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INFOSYS.110 BUSINESS SYSTEMS:

DELIVERABLE 2: BUSINESS SECTION
2014

Name Nick Benton
NetID Nben561
Group Number: 088
Website Link: http://infosys110group088.blogspot.co.nz/
Tutorial Details
Tutor: Day: Time:
Olivia Tuesday 9am
Time Spent on
Assignment:
19 hours Word Count: 1632

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PLANET INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
The problem I found in my D1 assignment was that there was a trend in students missing
lectures, deadlines, meetings and club/sport trainings. This was due to online
communication websites designed by universities such as CECIL being difficult to navigate.
My solution to this issue is a smartphone application (Planet) that students can set up to suit
their current timetables which sends out notifications about information that is relevant to
each individual student. In a technology driven world where 1 in every 5 people own a
smartphone (likely to be higher with university students) an app would be a very suitale
idea. (Heggestuen, 2013). This is a solution to students being uninformed.
3. BUSINESS SECTION
3.1 Vision
Planet aims to provide a user friendly smartphone application to university students
worldwide that manages their university schedules in a simple and efficient manner. Making
the world a better place by managing time and tasks in an innovative fashion.
3.2 Industry Analysis: Education Technology Industry
Industry: The education technology industry includes businesses that offer computer aided
software to support the learning of students.
Force: High/Low: Justification:
Buyer power: High Buyer power is high because there are many
substitue products. Our product is one of the few
that is smartphone related (especially in NZ) but
Universities can make their own products (like
CECIL) or can use different companies that are PC
based such as Blackboard or Pearson. (Nabi,

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2012)
Supplier power: Low Supplier power is low because there is a wide
range of suppliers in the industry The application
can be made by Planet employing technology
specialists to make their product or by the
company forming a partnership deal with a
software company. Currently, around 2/5
th
of
mobile gadgets shipped are of Apple brand
signifiying the importantce of smartphones and
apps, therefore there are going to be many
suppliers in the industry as it is a popular market.
(Sharma, 2014)
Threat of new entrants: High The threat of new entrants is high because there
are always new types of technology being
released so it is fairly easy for a business to enter
the market with their own unique selling points.
Threat of substitutes: High Technology based learning comes in many forms
such as computer programmes, podcasts, and
interactive tools such as clickers. Therefore there
is a large range of substitute products which
means that there is large competition in the
industry.
Rivalry among existing
competitors:
High As education switches to the flipped classroom
approach, where students watch lectures online
and communicate with others while doing so,
there are gateways for technology based firms to

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join the market. (Brisson, 2014). Currently the
rivalry is high with Blackboard having the most
market share but companies such as Pearson,
Moodle, Sakai and Myedu are also strong
competitors in the market. (Nabi, 2012)
Overall attractiveness of the industry: Overall the industry attractiveness is low but seeing
as Planet are one of the few businesses that offer their product through a smartphone app, I
believe that there is room for them to succeed in this industry.
3.3 Customers and Thei r Needs
The main target customers are university students within New Zealand and possibly
internationally but our product could also be targeted to business managers and CEOs
because these people are constantly busy and an application that identifies and organises
their meetings and tasks for them would be a valuable asset as it saves a lot of time.
University students want to be motivated and have a sense of direction which has needs of
being informed and supported. (University of Canterbury, New Zealand 2014)
3.4 The Product and Service
The needs of students within NZ and globally will be fulfiled by the product Planet because it
does all the researching work for them. Rather than the students having to navigate through
university websites and spending a lot of time doing so, the lecturers of the students
enrolled subjects will send out the information via the Planet app and the subscribed
students will receive assignments etc this way. Students needs are met as they are
informed about events/tasks and can save time and understand what tasks need to be
done.
3.5 Suppliers and Partners
One kind of partner that would be vital to the success of Planet is an app sales business such
as the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. These two businesses would be the ones
to offer the application to the consumers and would receive a percentage of sales revenue

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for their actions. Another important partner could be a specialist software company
because Planet may not have all the skills that are required to develop a unique app and
could form a joint venture with a company such as IBM or BiznessApps.
Specialist software companys can also be a supplier to Planet because they are supplying
their skill sets and services to Planet. Two suppliers could be BiznessApps and SmudgeApps
because these business offer application developing services.
3.6 Strategy: Focussed Low Cost Strategy
Planet operates in a focussed low cost strategy. This is because they target only university
students which narrows their scope to a small market. Although there are millions of
university students across the world, in comparison to the whole population it is a small
portion of people. An app is not an expensive product to purchase for consumers so there is
a low cost associated with this product which therefore means that there are not large sums
of variable costs associated, mainly just initial set up costs. If Planet succeeds in the
university market and was to expand to the likes of business people, the strategy would
change to a cost leadership strategy because the narrow market would become a broad
market. But because of the current narrow market and low cost the overall strategy is
therefore a foccussed low cost strategy.
3.7 Value Chain Activity: Technology Development and R&D.
The most important value chain activity for this business is technology development and
R&D.
Research and development is a key value chain activity for Planet because most of their
business is based on making a user friendly smartphone application for university students
that sufficiently meets their demands so a lot of market research needs to be fulfiled in
order to find out what kind of products consumers want exactly. Research is an ongoing
process as Planet will always be looking to upgrade and imporve their product with faster,
more efficient technology systems so they will be continuing to carry out research all the
time during their operations in order to provide the best product possible and remain ahead
of the market. Being a first mover company is important in a narrow market because with

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the low costs, the products are in high demand and if Planet can adapt changing technology
the fastest, it will put them in a good position to capitalise on market share.
3.8 Business Processes
3.8.1. MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS- The process of market research involves the research
and development department of the business creating relevant surveys, questionaires or
interviews that will provide questions specific to their product for people to answer. The
next step is the business asking the questions and gaining responses from the target market.
Planet then analyses the data and looks for trends and specific information. Next they
further analyse it into graphs and information that is easy to read. Finally the business
adapts their research to their product so that they can make their product match the needs
of the customers.

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Start
Invent research
questions
Ask questions to
target market and
record feedback
Analyse feedback
and create
presentable graphs
Look for trends in
the information and
analyse key
differences and
similarities.
Adapt research into
a product or
product update that
matches the needs
of customers.
Do question provide
relevant feedback?
NO
YES
Research processing system
R&D Department
Data analysing system R&D Department
End


3.8.2. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS Involves using the results from market research
to develop the product. It is supported by the supply chain management system as the
business requires the skills and technolgy of external and internal sources for developing the
product. Also it is supported by executive information systems because decisions regarding
the development and updating of new products are generally made by executive
management.

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Start
Use market
research to discover
wants and needs of
the market
Create project plans
for the application
software
Source internal or
external resources
Outsource skills of
external business
and certain supplies
Use internal
employees and
assets
Is software
adequate?
Assess software and
compare to project
plan and market
research
Evaluate and update
product to match
planned
requirements
Product complete
and ready to be put
on market
End
YES
NO
Software development installation system Manufacturing department


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3.9 Functionalities
3.9.1. MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS
Conduct relevant research
Analyse research results
3.9.2. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Develop software
Test software and make improvements
3.10 Systems

3.10. 1. RESEARCH PROCESSING SYSTEM This system is a customer relations management
system because it involves communicating with potentail customers and managing their
data that they provide. It supports the vision of Planet because in order to provide a user
friendly smartphone application to university students worldwide, initial research must be
done to discover the demand of the market.
3.10. 2. DATA ANALYSIS SYSTEM Works with the research processing system to manage
university schedules in a simple and efficient manner by analysing the data that is collected
from market research. The system transforms the data into graphs and identifies certain
trends in the data which helps the business to understand where potential market
opportunities are.
3.10. 3. SOFTWARE DEVELOPING INSTALLATI ON PROCESS SYSTEM Relates to the functionality
of testing the software and making updates because the updates need to be first developed
and then installed into the app. It also relates to the developing software functionality as it
is the the system that initially develops the software and reviews it before offering it as a
finalised product to the market.

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3.11. Summary Table: Value Chain to Systems

Value Chain
Activity
Processes Functionalities Specific Information
System(s)
Broad Information
System(s)

Technology
Development
and
R&D
1. Market
research
process
1. Collect relevant research

2. Analyse research results
Research processing system

Data analysis system
CRM

DSS
2. Software
developmen
t process
3. Test software and make necessary
improvements

4. Developing software
Software developing
installation process system

Software developing
installation process system
SCM, EIS


SCM, EIS

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CONCLUSION
The Education technology industry is a great opportunity for Planet to use their smartphone
differentiation to compete against the computer based companies for market share.
Considering 77% of 18-29 year olds own a smartphone, there is great opportunity for
success in the industry. (Tapshield, 2014)

REFERENCES

1. Brisson, S. (2014). The flipped classroom: in elementary too? Dreambox Learning

2. Heggestuen, J. (2013). One in evey 5 own a smartphone, one in every 17 own a
tablet. Business Insider Australia.

3. Nabi, S. (2012). 7 Blackboard competitiors with online learning solutions. Education
DIVE. Retrieved from http://www.educationdive.com/news/7-blackboard-
competitors-with-online-learning-solutions/35847/.
4. Sharma, V. (2014). Hiring iPhone application development company: What are the
important factors? WhaTech. Retrieved from http://www.whatech.com/mobile-
apps/20630-hiring-iphone-application-development-company-explore-significant-
factors.
5. Tapshield. (April 9, 2014). College Demographic Smartphone Ownership and Usage.
Pg 1. Retrieved from http://c2.tapshield.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/03/Data_Sheet_Smartphone_Usage_TapShield.pdf?2066a8
6. University of Canterbury. (2014). Student Support. Retrieved from
http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/support/