission Node
 Infrared transmission
 Radio transmission (Cia, 2017)
 Cellular (Brian ray,2015)
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6) What type of risks does the POS system bring and how to protect the
business against the risks?
Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s POS system basically occurred due to the three
factors that are security, privacy and confidentiality. There are so many attackers who are
susceptible and initiate automated attacks on the Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s
system. The hackers firstly targeted the Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s system by
exploiting the vulnerability of the system and by the engineering logic. The device also needs
to be secured in the network too. The main problem with the POS is the network problem
which gives the chance to track out through the hackers through which the important
information can be steeled. One more threat is the credit card skimmers which are mainly
placed near the gas pumps. This device accesses the information through the credit card and
then embraces it (Krasnoff, 2018).
Protect the Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s business from these threats:
1. Create a strong password: There will be a strong password. Password should be
complicated so that it cannot be hacked out. Always use a password manager by which the
password should be secured (Leonard, 2017).
2. Use up to date software: If the system is up to date, then the security patch is automatically
updated and then there is no risk of hacking occurs.
3. Denying internet access: The systems can be secured by the exposure and potential
security threats by resisting the system to access the internet.
4. Use spam filters: To reduce the number of spam filters, always use the spam filters.
5. Back up data: It is a very important way to secure the system by the threats. It means that
data or information should be backed up on a daily basis (Jd Sherry, 2017). The best system
includes:
 End of week back-up.
 Yearly server back-up.
 Quarterly server backup.
 Daily bases back up (Grullon, 2015).
It is sobering to see these constant and increasing threats to business. However, your business
does not need to sit idly and wait to become of the latest attack. It will proactively get out
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ahead of this rising problem and check out our tips to protect your business before the
cybersecurity threat is knocking at your company’s door.
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Conclusion
The POS system helps Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery for easy accounting, and
analysed vendor ordering, stock counting, vendor ordering, reporting modules and customer
loyalty. Using all this it will reduce Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s working time.
The most important function of that it easily manages the Four Seasons Greenhouse and
Nursery’s data transaction and makes business very easy and simple.
In Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s centralised database system it can cover all
function like a speed of access, ease to extracting data and fitness for purpose. In Four
Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery’s POS system there is the need to improve all services,
better financial report and easier employee management for doing a good business.
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References
Beal, V. (2018). LAN - local-area network. [online] webopedia. Available at:
https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/L/local_area_network_LAN.html [Accessed 12 Jan.
2019].
Brian ray, B. (2015). 5 Types of Wireless Technology For The IoT. [online] link-labs.
Available at: https://www.link-labs.com/blog/types-of-wireless-technology [Accessed 12 Jan.
2019].
Cia. (2017). 7 Wireless Technologies. [online] Available at: http://www.c-i-a.com/7-wireless-
technologies/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2019].
Gaille, B. (2018). 15 Centralized Database Advantages and Disadvantages. [online]
brandongaille. Available at: https://brandongaille.com/15-centralized-database-advantages-
and-disadvantages/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2019].
Grullon, Y. (2015). WORRY-FREE WAYS TO GAIN CUSTOMERS WITH YOUR POS.
[online] shopkeep. Available at: https://www.shopkeep.com/blog/worry-free-ways-to-gain-
customers-with-your-pos#step-1 [Accessed 12 Jan. 2019].
Jd Sherry, J. (2017). The Top 6 Ways Small Businesses Can Protect Themselves from
Internal Security Threats. [online] business. Available at:
https://www.business.com/articles/top-5-ways-small-businesses-can-protect-internal-security-
threats/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2019].
Krasnoff, B. (2018). The Best Point-of-Sale (POS) Systems of 2018. [online] pcmag.
Available at: https://uk.pcmag.com/cloud-services/74663/the-best-point-of-sale-pos-systems
[Accessed 12 Jan. 2019].
Leonard, C. (2017). How can businesses protect themselves from insider threats?. [online]
itproportal. Available at: https://www.itproportal.com/2016/05/10/how-can-businesses-
protect-themselves-from-insider-threats/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2019].
Magazine, A. (2017). Businesses are under threat – how to protect your company and your
employees. [online] anthillonline. Available at: http://anthillonline.com/businesses-threat-
protect-company-employees/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2019].
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