Download - INFOSYS190 2014 Deliverable 2 ISAAC CECIL
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INFOSYS.110 BUSINESS SYSTEMS: DELIVERABLE 2: BUSINESS SECTION2014
Name Isaac Cecil
NetID Icec153
Group Number: 190
Website Link: http://infosys110groupxxx.blogspot.co.nz/
Tutorial DetailsTutor: Day: Time:
Johnnie Wednesday 9am
Time Spent on Assignment: 19 hours Word Count: 1644
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“TOWN TRACKER” DELIVERALBE 2INTRODUCTION
Every week Auckland’s nightclubs and bars are flooded with people partying. However, due
to potentially dangerous elements present in the nightlife environment partygoers can face
dangers such as battery, drink-spiking, and rape. A way to reduce the likelyhood of these
incidents occuring is to travel in groups. However, this rather difficult when dealing with the
intoxicated. Using location services such as GPS, wifi, and triangulation available on
smartphones Town Tracker displays group memebers positions on a map of Auckland City in
real time.
3. BUSINESS SECTION
3.1 Vision
To provide an effective and easy to interpret person-tracking app to make partying in
Auckland safer.
3.2 Industry Analysis: Mobile Location Service Industry
Force: High/Low: Justification:
Buyer power: High As there are many rivals who offer similar services
the consumer has multiple choices and therefore
high buyer power.
Supplier power: Low There are a large number of mobile application
designers. Therefore supplier power is low due to
the buyer having numerous choices of suppliers.
Threat of new entrants: High Stellar (2011) states that the average application
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costs $6453 to develop which is relatively
inexpensive. This together with the technology
needed in the mobile location service industy
being freely available means that there are
insignificant entry barriers making it easy for
competitors to enter the market.
Threat of substitutes: Low Alternatives such as GPS and phyically searching
for other members suggested by Activist Post
(2010) are expensive (for GPS), inconvienent, and
time consuming making the threat of substitutes
low.
Rivalry among existing
competitors:
High There are many competitors already established
in the mobile location service industry which
make use of txting, calling, GPS, and
multilateration.
Overall attractiveness of the industry: Low
Porter’s Five Forces Model suggests that entering the mobile location service industry would
be unwise. The numerous existing rivals are cheap, easy to use, and have large customer
bases already making the competition within the market fierce. Together with the low enter
barriers making the the threat of new entrants very high the prospect of being successful in
the mobile location service industry is slim. To make the product competitve it would have
to be free with in-built ads being the only source of revenue. Therefore to be profitable the
app would require repeated use by a large consumer base which for the above reasons is
likely to be difficult to obtain with out a clear competitive advantage.
3.3 Customers and Their Needs
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The target customers are anyone who wishes to enjoy Auckland’s nightlife specifically. The
most important need of the customer is to be able to quickly and easily locate their friends
position on a map of Auckland in real time. Safety in numbers is widely considered one of
the best ways to keep yourself safe when out at night as affirmed by Pellot (2013) and this
coincides with Town Tracker’s vision statement of keeping people safe by allowing them to
relocate friends. This strategy has been proven effective as Moir (2014) states that a
tracking app provided a great safety net in Wellingtonians. Police estimate that a third of all
criminal offending is alcohol related according to the Auckland Council (2012). This makes
the nightlife environment a potentially dangerous place as a large portion of paytrons
consume alcohol.
3.4 The Product and Service
Town Tracker is able to satisfy the needs of the consumer as it allows them locate friends
who have joined a group with them on the app. Their friends appear as markers on a map of
Auckland in real time using GPS, triangulation, and wifi services allowing them to easily
locate their group so they can rejoin them and have a safer and more enjoyable night.
3.5 Suppliers and Partners
Two suppliers for the “Town Tracker” app would be the app designers and programmers.
The application designers would develop the overall presentation of the app so that the app
would be aesthetically pleasing while also being intuitive. The app programmers create the
final product and therefore would have to create the necessay software and provide
preformance and quality of life updates.
Nightclub owners are potential partners because people with their friends are more likely to
be having fun and if they are having fun they are likely to stay out longer. The longer they
are out the more money then are likely to spend in the bars and nightclubs they are in
which is the benefit for the nightclub and bar owners. The police are also potential partners
as they would benefit from the reduced crime in the Auckland City area as they would have
to utilise less resources and therefore save money and be able to reallocate resources
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elsewhere. Both of these two partners could endourse and promote “Town Tracker” in
return for the benefits they receive.
3.6 Strategy: Focused Low Cost
The cost strategy for “Town Tracker” would be low cost as the app would be available for
free or a low price to encourage consumers to try the app and also to be competitive with
the existing rivals.
The competitive scope would focus on only the people going out to enjoy the Auckland City
nightlife. This only makes up a small portion of consumers and therefore targets a narrow
market.
The overall strategy is therefore Focused Low Cost.
3.7 Value Chain Activity: Research and Development
The most important value chain activity for this business is Research and Development.
For “Town Tracker” to succeed in the highly competitive mobile location service industry a
clear competitive advantage is needed. Ultimately, if the app does not allow for consumers
to find their friends easily and accurately then “Town Tracker” will not be following it’s
vision statement of enabling seperated inviduals to relocate their friends to increase safety
and enjoyment. Research and development allows studies to be done to see if “Town
Tracker” is satisfying the customer’s needs. Furthmore, the feedback given enables the app
to be further developed until it not only satisfies their needs but does so in a way that is
preferred in relation to rival services.
3.8 Business Processes
3.8.1. MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS – It is crucial to find a way to satisfy the customer’s needs
in a way that creates a competitive advantage as it is preferred to rival services. The only
way to do this is to preform surveys to collect information from potential consumers before
the app is developed. The information collected can then be implemented during the
creation of the app together with the app designers knowledge to ensure the finished
product is competitive, effective, and easy to use.5
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MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS 1 MODEL
3.8.2. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS – This process is very important as it takes the
feedback obtained from users, analyses it, and actualises it to make an improved product.
This repeats via updates to “Town Tracker” so that the app sustains its initial competitive
advantage. Also as technology improves, the customer’s needs evolve, and the initial
competitive advantage is adopted by competitors, adjustments will have to be implemented
in order for “Town Tracker” to remain successful.
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SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 2 MODEL
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3.9 Functionalities
3.9.1. MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS
Captures potential customer’s survey results Presents data for interpretation
3.9.2. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Captures customer’s feedback Maintaining and enhancing software
3.10 Systems
3.10.1. FEEDBACK CAPTURING SYSTEM – This system is highly important as is essential to
functionalities for both the market research process and software development process. For
the market research it would capture the customer’s survey and study results which would
later be stored before it can be transformed into interpretable information that can be used
in the app development process so that the app satisfies the customer’s needs. The system
would also capture customer feedback which can be used in the software development
process. By being able to capture feedback “Town Tracker” can develop into an app which is
easy to interpret and effective at people tracking in the Auckland City.
3.10.2. DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM – This system would allow the data captured from the
feedback capturing system to be displayed in a manner which makes it easy to identify
popular and unpopular aspects of the application. Therefore changes could be made to
make “Town Tracker” an effective people tracking app that is easy to interpret for Auckland
city partygoers.
3.10.3. SOFTWARE TESTING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM – This system would trial the initial app
and further updates so that the app is made pubicly available with the least faults possible.
Therefore “Town Tracker” will be an effective people-tracking app that is effective at
keeping Auckland partygoers safe and in groups.
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3.11. Summary Table: Value Chain to Systems
Value Chain Activity
Processes Functionalities Specific Information System(s)
Broad Information System(s)
Research
and
Developmen
t
1. Market research process
1. Captures potential customer’s survey results
2. Presents data for interpretation.
Feedback Capturing system
Data management system
CRM
DSS2. Software
Development
process
1. Captures customer’s feedback and reviews
2. Maintaining and enhancing software to cope with newly discovered faults or requirments
Feedback Capturing system
Software Testing Management System
CRM
SCM
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CONCLUSION
The “Town Tracker” app is targeted at Auckland partygoers and aims to increase personal
safety by allowing them to easily and effectively locate their friends using location
technologies. Due to the high threat of new entrants and rivalry within the market place the
overall attractiveness of the industry is low. Information systems increase the accuracy and
efficiency of the Research and Development deparment and enable the business to provide
a top competitor in the mobile location service industry.
REFERENCES
1. Stetler, M. (2011). How much does it cost to develop a mobile app? http://appmuse.com/appmusing/how-much-does-it-cost-to-develop-a-mobile-app/
2. Pellot, E. (2013). How to stay safe when you’re partying this Halloween http://collegecandy.com/2013/10/25/partying-safely/
3. Auckland Council. (2012). Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy. Retrieved from http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/planspoliciesprojects/plansstrategies/Councilstrategies/Documents/alcoholharmreductionstrategy.pdf
4. Moir, J. (2014). ‘Wolf pack’ app keeps students safe. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/9607588/Wolf-pack-app-keeps-students-safe
5. Activist Post. (2010). 10 Ways We Are Being Tracked, Traced and Databased. Retrieved from http://www.activistpost.com/2010/07/ten-ways-we-are-being-tracked-traced.html
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