Information Systems Managment

Scenario: A company called Colony Nursery and Landscaping opened a new store   located a few hundred miles away from its original location. The company wants   to implement an award system that awards their customers with points whenever   customers make a purchase, but the two stores are not able to share   information.

Colony Nursery and Landscaping will need to implement an   enterprise resource  planning (ERP) system that will solve the information silo   problem by collecting  and making this user data available. Colony Nursery and   Landscaping is hoping  that by providing customers with this award system, they   will be able to  maintain competitive advantage. Colony Nursery and Landscaping   cannot afford to  purchase, develop, or maintain this system on-site, so they   are investigating  cloud solutions.

In addition, for many organizations, Colony Nursery and Landscaping included,   information silos make it difficult to tap into needed information. Discuss   whether or not the problem of information silos can be solved by using the   cloud. Some organizations do not have the resources to construct or maintain   their computer infrastructure, so they utilize cloud services instead to reduce   costs and improve scalability. In this assignment, you will discuss whether or   not the cloud offers solutions for Colony Nursery and Landscaping and identify   an application that the ERP system could provide. Compose an essay that   includes  the elements listed below.

• Define what an information silo is.
• Explain why information silos are a problem for organizations.
• Discuss why organizations are moving to the cloud.
• Determine whether or not using cloud services, such as a cloud-based host        for data storage, would solve the ERP information silo problem at Colony        Nursery and Landscaping.
• Explain how using the ERP system and awards program would provide a        competitive advantage for Colony Nursery and Landscaping.
• Discuss why the implementation of an ERP system might require business        process reengineering for Colony Nursery and Landscaping. Be sure to explain        the business processes that will be affected (e.g., the customer awards        system). Use diagrams or tables as needed, but this is not required.

Your essay must be a minimum of three pages in length (not counting the title   and reference pages), and it must be formatted in APA style.