Introduction
We have been asked to write a case study about Fujairah Real Estate. It is an organization that rent and sells different kinds of properties in the East Coast. The main goal for this assignment is to give us the opportunity to write a case study of real implantation of IT. We have been required to write for the general manager of the organization to suggest different methods, techniques, procedures and solutions that help improve the organization in both IT and business terms. This case study will be based in the main sections as follow:
- Firstly, description of the current system (hardware, software and network)
- Secondly, identify the necessary steps to integrate business and IT strategy.
- Thirdly, we present our suggestion for the new improvements for the system in different aspects and fields which would help the company to provide better services.
- Fourthly, we show how to use this system
- Fifthly, the benefits and opportunities of the new implementation in the organization
Finally, we concluded our report with our recommendations, what we have learned from this project and the resources we used to accomplish our work.
Analysis of current situation
Actually, they do not have any network system which could connect them with other. Another thing is that they do not have internal system to connect the employees among the departments. Each employee at the organization use their individual PC’s to save, update, and add information, so they have to choose only Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word for any type of transactions in their daily work. They have 12 employees, manager and secretary. There are working under three departments: administration, marketing and finance. So they have a free to choose Microsoft word or Excel to do their job.
Integration of business strategy and IT
The integration of business with IT encompasses information architecture, the management of data and integration, management of database and all other technologies that make the business objectives achievable enterprise-wide. IT plays a major role in the development of the business and it upgrades the level of technology supporting the core functions of the business. For the organization to have a well business integrated together with IT, various steps must be put into consideration.
First, Fujairah Real Estate organization should buy adequate computers to supply the whole organization. Each department should have enough computers to facilitate their daily transactions. This will increase their daily output and the profit made.
Second, since the organization is working under three departments, all of them need to have a proper computer networking to connect all the computers in the organization rather than using the individual PC’s to save, update, and add information. The organization should therefore establish a proper computer network system in the entire organization. Through this, the administration, marketing and finance departments within the organization, will be able to share vital information among the workers at the comfort of their seats without necessarily walking from one office to the other.
Third, apart from the three departments, the organization should establish the fourth department which is the IT department. This department will ensure that all the IT programs within the organization operate well without interfering with the business. The department will also require additional employees who will include a team of hardware and software experts to maintain operations, IT manager, and a secretary.
Last, the organization should open an organizational website. The website will be used to post the organization’s business to enable wide range of customers to access them. With the website in place, the organization will therefore require internet cables fixed to ensure for constant internet services within the organization. The internet services will provide the organization with a prospect to sell their products worldwide. Apart from marketing of the products, the organization will use the internet to acquire the current emerging issues in their line of business and the information required to run the organization appropriately (Phillips, 1983).
In order for the organization to accomplish its mission objectives, it should employ the supporting business process. For instance, through this business process, the organization will have proper accounting program, attractive recruitment process, and a reliable technical support. The business process on the other hand, will add value to clients and avoid superfluous activities. Division of labour is another important method the organization can apply in this business process in order to ensure that employees are engaged in their work within the organization to increase the daily output.
The relationship between information technology and Fujairah Real Estate’s business strategies play a significance role in the development of the entire organization. First, speed is one of the importances of the information technology in the organization. Through it, the organization is able to receive some of the imperative business updates which may grant the organization with vital market drift or modification in the clients’ tastes and preferences. The organization will therefore be able to advance the services to the customers with an instant effect. Second, as a result of speed, the efficiency is also enhanced. The organization will be able to store data in the most reliable manner and also only little space is required. A single computer can store data which could have been stored in many filing cabinets which requires larger space.
This will eventually lessen the cost of renting more offices by the organization. Third, computers are capable of multi-tasking and this therefore will enable the organization to carry out intricate calculations faster and accurately besides other programs that might be running at that particular time. This saves time and increases output within the organization. Fourth, the computers have become less costly as before making them more affordable (Anderson, & Anderson, 2001). On the other hand, the organization will be able to only employ few personnel as one computer can accomplish the work load which requires ten people. Last, through the internet, the organization will be able to reach huge masses worldwide and also be able to market their products. Using online advertisement will make the consumers to know more about the products sold by the organization and other services they offer.
Possible Solutions
After a discussion and looking at the requirements of the organization we suggest creating a database by using Microsoft Access and Visual studio or SQL server, which will help to create relationships among departments. As well, introduce a database website which will help the user to find information about the company products and services. The website is as a system for the company which helps employees to insert, update and delete records as well; it will help the customer to get more information about the latest products and services. The purpose of this suggestion is to provide employee with well organize database where they can keep all the information of the organization in secure and safety place. Also the website will keep visitors updated with the latest products. The administrator user has the right to access the pages in the system website and perform other function such as, edit, delete and update records. Any changes done by the administrator will be automatically updated in the database.
Development Methodology
A formally designated Project Manager will lead all IS&T software projects. The Project Manager will be responsible for:
- Planning the project delivery.
- Guiding the development team.
- Ensuring that the project is executed on schedule and within budgeted cost/
- Ensuring the quality of the deliverables.
Specifications
The Project Manager will document the key details of the project. Examples include:
- Hardware platform.
- Database.
- Development platform.
- Scripting language
- Method of interfacing with other applications.
- Naming conventions and mnemonics.
- Functional specifications
- Specific security and control requirements.
Resource allocation
Resources (hardware and software, funds and infrastructure) will be allocated to the development projects based on the requirements of the project, budget availability and the compatibility of the individual skill sets.
Implanting the New System in the Organization
For the organization to manage well their gain plan and the information for the employees, human resources information technology is crucial. First, the organization will need payroll module to computerize the procedure of making payments through data collection on the attendance of the employees and time. Calculation of employees’ deductions, duty, and coming up with a report is also done by this module. Second, the organization will need benefits module to assist in tracking the employees who are contributing in gain programs. It entails insurance, sharing of the profit, and compensation of the employees. Third, the organization need training module. This will assist in managing employees’ training and effort development. It provides a clear outline of the employees’ qualifications and skills. It also provides materials for learning needed to build up some skills. Last, the organization needs to establish employee self-service to enable the employees execute some human resource operations on the system. For instance, the employees are capable of accessing their records without consultation.
The organization should establish e-business application. For instance, business suite will assist the organization in financial transactions within and outside the organization, accumulating online disbursements, and management of clients’ database (Hill, & Gareth, 2012). An enterprise content management system is another type of e-business application which is crucial to the organization. It helps the organization in managing a huge quantity of content in the web.
For effective running of the organization, the employees needs some form of training. The organization can provide the employees with training in various fields such as disaster management. They should be provided with skills in using the disaster management equipments such as fire extinguishers. This will enable them to act fast in case of fire outbreak to avoid damage.
Benefits of the new system
The advantages of implemented new system will help employees to organize and update their work which will help them to perform their work much better and get the information that they are looking for faster rather that depend on the individual computers of MS Word and Excel. They also will have a chance to keep their products and services updated. This system will save time and hard work for the staff and improve the performance on continual basis. Increase good design, better plan and more effective improvement by bringing more minds to bear on situation related to the work.
Cost
Conclusion
With the implementation of the above methods and techniques, Fujairah Real Estate will be able to become one of the best organizations in the world. Information technology will enable Fujairah Real Estate to venture in the worldwide business, to increase output, and to attract many customers from different parts of the world. In integrating information and business together, Fujairah Real Estate needs to take into account various factors with might affect the business such as updating the software on a regular basis, maintenance of the equipments, and using the effective antivirus to avoid virus invasion on the computers. Through all this, Fujairah Real Estate will maximize the profit over a short duration.
References
Anderson, D., & Anderson, L.A. (2001). Beyond Change Management: Advanced Strategies for Today’s Transformational Leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Hill, L.W. C, & Gareth, R.J. (2012). Strategic management: Theory (10th ed.). New York: Cengage Learning.
Phillips, J. R. (1983). Enhancing the Effectiveness of Organizational Change Management. Human Resource Management, 22(1/2), 183-199.