Information Technology in Harrison Kirby’s Business
Information Technology in Harrison Kirby’s Business
Information Technology is important for the growth of any business. In the retail industry, the use of technology has allowed businesses to reach a wide range of customers. Such businesses have had great profits. For Harrison Kirby, who is in the retail business, information technology will be a great help. His business is also part of the golfing industry that is one of the industries with a great economic impact (Heitner, 2015). Providing Kirby with data on different technologies will give him a competitive advantage.
Information technology has a great impact on many businesses including the retail business. Implementation of IT differentiates a company from its competitors and helps it reach its business objectives. Information technology accelerates the growth of a business and provides it with scalability. It improves the ability to successfully manage a business. A business that integrates technology is in a better position to overcome obstacles that come with growth. As such, the business gains a competitive advantage, and it can seize arising opportunities quickly. Information technology is an important ingredient for the success of a business (Quinonez, 2014). This paper will provide Kirby with data on different technologies he can integrate to help him realize these benefits.
Golfsmith International is the largest golf retailer in the world. It has stores both in the United States and in Canada. The company has attributed most of its success to the integration technology especially its e-commerce sites. Its twenty-four-hour online presence allows the company to be accessed by a wide range of customers. Its strategic integration of information technology and infrastructure has allowed it to remain at the top of this industry (Golfsmith International, 2015).
The most common security threat in the information technology world is cyber-attack. Many businesses even government organizations have encountered this problem. For e-commerce businesses, such attacks can be pervasive. The attacker may access crucial information like credit card information or personal addresses. As such, the business may lose its credibility with its customers. Target, one of the largest retailer in the world experienced such an attack. The company suffered great losses. Denial of service is also a common security issue in the technology world. Such an attack results in customers not accessing certain resources as usual. Such an attack would also lead to great losses for a company.
Most issues in information technology are associated with privacy and authorization. Authentication is one of the ways I can recommend for Kirby. Every customer can create an account with a and password on their first login. In subsequent logins, they will be required to provide the same and password. As such, the customers’ personal information is protected. It also ensures that only the administrator has certain privileges, like viewing all customers’ accounts. Kirby can also build strong firewalls for his systems. It reduces the vulnerability of the application and systems.
Findings and Recommendations
Big data and knowledge management are one of the technologies that have transformed most e-commerce related businesses. One of the common challenges for such businesses is collecting, storing and organizing data. The use of big data provides business owners with more organized data. It helps in the tracking and understanding of a variety of information from different sources. Big data allows business owners to make more informed decisions. The decisions are based on actual insights and not hunches. It also allows a business to create personalized offers (Jao, 2015). Users’ behaviors are tracked, and this helps the business come up with strategies to turn a one-time customer into a repeat customer. Most companies rely on knowledge management tools when expanding their businesses. For example, The Grommet relies on these tools to engage their customers. According to Britt (2014), the company validates the products it has on their online catalogs.
Cloud computing is valuable for the success of a business. It provides a business with scalability; it can cope with the increase of customers. Cloud computing has pay-for-what-you-use nature. The nature makes it available for all businesses regardless of their size. It allows even small retailers to compete with larger business due to economies of scale. It can also act as a good ground when a business is looking to expand or to test a new e-commerce model. Cloud-based applications are flexible, and they are considered a reasonable investment. The most important advantage of using cloud computing is the ability to recover data. The performance of a server can be affected by various factors including power supply interruption or floods. Such occurrences have no effect for businesses using cloud computing.
As discussed, the integration of technology will be a great benefit to Kirby’s business. Big data and knowledge management will provide him with accurate data that he can use. The data provided will be accurate since it is arrived at by assessing the behaviors of his customers. Any strategies Kirby wants to implement will be well informed. Cloud computing also provides him with a platform similar to other competitors even large-scale retailers. He can store his analyzed data on the cloud for future use. The implementation of these recommended technologies ensures Kirby makes informed decisions. Consequently, his business gains a competitive advantage.
References
Britt, P. (2014). KM for e-commerce growth. Retrieved from http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/Editorial/Features/KM-for-e-commerce-growth-99412.aspx
Golfsmith International. (2015). About Golfsmith International. Retrieved from http://www.golfsmith.com/display?page=about-us/core-purpose
Heitner, D. (2015). The state of the golf industry in 2015. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2015/04/04/the-state-of-the-golf-industry-in-2015/
Jao, J. (2015). Why big data is a must in e-commerce. Retrieved from http://www.bigdatalandscape.com/news/why-big-data-is-a-must-in-ecommerce
Quinonez, N. (2014). The importance of Information Technology and its disadvantages. Retrieved from https://blog.udemy.com/importance-of-information-technology/
