Free Essay Sample on Strategic Advantages of Mobile Technology and IT Alignment in Retail

Introduction

The information technology resources allow a business to fulfill its mission more quickly and more efficiently. Like any other process, investment in information technology and information technology support must align with the strategic goals (Riku & Setyohadi, 2017). Strategic advantage is a position that a business takes that makes it outdo the market competition in the long term. These advantages are the marketplace benefits that have a decisive influence on a firm's likelihood of future success. In most cases, the advantages are the sources of a firm's current and future competitive success compared to other businesses producing similar products (Riku & Setyohadi, 2017). The aim of this paper is to discuss some of the strategic advantages that a firm can reap as a result of using mobile technology. The paper will also discuss some of the steps that large retailers can take to align their information technology with the strategic plan. Further, the reasons why large retailers would prefer to use cloud computing rather than their Information technology functions will be evaluated. Lastly, a discussion on the steps that a business should take to determine its future information system needs will be made.

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Strategic Advantages Attained by a Business Utilizing Mobile Technology

The first strategic advantage that a business can derive from the use of mobile technology is communication. Maintaining proper communication between the business and customers is important for any competing business (Rowles, 2017). Various apps have been designed to integrate with other existing business technologies to help business workers talk about workflow or various projects being undertaken by the enterprise. With mobile technology, this communication can be extended even beyond business hours by facilitating and keeping track of goods while on transit to various customers (Rowles, 2017).

Another strategic advantage that a firm can have from using mobile technology is easy to access remote areas. It is widely known that mobile devices can go anywhere (Rowles, 2017). It is one of the greatest benefits of mobile devices to a business as it allows the business to perform remote working. For stable and large retailers like Best Buy, employees can work away from the office using mobile devices. Understandably, this is quite an advantage compared to other businesses that are grounded in using workstations and desktop computers. If a business encourages its employees to work away from the office once in a while, they can still perform important business tasks using mobile technology (Rowles, 2017). As a result, this gives a business a strategic advantage as it will be able to reach more customers alongside uninterrupted production activities.

Gaining a financial advantage by a business requires a series of commitments from all the business departments. However, by employing the use of mobile technology, this is possible. By using mobile marketing technology and mobile sales, large "Big-Box" retailers can gain the financial advantage of other firms (Rowles, 2017). For example, the sales and marketing department can use mobile technology to create and maintain effective communication between clients hence to ensure that goods and other services are delivered promptly. Mobile technologies, like campaign management solutions, social media, email, among others, when put into good use, can make large retailers stay ahead of their competitors. By keeping on top of customer relations while also having a tool to perform important workflows, a firm will always remain financially advantaged (Rowles, 2017).

Steps Taken to Align Information Technology and Strategic Plan

Aligning the information technology and strategic business plan can surely improve the performance of the business (Riku & Setyohadi, 2017). The combination and alignment lead to faster response, more efficient processes, and facilitated supply chains. It should be understood that all the business activities and aspects are geared towards achieving the same goals, and therefore, aligning these two can lead to the success of a firm. Further, the alignment will help everyone work towards a common goal because IT supports the business's strategic plan alongside adding value, hence driving success. Also, there will be increased business agility hence enabling it to react to changes (Riku & Setyohadi, 2017). The last advantage of aligning these two business aspects is that there will be the creation of greater integration and collaboration between various business departments.

There are various steps that a "Big-Box" retailer like Best Buy can take to align its information technology and strategic plan. Firstly, before any alignment is made, the management, through various departments concerned, should ensure a strong connection among the operational resources and mission of the organization as this will help avoid misunderstandings (Riku & Setyohadi, 2017). The next step is that the business should fine-tune its departmental objectives and goals, a step that will help to discover any gaps in the implementation process. The last step in the alignment process is that all the issues that may exist around effectiveness and internal efficiencies should be addressed efficiently to avoid future problems (Riku & Setyohadi, 2017).

Reasons Why Businesses Use Cloud Computing

Many firms have turned to spend large amounts of money on developing and installing the software to improve their operations alongside safeguarding important business data. Currently, many businesses have adopted cloud computing in their various operations (Assante et al.,2016). It involves the use of computer services as opposed to the internet. Cloud computing enables firms to access software on the internet as a service. It is a safe way of sharing and storing data, and it is no secret; this is one of the reasons large retailers prefer. The first reason why such businesses prefer to use cloud computing rather than their storage is its reduced cost (Assante et al.,2016).

In most cases, establishing and running a data center is very expensive compared to cloud computing, where a business will only pay for the services that have been procured. Cloud computing services are charged based on the storage, features, time, many users, and memory space, among others (Assante et al.,2016). As a result, businesses have the option of choosing a package that suits their expenditure target.

Another advantage of cloud computing and its preference by businesses is because of the data security it offers. It has been realized that storing data in the cloud is safer than storing in data centers and physical servers (Assante et al.,2016). A security breach in a business can compromise data if computers or laptops are stolen. However, suppose these data are stored on the cloud. In that case, confidential information can be deleted remotely, or it can be moved to a different account because breaching security measures on the cloud is very difficult. The flexibility of cloud computing is one of the most important benefits why large retailers prefer to use it. It gives the business and its employees the flexibility to work from anywhere. Because of this, workers can complete while in the field or at home without any delay. To cut on the cost, the business can reduce the number of workstations within the office and allow other employees to work from their homes (Assante et al.,2016). The flexibility of cloud computing further enables the business to monitor its operations.

Steps Taken by a Business to Determine the Future Needs of Its Information System

Understandably, managing the future needs of a business information system can be quite problematic for the management. However, with appropriate measures put in place, this can be achieved (Schwalbe, 2015). The first step should be identifying the objectives as well as the possible challenges that will be involved in the business and in the IT system itself. The next step is to review the business planning process in regards to the changing business situations and then identify the business functions that will require more support from the information system in the future (Schwalbe, 2015).

The next step is identifying the possible alternatives where once the goals of the information system have been clarified, the alternative strategies that can be used in the future must be established and identified (Schwalbe, 2015). Determining priorities is the next step that a business should take to determine the future needs of its information system. The priorities will then be evaluated to find any alternative strategy defined earlier with the help of an established standard. The evaluation process helps to determine the resource need for the future information system. The last step is the drawing of the future operational plan. These plans may include planning for the development life cycle of the system, identifying the needs of future hardware, and other IT resources required for an effective information system (Schwalbe, 2015).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the paper has comprehensively discussed the various strategic advantages that a firm that utilizes mobile technology can have alongside financial advantages due to increased sales and marketing. Also, a discussion on the various steps that large retailers should take to align their information technology with its strategic plan has been made. Further, the paper has evaluated the reasons why a retailer can opt to use cloud computing as opposed to other storage. Finally, the various steps that a business should take to determine the future needs of its information system have been discussed.

References

Assante, D., Castro, M., Hamburg, I., & Martin, S. (2016). The use of cloud computing in SMEs. Procedia computer science, 83, 1207-1212. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050916302836

Riku, M. O., & Setyohadi, D. B. (2017). A strategic plan with enterprise architecture planning for applying information systems at PT. Bestonindo Central Lestari. In 2017 5th International Conference on Cyber and IT Service Management (CITSM) (pp. 1-6). IEEE. www.ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8089274/

Rowles, D. (2017). Mobile marketing: how mobile technology is revolutionizing marketing, communications and advertising. Kogan Page Publishers.

Schwalbe, K. (2015). Information technology project management. Cengage Learning. www.isat.siu.edu/_common/documents/syllabi-fall-2013/ist404-001.pdf