Business Problem
Business Unit: Elegant Solutions installs window treatments for home and office use.
Issues: They have a large mobile workforce that spends most of the time out in the field with customers. The salespeople follow up on customer leads, visit the homes or offices, take the orders and measurements, order the window treatments, accept payments from customers, and maintain liaison with the customer until the project is completed. The installers are also mobile, obtaining their work assignments on a daily basis, and reporting progress, problems, and completion.
Current Layout: Contact is currently done primarily via telephone.
Future plans: To modernize their network and facilitate employee productivity, Elegant wants to implement a wireless network that:
Connects their sales force to the corporate customer, materials, ordering, and finance databases.
Provide the same wireless access for the sales and installation personnel when they are in the office.
Requirements
- Hardware: Router with wireless capabilities, Server, Mobile Devices
- Software: Firewalls, VPN, Access Control Lists
- Security measures
Technology Solutions
- Tablets/Smartphones (Possibly BlackBerry)
- 802.11n Wireless Access Points
Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
- Application software installed by the business.
- It combines management functions like inventory management.
- Allows information transfer in the organization.
- Will help in departments such as, finance, HRM, manufacturing, and supply chain management.
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) and E-commerce platform
- A secure version of the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (http).
- To allow for secure e-commerce transactions, such as online banking.
E-commerce platform
- For online selling through Wi-Fi.
- Processing credit card payments through merchant accounts.
- Database to manage the site information.
- Connects customers to the organization. (Instant SSL, 2012; Tranloi,2010)
Major Project Steps
- Identification of what is needed for this project
- Purchase of equipment
- Implementation
- Configure of network and equipment
- In-office testing/Train system admin
- Field testing
- Full deployment of services
Security Risks
- Who has access to network
- Wireless Encryption
- Encryption for VPN
- Mobile Device security
References
Instant SSL. (2012). Https: What it is and how it works. Web.
TranLoi. (2010). Essentials of an Ecommerce website. Web.