Reference no: EM13852289

1. Scenario:

Almost 21 Pte Ltd is an Australian manufacturer cum retailer of young adult female fashion, with an annual turnover of $50 million and more than 50 retail stores Australian-wide.

Originally established in 2008, the company had Head Offices in Sydney, New South Wales(NSW), where all fashion products designed by local designers and were manufacturedusing materials sourced from local vendors. Fashion products were only sold through retailstores in Australia. However, in early 2013 the company has expanded rapidly through aseries of acquisitions and has plans to expand their market overseas by setting up factoriesand retail stores in other countries. In addition, the company also plans to sell their productsonline, via Almost 21's own website to customers who are not able to access the retail storeseasily.

As a result of its acquisition strategy and rapid expansion, Almost 21 inherited disparateinformation systems. These have never been completely integrated, creating a considerableobstacle to establishing a complete overview of the business. In addition, the company hasrecognised the limitations of its systems which, consisting mainly of transaction processingsystems, do not facilitate the type of analysis and management reporting that it requires.There are also questions over the systems' ability to support the dynamic demands of aglobal and an online distribution network.

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Almost 21 is concerned that the company's legacymanagement reporting and decision support systems are limiting the potential of thecompany. She is aware that the company's target market of young female adults has a keenfashion sense and rapidly changing taste and demands and that it would be inadequate torely solely on the retail outlet managers to provide feedback to the company to tailor itsproduct mix. She is also a keen follower of technological advances such as BusinessIntelligence applications. Her priorities for 2014 are to make better use of the company'sdata resources to:

(i) Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the company's supply network,

(ii) Tailor product mix for specific retail outlets (including online), and

(iii) Improve customer satisfaction and retention.

2. Requirements:

You have recently joined Almost 21 as a Business Analyst. The CIO asks you to prepare areport on the potential of new information systems for the company.

Your report should:

1. Explain how Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Customer Relationship Management(CRM) systems could be used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of thecompany's supply network.

2. Recommend how Business Intelligence applications (e.g. Tools for aiding informationand knowledge discovery, and/or Tools for analyzing data to improve decision making,and/or Tools for visualizing complex data relationships) could be leveraged together withthe SCM and CRM systems as part of the company's business strategy to improvecustomer satisfaction, customer retention, and product mix.

3. Identify the main IS/IT security, ethics and privacy issues that Almost 21 should considerwhen leveraging these different technologies (SCM, CRM and Business Intelligenceapplications) as part of an integrated enterprise systems strategy.

4. Recommend specific software solutions (SCM, CRM and Business Intelligenceapplications) that Almost 21 should adopt. Your recommendations should be based onthe analysis in Parts 1, 2, and 3, and focus on the tools that you have argued would bemost beneficial in achieving the CIO's priorities. Your justification of particular vendorsshould include a scoring model.

In preparing the report, the CIO wants you to compare the software solutions offered by atleast THREE vendors, and wishes you to consider the potential of ‘best of breed' softwaresolutions.

It is important that you provide the CIO with information that is customised for her situationrather than producing material that reads like a generic textbook. You should thereforeillustrate that you understand the company context and priorities. You should articulate anyassumptions that you make about the company and provide the necessary explanations toback up your recommendations.

You are required to carefully consider the points that you wish to make in this report. A ‘braindump' of all you know is of little value. You should consider using tables and figures topresent some material as they may help structure your argument.

In order to prepare your assignment you have to undertake research. However, you shouldensure that you use the information gathered to illustrate your argument; you should notsimply describe your research findings. A percentage of the marks available will be awardedfor quality research, so you should ensure that your sources are appropriately referenced.