Introduction

Technology has been playing a dominating role in the business sector of present day of rapid advancement and development with the supply chain management being a very significant applicant of the advanced technology. There are many advanced technological applications and tools that have wide range of applications in the sector and operations in the supply chain management. Free Feet Socks Limited is an organization that has made initiatives regarding integrating automated simple information system solution within its supply chain management system. Free Feet Socks Limited provides imported socks to various retail outlets and through the representatives that sell socks at parties, individuals who conduct parties within their residence.  This company purchases socks from various sources in United States of America, New Zealand and China and delivers through postal services. The integration of the automated simple information system solution will improve the quality of both business operation as well as service to the clients of the company.

System Qualities (Non-Functional Requirements)

The automated simple information system service which will be designed for Free Feet Socks Limited will have the main aim of making the operations in the supply chain management   very convenient and easy to manage. This will be facilitated through having a systematic assortment and processing of the information of the supply chain operations and the data related to the retail outlets to which Free Feet Socks Limited is delivering socks.  In order to achieve these objectives, it is very much required to pay attention to the intricate requirements and specifications of the information system that will be integrated with the business operation system of the company (Alkhateeb, et al., 2017). One of the striking feature of the information system service would be the requirements that are non-functional that encompasses the specifications regarding the qualities of the information system (Alter, 2016).

Usability of the Simple Automated Information System Service

The qualities and features of the  information system  of  the proposed information system service  determines the orientation of the system with the  features which are provided and the  extent along with the  standards of the experience of the user. For the simple automated information system service of Free Feet Socks Limited, it is very much important that the requirements and the expectations of the clients are fulfilled through the operational functionalities incorporated within the business system (Dennis, Wixom & Tegarden, 2015).  The system usability in this case would integrate the requirements that are non-functional which would make it very feasible. The clients who are the users if the system needs to be provided with the capacity to have convenient login, access to the information, regulate and have proper control over the privacy setting of information. The users must find using and having control over their access to be very easy and convenient. Hence, the layout of the system has to be made very simple (Duan & Yu, 2013).

Reliability of the simple automated information system service

The simple automated information system is very much sensitive category of information and the sensitivity intensifies further with the integration of the information of the business clients.  The case of the invalid or incorrect display of information by the information system, the implications can be very complicated and adverse. The information system shall always facilitate the users with the authentic information and output (Erturk, 2016).

Performance of Information System Service

The main objective of the automated information system is to develop and improve the accuracy and speed of the service in regards to the supply chain management of the company.  In the cases of delays in providing the outcomes by the system which would denote to the delay in time taken to provide response to the queries of the users, the experience of the users will degrade. Hence, the system needs to have high performance and efficiency all the time (Grbovic, 2013).

 Supportability of the information system

The simple information system which is designed and integrated by Free Feet Socks Limited need to have scope for further developments and expansion in  regards to the technology which can be encompassed with the ever altering technology. This would provide the users with updated system experience (Guruacharya & Hossain, 2017). The system must be designed to support the operating system   and various other technical aspects for the objective of structured integration.

 System interface

User Interface of the information system

• Proper connectivity and interaction are the two key aspects of the information system which would determine effective and optimum interactivity with the users.
• The color scheme of the information system must be in accordance with the nature and objective of the application system.
• The user must be able to perceive and see the behavior of the system in regards to the response and recognition of the action of the user (He & Dey, 2014).

External Systems for Free Feet Socks Limited

Since currently, FFSL adopts tradition model to run its business, it needs to inculcate new and updated external systems or devise interfaces in order to enhance its overall business performance and have a control over its sales in the specific region.

• The new customer relationship management application would allow the business to have a control over details of its customers like name, location, age, discount value, sales area, etc. This technical up-gradation in form of information system solution would be vital for FFSL.
• The new network connection would have a functional role in the socks business since it would determine the key protocols or aspects that need to be maintained between FFSL and its suppliers and consumers.
• The concern could share its business files within the team on a real-time basis which would allow it to have complete control over its entire supply-chain and delivery-chain model.
• The Real Time Protocol (RTP) would be set up within the work processes so that the users including the business could effectively communicate with one another on a real-time basis. This would definitely strengthen the overall business procedure of FFSL.
• The new information system that would focus on better supplier and customer management would follow a secured model so that the confidential business details would be safeguarded.

System Constraints for Free Feet Socks Limited (FFSL)

The new information system model that would be adopted by FFSL could face a number of limitations that could hamper its overall productivity level (Li, Lee & Lui, 2013).

• The key constraint that could affect the business operations is the thorough security control. Since in the online forum, the risk of cyber hackers and attackers always exist, FFSL would have to have a solid control over its new information technology.
• The Cloud-based database would be used for safeguarding the stored information, business processing, and overall management.
• The front-end of the new model would be developed using a simple programming language so that it would allow flexibility and security to the entire business process.

Review of the new Information System Solution of FFSL

The information system solution that would be adopted by FFSL would be totally technology driven so that the trading of socks could be effectively managed by the business team. The handling of both customers and suppliers is a challenging task especially when traditional models are used by the concern. The application of updated information system could surely offer significant improvements to the work processes currently in use (Mahmoud, 2016).

In the retail industry, the effective management information system would allow FFSL to control the operations at the supplier end and oversee the processes at the customer end. The online model would help it to store relevant business data in the online platform so that the entire workforce could have simple access to it irrespective of their location.

The new information system solution would strengthen control over the supply chain as well as, the sales activities ion different sales regions. The manual processes could be reduced in the business process (Rosenblatt, 2013).

SDLC Approach for FFSL

The software development life cycle of FFSL would have to be strong in order to have a proper power and control over the business process and model. Since the information system would have specific requirements to align within the existing business process, the evaluation of the entire development lifecycle would be vital (Valacich, George & Hoffer, 2015). A number of mechanisms could be used to strengthen the business process of the socks business of FFSL.

Predictive SDLC Approaches

The predictive SDLC approach can be defined as the model which would pre-determine the policies and process that are to be introduced in the information system of FFSL. The predictions and decisions would be taken on the basis of the particular requirements of the business.

Adaptive SDLC Approaches

The adaptive SDLC approach is a value-based approach that would take into account the specific tasks and objectives on hand to handle the business process. It would allow the business to have a flexible approach towards its overall operations. One of the most common examples is the agile methodology where the requirements and solutions evolve through the process (Li, Lee & Lui, 2013).

Recommendations & Conclusions

The two different kinds of SDLC approaches have been covered that could be used by FFSL to strengthen its retail business activities. After the thorough evaluation, it can be stated that the adaptive SDLC approach would allow the concern to have flexibility in its business operations. It would allow the business to integrate new elements as per the market demands and business environmental requirements.

References

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