The Role of Management Information Systems - Report Example

Project introduction Number The Infotrack Company started its operation almost two years ago. It is expected to grow by 60% over the next eighteen (18) months. The company currently collects data using Web analytics and combines it with operational systems data. Web analytics is an increasingly vital part of most business marketing plans. The company is looking for ways to leverage the collected data, but wants to ensure that the information technology infrastructure will support the expected growth that the company is anticipating. The company will be expanding from one floor to three floors within six months. Since this is a relatively new company, there is currently limited technology infrastructure to support the business (Meredith & Mantel, 2011). All information technology components such as hardware and software should be redesigned to meet organizational needs. The most appropriate method solve the problem face by the company is a hybrid model. Data collection analysis is one of the most lucrative businesses in the country for the investor with enormous capital. The business can generate more than 100% profit within one year. As such, any investor who ventures in this business has the potential of expanding within a remarkably short time. In addition, there are remarkably few companies that have invested in the country and therefore, competition is less. However, the company needs to change its business operation because of several reasons. First, international investors have realized how lucrative the business is and therefore, have started to invest in heavily. Secondly, the company needs to automate their operation to improve the quality of services they offer and also to increase efficiency and accuracy. The accuracy and integrity of the information collected and analyzed in the company is particularly critical. Any lapse in these security aspects is detrimental to the company’s reputation. This is why the company needs an enterprise information system that will ensure maximum information security. The management requires a system that integrates various technologies from different vendors and industry best practices and cost-effective solutions in connection with the development of technological systems. In addition, the CEO is extremely interested in the cloud computing technologies and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) but is leery of security issues that may be associated (Wood-Harper & Bell, 2012). There some staff in the company that have been speculating about outsourcing some business process to some cloud service providers. These include hiring services such as a platform as a service, where the company uses the computing platform owned by the cloud service providers in processing its business operation. They also suggested that the company should hire space in companies that offers cloud storage service instead of buying critical servers, which can accommodate all the company’s information and data. The company outsources some of the data collecting service to web analytic tools owners such as Google. As such, the company incurs high cost and at the same time compromises the security of the data. The company needs an integrated system that will enable it utilize the latest technologies that facilitate efficient business operation at a cost effective manner. However, the management settled on implementing its own information system that is capable of accommodating the future company’s need when it expands. This agreement was reached after considering the fact that the management intends to expand the business by 60% within the next one and half years. Though hiring cloud services could serve the company currently, it will be extremely expensive when the company expands. In addition, the privacy of information and data that is handled by the cloud service providers is compromised. This can be ineffective considering the sensitivity of the information handled by the company. Apart from myself, there are four skilled information system personnel in the Infotrack Company. Mr Weiner is the chief information security officer (CISO). He is responsible for all the information security manners in the company. He is also in charge of user account allocation and management. Another skilled person in the company is Engineer Oswald who is an experienced system analyst and designer. The other is Mr Grek who is an experienced programmer and network engineer. The company is hired by a different organization to collect and analyze data on their behalf. The most prevalent clients in the country are a nonprofit organization such as ministries, health facilities and nongovernmental organization. It also conducts opinion polls for several organizations and political parties in the country. The information includes population census data, marketing analysis data, medical service provision, data on education and internet traffic. The current information system used by the company is made up of ten desktop computers and two laptops. The company does not have a server central server. It uses a Microsoft spreadsheet to store all the data collected for analysis. Since the desktop computers do not have enough memory to store all the data, the analysis process is done in small quantities. The already processed data is stored in optical disk and removable USB memory devices. In the finance department, all the financial transactions are done using QuickBooks (Meredith & Mantel, 2011). There is no enterprise resource management system in the organization. As such the human resource operations are done manually. These include the payroll, employee register and monitoring records. Apart from the removable storage devices, there is no other means of data storage in the company. Moreover, all data are stored on-site. This is highly risky because the business processes can be affected in case there storage devices are stolen or destroyed. The current system used analyzing data has limited functional features. These include inability to synchronize and merge the data being analyzed. Some analytic features such as calculation of variance and drawing of graphical representation are done using the Microsoft office tools. This is not effective as some of the features are omitted and hence, produce inaccurate results. The web analytics used include Google analytic tools. Though the tools can provide good data collection and analysis, process is limited by lack of fast internet connection. The system users, especially the new employees, face a lot of difficulties when using the system due to poor user interface. The system lacks an interactive user interface that guides the user on how to perform a task. In addition, the system lacks support system that can be referred in case of any problem or difficulty (Lucey, 2004). The current information system infrastructure is generally poor. The desktop computers used are Pentium 4 with random access memory of 512 MB, 1.6 GHz speed and hard disk space of 40 GB. The computers run windows operating system. None of the computers run the latest versions of office suite software. As such there are a lot of compatibility issues. The laptop computers have better properties. However, the user can utilize since it is used by the top management when they are attending commitments outside the premise. The network system that connects these computers uses old technologies. The bandwidth is 265 Kbps. The users always have difficulties in accessing the web analytic tools because of the low speed of internet connection. Both physical and logical security standard implemented in the company are wanting. For example, the visitors can roam in the premises freely. This is extremely dangerous as unauthorized person can steal the information system hardware components, leading to denial of service to the company. On the other hand, there is no security policies and regulations governing the use of the information technology assets in the company. The system does not require users to authenticate themselves to use the system (Khosrowpour, 2009). This can be extremely risky because an intruder can pose as an employee can perform a disastrous action on the system. Moreover, the computers run anti-malware programs that are obsolete and therefore do not scan any unwanted program in computer. References Khosrowpour, M. (2009). Emerging information technologies for competitive advantage and economic development. Idea Group Inc (IGI). Lucey, T. (2004). Management information system. Cengage Learning EMEA. Meredith, J., & Mantel, S. (2011). Project management: A managerial approach. John Wiley & Sons. Wood-Harper, T., & Bell, S. (2012). How to set up information systems: A specialists guide to the multiview approach. Routledge. Read More