Business Considerations by A.Surasit Samaisut Copyrights 2009-2010 : All Rights Reserved.

Business Considerationsby A.Surasit Samaisut

Copyrights 2009-2010 : All Rights Reserved

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Business Process

A business process is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product (serve a particular goal) for a particular customer or customers. There are three main types;

• Management processes, the processes that manage the operation of a system. Typical management processes include "Corporate Governance" and "Strategic Management“

• Operational processes, processes that constitute the core business and create the primary value stream. Typical operational processes are Purchasing, Manufacturing, Marketing, and Sales

• Supporting processes, which support the core processes. Examples include Accounting, Recruitment, Technical support

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Business Process

Business Process

Management

Operational

Supporting

Programming process

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Buying Business Software Considerations

Buying business intelligence (BI) software can be hard - with technical evaluations, prioritizing requirements, getting the funding you need and avoiding political landmines, there's a lot to consider

These are the most important considerations for business intelligence software buyers

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Considerations – Return of Investment (ROI)

We invest the company's money in a software system because we expect to get more money back, in terms of income or savings, than we meaningless investment or invest for nothing

Calculating the income/saving is often a major challenge, but it must not be ignored

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Considerations – User Requirements

There's no point building a software system unless it delivers exactly what users are requesting/demanding

Take the time to go through the requirements - gathering process with your business users

Make sure you can deliver what people want, or just don't start - a failed project helps no one

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Considerations – Ease of Use

Traditionally, software systems have been difficult to implement, set up, understand, drive – everything about them has been hard

The good news is that the situation is improving, so buy one that is easy

Give serious consideration to ease of use for the end user, but also consider that the easier it is for your technical staff to build and deploy a system, the cheaper it will be to implement

The systems that are currently available vary hugely in ease of use - so make ease of use a priority in all areas

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Considerations – Existing Expertise

Suppose your enterprise has a policy of using just one database engine and has developed a very experienced technical team on-site

If you buy your software solution from the same vendor, you get double benefits

Almost certainly your staff will find the new tools easier to use, because of the family similarity that runs through products

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Considerations – Compatible Technologies

Few vendors currently supply complete end-to-end software systems

So, depending on your needs, you might not be able to source everything from one supplier

Before buying any of the components, ask searching questions to ensure maximum compatibility with your existing infrastructure

Compatibility lowers the cost of producing an integrated system

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Considerations – Killer Functionality

It may be that one software product alone offers a single piece of functionality that outweighs virtually every other consideration except ROI

There is no such a warning of what that might be for your particular enterprise, but you'll know it when you see it

It might be support for spatial data types, for example, allowing you to incorporate GPS data for tracking deliveries, or perhaps decomposition trees for innovative data visualizations. But sometimes, that one killer feature makes the whole investment worthwhile, as opposed to trying to get another product to do something that it really wasn't designed to do

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Considerations – Data Volume

How much data do you have - and how much will you have in the future?

If you're a large retail chain collecting point-of-sale data, you have lots of data. If you're a telecom company, you have lots of data

In-memory querying is a case in point: It can be very effective with surprisingly large data volumes, but there are limits to what it can handle.

Some software products scale badly. They may work well with a million rows, but with 10 million, they may run slow. Try to gauge data volume accurately and match it to software/hardware capabilities. Then make the vendor really prove to you that the software can handle it

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Considerations - Hardware

The hardware available for software covers a huge range

Costs vary accordingly. If you under-specify the hardware or try to use the wrong hardware for your new software, your system will never perform optimally and the ROI will fail to appear

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Considerations – Cost

Cost is not important, it's return on investment that counts

It's better to invest $5 million and reap $30 million than to invest $2 million and reap nothing

With the right calculations and a convincing business case, you should be able to prove this to the money people at your company

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Considerations – Current Source Systems

Existing operational systems such as the finance, CRM and human resources systems are typically underpinned by a database engine

Just because you're using Engine X for transaction processing does not mean you have to use it for the new BI project

Any good tool will be perfectly capable of extracting data from any number of different source systems and transforming it into any flavor you like

This doesn't mean you should ignore the existing expertise but, in terms of functionality, there is little need to consider the existing engine

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Software License Considerations

So your firm has developed a new software package and wants to get it on the market. Your lawyer will want you to consider these things to protect your firm with an ironclad license agreement

There are about 10 basic considerations

Present employees, former employees, independent contractors, funding sources, and competitor businesses all may claim ownership in your invention

Laws governing export controls may dictate how you launch your product and where you sell it

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Software License Considerations

What are you going to do to police your licenses and ensure that no one pirates your software?

What aspects of your software are trade secrets (e.g., the architecture, empirical formulas, mathematical constants, and/or the software itself)?

What form will your software license take? Will it be written, implied through use, automatic upon breaking the shrink-wrap, or through on-line registration?

Are you protecting yourself from liability for harm caused by your software?

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Software License Considerations

Copyright and/or patent is not automatic. You may need to comply with copyright notice, registration, and publication procedures. You may need to apply for a patent

How are you going to set the price for your software?

What are you firm's plans with respect to release of future versions of the software or development of new software?

You might be infringing on someone else's copyright

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A Shopping Cart Software

A shopping cart software package is one of the most important decisions that any ecommerce company could make. Your shopping cart and everything else that comes in the package will have a huge influence on how your site and your web development efforts will turn out. Making a mistake in choosing is nothing short of unfortunate

Cost Considerations

Appearance

Procedure

Functionality

Customization

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Business Accounting Software

The world of small business accounting software can be a minefield for any business owner. However choosing the right package is one of the most critical business decisions you will make

Scalability

Support

Accountant Interface

Best Value for Money

Major Brands

Ease of Use

Features Needed

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Point of Sale Software

Point of sale (POS) system implementation can become a crucial factor that affects whether you store succeeds or fails. Here are five elements to consider before you buy:

Getting the Right Implementation Team

Choosing the Software that Fits Your Needs

Minimizing Disruptions

Integrating with Other Software Solutions

Enhancing Marketing Efforts