IFSM 300 Kelly's Salon Stage 4 Assignment

Running head: Kelly’s Salon Stage 4 7

UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

IFSM 300 5110 Information Systems in Organizations (2172)

Kelly’s Salon Stage 4

Professor: Renee Macklin

Author: James L. Bradden

24 February 2017

Introduction

The aim of this paper is to propose an IT solution for Kelly Salon which will support the implementation of the scheduling process of employees and the customers. The proposed solution will be vividly described analysis how the implementation of the solution will be carried out also be provided. The paper will also describe the implementation steps which the Kelly salon will have to undertake to accomplish the mission. These steps include the Vendor Agreement, hardware and software, employee’s preparation, testing, data migration, configuration and the system maintenance. The basic steps outlined above there are the key steps in implementing the vendor managed IT solution software (Milady, 2015).

Kelly Salon owner had earlier identified the low-cost strategy as the competitive weapon to counter competition from the other firms in the industry. To effectively manage the competitive forces, the low strategy was deemed to be the best strategy. Also identified, was the business process for improvement. Kelly Salon owner had identified scheduling of employees and customers as the business process for improvement. Thus the IT solution identified will be required to improve this process and ensure that the cost incurred by the salon have been reduced significantly, hence achieving the low-cost strategy in the firm (Camarinha-Matos, Baldissera, Orio, & Marques, 2015). The SaaS appointment scheduling software is one example of a scheduling software which helps achieve the business process for improvement. However, for the purpose of this assignment the VeriBook online booking software for scheduling of employees and customers will be applied.

Veribook enables an online scheduling and appointed by customers. It is a scheduling website for displaying your real time-time availability so that you can decide whether to take a customer or not. The software has several features such as customer appointment, employees scheduling, payment process, calendar management, group scheduling, import and export of data, remote access and time zone converter.

Veribook software uses the cloud-based system which requires no installation of the hardware and software. What is required in this type of browsing is the web browser which is used to connect to the software and start using it. Since there is no installation requires the scheduling system is cheap. The only hardware required is a desktop or laptop. The telecommunication devices are the router which directs the follow of data from the source to destination. Kelly Salon should create network connectivity within the Salon to ensure that information can be shared can also be accessed by the employees. The cloud-based system enables the access of the data via the internet without the use of the computer hard drive (Camarinha-Matos, Baldissera, Orio, & Marques, 2015).

The configurations of the software are carried out by the vendor after the payment of the required fees. Once the configurations have been employees and customer can access the web-based services and carry out the process of scheduling. The vendor can offer Kelly salon two options to pay for the installation or the Kelly carry out the installation for self. After the configurations have been made, Kelly should move to test the solution to see if the solution works. Testing should be done where Kelly takes in the login details of the customer and the employees and verify if it processes the information. She also tries to see whether the system can process payment for the services. The system should also support the keeping of responses from the customers to be used in future.

Before using the scheduling system, Kelly should fast train her employee. The vendor company offers training to new users of their services. Training should be done for all employees to make sure they can handle the software (Milady, 2015). The software has an application for the data import and export which can be useful to manage data migration from one system to another. Information on the earlier customers who had made an appointment can be transferred from one system to another. The employees should use the system for the purpose of scheduling the customers. Every employee can have access to the system. For the purpose of the maintenance of the system, Kelly should conduct an expert in information technology to be conducting system audit for improving the performance of the system.

To improve the scheduling of employee and customer the veribook software can be used, the software has many advantages to the business; the benefit includes the saving time and money. Veribook enables improving the customer service throughout the organization. It enables your client to book with you directly when because it allows the integration of the existing software (Sickle, 2001)

Camarinha-Matos, L. M., Baldissera, T. A., Orio, l. D., & Marques, F. (2015). Technological Innovation for Cloud-Based Engineering Systems: 6th IFIP WG 5.5/SOCOLNET Doctoral Conference on Computing, Electrical and Industrial Systems, DoCEIS 2015, Costa de Caparica, Portugal, April 13-15, 2015, Proceedings. Berlin: Springer.

Milady. (2015). Milady Standard Cosmetology. Chicago: Cengage Learning.

Sickle, T. V. (2001). Programming Microcontrollers in C. Newnes.