Entrepreneur, Marcus Kingo invested himself in his company, took pride in his work and looked for success in creating a franchise company. Kingo’s fast-growing waste collection business has become a challenge ever since inefficiency and errors came knocking on his door. As his business is expanding operational challenges are emerging due to his custom-built MS-Works® database. Customer service is being sacrificed, the operation is negatively impacted and expenses are increasing because Junk Van’s data processing system is lacking in performance. Kingo has been left with a difficult decision of improving his virtual business model by finding the right information technology (IT) tool for his company. The right solution needs to be cost effective, established in a short time, simple to manage, remotely accessible to all employees especially drivers, use friendly and most importantly organized to keep all the components of his operation under control. The components Kingo’s operation consists of are the clerk’s database and bookkeeping, the driver’s itineraries, customer billing, payments and reservations, driver’s updates on performed jobs and staff payroll.
Kingo found five possible solutions for his business problem. The first option is to upgrade his MS- Works® to MS- Access® which can be done in a short time and at a low price. Converting his system will also fulfill his needs of hosting multiple computers and remote access. However, in order for the system to have remote access capabilities it must be hosted by a shared server which would require outside assistance as Kingo is unable to perform the set up. He is qualified enough to perform the upgrade on the local computers but that scenario would not allow for remote access. Adding the shared server would not only require professional assistance but also require additional user licenses for every employee. The licenses are priced at $179 per a computer. Kingo’s second option is to customize his own application. This would involve an IT specialist to build a custom system specifically for Kingo that would include all the necessary features to fit his virtual business model. Although, a custom system would be built to satisfy the central database with remote access per Junk Van’s needs, it would be costly and take up to four weeks to have the system operating. The upfront cost would be $2,000 plus $60 per hour per developer for maintenance support would be needed. It is difficult to estimate the cost of maintenance as Kingo could not predict how much maintenance would be needed for his custom-made software. Other downfalls with this alternative would be extra costs for data migration, not being able to approve the application or even see it before hand and support for this customized software would be billed by the hour. Google Docs would be Kingo’s third alternative and would certainly fulfill his price conscious factor as the program is free for up to ten user accounts and small businesses are only charged $5 per user per month or $50 per use per year. It would be implemented rather quickly as Kingo already created a free account to learn more, it is certainly user friendly and Kingo can migrate the system himself in a short amount of time. Although, Google Docs requires the company to input all their data on the online spreadsheet, it would cause issues for the call center operators who would need to work off a very extensive form. Inputting confidential customer and company information on this online application also raises confidentiality issues that Kingo may have to deal with in the future. Google Docs even lacks customer support and Kingo would be forced to use online blogs and forums for assistance with the program. A fourth alternative for Kingo’s Junk Van Company is called Platform as a Service (PaaS). This system is similar to Google Docs, as it delivers on a cloud-computing infrastructure but has the ability to provide users with a build your own application and common applications with a shared computing platform through a third party. Kingo witnessed this program in action when a sales representative performed an on-site trial and found that the system was straightforward. He could build forms and connect tables just as the agent did with the tasks. Another positive factor about this program is that it would take about three days to implement and migrate all of the company’s data. However, this software comes at a cost of $300 to $600 a month depending on the storage space, user licenses and amount of applications. For Kingo to customize the program further he would need to invest more time and money, the quoted amount for additional support would cost him $180 per hour. Seeing as price is a set back with this option, the advantages would be that no long-term contracts are required, monthly service amounts can be changed at any time and canceling the service only requires one month’s notice. A fifth alternative for Kingo would be the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System that is built around a central database, designed for accessible remote access and allows for integrated business procedures. This alternative comes at a high cost of $2,500 per user per year with an expected user amount of 20-25. Seeing as Junk Van had fewer than 20-25 users the license prices would likely be higher at an estimated amount of $12,000 in lieu of four licenses. The ERP system also focused on finance and manufacture structures of a business; sections of the business Kingo did not need to invest time or money on since it is not relevant to what he needs. The system not only emphasizes on production but appears static and not as flexible to benefit Kingo’s virtual business model.
Kingo must make an important decision for his company in order to remain successful and escalate Junk Van to the next level of franchise. Junk Van is currently struggling to reduce inefficiencies, improve customer service, staying organized, keeping costs low and managing software that will enable important features like remote access and user friendly forms. Kingo hopes to keep his virtual business model idea and find the right software for his company. The fourth alternative, Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a logical opportunity for Kingo to choose as it provides all the right answers for him. It is cost effective as he is able to scale the service up or down at any point. This allows him to test packages and find the right one along with the right cost that suits his company best. In addition there are no long-term contracts to consider and cancellation of the software is simple. The program is user friendly to the point that Kingo can perform tasks himself and still have the ability to rely on their support system if needed. It also allows Kingo to build his own customizable application if he chooses. Best of all, the set up time only requires three days!
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