Scenario 01: Digital Reference Inc. (DRI)

Digital Reference Inc (DRI) is a start-up company that would like to provide a service by offering easy access to needed information in specialized fields such as accounting, auditing, taxation, governance and compliance, project management, strategy management, finance, etc. Although their business plan calls for moving into a number of fields, DRI would like to begin by addressing the needs of people in the accounting, auditing, and taxation fields.

Its first two target groups are public accounting firms and the general public.

For the general public, the plan is to provide a website with advice on various issues such as generally accepted accounting principles, auditing standards, tax laws, savings and investments rules, etc. The site would also contain links to other sites where visitors will be able to obtain links to other websites where visitors will be able to obtain advice on such issues as how to establish a new business.

For professionals in public accounting firms, DRI would like to offer more detailed information management and client support services. Additionally, the company wants to provide capabilities that might help the public accounting firms manage their standard office functions such as e-mail, phone, fax, printing, scheduling, helpdesk support, etc.

Scenario 02: SpaceY Corporation

Spacey Corporation (SpaceY) is a distribution of exotic steel, aluminium, and titanium alloys to the aerospace industry and to other specialty industries. These metals meet exceptionally exacting standards because they become parts in airplanes, rockets, industrial furnaces, mining equipment, deep sea drilling endeavours, and other high-performance products.

SpaceY sells raw materials produced in the form of bars, rods, sheets, filings, rings, and forgings. In turn, SpaceY customers use these materials to fabricate the final products. Many SpaceY customers are parts suppliers to end-product assemblers such as Boeing Aircraft, Lockheed Martin, Bombardier, Gulfstream, Cessna, etc

SpaceY maintains a sales staff to sell these metals, and the company stores its products in seven warehouses throughout the country. They obtain their products from steel and metal manufacturers through North America. If a customer requests a product not carried by SpaceY, the company will special-order it from an appropriate supplier.

Currently, Space's procurement, inventory, sales, and logistics process are primarily manual processes used with the aid of standard office productivity applications such as word processor, spreadsheet management, presentation tools, micro databases, etc.

Management is considering the potential of cloud computing services for automating the above-mentioned areas as well as standard office management functions.

1. Articulate the goal of the organization and the role of information systems in clear and concise manner;
2. Analyze the industry and competitive marketplace as well as identify the best competitive strategy to pursue given the company's strengths and weaknesses;
3. Compare and contrast the top two eCommerce business models (advantage and disadvantages) that may suit the overall objective identified in #1 above and recommend the best eCommerce business model based on your analysis (See Appendix A for an overview of the various eCommerce business models);
4. Describe the nature, type, and role of each of the five components of information systems in supporting your recommended Commerce business model to help the organization achieve its overall objectives; and
5. Recommend specific types of hardware, data storage, and networking requirements / technologies to support the effective deployment of the recommended eCommerce business model.