ICT proposal

1. ICT proposal Full of beans

2. Contents page Introduction Desktop PCs Laptops Tablets Smartphones Hardware recommendations Digital camera Graphics Design Anti-virus Office Software Software recommendations Complete system change Upgrade software Global Marketing Automated ordering Responses to changes Internet banking Loyalty cards Case study 1 Case study 2 Case study 3 Conclusion

3. Introduction With the constantly evolving technology, the way businesses are run are bound to change, meaning if we don’t keep up we will become over run with custom or just never used as we are unable to supply the standard of customer service that they are accustomed to. Here is just a few more reasons to upgrade: • Keeping up with competitors - As other companies will also have the ability to upgrade their systems in the same way we do, we as an organisation need to make sure we are at the forefront of the technology allowing us to be able to display our ideas, data and information, as good as if not better than our competitors, to separate ourselves in the market. • Increased productivity - as the newer systems are fitted with the most up to date; RAM, operating systems and processors, the computers will be able to run a lot faster than the bespoke system we are currently using, so if it is running faster your employees will be able to get a lot more work done than they can now as they will not have to wait for the tedious loading screens to go. • Cost reductions - – in the long run buying a new system will be less expensive than the maintenance of the old ones, as parts for older computers are in short supply so they will be a lot more expensive, so a one off payment for a whole new system will cost a whole lot less than regular payments for individual computers when the components eventually breakdown. • Increased efficiency/prevent loss of data - the newer systems are less likely to cut off suddenly, meaning that the loss of data and work is almost impossible to happen anything short of a power cut. As the computers will be a lot faster than the old bespoke system that we have, a lot more work can be done.

4. Desktop PCs This desktop PC would be ideal for many reasons: firstly, the RAM is 12GB; this is good for web design as most web design software requires a minimum of 2GB of RAM, so this will allow the software to run incredibly efficiently and will allow an optimum amount of work to be completed. Secondly, the hard drive 3TB this is ideal for web design software because similar to the RAM the minimum requirements for a piece of software is 250GB hard drive so a 500GB will allow the computer to run a maximum speed t will also allow for plenty of room on the hard drive itself to store the web pages and other resources on the computer itself.

5. Laptops This desktop PC would be ideal for many reasons : firstly, the RAM is 16GB, this is good for web design as most web design software requires a minimum of 2GB of RAM, so this will allow the software to run incredibly efficiently and will allow an optimum amount of work to be completed. Secondly, the hard drive 1.5TB this is ideal for web design software because similar to the RAM the minimum requirements for a piece of software is 250GB hard drive so a 500GB will allow the computer to run a maximum speed t will also allow for plenty of room on the hard drive itself to store the web pages and other resources on the computer itself.

6. Tablets This smartphone would be ideal for many reasons: Firstly, the processor is one of the most powerful smartphones on the market allowing for a fluid operation of the smartphone. Secondly, the amount of internal memory is quite high for a tablet allowing for a lot of important data to be stored within the tablet itself Thirdly, The operating system has a lot of new features and they have fixed any and all bugs on the IOS 4 Lastly, Apple is a well-known brand allowing for a lot of support if there is any problems

7. Smartphones This smartphone would be ideal for many reasons: Firstly, the processor is one of the most powerful smartphones on the market allowing for a fluid operation of the smartphone. Secondly, the amount of internal memory is quite high for a smartphone allowing for a lot of important data to be stored within the phone itself Thirdly, The operating system has a lot of new features and they have fixed any and all bugs on the IOS 5 Lastly, Apple is a well-known brand allowing for a lot of support if there is any problems.

8. Digital camera This digital camera would be ideal for many reasons: Firstly, the Mega pixels for this camera is incredibly high for its price so I believe that this is one of the ideal cameras to of bought for high quality images. Secondly, the resolution of the image is quite high which again makes it one of the ideal cameras to of picked because the quality of the images is going to be incredibly high for such a low price. Thirdly, the large amount of memory cards that is available to use in this camera is also a plus because it means that it can be used with memory card readers. Lastly, the fact that this is £49.97 means that this will slot nicely into my budget and gain an optional peripheral on top.

9. Anti-virus This anti-virus software would be ideal for many reasons: Firstly. I use MacAfee internet security on my home computer so I am incredibly familiar with the use of this software. Secondly, MacAfee is a well-known company for software like this, so will be dependable for the work that needs to be done on it, furthermore should anything go wrong the support that is available to me is quite high. Thirdly, all of the system requirements are met by the tower I have picked on a previous slide, meaning that the software will be running correctly and with a correct amount of speed. Fourth, the tools which are available to the user are what appear to be far more comprehensive on the McAfee in comparison to the others; this will allow the students to have complete control other their website through the use of these comprehensive tools. Lastly, this is quite an affordable piece of software for what it is and the brand image that comes with it.

10. Graphic design This graphics design software would be ideal for many reasons: firstly, being that I am more familiar with Adobe Photoshop in comparison to the others because I have used it the whole of my secondary school education time Secondly, Adobe is a well-known company for software like this, so will be dependable for the work that needs to be done on it, furthermore should anything go wrong the support that is available to me is quite high. Thirdly, all of the system requirements are met by the tower I have picked on a previous slide, meaning that the software will be running correctly and with a correct amount of speed. Fourth, the tools which are available to the user are what appear to be far more comprehensive on the Photoshop in comparison to the others; this will allow the students to have complete control other their website through the use of these comprehensive tools. Lastly, this is quite an affordable piece of software of this calibre and the brand image that comes with it.

11. Office software This office software would be ideal for many reasons: Firstly being that I am more familiar with Microsoft office in comparison to the others because I have used it the whole of my secondary school education time Secondly, Microsoft is a well-known company for software like this, so will be dependable for the work that needs to be done on it, furthermore should anything go wrong the support that is available to me is quite high. Thirdly, all of the system requirements are met by the tower I have picked on a previous slide, meaning that the software will be running correctly and with a correct amount of speed. Fourth, the tools which are available to the user are what appear to be far more comprehensive on the Microsoft office in comparison to the others; this will allow the students to have complete control other their website through the use of these comprehensive tools. Lastly, this is quite an affordable piece of software of its sophistication and the brand image that comes with it.

12. Complete system change The hardware that’s available for the computers is constantly evolving; upgrade will allow for faster and more efficient use of the computer, an organisation may choose to buy whole new workstations for every computer within the organisation, this may incredibly costly dependent on the size of the organisation, however in the long run can result in the organisation being able to run for longer without any problems as the older systems will inevitably develop problems and break down, which will have to be replaced anyway. Furthermore the way the computers connect may also change, upgrading the computer system will allow for the organisation to add wireless keyboards, mice and even make the network itself wireless. In previous pages there is all of the recommendations that I have put forward for each of the systems in themselves but you may want to consider fitting a large TV screen in full view for staff which can be used to make big announcements which will mean that the staff are going to be constantly kept in the loop.

13. Upgrade software As well as the constantly changing hardware, the software used every day by an organisation is also changing, so if an organisation cannot afford or doesn’t think it’s a good idea at that point to buy all new systems they can download or buy the newest copies of software, this has many advantages the first being it will allow compatibility with any of the older systems and the obvious newer ones, there will be new tools added to aid the user in making interactive documents and any bugs or problems that was with the old system would of now been fixed.

14. Global marketing The introduction of e-mail, social networking and the global telephone allows for sales to be made far away from the head office of the business itself, these pieces of technology will allow a business to expand its market on a global scale with ease, increasing profit without having to even leave the country, viral marketing which offers incentives to make the company more well-known or to promote a product or service.

15. Automated ordering For most businesses keeping track of all of their stock would be an almost impossible task, so automated ordering allows the company to create a database of all their stock, every time they start to run low on a certain item the system will automatically order it to allow the business to maintain a constant flow of stock without having too little or too much, reducing unnecessary costs. Offering this automated ordering service to customers will increase efficiency and will allow for the customers to have convenience of not having to leave their homes for the products that they want.

16. Internet banking The introduction of internet banking allows for quick and easy transfer of money from one bank to another via the internet, removing the need to go into branch and pay it in cash, in many cases it will go across instantly but can sometimes take up to 3 days to clear, this allows for an easy record of any and all transactions, which will mean that any claims are easy to found. Adding this service but with an instant transfer rate will increase the satisfaction of the customers and will mean that the money moves too and from the customer and business and gaining repeat business.

17. Loyalty cards These are plastic cards similar to the size and shape of a debit or credit card. This serviceallows for the owner of the card to collect points for completing certain actions such as purchasing certain items or using the service a certain amount of times, these points can then be exchanged for products in store to the equivalent value upgrading your system will add the ability to be able to track the points on these cards. For our system we may want run a coinciding reward scheme with the loyal to cards for example they collect points which they can redeem at any time but we keep a record of the total points ever going into the account, when they reach 1000 points we send out free prizes based on their purchase history.

18. Case study – Beauty card – super drug What is it? This is a standard loyalty card, has a reflective mirror surface on the front which can add an appeal to certain customers. How does it work? Once you have bought the loyalty card, every time you buy something in store if you present your card you will get a point for every pound that you spend, there is however some special offers will give me points, however before you can spend the points you will have to register your card online which will allow for Superdrug to keep track. After this every 100 points equates to £1 to be exchanged for products in store. https://www.superdrug.com/bin/venda/page/beautycard

19. Case study – system upgrade - KTC Kemnal technology school originally had old Lenovo PCs which was installed with windows XP which caused the computers to run slow and not be compatible with the newest pieces of software this meant that the students were unable to complete their work to the best of their ability so upgrading to dell windows 7 PCs was the most ideal solution as this allows for the newest pieces of software like Microsoft office 2010 and the Adobe Master collection. http://ktc-tkat.org/

20. Case study – Google advertising One of the easiest ways for Google to make money is to have companies pay them money for ad spaces on Google searches, this is beneficial for both Google and the business paying for the advertising as they both gain money and publicity, this may be something that we may wish to consider for full of beans in order to gain extra advertising. www.google.co.uk

21. Conclusion In conclusion, the addition of the newest pieces of technology to the way you run things at full of beans, would make things a lot more efficient and profitable. As not only will the new systems allow for the work to be completed a lot easier, the customer service is going to be a lot more friendly and efficient leading to repeat business and every member of staff will know there role and what they are supposed to do creating an easy and relaxed atmosphere at work.