Business Process Analysis - UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre - Case Study Example

At first, e-commerce can simply minimize the cost of gym activities that are conducted in a traditional manner such as automation of business transactions. Online transactions and registration processes can minimize human efforts for performing such business activities effectively and also minimize the time required for completing the activities by the organizational members and the employees. E-commerce in UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre can also minimize transaction expenses by making the marketplace more effective. On the other hand, UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre can also reach more potential customers at low expenses through the use of the internet. The medium of the internet would assist the members in terms of providing them with valuable information regarding the product or service characteristics such as fees and accessibility of facilities (Kaplan & Garicano, n.d.).
The use of e-commerce in business processes can result in accessing valuable information regarding the future demand for products or services of UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre more effectively. Furthermore, it will help UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre to better balance the demand for products and services with the requirements of the customers.
The following figure will show the AS-IS process of e-commerce for UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre.

Part 2

Technology Solution Proposal
The idea of e-commerce fundamentally comprises three key aspects namely hardware, software, and communication network. These aspects would certainly reflect the ability of e-commerce for enhancing the business process of UR UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre by a certain degree. The aforesaid aspects have been described hereunder.
Hardware: The key hardware aspects associated with e-commerce are server, input as well as output tools, and database management system. In the e-commerce business process, UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre should follow the client-server model, wherein a central computer system will act as a server. This server will contain certain important information and will act as a backup for the information preservation system.

Concerning input systems, keyboards and mice are regarded as effective tools in the e-commerce system. The output systems within the e-commerce business process can appear in the form of billing information, member usage statistics, and images among others (Carter, 2008).
Software: Software is the other vital aspect of the e-commerce business process. The key software for e-commerce is a database management system. A database can store vital information in the form of text and images. The modern database management system can save billions of data items and is also able to manage huge figures of transactions. The database for UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre can be located on a central server or in multiple workstations (Carter, 2008).

Apart from the aforementioned aspect, maintaining security is also important for an e-commerce system to operate successfully. The key software applications that are useful for an e-commerce business process relating to UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre include user authentication, firewall, and antivirus (Carter, 2008).

Communication: Several networking tools possess the capability of ensuring the deliverance of proper communication in the entire business process through e-commerce. These tools comprise Local Area Networks, Wireless networks, and the internet. Utilization of these networking tools can deliver a cost-effective method of sharing and processing information. Furthermore, various software applications are designed for using specific communication mediums to limit access to valuable information and deliver dynamic services to the users (Carter, 2008).
The following figure will reveal the TO-BEBE process relating to the aforesaid technology solutions for UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre. Read More