Aspects of Hardware and Software Systems - Coursework Example

Microsoft applications such as Microsoft Office and Microsoft Dynamics ERP provide additional information systems that support the entire organization. Additionally, Microsoft Azure which is one of the latest cloud providers compares favorably with Amazon AWS, Google AppEngine, and Rackspace cloud servers.Business information systems serve a very important function in businesses today. It facilitates the growth of businesses by helping them to reach more customers and communicate with their most important stakeholders in an effective and efficient manner.

Laudon and Laudon (2010) indicate that businesses will not only spend on hardware, software, and telecommunications equipment but on business and management consulting services. This is done to facilitate and enable the development and redesign of their business operations and allow them to make good use of the new technologies in which they have invested. However, resources are limited and so different alternatives should be considered in order to be able to determine the best option. The company has problems downloading emails and the current speed of the network.

The current operating system – Microsoft Exchange 2003 cannot be scaled upwards to respond to PSF’s current business needs. In fact, Microsoft (n.d.) indicates that because of the type of switch that the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 uses it cannot accommodate more than 4 gigabytes of RAM in an efficient manner. Microsoft (n.d.) also points out that Exchange Server 2003 does not facilitate instancing, an extension of a physical address, or address windowing extensions. This means that the company will have to carry out an assessment of a more advanced operating system such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Lync 2013, and other operating systems that have better or similar capabilities.

The system chosen should be one that can help resolve the current problems that the company faces.