IFSM-300 Case Study, Stage 4: IT Solution and Next Steps

Overview of IT Solution and Next Steps for Kelly's Salon

Alex

10/09/2016

I.

Introduction

The case talks about Kellys Salon which has been in business since 1995 and has only
recently started facing stiff competition from a variety of competitors like Hair Cutterys.
Kelly has identified that scheduling her employees and her customers as her major challenge
and wants to address it immediately as it is fundamental to her business. This paper consists
of the IT requirements, the rankings for each requirement based on the relevant data inputs
and the outputs and the corresponding explanation for each.
Generic Strategy for Competitive Advantage: Cost Leadership Strategy
Business Process to Be Improved: Appointment Process

II.

Table of IT Requirements

Importance/
Relevance
IT Requirement
High,
Medium,
Low, or
Not
Applicable
(N/A)
1

Business-to-Business
eCommerce

Not
Applicable

Explanation for Ranking

(Write a minimum of 3 good sentences for
each; both the process to be improved and
the case study should be mentioned in each
explanation; the data used in the process
should be included in the explanation
where applicable.)

Business to Business e commerce IT

requirements are generally applicable for
marketplace platforms or application
platforms offering services for sellers/other
businesses. In Kellys Salon the customer
is not a business organization. Also, the IT
requirements are less sophisticated than
needed in pure eCommerce

Business-to-Consumer
eCommerce

Not
Applicable

Business to Consumer e commerce IT

requirements are generally applicable for
marketplace platforms or application
platforms offering services for Customers.
Kellys Salon deals with offering service
inside the salon, offline. Also, the IT
requirements are less sophisticated than
needed in pure eCommerce

Usability

High

The system must be easy to understand and

use not only for the staff but also for the
new customer making appointment for the
first time. Simple system will enable Kelly
to train staff to navigate the system more
effectively and reduce training costs. It will
also help them recruit irrespective of the
turnover rate.

Maintainability

High

Since the system not only deals with

customer but also staff appointments, it is
of paramount importance to maintain
operational status 24*7. Any failure to do
so for a substantial amount of time would
lead to loss of business and disgruntled
employees. System needs to be such that
repair action can be taken swiftly and
maximize efficiency, reliability, and safety

Scalability

Medium

Kellys salon is looking for rapid

expansion. That will scale the current
operations including all systems in place as
well. The system should have the potential
to accommodate significant growth while
increasing output under increased load as
well. Since its not the most important
requirement in the medium term thus a
priority somewhere in the middle in terms
of IT requirements. Very important for
long-term planning.

Reliability/ Availability

High

Reliability of delivering the right

information to the intended user is
extremely important for the system.
Availability of information in simple and
easy to understand will help both
customers and employees appreciate the
system environment and the overall
service. This requirement hence is of high
relevance as it indirectly affects the
revenue of the company from the onset.

Extensibility

Medium

The functionality of the system is to be

designed keeping the appointment process
improvement. However whether we would
require system to be forward compatible
for future additions is still unclear. Anyhow
it makes sense to have an extensive
system, keeping in mind the future
expansion and growth of the company.

Portability

High

Portability deals with the usability of the

same system in different environments.
The computing platform will remain the
same and hence system portability is of
extreme significance. It will also facilitate
the cost leadership strategy advantage for
Kellys Salon.

Security

Low

The process involved is an appointment

process and hence the level of security
needed is not extremely high. Guarding
against network intrusion leading to
information leakage is important however
the system in place can be handled for a
lesser level of security. Is of significance
but low level relevance for an appointment
process.

High

The process takes into account inputs like

customer details (name, phone number,

10 Enterprise Systems (ERP,

CRM, SCM)

address) as well as dates of appointments

from employees and customer alike. A
good ERP, CRM, SCM helps in following
the process effectively. It also makes it for
the person handling the system while
taking down the details easier if the
features are easy to understand and userfriendly.
11 Networks

Low

The network hardware needed to mediate

data in computer network is needed but of
very less importance. Moreover, the
physical devices for communication would
far and few. Wireless access points,
modems etc are needed but at a very less
priority from the systems standpoint.

12 Data Accuracy

High

The databases recording customer

information, appointment details and
employee availability reflect the activities
of the companys activities. It is imperative
that the processes should be precise and
accurate. A small error might be damaging
financially and affect the brand as well.
Hence the system must ensure top notch
data accuracy and consistency.

13 Data Completeness

Low

Data completeness refers to an indication

of whether or not all the data necessary to
meet the current and future business
information demand are available in the
data resource. The appointment
information does involve gathering
information for future appointments but
that is just restricted to data entry. No high
level sophistication necessary.

14 Authentication

Medium

Authentication for employees and

customers alike is necessary. In-order to
avoid proxies and hacking of Username-

Password, system needs to have a strong

authentication algorithm. Hence a mediumlevel significance for this particular
software requirement.
15 Decision Support System

Low

Although a DSS helps in managing,

planning, operations for day-to-day
activities, very low requirement is there at
Kellys Salon. The process involved is
simple and managing it would easy for all
employees. Gathering huge amount of
information is not needed currently hence
low relevance for current system.

16 Business Intelligence

Low

The success or failure of any Business

Intelligence system requirement depends
on collecting and prioritizing Business
requirements. Need to have targeted
processes with high level of data quality
and integration to cater to cross-functional
requirement. Since we are dealing with a
fairly simple and straightforward process,
the priority level is low however it is
necessary in the long term in case we need
to integrate this system with other systems
in the future.

17 Database

Medium

Its important that system supports multiple

databases and corresponding data
operations like entering, fetching and
displaying data. Also the system should be
that level of sophisticated that all the above
listed operations can be done and final
database can be made readily available to
user speedily. Managing databases is
extremely important since these will
contain all the relevant information
necessary to perform tasks and events in
accordance with the appointment process

18 Data Warehouse

Low

Detailing the goals that data warehouse

will satisfy and the business problems it
will solve are not within the scope of this
process. No success metrics have been
defined as well as the task descriptions are
self-explanatory. Requirement level will
therefore be low but might increase with
scale in the future.

19 Data Mining

Low

Generally, data mining is the process of

analyzing data from different perspectives
and summarizing it into useful information
- information that can be used to increase
revenue, cuts costs, or both. Data mining
software is one of a number of analytical
tools for analyzing data. It allows users to
analyze data from many different
dimensions or angles, categorize it, and
summarize the relationships
identified. Very low relevance considering
the process involved here.

III.

References
http://www.usabilityfirst.com/about-usability/requirements-specification/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensibility
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maintainability
http://www.reliasoft.com/BlockSim/maintainability_analysis.htm
https://www.saloniris.com/software/support/hardware-requirements
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_portability
http://agile.csc.ncsu.edu/SEMaterials/21_SecurityRequirements.pdf
http://www.learn.geekinterview.com/data-warehouse/data-quality/what-is-data-accuracy.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_support_system