Internet_Tools_at_Dirt_Bikes

Internet Tools at Dirt Bikes 1 of 5 Internet Tools at Dirt Bikes IT205 Internet Tools at Dirt Bikes 2 of 5 After looking over the current status of the IT infrastructure of Dirt Bikes I have been able to identify several areas that could be improved to help Dirt Bikes reach their goals of improving inventory control, personnel management, marketing and sales. First let me review your current status with you so I am better able to demonstrate the benefits of the new technology that is available. Currently Dirt Bikes provides internet access to all of its employees, but does not share the information obtained from the internet with all of the employees. This one aspect could save time and money by preventing the need for repetitive searches for the same information bogging down your network. Another thing that was found during our earlier discussions was that your sales personnel do not have any means of contact with the company except by phone when they are out on the road. Dirt Bikes current network is limited to being able to provide internet access for its employees. The addition of a centrally located file and print server on the network would allow your employees to share information among them. This is the beginning of what is known as an intranet or internal network which would become the backbone of your network. Through the use of this intranet it would be possible for users to store different types of information on the network which can be shared with others, or even kept secret from those users that should not have access to it. Printers could be shared among employees cutting down on the number of printers that are needed and also the supplies that are needed to run them. Internet Tools at Dirt Bikes 3 of 5 You can install your own e-mail server using software such as Microsoft Exchange to allow your employees and customers to contact you and share information. By having your own e-mail server you also create a professional looking appearance to your customers who contact using your own company name in the address instead of using sights such as Gmail or Yahoo mail. There are numerous software packages available on the market that can be used to aid in your productivity and management also. You could install an accounting and human recourses package on your intranet that would allow all of your personnel in your accounting and HR departments to share data aiding in management of your financials and personnel management. Databases can be installed and used to manage your inventory of parts and finished products that your currently have on hand allowing you to prevent overstocks or shortages on items needed for your assembly plant or salesmen allowing for just in time shipment of inventory items reducing overhead costs. There are management information systems (MIS) that help management organize data that is stored on your computers into a usable format for managers to make decisions and analyze where the company stands. Decision support systems (DSS) are used to aid your middle managers in making decisions on the best way to handle situations, or to adjust inventory and productions schedules. Group decision-support systems (GDDS) to help teams or individuals make smart decisions about day to day events that need some sort of oversight. There are collaboration suites such as SharePoint by Microsoft that allow you to create your own internal web site on your intranet to share information among your Internet Tools at Dirt Bikes 4 of 5 employees such as company calendars, current events, standard forms and links to other information like the warehouse inventory for your sales team for team information for other departments. There are numerous uses for such a site only limited by the imagination. The internet can be used to promote your business to potential customers. You could create a website on a web server with links to your sales brochures, inventory items and pricing information as well as company contact information for your customers that are out of the area and need to be able to contact you for more information. This could be used by your marketing department to spread new information about Dirt Bikes for new models or sales promotions. Your sales team could also use this site to aid customers in locating the parts they are looking for and can be used by them to even connect to your e-mail server to check their e-mail while on the road. Another innovation that could be leveraged within Dirt Bikes is the use of smart phones, or PDAs by your sales team to help them keep in touch with the home office. They can check and send e-mail and even connect to the internet to look up information for a customer from anywhere they happen to be. The use of what is known as virtual private networks (VPN) your sales personnel and even other selected employees could connect through the internet from any location to your intranet thereby giving them connection to internal information from anywhere allowing them to instantly check inventory levels or current pricing information. Through the use of wireless technology it is able for your employees to connect to your network within your companies buildings and allow them to move around with Internet Tools at Dirt Bikes 5 of 5 laptops to meetings without ever loosing connectivity to your network. This is very useful for those employees who need to stay in touch, or for business presentations. With all of this technology available to you, you will need to take some steps to prevent access to your private information from the outside and from those inside the company who should not have access. This is managed by your network administrator who can control who has access to what and when. Another effect of having so much activity going on with your network is that it could become bogged down from overuse, or abuse. Your network administrator can control who has access to the internet and where they are allowed to go. You must protect your company from unwanted law suits brought on from misuse of company assets. There are software suites that are made to monitor your employees use of the internet and e-mail to ensure that company secrets are not divulged and no inappropriate use of the computers is going on.