iPad for Success

Dear Bill Wolfson and Tom Armstrong,

                Upon the request of choosing among the Ipads and the Laptops; it is to my greatest pleasure to help you with the investigation process in determining which is the best option for your sales rep team.

              

  Prior to my recommendation I would like to include certain articles that will add value to this research analysis. “Use of iPads among pharmaceutical sales representatives doubles in one year” by MedReps.com. This article shows the significant impact that iPads have on influencing doctors’ behavior when considering which drugs to prescribe. Another Article found on tabtimes.com “Four ways tablets can help the modern sales rep”, clearly emphasizes on four different ways tablets can make sales reps more effective: information on demand, Geo Location, Productivity, The wow factor (impressing your customers with high technology)

Taking in to consideration all these features and benefits that makes an iPad more valuable than a laptop, I will focus on certain requirements that we define certain criteria that are needed for the complete success of our business. The iPad column certainly addresses all of our requirements and improve every criteria in our chart. The importance column is measured within a range from 1 to 5. The number five represents the highest level of importance for our company’s objectives; meanwhile, a grade of zero will not meet our requirements.

             

Information on Demand: Our sales reps need to be updated with all current information. iPads in addition to WIFI provide Hotspots. This technology adds more internet reliability for our sales reps. Laptops in comparison are mostly restricted to WIFI.

             Productivity and Saving Time:  Amrahp LLC currently holds 25% old computers that are 4 years old and 23% of them are 3 years old. With this information our current laptops uses Windows 7. Cnet.com (See reference table below) ran a test to see how long a windows 7 laptop takes to turn on and the result was 228.567 seconds which is equivalent to 3.8095 minutes. Based on our limited time to see a doctor we need about 30 seconds to 1 minute per interaction. The laptop on the other hand can be on sleep mode and can still take about 5-8 seconds to resume. An iPad, in contrary, has the ability to last for 10 hours, does not need to be on sleep note. It takes approximately 1.05 seconds to resume. In addition the iPad can multi-task many applications at the same time. We can certainly use significant application that can result in a positive advantage to our sales reps. One of the applications that can be used would be rxvantage. This app can be easily downloaded from the app store. Sales reps have access to see their appointments, canceled appoinments, search for territories; save time by using scheduling through the app. Sales reps through the app can communicate with the main office through their direct connection feature that includes communicating with their office managers, view provider profiles, etc. All other information, such as daily reports, travel and expense report can be modified through many apps available for pharmaceutical business, in addition to apps in the market such as Google drive and others.

Saving money/Costs: Laptop costs can range from $1,000 to $1200 giving us a median of $1,100. An iPad can range from $500 to $800 giving us a median of $650. Our total approx. investment for our 2000 employees if we opt for laptops would be $2.2 million meanwhile our total approx. 4 years investment for iPads would be $1.3 million. Opting for using iPads would result in almost $1 million in our 4 years investment.

Uncover hidden opportunities: The Geo-Location feature on iPads help sales reps to constantly search for territories to find hidden opportunities for sales. These opportunities are delivered in real time allowing sales reps to save time and get to their destination faster and allows them to increase their goals of visits per day, resulting in more doctor visits = more revenue for the company.

Ease of use: Sales reps would be able to provide marketing information from our tablets, avoiding to put it on a table, or carry to see it which will create a friendly environment adding relationship building with customers.  

Security:  iPads can use a mobile device manager (MDM) system; this technology helps monitor when iPads connect with internal systems. Laptops in comparison do not offer that feature.

           I have also researched companies that their sales reps are currently using iPads and those are: Pfizer, Stryker, Novartis, Medtronic (See Reference Table). Pfizer had already anticipated savings of $500,000 just from printing saving costs on avoiding printing training materials, and sales manuals.

         

  In conclusion, many pharmaceutical companies have realized that there are many reasons as to why invest in new technological advances such as iPads. Opting to choose iPads over laptops will certainly create positive advantage over our sales reps. This action will create more business opportunities and will generate savings in costs for our company.

Sincerely, 

Ronald A Rojas

References:

http://www.medreps.com/pharmaceutical-sales-job-news/use-of-ipads-among-pharmaceutical-sales-representatives-doubles-in-one-year/

http://tabtimes.com/analysis/sales/2012/11/20/four-ways-tablets-can-help-modern-sales-rep

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-20101652-285/find-your-computers-boot-time-in-windows-7/

Zara Case Preparation

Summary:

·         Zara is the largest chain retail store owned by Intidex, one of the world’s largest fashion distributors

·         Biggest competitors are H&M, the Gap, and Benetton.   Unlike these companies, Zara does not predict trends; Zara produces clothes that are fashionable now and is constantly changing styles.   

·         Original design conception to finished production takes about 3 weeks and is on the sales floor two days later

·         POS application software was written internally by the IT department

Key Issue:

Zara is using DOS, an older Operating System that is no longer supported by Microsoft.  Zara has not upgraded in their Operating System for about 10 years and remains to be the only customer of their vendor that still uses DOS.  While this system still efficient and Zara is able to run their POS application on top of it, there is no guarantee that their vendors will drastically change their hard drive to no longer support their software.   There are over 550 Zara retail stores worldwide; however, they do not have a centralized network nor are they always connected to headquarters by a modem.  The PDAs that are used by all of the employees are not able to detect whether another store has an item in inventory; this causes employees to become less efficient because instead of having access to look up to see if a store has a particular SKU item, the employee will have to waste time calling the store to find out if they have a specific garment.  Also, Zara’s headquarters in La Coruña, have to wait until the end of the business day to find out what their comprehensive sales were for the day.

Requirements:

Network Capability 

Does not have technical issues 

Functionality and easy to use

Supported by current operating systems 

Solution:

·         Buy a substantial number of current POS terminals; therefore, in the event that their vendor does drastically change their hardware Zara will still be able to subside while they port their software to another Operating System

·         Use a different operating system and update POS software.  IT can create a network to that all companies are connected and can view each store’s inventory.

Recommendation:

I would suggest porting the POS application to a stable operating system that is current with technology.  Even though Zara is one of the biggest customers of their vendors, there was no contract that said the vendor would not drastically change their hard drive.  Zara is growing at a rapid pace and should not only focus in on what is working now operations wide, but should also be thinking on the future and not worrying about having an obsolete system.  The current PDAs which look up SKUs are accurate; however, it would be more efficient if all of the company’s stores were on the same network.  Zara is a company in which their employees are very autonomous; managers decide which clothes to order and decide which clothing goes on sale.  There are very tight deadlines in the Operations department.  When supply does not meet demand it is individuals that choose which stores receive the items.  I believe that there would be more accurate accounts for inventory if Zara invested in a new operating system that supported the newer POS application software.  Reports would be run more often to create optimal plans to begin production, stores would be able to check up SKUs from other stores, as well as have a faster system with more functionality.  There are too many potential problems that could come from not updating our system, our company can be running fine on today’s POS terminal, but we are living in a fast paced world and anything can happen.  Store managers will learn how to use the new system, and if they run into any problems that is Zara has an IT team that includes experts in Store Solutions, Logistical Support, and Administrative systems.  Amancio Ortega, founder of Zara, believed that computers were crucial to build his business; therefore, why not continue with his belief and keep Zara current with technology, so that the company grows even more and continues to be Inditex’s largest chain store.  

JUNK-VAN REFLECTION

To: Board of Directors C-Level

From: Ronald A Rojas

Date: June 26^th, 2013

Sub.:  Recommendation

Dear Board of Directors C-Level,

I would like to start by expressing my sincerest apologies for not being able to participate in our meeting tomorrow.  Tomorrow our company will be making a major decision that is crucial to the profitability and continuity of our company’s goals and objectives. I would like to contribute with the decision taken tomorrow by providing a core analysis based on our previous meeting with our IT consultants.

The IT consultants have given their recommendation for using Google Docs as the best alternative for our business technological implementation. To my knowledge the IT consultants have not fully addressed certain major issues that can negatively impact our business’ future. This year Google has opted to discontinue Google Reader due to a decline in Google Reader’s usage. This action from Google has raised many questions and concerns in attempting to consider Google Docs as an option/alternative. What if Google decided to discontinue Google Docs after a decline in sales/usage? The IT consultants have provided a vague answer addressing the question of Google Docs’ future in terms of security and reliability for our company.

                 My recommendation to the board of directors strictly attempts to fix the unsolved issues from Google Docs such as the reliability on current product and security awareness. For this reason I have opted to restructure the IT consultant’s chart by adding a new technological tool that can certainly add value, security and reliability to our company. The chart below shows the requirements that IT consultants have brought to our attention followed by the alternatives. In addition, I have added Microsoft Office 365 which certainly addresses all of our requirements and improve every criterion in our chart. The importance column is measured within a range from 1 to 5. The number five represents the highest level of importance for our company’s objectives; meanwhile a grade of zero will not meet our requirements.  The following chart has been graded based upon my own perception after our meeting with the IT consultants.

Google Docs offers almost all of the required features but does not fully satisfy our business needs. I have graded MS office 365 for vendor support with a five and Google Docs with a 2. MS office 365 offer vendor supports in addition to new features such as “direct billing” and invoice complimentary services. Google Docs offers only this type of service by blogs and forums. (See Ref.table)

                MS offices 365 in comparison to Google Docs has been on the market for many years and their business office products have not been discontinued. MS office products have gained a lot of reputation over the years and acquired most of the businesses usage; office is the most reliable product in the market. Office 365 brings new features that certainly helps our technological futuristic vision for our company; providing cloud storage, integrated communication with employees and customers among other features. Microsoft Office 365 is completely secured and offers automatic updates, anti-malware, anti-spam protection, and a 99.9% guarantee. (See ref. table) Google Docs is limited to attempt these issues based on the lack of certainty in terms of security and reliability.

Our company is facing a critical decision; our main competitor 1-800-GOT-JUNK has benefited from investments in technological advances, resulting in $32 million of return from a $700 investment. For this reason, I am committed to provide you with the most updated technological information in the market. I believe MS office 360 will satisfy all of our requirements adding more value in securing sensitive information and reliability on a product that has less risk for discontinuation.  

Sincerely,

Ronald A Rojas

P.S. Please see MS Office 365 video below

Reference Table:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/business/office-365-midsize-business-productivity-software-FX103037683.aspx 

http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/casestudies/a/1800gotjunk.htm 

http://googlereader.blogspot.com/

http://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/240149498/microsoft-office-365-open-lets-vars-control-billing-revenue.htm

What should we expect from our meeting this Tuesday? (Junk-Vanpreparation)

Dear team members,

We are approaching our meeting with our IT consultants this coming Tuesday. This is an essential meeting that portrays our company’s future in which 1-800-JUNK-VAN is about to make a decision on.

                1-888-JUNK-VAN is rapidly expanding, and ambitious to open more franchises in the coming years. The rapid expansion of the company has resulted in operational mistakes due to the lack of an accurate IT system not contributing to the company’s virtual business model.

                Kingo has considered five targeted options that we would like to analyze and discuss in our meeting with the IT consultants this Tuesday. The following Visio Flow chart below provides us with a better understanding of the five options that will be discussed.

             

In addition we will explore the pros and cons of each segment of the chart in the chart.  Kingo’s solution is to find a central database that provides internal information avoiding functions of emails. The best solution will provide remote access to all workers, automatic emails by the system avoiding delays for customer’s experience while keeping an easy system to use for staff members that are not highly skilled.

                Google Docs is certainly what best fits for Kingo’s business needs. Google, in comparison to the other options, offers online applications that can be quickly shared with employees. In addition to the shared data base, this technology offers three different types of access that can be used with our employees and our customers: Google docs offer full, editing and reading access. There are certain concerns that we certainly would like to discuss with the consultants.

                This pre-meeting investigation will helps us target Kingo’s preliminary options that will define our company’s path of success.

Sincerely,

Ronald A Rojas

Swimlane Diagram

Should we use Visio for our business?

Dear Mr. Garner, 

As requested after our last discussion, I did some research on the program created by Microsoft which is titled Visio.  This is a very innovative program which allows a person to create flowcharts, organizational charts, and networking plans that would make any presentation stand out.  After reviewing this product this product would be a splurge i would not be likely to spend $589 for this system. 

After a careful review of your concern in considering using MS Visio for our company; I am to advise on rejecting such a proposal for the following reasons. 

 This software is obsolete and irrelevant for our daily data process. Although, MS Visio offers a distinct and unique way of creating flow charts our company does not need those tech tools.  It would be an unnecessary expense. We can use other alternatives such as: Google Drawings (free) compared to MS Visio $ 589 per download. MS office offers Power Point which could be used as an alternative to create flow charts and other designs.  Last year our IT department created software that allows investors to see their P&L month to date and year to date. This home software can be still better used by adding more reports to our investors that can allow them to create flow charts and other designs as per their request. Our investor relations department has recently launched a new site that allows investors to log-in and download their files while it creates charts for them and breakdowns on any reports they need.

For a program that solely makes charts it is far too expensive.  It would help to have a program that can help our company because we have a very intricate order of operations. The investors relations department gets the customers contact information and they are in charge of the communication between the investors.  From there, they communicate with on and off shore investors.  The shore subscriptions get into the master funds which are handled by brokers.  And finally everything gets analyzed and reconciled by the Operations department.  While the system would help organize in a strategic way, the system is not worth it. 

There are many sites that you can create the same charts.  It is possible to create the charts on Google, and many other MS office programs that we already have as a company, such as MS word and Power point.  It would be a waste of money to buy another program, when we have it in so many other  programs that are capable of completing the same task. I strongly am against in investing in this program.  Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Ronald A Rojas

How efficient would be blogs for our business?

Mr garner,

Our company should have a strong presence in the social media network.  In particular it would be beneficial to our company to begin a blog.  Becoming part of the online community would bring us closer to our customers.  We would acquire new clientele as we would have the opportunity to expand our brand name. We do not only get the opportunity to introduce ourselves and explain what we do, but we also explain why we do it. 

A blog is a great tool of communication to give company updates. We would be able to provide statistics and figures of how much risk has been assessed.  We would be able to provide more updates to our customers.  Our customers would become engaged by the brand.  It is our opportunity to have a real connection when our customers can post comments and we can react with them in real time.  When it becomes more personal the brand seems almost humanized. Because our blog would be updated regularly, we would know in the moment of a person's frustration as well as appraisal, and we would react appropriately to the post.  This would allow us to gain company perception in that moment.  

Pros:

Introduce your company:  Tell prospective customers who you are, what you do, and why you do it. 

answer any questions from customers to avoid them searching outside sources when they can find it on the companies blog.

Post current information about any relevant topic of discussion or even post related articles.

Increase online presence.  

Can be linked to main website as well as post other social media networking sites.

Strengthen brand loyalty 

Personal connection with clients

Gain feedback in real time

increased credibility among your customers which may include board of directors, stakeholders as well as business partners. 

Cons:

It needs to be updated constantly. 

A schedule needs to be set for when things get posted. 

Have to make time to answer all blog comments

There is a lot of negativity that will be exposed

CEO's are stepping outside of their role by exposing themselves to the social media spotlight.  

This blog would allow us to expand on all key industry points.  As a company we would become more credible for having a greater social media presence as well as have more brand exposure. With our frequent blog entries we would have an increased amount of loyal customers that followed us online.  The entries could be as simple as one sentence leading to a link that takes them to a related article or an entry on how to invest your money.  The blog would be written in the voice of an executive and reflect all viewpoints that come from the CEO himself.  In summary, I think that it would be to our company's advantage to enter the blogging community so we could have greater brand exposure as well as increased credibility and we can continue to grow as a company.  

Sincerely,

Ronald A. Rojas