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INFOSYS.110 BUSINESS SYSTEMS: DELIVERABLE 2: BUSINESS SECTION SUMMER 2014 Name NetID Group Number: Website Link: Tutorial Details Time Spent on Assignment: Tayla Brady tbra705 85 http: http://infosys1102014ssgroup85.blogspot.co.nz/ Tutor: Day: Time: Claris Chung Tuesday 2PM 25 hours Word Count: 1638

GIVING BACK TIME

Have you seen my keys? Is one of the most common questions that we ask ourselves daily. Research by the dailymail has found that as a society today we individually spend, on average 10 minutes of the day searching for misplaced items (2012). Gaps in our memories cause these questions to form, by merging the gap in our a memories through the use information systems lost items become found and those 10 minutes are also retrieved.
3. BUSINESS SECTION 3.1 Vision

FindMe aims to provide innovative and user friendly software as means of locating lost items, to not only return lost items to customers but by also giving back the time they would of lost searching for them.
3.2 Industry Analysis: Personal Item Locator

Industry: Personal Item Locator Industry. The Personal Item Locator industry continues to grow through the advancement of innovative software and technology, and the increasing amount of smartphone users.

Force:

High/Low:

Justification:

Buyer power:

High

Buyer power is high within the personal item locator industry as there are a wide range of apps on the market that offer systems to help locate lost items, leaving the customer with many choices. The market for this industry is predicted to continue its growth by 40% by 2017, as stated by Personal Tracking to Be the Next Billion Dollar

GPS Market (2012)

Supplier power:

Low

Supplier power is relatively low in the industry as apps are fairly low cost to initially create. Depending on software suppliers sourced for locating and tracking, the supplier power may vary, there a wide range of options open to suppliers. Initial development costs can be fairly low for new entrants looking to enter the market, however ongoing costs such as marketing and product development are ever increasing,

Threat of new entrants:

High

especially for unknown brands. While the threat of new entrants is high due to low start up costs, their ability to compete within the market will usually decrease over time.

Threat of substitutes:

Low

While there are a wide range of locating systems and devices on the market, there arent many valid substitutes on offer. The industry appeals to errors in memory, offering systems that repair these errors for the customer. While there are substitutes such as memos on phones, key hooks placed around the house and the Find My iPhone application, they dont carry the value of information systems. The industry also caters to a wide variety of personal items not just particular items such as the Find My iPhone application.

Rivalry among existing High

The industry has a very saturated market with all firms in the industry competiting for market
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competitors:

share. There is fierce competition within the the market for goods (apps) to be better than others and to create some diversity within the market with many apps requiring Bluetooth 4.0

according to Patkar ( 2013).

Overall attractiveness of the industry: The personal item locating industry may be appealing for new entrants as start up costs can be considerably low, with the option of online services that create apps for free. However, ongoing costs such as marketing to establish the companys brand can be expensive with a small percentage of apps able to cover their costs as mentioned by The cost of Building and iPad App, (2010). Especially when rivalry among existing competitors is high with firece competition and buyer power is strong with consumers having many choices within the industry.
3.3 Customers and Their Needs

The product appeals to a wide range of the population, if not all of the population as the products use is implemented in everyday life. As we get older we also tend to become more forgetful, with 13% of New Zealands population made up of those 65 years and older, as recorded by An Ageging Population (2009) this represents a large proportion of FindMes cliental. Working professionals and those who lead busy lifestyles also makeup FindMes customer database, with factors such as stress influencing memory loss. With FindMe, the customer can rely on the app to do the thinking for them to satisfy their need of searching for household items.
3.4 The Product and Service

FindMe retraces steps for its customers. The app installed on smartphone, tablet and computer serves as the central base for which all item locators report back to. FindMe tags are attached to each personal item the customer wishes to track and then these tags report back to the app via bluetooth and GPS tracking, identifying their location. The app

customizes its settings for each consumer, with custom house plans being constructed so customers know exactly where to there items are located.
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3.5 Suppliers and Partners

To create the system needed to power our app, a software developer is needed to develop the GPS tracking, mapping and custom floorplans (such as local supplier Smartrak). A supplier is needed to construct and craft FindMes soft tags that will attach to personal items and collaborate with the app software. By using recognized brands in the production process we can ensure retailers and consumers of the high value of our product. In such a fiercely competitive market, marketing and promoting the brand is essential to establish a trusted brand reputation, to do this sucessfully a marketing consultant may be needed. If any financial or legal problems arise, partnerships with law and accountancy firms may be needed to professionally deal with these issues and avoid any conflict for the company and its brand.
3.6 Strategy: Differentiation

The industry appeals to a broad market, with a wide range of the population serving as customers both domestically and internationally. FindMe aims to offer relabile software that is of a high standard and serves as much more than an app on a smartphone, but an investment in our customers lifestyle. FindMe also aims to set our product aside from competitiors in the industry through this dedication to creating high quality, user friendly software. The overall strategy is therefore Differentiation
3.7 Value Chain Activity: Making the Product

The most important value chain activity for this business is making the product. It is integral that the product is manufactured to the highest standard of quality without software problems or technical issues to ensure our customer database that they are making the right choice in purchasing FindMes software. In order to successfully market and sell our product, we need to make sure that this high standard is kept throughout the manufacturing process so that the app returns items to its owner aswell as time .

3.8 Business Processes

The manufacturing process is important to the running

of the firm as the software behind the product delivers the most value (and profit) to the company. The manufacturing process ensures that the software behind the app is of a high standard through development and tests to the applications capability. Marketing and selling the product then becomes easier as the product lives up to its reputation of high quality, through a comprehensive manufacturing process.

3.8.2. QUALITY ASSURANCE PROCESS The

value a customer places on our product is

particularly important within this industry as buyer power is high, with fierce rivalry, Therefore, customers need to be assured about product quality and by offering a guarentee of quality and extended warentees, this can be achieved.

3.9 Functionalities
3.9.1. MANUFACTURING PROCES S

Tests software to make sure it aligns with customers needs Customizes software in app to customers specifications e.g. f loorplan

3.9.2. QUALITY ASSURANCE PROCESS

3.10 Systems
f

Feedback from customers can be used to help with repairs and to improve software Notifies users automatically of any compatibility issues

3.10.1. MANUFACTURING SUPPOR T SYSTEM

This system helps to support the

manufacturing process by testing system requirements and customization for customers. The system makes the manufacturing process simipler for the production team and speeds up the process with automated checks on the software such as how soft tags are responding to the app, bluetooth conectivity and GPS tracing.
3.10.2 FEEDBACK SUPPORT SYSTEM - Customers offer the most valuable feedback as they are

the users of products which is why a feedback support system is integral to any business. Through an automatic performance based feedback system, the business will be able to gather information about the systems performance and then analyse this information to redevelop and improve existing software to customers needs. The system runs efficently, saving time for the business by automatically updating the system with feedback on a monthly basis.
3.10.3. TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT SYSTEM -

As with any software many problems (such as bugs)

arise after production and through consumer use, this automatic alert system will allow for software engineers to locate these errors within the system and fix them quickly. Compatibility issues and software malfunctions can be found during testing of the product which will allow technicial support for consumers to be provided in an efficient manner.

3.11. Summary Table: Value Chain to Systems

Value Chain Activity

Processes 1. Manufacturing Process

Functionalities 1. Tests software to make sure it aligns with customers needs 2. Customizes software in app to customers specifications e.g. floorplan 1. Feedback from customers can be used to help with repairs and improve software 2. Notifies users automatically of any compatibility issues

Making the product

Specific Information System(s) Manufacturing Support System Manufacturing Support System Feedback Support System

Broad Information System(s) Collaboration System Collaboration System

2. Quality Assurance Process

Enterprise Resource Planning System Decision Support System

Technology Support System

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CONCLUSION

Closing the gap in the human memory through the use of software such as FindMes tracking system to locate items helps improve the lifestyles of customers, with less time wasted and time given back to do the things most enjoyable in life. The manufacturing of such software is vital to the business and the systems that support this deliver value to the organisation and its customer database.
REFERENCES

1. Personal Tracking to Be the Next Billion Dollar GPS Market (2012). Retrieved from https://www.abiresearch.com/press/personal-tracking-to-be-the-next-billion-dollargp 2. Patkar, M. (2013). Find Your Keys! 6 Gagets that help locate your missing keys. Retrieved from http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-your-keys-6-gadgets-that-helplocate-your-missing-keys/ 3. Lost something already today? Misplaced items cost us ten minutes a day. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2117987/Lost-todayMisplaced-items-cost-minutes-day.html 4. An Ageing Population. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.msd.govt.nz/what-wecan-do/seniorcitizens/positive-ageing/trends/ageing-population.html 5. The Cost of Building an iPad App (2010). Retrieved from http://www.padgadget.com/2010/10/17/the-cost-of-building-an-ipad-app/

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