Zimbra is a software company whose flagship product is its Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS), an
open source messaging and communications software package, that relies heavily on Ajax to provide
a variety of business functions. Purchased by Yahoo in 2007, the company now has accumulated 50
million paid mailboxes. In addition to e-mail, ZCS combines contact lists, a shared calendar, instant
messaging, hosted documents, search, and VoIP into one package, and can be used from any mobile
Web browser.
QUESTIONS
1. Describe the steps in Zimbra’s sales process. How well did its old marketing automation system
support that process? What problems did it create? What was the business impact of these problems?
2. List and describe Zimbra’s requirements for a new marketing software package.
3. How did the new marketing system change the way Zimbra ran its business? How successful was
it?
Hoosier Burger
Questions
1-
Apply the SDLC approach to Hoosier Burger.
There are the systems development life cycle (SDLC) principleswhich contribute in the process of
how to develop informationsystems by applying some procedures that enable the system toachieve
its goals like investigation, analysis, design,implementation and maintenance.Bob and Thelma
started to create their business and purchasedthe store and restaurant and began to present their
food andservices to the clients and customers. There were a lot ofarrangements and some
problems that faced them in how tomanage their business. There was a must to study carefully
tohow overcome these problems and solve such bad defects.They used the SDLC as a good system
to get the best solution totheir problem solving and is made up of several phases centralto the
development of an efficient information system.
2-
Using the Hossier Burger scenario. Identify an exampleof each system characteristic.
In this case we knows that Bob and Thelma want totransfer broken business that was depended on
the hand based system to more efficient and easy informationsystem. Using the paper in calculate
the shortages and theorders of clients caused many complains and problems forthem and create
some mass during work. Hoosier Burgerwill begin the transition to see what works for them,
anyinformation system would be fine.They found that applying m
odeling a system’s process
which utilizes information collection.Also they found that hiring a specialist person as aconsultant
to help them it was one of the required steps inapplying the information system.
3-
Decompose Hossier Burger into its major subsystems.
All organizations have information systems, and use them foroperational, tactical, and strategic
advantage. For informationsystems to remain effective, these systems must efficientlycapture,
store, process, and distribute information according to business objectives. To properly maintain
these systems,systems analysts will perform information systems analysis anddesign. Information
systems analysis and design is based on an
understanding of the organization’s objectives, structure, and
processes, as
well as the analyst’s knowledge of how to exploit
information technology for competitive advantage.
4-
Briefly summarize the approaches to systemsdevelopment discussed in this chapter. Which
approachdo you feel should be used by Hoosier Burger?
There was Systems planning that was presented in need tochange an old system based on paper to
an automated oneSystems analysis consists of three phases which arerequirements determination,
requirements structuring, andalternative generation and selection.The approach do you feel should
be used by HoosierBurge is Data flow diagrams (DFD)
JetBlue and WestJet
A Tale of Two IS Projects In recent years, the airline industry has seen several low-cost, high-
efficiency carriers rise to prominence using a recipe of extremely competitive fares and outstanding
customer service. Two examples of this business model in action are JetBlue and WestJet. Both
companies were founded within the past two decades and have quickly grown into industry
powerhouses. But when these companies need to make sweeping IT upgrades, their relationships
with customers and their brands can be tarnished if things go awry. In 2009, both airlines upgraded
their airline reservation systems, and one of the two learned this lesson the hard way. JetBlue was
incorporated in 1998 and founded in 1999 by David Neeleman. The company is headquartered in
Queens, New York and flies to 63 destinations in 21 states and eleven countries in the Caribbean,
South America and Latin America. JetBlue’s goal has been to provide low-cost travel along with
unique amenities like TV in every seat, and its heavy reliance on information technology throughout
the business was a critical factor in achieving that goal. JetBlue met with early success and continued
to grow at a rapid pace, consistently ranking at the top of customer satisfaction surveys for U.S.
airlines. Headquartered in Calgary, Canada, WestJet was founded by a group of airline industry
veterans in 1996, including Neeleman, who left to start JetBlue shortly thereafter. The company
began with approximately 40 employees and three aircraft. Today, the company has 7,800 employees
and operates 420 flights per day to 71 destinations in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and
Mexico. Earlier in this decade, WestJet underwent rapid expansion spurred by its early success and
began adding more Canadian destinations and then U.S. cities for its flights. By 2010, WestJet held
nearly 40 percent of the Canadian airline market, with Air Canada dropping to 55 percent. JetBlue is
slightly bigger, with 167 aircraft in use compared to WestJet’s 88, but both have used the same low-
cost, good-service formula that brought profitability in the notoriously treacherous airline
marketplace. The rapid growth of each airline rendered their existing information systems obsolete,
including their airline reservation systems. Upgrading reservations systems carries special risks.
From a customer perspective, only one of two things can happen: Either the airline successfully
completes its overhaul and the customer notices no difference in the ability to book flights, or the
implementation is botched, angering customers and damaging the airline's brand. The time had come
for both JetBlue and WestJet to upgrade their reservation systems. Each carrier had started out using
a system designed for smaller start-up airlines, and both needed more processing power to deal with a
far greater volume of
customers.
Case Study Questions
1. How important is the reservation system at airlines such as WestJet and JetBlue. How does it
impact operational activities and decision making?
2. Evaluate the risks of the projects to upgrade the reservation systems of WestJet and JetBlue and
key risk factors.
3. Classify and describe the problems each airline faced in implementing its new reservation system.
What people, organization, and technology factors caused those problems?
4. Describe the steps you would have taken to control the risk in these projects?
