Article Review: Six Smart Ways to Grow Small Business IT

A very interesting and appropriate article from PC World talks about how to improve and develop good IT infrastructure in small businesses. I thought this subject matter is especially appropriate as we are in an entrepreneurial class simultaneously with our IS/IT class. The article focused on how as a company grows its IT must grow as well. An analogy to clothing on a child was drawn to a firm’s IT. Imagine a large adult in infants clothing, t simply would not work. This happens to larger companies and it can cause a lot of time, money, and energy to fix and upgrade IT that is needed.
The author suggests that your need to change IT will occur a lot sooner than most expect. He suggests making sure that your small business budget has enough space for IT. He suggests budgeting approximately 10%-15% of salary per employee for IT each year. This seems a bit high and I would have to believe this depends on the type of company we are referring to, yet I am not the expert.
Planning your IT future is emphasized by the author. Small businesses can end up with to many different types of systems. Another trend for small businesses is to replace systems with new ones as opposed to updating or modifying the current hardware’s. The next recommendation is to make IT part of management. This step helps ensure good timing and cost structure from the owner to the employees. Taking care of basics is another issues important to small business IT. A hierarchy of needs can be used here, with information security as one of the priorities.
Choosing vendors wisely is crucial to small businesses in the early stages. A key to success, vendors and suppliers must be efficient and reliable. Continue learning is essential to success of any business. Finally the author offers us that a combination of enterprise IT and small business advantages one can ensure that a growing business is prepared for success.
I think this article offers owners of small businesses a good path for beginning to think about their IT. In today’s business world, IT is becoming evermore crucial and part of daily operations. The transfer of information, protecting information, and communicating within various sites all need to be managed by good IT systems. By taking a proactive approach to ensuring IT stability and preparedness one can begin to mitigate some of the risks of issues associated with information systems and business operations.

Sources: Widman, Jake. (2009). Six Smart Ways to Grow Small Business IT. PC World.

Ch 10-Case Study: Can eBay Continue Growing?

1.What is eBay’s business model and business strategy? How successful has it been?

eBay’s business model and business strategy is perfect for a web based company. They stock no inventory and ship no products; the revenue is derived from information movement. The success of eBay is evident as of 2006 there were 200 million users, 8,000 full-time employees, and $40 billion worth of goods changing hands. The bulk of revenue is from fees and commissions from the trading services. Direct advertising is also another source of revenue for eBay. Expansion in geography and cope are two focuses of eBay’s strategy.

2.What are the problems that eBay is currently facing?

eBay is currently facing problems in competition with Yahoo in Asian markets. Laws in other countries make it difficult to protect property and rights. eBay also has a threat from lack of honesty and integrity of its auctions. Online crime is definitely a big problem facing any online auctioneer or vendor. Customer service can also be a problem at times due to the sheer size of the company and its customers or users.

5.Will eBay be successful in the long run? Why or why not?

I believe that eBay will be successful in the long run. I feel this way for a few reasons. The first being that it already has a functional and profitable business model and plan. The second is that it has name recognition and virtually everyone wither has used eBay or knows someone whom has. Third is that with the success of the company good management will adapt to an ever changing competitive landscape and customer trends. The fourth and final reason is that the company has already recognized its current challenges and taken steps to mitigate those issues. Any newcomer to the scene will have a very difficult time competing with eBay and if they are truly innovative and clever, then they will likely be bought out by the giant anyway.

Sources: Management Information Systems Managing the Digital Firm, tenth edition. pgs. 424-426. Laudon, Kenneth C.