Impact on wide area network Essay Example For Students

Impact on wide area network Essay PACT OF WIDE AREA NETWORKS ON BUSINESSWhere does one start when discussing the impact of Wide Area Networks (WANs) on business? Its been huge! WANs have created an entirely new segment in the business market and revolutionized many of the current ones. A person could write for days or months about all the impacts and effects WANs have had. This essay will focus on three primary areas to describe the impact of WANs on business. First, some specific types of applications will be discussed and how they can improve day-to-day business operations. WANs enable various communication mediums to exist that significantly improve the speed of business communications. The telephone and e-mail are a couple of examples. WANs also allow various marketing and financial applications to improve business operations. Next, some real world examples will be provided to show the actual impact WANs are having. The travel industry, JCPenney, Varsity Books, and Wal-Mart are just some of literally thousands of companies that have capitalized on the capabilities WANs provide. Finally, the importance of WANs and the benefits they can generate will be discussed. Specifically, the strategic leverage and competitive advantages that can be created and maintained by implementing the use of WANs will be addressed. Before getting into specific business applications, lets quickly review what a wide area network (WAN) is. Ray Hunt and John Vargo define a WAN as, A telecommunication network allowing connection of computers, peripherals, and other devices, such as telephone and fax, that are at a distance from one another (1996, p. 463). WANs extend across geographic boundaries such as streets, cities, states, and even countries, into the public domain where anybody can use them (Hunt Vargo, 2000). By allowing anybody and everybody into the public domain, WANs opened a completely new market for businesses that was previously not available to them. As a result, WANs grew larger and new communication methods and business applications were developed to capitalize on the WAN technology and architecture. The telephone system is an example of a wide area network. Its impact on business, and on most peoples lives in general, is rather obvious. It is one of the primary methods of communication we use today. Other, and relatively newer methods based on WANs include electronic mail (E-mail), voice mail, fax machines, and teleconferences. These applications/technologies have improved business communications by:1) Reducing the effect of telephone tag2) Minimizing time spent in telephone conversations3) Providing the ability to send and/or receive files4) Providing the ability to retain a permanent record of the communication5) Minimizing problems associated with geographic and time differences6) Reducing paper handling and associated costs (Hunt ; Vargo, 2000)The impact of business communications can not be understated. One senior executive states, Good communications are the lifeblood of any enterprise, large or small. Communications are essential to keep our entire organization functionin g at maximum levels and to make the most of our greatest management resource-our people (Blanchard, Hersey, ; Johnson, 1996, p. 338). Communication is not the only business activity WANs can significantly impact. Various marketing applications can be implemented using WANs. A reservation system is a good example of the way companies can market a seat on an airplane or a room in a hotel. The wide area network provides the link between the customer and the database that maintains up to the minute availability information. Customers can act as their own travel agent in the convenience of their own home or business. Companies can advertise and promote their services to a large segment of the market; the online market. Teleshopping is another area where marketing applications have experienced tremendous growth. Teleshopping, or electronic commerce (E-commerce) means shopping or conducting business electronically over WANs. Countless new companies have started that sell their products solely over the Internet. Many other established companies have started selling their products over the Internet in addition to their traditional locations. The concept is simple. Customers can browse the companys pro ducts over the Internet. If they find something they want, they can order it and pay with a credit card (also over the Internet). The company will ship the product(s) directly to the customers home or business. A customer never has to leave their home or place of business to conduct transactions. This capability attracts an entirely new market and revenue potential for companies. Similar financial services and applications are available. Use of WANs to conduct financial transactions is now commonplace in our society. We use automated teller machines (ATMs) every day to withdraw cash, transfer funds, and perform inquiries. Electronic funds transfer (EFT) is an essential capability WANs provide to the finance and banking industry. The ability to transfer funds electronically enables numerous business and personal transactions to be performed easily and virtually immediately. Buying products, paying bills, sending money to a friend or relative are just a few examples of EFT transactions. Hunt and Vargo say that without networks, financial services throughout the world would cease (1996). Another effective WAN application involves Point of Sale (POS) data. Networks are used to link sales registers at retail outlets to centralized databases that maintain inventory balances, product descriptions and prices, and other meaningful records. As sales transactions occur, the database is updated in real time to reflect those transactions. By maintaining current and historical data, companies can keep stock levels down, make better demand projections, and generate product and customer profiles (Hunt ; Vargo, 1996). This effective use of information management can be very important when significant decisions must be made. Most would agree WANs and associated applications are definitely impacting business today. Hedda Gabler Analysis EssayWANs can help organizations attain a competitive advantage, but nowadays, use of WANs is almost mandatory just to stay in business. The cost savings associated with communication, marketing, transactions, and other business activities make the use of WANs a must have in order to ensure efficient financial management and competitive in their respective industries. Hunt and Vargo state, A company in the travel industry cannot remain competitive without access to networks (1996, p. 41). This can be applied to other industries too. Again, JCPenneys entry in the Internet market gained a competitive advantage over their competitors that didnt, but they also maintained their competitiveness with those that did. To gain an understanding of the incredible growth and impact WANs are having on the economy, the following statistics and forecasts are provided: Americans online is expected to be 194 million (68%) in 2005, from 122 million (44%) in 2000 U.S. workers with Internet access at work is expected to be 85% in 2005, from 63% in 1999 U.S. business-to-business e-commerce will rise to $6.3 trillion in 2005, from $336 billion in 2000 U.S. consumer e-commerce is expected to rise to $269 billion in 2005, from $45 billion in 2000 E-commerce this holiday season is expected to rise to $11.6 billion, from $7 billion in 1999 Online small businesses with e-commerce are expected to be 49% in 2003, compared to 34% in 2000 E-commerce is expected to represent 4.4% of the U.S. gross domestic product by 2002 (Carr, 2000). As the statistics and forecasts show, WANs and associated applications will continue to grow and significantly impact our business and economic environments. To account for the expected growth and range of use, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) recently added seven new web address suffixes to the existing dot-com, dot-net, dot-org, dot-edu, dot-mil, and dot-gov. The new ones are dot-biz, dot-aero, dot-coop, dot-info, dot-name, dot-pro, and dot-museum (McDonald, 2000). Businesses can not ignore these trends. Use of WANs and e-commerce via the Internet is becoming the industry standard for companies to become and remain competitive. This essay attempted to provide a brief description of the impact of wide area networks on business. A definition of a WAN was provided and various business applications were described. Communication methods such as the telephone and email were addressed along with marketing and financial applications. Real world examples from the travel and retail industries were also discussed. We saw how WANs were utilized by an established company like JCPenney to maintain its competitiveness, and how a new company like VarsityBooks.com gained a competitive advantage and a piece of the college textbook market. Finally, we looked at the underlying concepts behind the success of WANs. Strategic leverage was explained and how it can result in gaining a competitive advantage and/or simply maintaining a companys competitiveness. The future of WANs is bright. A.J. Strickland III and Arthur A. Thompson, Jr. provide a succinct description of the current trend. They state,Internet entrepreneurs are currently leading a revolution to revamp the value chains for providing traditional mail services, providing all sorts of information to businesses and households, for conducting meetings via cameras and computers while the attendees sit at their desks in their offices, for providing long distance telephone services via the Internet, for shopping for goods and services, for trading stocks, and on and on. They are employing virtual value chains and exploiting the new economics of doing business in the marketspace of the World Wide Web and commercial on-line services (1999). Their choice of words seems accurate. We are employing virtual value chains, there are new economics of doing business in the marketspace, and we are experiencing a revolution. The statistics revealed earlier support this. The bottom line here regarding the Internet and WANs is that usage is becoming more prevalent and diverse every day, so you better gone on board or you will be left behind!Bibliography:ReferencesAquilano, Nicholas J., Chase, Richard B., Jacobs, F. Robert. (1998). Production and Operations Management: Manufacturing and Services (Eighth Edition). Irwin/McGraw-HillBlakey, Elizabeth. (2000). Exclusive Interview: JCPenney.com. E-Commerce Times. November 19, 2000 http://www.ecommercetimes.com/success_stories/success-jcpenney.shtml Blanchard, Kenneth H., Hersey, Paul, Johnson, Dewey E. (1996). Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources (Seventh Edition). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Carr, Laura. (2000). 100 Numbers You Need to Know. TheStandard.com. November 19, 2000 http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,20128,00.html Hunt, Ray, Vargo, John. (1996). Telecommunications in Business: Strategy and Application. Irwin/McGraw-HillMcDonald, Tim. (2000). New Internet Domain Names Approved. NewsFactor Network.. November 19, 2000 http://www.newsfactor.com/Strickland, A.J. III Thompson, Arthur J. Jr., (1999). Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases (11th Edition). Irwin/McGraw-Hill. Wilner, Joshua. (2000). Small Business Success Story: VarsityBooks.com. E-Commerce Times. November 23, 2000 http://www.ecommercetimes.com/success_stories/success-varsitybooks.shtml