[Abstract]
The purpose of this document is to describe two different business trends and determine if current business trends have a positive or negative affect on the company by utilizing a scenario of a store that has multiple sites and locations to deliver products in a fast and efficient manner. The corporate IT strategy of Kucera Clothiers is to improve IT communications throughout the organization. There are three projects under consideration to assist the organization in communications. One project is to use wireless networks in order to access data faster. Another project involves using a collaborative system that allows for synchronous and asynchronous communications. The third project involves using a customer resource management system, however this project requires replacing previous systems and a lot of lead-time to deliver the system for operations. This document is intended for anybody looking to gain a basic knowledge or understanding of business trends and how they can affect a business.
[Content]
There are many different trends in business that can affect different companies in different ways, in order to better understand how a couple of the trends will affect Kucera Clothiers, it is best to look analyze a couple and apply them to Kucera’s current business strategy. Kucera Clothier’s current business IT strategy is to improve communications between the corporate office and all of the 3,500 different locations throughout the world. With any business strategy it is important to utilize a product, service or technology to benefit the company in as many ways as possible. One major result from a well-designed business strategy is an increase in revenue or an increase in customer satisfaction. Another major result from a business strategy is to maximize a total return of investment on a good, service, or even technology the company has invested in. When a company allocates resources to provide a product, service, or technology based upon their business strategy they want to ensure they are able to maximize the amount of revenue it can generate for the company, as well as, knowing how business trends can affect their business.
Computer software and how the software is written is an example of a business trend that can affect how a company conducts business. The object-oriented software platform Java is a technology that can greatly impact a company. By cross-platform functioning Java proves itself to be a valuable asset to many Kucera as Kucera is able to provide solutions that meet their business needs without rewriting software applications to function on each individual computing platform. Many businesses have been utilizing Java, not only because of its cross-platform abilities, but also because of its ease of use to write applications in as opposed to some of the other and more difficult programming languages like C, C++, Cobalt, Fortran, etc. Java benefits companies because it does not have high priced licensing costs as other programming languages due to its open-source nature. Java has the flexibility to support applications on low-end systems like handheld devices, but it also can support applications on super computers, however it is especially strong in web and enterprise applications (Preimesberger, 2002). By Kucera having an enterprise application written in Java, Kucera can easily support the application on a wide variety of devices and maximize their overall return on investment while improving communications throughout the organization.
Many businesses have been trying to be more environmentally conscious by reducing their network server footprint and turning to a clustered server architecture. A cluster is a series of computer hardware devices that function as a single system. The server cluster allows servers to share valuable resources like memory, storage space, network connectivity, and even processing cycles in order to serve user demands (Dubash, 2006). A server cluster can prove to be a valuable asset to Kucera Clothiers because it provides a low-cost solution that has the ability to be flexible and grow with the organization. Server clusters provide additional value to a business because they do not rely on a single vendor as a single server manufacturer or multiple manufacturers can be used to create a cluster. Businesses use server clusters to provide many IT services such as e-mail, web, file sharing, or other enterprise services. With businesses choosing to have a centralized cluster of servers, the amount of IT support personnel needed to maintain and administer the cluster is greatly reduced, resulting in a high rate of return on a relatively low-cost of investment. Business trends show that many organizations are turning to server clusters to provide a low-cost business solution that has the ability to grow with the organization and requiring a smaller amount of IT support staff, while having a greater impact on the environment.
In conclusion, when a Kucera Clothier’s decide to invest in a product, service, or even a technology, they are looking to maximize their revenue and obtaining a higher rate of return on their investment. Being aware of business trends that exist in the market can help the company to maintain their competitive edge. A couple business trends that can greatly benefit Kucera Clothiers is to utilized a network server cluster that can be administered from a centralized location, while writing business applications in Java in order to provide a cross-platform solution to support a wide range of devices and ideally align with their corporate IT business strategy.
References
Preimesberger, Chris (2002, June 5th). Five emerging Java development trends. Retrieved May 10th, 2009, from Tech Republic Web site: http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-1046208.html
Dubash, Manek (2006, June 9th). Microsoft releases Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003. Retrieved May 10, 2009, from Tech World Web site: http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?newsID=6189