Internet Security Management at CPCNet - Report Example

Internet security management at CPCNet Introduction This project report will try to describe the strategic management principles adopted in a companyin Hong Kong called CPCNet Hong Kong Limited. It is one of the largest providers of Internet and network based solutions and services for businesses in Greater China. The client list of the company includes many prominent business firms, students, professional etc. Even though the company has a good market share and a reliable customer base, the management of the organization felt that it needs to improve the overall efficiency of the company. I was involved in a project that tried to provide customers with reduced tariffs so that they could use the Internet more while spending at the current rate. Analysis Analysts at CPCNet found that usage costs were a major factors that prevented people from using the Internet. It was conveyed to the company management that reducing costs would attract more customers in the domestic market and also help the company to expand into overseas markets. The company has been trying different methods to reduce the cost of usage of the Internet, to boost its productivity and expand into new markets both domestically and internationally. Most importantly, the company has a policy to continually improve upon the way in which it presently operates. Under the current project, I was to implement a strategy that could cut down costs and also expand the market of the company. After analyzing the requirements of the project, I felt that the company needed a new strategy even though it had sound operational effectiveness. Michael Porter insists that there is a difference between strategy and operational effectiveness. He says that strategy is involved in devising means that makes a company drastically different when compared to its competitors. This change may be in the work culture or the organizational outlook of the company. While operational effectiveness has short-term goals, a definite change in strategy involves a change in operations that can have far reaching consequences for the company. Potter affirms that the most of the operational efficiency tactics ends up in a cheap price war that has only short gains. Another fact of strategy is that it has to function optimally, its objectives have to remain constant for a longer time period and cannot change repeatedly. Strategy should not be changed according to the compulsions in the market and hence there have to be a genuine and patient effort to identify a good strategy and then adhere to it for long term goals. Potter also maintains that the role of the CEO is to supervise the strategy of the firm and ensure that the company does not deviate from its original goals and perspectives in the commitment to immediate market pressures [Author not known 1, 2001] Organizational effectiveness is also a very important factor that helps to stabilize the operations of a company. It also helps the firm to overcome the competition in its business domain. High organizational effectiveness in a company gives it the ability to react quickly, minimize costs, leverage employee talent, and outperform its competitors [Author not known 2, 2003] Project implementation Some of the main activities of the company are: Access services to connect business to the Internet (deployed in both Hong Kong and Mainland China) International Networking Hosting services for web sites and mission-critical data Security solutions to protect IT resources E-Solutions that is tailored to e-Business needs [Author not known 3, 2002] To achieve these objectives the company has adopted modern management practices and has deployed advanced technologies to give its infrastructure an advantage over competing companies. I found that even though the company had advanced computing and infrastructure development as its missions and objectives, it was lacking in the monitoring of these services. I could analyse that even though the company had a good infrastructure in place, it was lacking in its monitoring and post-deployment phases. The main strategy of the firm is centered on modern technology and better customer service. The company uses the help of technology to meet these demands in the market place. For example, I could find that the firm had spent huge sums of money to implement costly solutions that were put to use in its daily operations. However, the company was not adequately keeping track of its network systems so that its customers. This in turn caused problems to the customers who could not use the costly facilities that were provided by the company. There is a difference between the strategy and the organizational effectiveness of the company. While the strategy of the company is to maintain its customers in good spirits so that future initiatives of the company receive the full support of its shareholders, the exact mechanism that the company uses to maintain this facility comes under the purview of Organizational Effectiveness. I believed that the organizational effectiveness of the company had to be enhanced in order to strengthen its strategy. I realized that the company needed to enhance its effort in managing the security needs of its clients who were using the Internet. This was one of the newest concerns for the users of the net and to all those enterprises which were doing money transactions through the net. A team immediately embarked on providing data security to clients and their transactions. I had to make a decision between using the internal talent and infrastructure available in the company and outsourcing the job to experienced people. Since, providing security was not the core competency of the firm, I advised that the job be outsourced to providers who could implement security features for the company. Hence the company has embarked on a mission to invite other firms to join hands with it to enhance its operations. This has the advantage that the company can tackle future competition while consolidating its current markets. The stages of the project that I managed were: Organization and planning: A team of 15 engineers were involved in the project. Teams of 5 each were created out of the 15. One team assisted the company that outsourced the project while the other two teams were involved in the implementation and testing of the solutions. We had a deadline of 30 days to complete the project. Control procedures and risk management: Each team has a team leader who had to report the daily progress of the project. Since we needed 10 days to test the application, we allotted 15 days to implement the solution and 10 days for its testing. 5 days were maintained as a buffer. Users were divided between multiple servers to balance load and every financial transaction was routed through a dedicated leased server maintained by a financial firm. This avoided the risk for customers who might have used the financial gateway during the implementation phase. The project was completed in 25 days and we had five days to make a final assessment. Real time testing of the project was implemented and small number of financial transactions were allowed through the new systems. More transactions will be allowed once it is found that the system is fail-safe. Future needs Some of the future thrusts of the company would be to enhance its customer satisfaction to new levels. As a strategy to develop future business, the company could try its hand at telecommunications. The brand name and reputation that the company has achieved and the existing infrastructure of CPCNet can be put to good use by trying its hand in this area. The company could also explore the possibilities in the call center business. The call center business is one of the most popular emerging businesses and is a good opportunity to earn valuable foreign income right at home. This has another advantage in that the company does not have to invest in costly manpower overseas. The customer care facilities that the company has is already modeled around the CRM concept and a new venture would not be drastic change in its current operations. CPCNet could also try its hand at cable networks, TV channels etc which are also emerging areas in communication technologies. Works Cited Author not known 1, 2001, The 8020 Info Water Cooler Issue #1. Vol 1. No 1. Author not known 2, 2003, Habits - and practices - of highly effective organizations. Metrus Group. Measurement-Driven Results. http://www.metrus.com/issues/org-effect.html (accessed April 28, 2007). Author not known 3, 2002, CPCNet. Connecting the World to China. http://www.cpcnet-hk.com (accessed April 28, 2007). Kotler, Philip. 1991. Marketing Management. Seventh edition, Prentice-Hall of India, pp. 3-29. Read More