Information Management - Proctor and Gamble - Case Study Example

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT - MIDTERM ASSESSMENT Due Business Analytics case study of Proctor and Gamble Analytics is the process of investigating data, processes and statistics to discover useful patterns to assist in business continuity and running of day-to-day business processes. Procter and gamble (P&G), a company that started in the 1800’s is not only still in existence today but also one of the leading brands currently. The discovery and aggressive continuation in using analytics add up as a contributing facet to the firm today (Dodgson, Gann, & Salter 2006: 334). P&G case study provides many insights on the use and benefits of analytics. There are different forms of analytics; which include business analytics, web analytics and customer analytics among others. All these categories should be cohesively used and are vital for the achievement of any enterprise. Different concentrations of analytics give insight to various factors. For example: knowledge on customer preference, location and retention (Farasyn et al. 2011: 67). The biggest weapon that P&G had was arguably top notch analysts who did not take the traditional ways to do things as the one and only rule. Tores, Perssini, McDonald and the rest of the team were a group of forward thinkers, risk takers and a team that valued transparency, qualities that are all paramount in analysis. They did a big job of introducing and encouraging an analytical culture and environment in the company (Davenport, Thomas, Marco Iansiti, & Serels 2013: 5). Importance of analytics 1. Provision of up to date data- before analytics was adapted in P&G, historical data was relied upon for analysis and statistics. These meant problems were not seen as they emerged but periodically after the storm had passed. Analytics helped to provide up to date data, all the market changes or consumer behavior changes are easily noted, and problems nipped at the bud as soon as they appeared. An excellent example is seen in the North America Laundry detergent Market case study, if the market growth was not noticed in time, P&G would consequently lose that potential market to competitors had they not addressed the issue of supply in time (Davenport 2006: 98). 2. Marketing strategies- analytics provide a good way to formulate marketing strategies to yield the best result. P&G decided to start with North America, Ohio and roll out to the rest of the regions after studying the consumer’s behavior to the new compact powder. From the findings, the team was able to know which stores to supply a new product with. Even though, initially the sales were difficult to track due to stores that had stocked the older version of the less compacted powder (Davenport & Harris, 2007: 28) 3. Ability to predict and forecast- as uncertain as the future is, analytics provides the ability to look into and be prepared to what the future may come with (Jackson 2009:246). For example, the IDS at P&G could not show with certainty what the next step and way forward, but with the insight provided, the team members could say with confidence the best move would be to increase production as distribution of the new compact detergent continues. 4. Faster decision making- data analysis is made easier and the “how”, “what” and “why” is clearly seen with the help of the IDS a resolution is sought faster. With the periodic conference room meetings, all data is presented to all the stakeholders at the same time, data in its standardized form is seen and decisions that involve many individuals is reached faster (Costa & Evangelista 2008: 68-78). 5. Cost reduction- Analytics has been known to reduce the work of managers and thus reduce the number of managers hired (Frey & Jegen 2011: 589-611) How information can be used to add value to management Sufficient information is required to make the best-informed decisions, and this entails weighing all internal and external factors (Baan 2013: 152). Information helps management to be able to better their services, and products offered (Bitner, Brown, & Meuter 2000: 138-149). The only way for information to be conveyed and received is through open communication channels. For example, in P&G open communication helped the managers, and retail store owners communicate and the try to formulate a way to improve storage and provide a solution, all thanks to information sharing. Microsoft case study of PaaS, IaaS and SaaS Cloud computing is beneficial for all professionals in the industry, for programmers, it provides an opportunity for them to focus solely on coding. There are three diverse types of cloud computing. They include software as a service (Saas), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS). Cloud computing was designed for use on-demand basis as opposed to buying all software, infrastructure or the services and storing them on your businesses storage; rather accessed per-use, per-demand basis. Businesses that offer cloud computing services do so through various modes (Redkar, Tejaswi, and Ferracchiati 2009: 4) such as: 1. Pay as you go – these services charge you according to infrastructure and number of users that access the service; 2. Server hardware abstraction- this relieves the consumer from any hardware maintenance costs; 3. Network hardware abstraction- this relieves the consumer from any network hardware related costs 4. Dynamic scalability- this provides the consumer with the option to step up or step down the use of resources as required 5. High availability service level agreement- A cloud should guarantee availability of the platform. Software as a Service (SaaS) Software as a Service (SaaS) is computing to provide software on pay basis. It differs from the traditional computing of buying a disk with software in it and installing it on your machine. SaaS allows for the consumer to use a hosted service without having to create a storage space or to install it in your computer. Once you are through with a SaaS product, you simply disconnect from the service (McGreath 2012: 2). Advantages of SaaS The introduction of SaaS brought along many benefits with it, not only for computer users but also for large software developers such as Microsoft. The major advantage is that a larger market was discovered by Microsoft. Buying of software was seen to be a bit expensive and cumbersome and locked out many potential consumers. Factors such as geographic location and purchasing power were a hindrance to many customers. With the introduction of SaaS by Microsoft, new software services such as DropBox and gmail that could easily be sold as software; were accessible to all customers with internet access (Wanchun 2008: 27). Another advantage that SaaS brought with them was an increase in revenue channels. Revenue to the developers of the SaaS is seen in many different ways such as research and launch of the software stages. Microsoft too benefits in the form of revenue from this software through simple methods such as advertisements. Due to a larger consumer base, the adverts are more widely spread, and brands are willing to pay for this kind of reach. The option by most of the SaaS’s to allow consumers to upgrade to a premium version of the software also exists (Wei, Zhang, & Zeng 2009: 78-80). Disadvantages of SaaS The greatest disadvantage seen with these SaaS’s as opposed to traditional computing has to be insecurity. Cloud computing is very susceptible to hackers who gain authorization information through ways such as social engineering or phishing. There has not been devised a fool-proof way to keep determined hackers out (Lu & Sun 2009: 507-511). Advantages of IaaS Traditional computing required for all infrastructure to be on the business premises. This meant that most businesses could not startup without the configuration of their servers, their network hardware, and so on. IaaS provides the operating systems, networks and servers while the consumer is responsible for upgrading and maintaining them (Doelitzscher et al. 2011: 23-42). The Google Compute Engine (GCE) is an example of IaaS. Microsoft can benefit from IaaS by outsourcing hardware and server needs to more specialized vendors while they can concentrate on software development. Microsoft Server Business Tools (STB) can be fully designed, and prototypes tested using IaaS before rolling out the final products to the consumers. Risk reduction is also an advantage of IaaS as a back-up duplicate remote data center is, usually, set-up (Jamsa 2013: 43). This also fits in the business continuation plan for Microsoft. Disadvantage of IaaS IaaS’s come with their fair share of challenges such as downtime or technical challenges on the vendor’s side. Having to update the IaaS as the consumer can also be viewed as a con, as technical need to do so may not be seen as necessary while they actually are (Doelitzscher et al. 2011: 23-42). Advantages of PaaS PaaS provide a framework where developers can work on to produce their systems and services. It reduces the need for users to manage OS and other operating softwares. PaaS makes testing and deployment of products cheaper and faster. Microsoft leverages its data centers for delivering the PaaS it offers (Redkar, Tejaswi, Ferracchiati 2009: 10). 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