1

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

2

“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

2

3

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

3

4

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

4

5

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

6

6

7

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.

7

8

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 2 MODEL

8

9

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.

9

10

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

10

11

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

11