To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The goal of this study was to understand the needs of business community for the automation/computerisation of their business processes and
the level of
automation that exists in their business. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire through a direct interview method. One hundred respondents were interviewed and most of the people interviewed were either the proprietors of the concern or the managers. The entire sample covered a broad range of businesses including food grain Industry and Jewellery. The study suggests that although there are people who have upgraded their business processes by implementing computerization but there are a good number of people who have no idea about it or even if they have they are sceptical about going for it mainly because of lack of knowledge or awareness. The study further showed that the people who have computerized their business have more inclination towards non-customised software in contrast to the customised one. This trend was noticed across all the business segments studied. The reason for this trend is because of the following reasons; •
Cost of customisation
•
Easy availability of the software
•
Promotion of the software
•
Brand image of the non-customised software
People have a perception that customisation of the software involve extra cost and as the non-customised software is easily available in the market they think that it is user friendly and less complicated to install and use.
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To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
One more reason for this trend is the promotional activities followed by many players in this business, be it the word of mouth, promotion using print media like newspapers, magazines etc or through electronic media like TV, Radio etc. Some of the non-customised software companies have been able to build a strong brand image in the market, which also influences the buyers’ decision. One more factor that is responsible for this trend is the turn over of the company, as it was noticed that more the turn over of the company more is the level of automation and customisation. Finally the researcher has reached to the conclusion that there is an immense potential for these customised software’s in the market and the software companies addressing these segments have not been able to tap the full potential of the market. The need of the time is to create a general awareness about such products in the market and to address these business segments more effectively by arranging live demonstrations and other promotional activities like advertisements, sales promotions etc.
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To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY The world of business has witnessed a paradigm change in the way it used to be done some time back. The advent of computers and then Information Technology has revolutionized the entire process. Now a days the businesses are not confined to the close doors when we talk about information superhighway and the concept of global village to name a few. Thus it becomes important to study the market trends as far as these concepts of computerization/automation are concerned. Therefore keeping in view the above-mentioned factors, the aim of the research was to find out the level of automation/computerization in the market with reference to certain business segments. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM In order to know the level of the computer usage (automation) and the type of software in use in the market with reference to the following business segments; •
Food Grain Dealers
•
Jewellery Dealers,
The study was undertaken to access the needs of the business community so that the company can be able to come out with an appropriate software solution to cater the present market requirements.
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To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY For any research work it is important to determine the broader objectives well in advance. These are the guiding principles on which efforts can be given a right direction. Also it helps us to be focused so that the efforts may not get misdirected. The objectives of the study are: •
To find the level of computerization/automation adopted
by the companies such as; 1. Food Grain dealers. 2. Jewellery dealers. •
To identify the present software packages used by such
businesses for their day-to-day operations such as: invoicing, billing, accounting, inventory management etc. •
To know the satisfaction level of the software package
currently used by these companies. •
To find out the benefits of these software packages in the
decision-making of the users, which is also, called Decision Support System (DSS).
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To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
The aim of the research is to study
The level of automation in the market and the customer
satisfaction about the software they are currently using.
The present market trends towards the software usage,
keeping in mind the possibilities of the introduction of value added tax (VAT) system by Government of India.
How the software companies need to adapt to this changing scenario by bringing changes in their products and services in order to be competitive in the market.
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To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
COMPANY PROFILE Neotecra India pvt. Ltd started its operation in New York USA in the year 1999. Right now it operates from the three different locations i.e. New Jersey New York India Neotecra is a young, dynamic and aggressively growing computer consulting company with offices located in New York & New Jersey in US and Bangalore India. It offer its clients a wide range of IT services including onsite and offshore consulting, delivering high quality, cost effective software solutions that meet the clients' expectations. It gives its clients the power to address their challenges and gain a competitive edge in the global market. Its client base includes a wide spectrum of companies ranging from small start up companies to Fortune 1000 industry leaders in financial services, banking, insurance,
healthcare,
pharmaceuticals,
telecommunication
and
transportation. It believes in developing a strong relationship with its clients and is committed to provide the highest level of customer satisfaction.
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To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
Leadership Neotecra was founded by an experienced group of professionals based in the U.S and India with diverse and wide-ranging experience in the areas of finance, project management, software architecture & development and human resource management. The leadership group is small, tight-knit and focused on attaining client objectives. Team Its constantly expanding team consists of talented professionals with experience gained from developing and delivering client focused solutions. They have formed their team with deliberate care so that as a client, you get what you see. Their skills cover a variety of hardware, software and operating environments and are constantly upgraded to meet the latest challenges in technology. Their consultants embed a balanced combination of technical, analytical and communication skills. They lay great stress on ongoing professional development and utilize a number of tools to hone their skills. Capabilities Neotecra is committed to providing innovative software solutions to its clients and recognizes the importance of technology. Their seasoned software professionals have expertise in a wide range of technologies including: • • • • • •
Internet and E-Commerce Technology Internet Security, Directory Services and Entitlement Management. Object Oriented Design/Analysis/Programming Client-Server Technology Database Design, Development and Administration Data Warehousing/Modelling
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• • •
System Programming and Administration Data Communication Packaged Software Implementation (ERP)
Services include on-site and off-site development, project consultancy, requirements gathering and system architecture. They undertake long-term projects on a contract basis with reputed clients. Their goal is to clearly understand the client's need and provide them with real and lasting solutions that meet and exceed their expectations. The Indian subsidiary is located in Bangalore, the software capital of India. The major concern of the company is to develop cost-effective, user friendly and customized software packages for different business applications. The company offers end to end solutions and services to low & mid sized business
operations,
ranging
from
automobile
dealers,
opticians,
pharmaceutical dealers to garment dealers & manufacturers etc. The company offers 29 different software packages for different business operations. Neotecra has established methodologies and processes in addition to a strong and experienced project management team.
Organizations mission : To create constancy of purpose in the organization with the aim to improve continuously both products as well as services, so to be competent and provide jobs. This can be achieved by; Building quality in our products. Improving processes. Elimination of wastes. Effective training & development.
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To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
Teamwork.
Values; Merit based decision/rewards. Transparency in working. Honesty and integrity. A good and conducive working environment.
DATA FLOW DIAGRAM (DFD) OF CUSTOMER ORDER PROCESSING
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Customer CUSTOMER
Order
Order Acceptance Document
Price order acceptance
Validate customer order
Customer data
Product data Commercial processing of customer data
Process of customer order acceptance
Price data
Order acceptance data
Used for dispatch and invoicing
SERVICES OFFERED
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Professional consulting Services They provide valuable services in Web Security Infrastructure Planning, Implementation and Operations. Neotecra also provides On-Site Contract Programming / Maintenance services.
E-Business solutions Neotecra offers the following services in the area of E-Business as E-Portal Solutions, E-Payment Solutions, Web Security Infrastructure Planning, Implementation and Operations Solutions. ERP Implementation Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) promotes a fully integrated systems approach, enables companies to cut costs, operate more efficiently, be more responsive to customer demand, reduce turnover and assist staff in reaching peak performance in all the services and products they offer.
Off-shore Development Advances in technology, information management and communications have lowered geographic boundaries. This makes it possible to use the best talent
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To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
for project no matter where they may be. If you want to take advantage of the cost savings afforded by developing off-site, we offer a highly qualified and cost-effective offshore solution.
Our Commitment At Neotecra, they understand that delivering client-focused solutions involves not only development of the optimal solution using the most appropriate tools and technologies but also implementation of the solutions developed in the client environment. Given the fact that product and project life cycles are constantly growing shorter, they understand that setting and meeting aggressive implementation schedules is a must for realizing planned payoffs for projects. Further, maintaining the highest standards of quality is a prerequisite for avoiding time and cost overruns. They are committed to devote all resources towards meeting your targets. They spend considerable time in the planning and design stages and then provide appropriate resources to the engagement.
Value Addition
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Neotecra's value addition comes from two major drivers - US based on-site resources and offshore resources to attain the twin objectives of efficient and economical implementation and high quality standards. The company realizes that their employees are those who define them. Their US based consultants are recruited by means of a selective and rigorous process. They evaluate their consultants as much for their hard skills such as technical skills, experience and domain knowledge as for more abstract strengths such as communication skills, thought processes and learnable. They encourage their people to constantly enhance their skills and their knowledgebase. Thus their consultants contribute more to an engagement than merely filling technical specifications and meeting deadlines by leveraging their domain knowledge and experience. Their experts cover a range of business knowledge including electronic commerce, business processes and web security. By focusing on only a few projects at a time and staffing each with carefully selected personnel with the best fit, they aim to meet client objectives. In each engagement, their consultants can bring their experience to bear in not only implementing client specified requirements and architecture but also add additional value by suggesting improvements, alternative and more optimal approaches, changes to avoid potential pitfalls and perform trouble shooting as necessary. They also add value by developing operational procedures, documentation, training client personnel and developing best practices for ongoing operation of the solutions put into production, after the initial implementation. The India-based development team enables us to leverage the economies afforded by offshore development - especially high quality, low cost
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development resources with our on-site project management and industry expertise to deliver high quality, cost and time critical solutions. They have developed in-house expertise to translate locally gained knowledge and client requirements into quality solutions developed offshore based on an on-site knowledge
acquisition
-
offshore
development
-
offshore/on-site
implementation cycle. Their offshore development center is geared towards both project and product development and has already delivered a series of business tracking and management products aimed at small and medium businesses in the local market. In addition to product and project development, the cost savings afforded by our offshore development capabilities can be leveraged for economical and quick prototype/pilot development, software QA & evaluation and software testing.
SMEs Business Solutions Neotecra understands that no two business processes can be the same although they may follow the same business model. Consequently all solutions we have designed are highly customized which address the specific needs of a particular business process completely. Neotecra has always focused on providing a total business solution rather than merely software to work with. Hence, the solutions have found great acceptability in the market place beating out the competition. In fact they have been ranked among the top three business solutions in India. Their in-house domain expertise is combined with the insights from experts from the business community in designing our solutions. As a result, their users have benefited by developing new insights about their own business
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processes as well as being able to draw upon other successful process models incorporated into our solutions. Currently Neotecra has a range of 32 customized business solutions to cater to small, medium and large enterprises and reaches out to a wide spectrum of customers like Dealers, Job worker, C & F Agents and Manufacturers in Garments, Automobiles, Optical and Electrical segments.
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To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
• • • • • • • •
Customer relationship management solution (CRM) Enterprise Resource Planning solution (ERP) Supply chain management solution (SCM) Financial accounting Billing including POS Inventory Management System HR Management System Logistics
Additional modules include: • MIS • Purchase • Sales • Manufacturing including order module • Intelligent Tracking system …And many more
The list of products offered by Neotecra India Pvt.Ltd is as follows They have two different categories of software’s
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Premium Range. Regular Range. The products under Premium range of software cater to the following Businesses;
Garment Textile Exclusive Optics Auto Electrical Trader Classic Stationer Ultimate Agrotech Silk Distributor Hosiery Time Chemical Hardware Silk impex Optical Pharma Medical
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To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
Jewellery Weaver Apparel
The products under Regular range of software cater to the following business segments; Stores Billing Pro Address Pro Scheduler Hissab Salary Pro Label Pro Label Pro Classic Chunav Elecon Network Teletrak
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To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
An information technology bomb is exploding in our midst, showering us with the shrapnel of images and drastically changing the way each of us perceived and act upon our private world. In shifting from a second wave to third wave info-sphere, we are transforming our own psyches. In altering the info-spheres so profoundly, we are destined to transform our minds as well, the way we think about our problems, the way we synthesize information, the way we anticipate the consequences of our actions. We are likely to change the role of literacy in our lives. We may even alter our own brain chemistry. Alvin Toffler
INDUSTRY PROFILE INDIAN SOFTWARE INDUSTRY
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The Indian software industry’s genesis and progress is described here as under: India has come to the forefront of world trade (courtesy: software) and is reaping gold for the priceless seeds of commitment sown by the early software professionals and IT industry entrepreneurs of the country. Indian brains are the most sought after in the entire world. The shift from industrialization to information technology has been a boon in disguise to India. India is changing – every facet of the Indian life is at crossroads, so is Indian business. To cope up with the onslaught of multinationals on Indian soil, Indian business have to gear themselves up and the only factor that can help us in this endeavour is undoubtedly IT. During the past decade there has been a phenomenal growth in the field of IT. The compounded annual growth rate for the Indian software industry in the last five years has been 52.6%. But it was only by mid 80s that the forecasters, analysts and Indian government policy planners began to understand the potential of Indian talent in computer software. This realization led to the formulation of computer software policy in the year 1988. The economists began to analyse the potential of the Indian software industry and they said that it would be one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy and will provide high quality employment to young people. Currently the software industry in India is worth US $ 2.5 billion and if we add in the kind of in- house development that takes place at many large commercial corporate end-users, the software industry is close to US $ 2.8 billion, whereas ten years back the software industry in India was not more than US $ 10 million, such has been the kind of growth in this sector.
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The software industry in India employs more than 200,000 people and continues to be amongst the fastest growing sectors of the Indian economy.
Location of software companies If the growth has been across the board, the mushrooming of the new software companies till now has only been limited to a few cities. The industry is mainly concentrated around metros and mini-metros. Lately Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Gurgaon has emerged as fast growing software cities. At the same time Bangalore and Mumbai continues to attract maximum investment in software sector. An analysis of the headquarters of the top 533 software companies demonstrated the following statistics.
Software export industry
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The software industry in India is expected to reach an export level of US $ 10 billion by 2005. For achieving this growth, both the software industry and government of India are currently taking some bold and purposeful steps. Amongst others this exercise would include further liberalization of the Indian economy, simplification of procedures, deployment of additional resources of technical manpower development, new marketing channels and providing state of art infrastructure for software development.
Software Activity
Domestic Software
Software Exports
Projects
USD 239 million
----------
Professional services
USD 34 million
USD 752 million
Products and packages
USD 434 million
USD 137 million
Consultancy & training
USD 51 million
USD 23 million
Support & maintenance
USD 27 million
Others
USD 50 million
USD 106 million
Totals
USD 835 million
USD 1555 million
USD 47 million
CLASSIFICATION OF SOFTWARE PRODUCTS The software products can be broadly classified as follows;
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Package ready to use General Application Software. The software that fit into this classification are Microsoft office 97, Lotus Smart Suite etc. here the products are packaged in a format that they are ready to use after installation. Very little, in fact nothing has to be done, to use this software. It is also called “plug and play” category software. They also aim at improving the general productivity of the user and make his life easier. The user therefore buys these products on the basis of the benefits he derives from its time management capabilities, flexibility and ease of use. Mostly these programs reside on top of a basic operating system like Windows, DOS. These packages have a company wide use and are used by every executive in the company. Packaged specialized Application Software. These products are highly specialized and used by a special group of people. The Adobe Photo Shop, Aldus PageMaker, Macro Media, Microsoft Front Express etc., are some examples of such software, where they have great acceptance in the Advertising industry, Web design companies etc. Packaged Function Specific Software Here these are specific applications like accounting where packages like Tally, EX-NGN are used extensively. They are built after studying the system and process of various departments. There is also hotel management software that is widely used by hotels to manage check-in, reservations, billing etc.
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Hi- end Industrial engineering software These are the packages like CAD, CAM, which is widely, used in the Automobile, Machinery design industries. This software’s normally require hiend systems to work on and specific peripheral devices to deliver outputs. Internet Related Software This is a relatively new area. The browsers Netscape, Internet Explorer are some examples. There are a host of other software’s related to the net and they require unique marketing techniques. Application Based Software Products These are software products like Oracle, Linux, Java, and Visual C++ where a host of new programs are written on these platforms for various applications. Enterprise Wide Application Software SAP is an example of this type of software. Many specific ERP products are available and these can be termed, as the new generation software’s to network various operations of a company. The other products are Baan, Oracle, People Soft, Marshall (Ram co Systems) etc. Specialized Data Application Software With the increasing need to convert data into knowledge, data management software’s that can capture, manage, and analyse data for decision-making have been gaining importance. These can also be called Decision Support System that aid decision-making. Data warehousing, Data mining are examples of such software products. A certain amount of customisation and use of standard tools in the software are used. There are also a host of analysis tools that are used by marketing research companies called SPSS.
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Edutainment Software These are CD-ROMs that are getting increasingly popular with advent of the home PC. This category refers to the merging of education and entertainment and hence it gets its name as edutainment software. Many education based CDs which contain school syllabus are examples of products in this category. Turnkey Software Development Here there are no software products to market, but are called as solutions marketing. A typical business will have a variety of software needs like Networking, WAN, Sales Automation, Intranet solutions etc. There is a need to understand a company’s need and come up with the software solution recommending the right technology backbone and developing customized software for their needs. Based on this product portfolio classification, the communication objective will get defined. For example certain products will have to use mass media while others will use niche magazines and others will be direct mail focused.
Type of services offered
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The bulk of Indian software exports have been in the form of professional services. A detailed analysis indicates the majority of software exports are in the area classified as “customized” of “ professional consultancy.” However since last few years, there has been a visible shift towards offshore project development that also includes offshore package development. With the proliferation of software technology parks, liberalized economy, easing of visa restrictions by US and some western European countries, the components of offshore development is expected to increase further The degree of on-site development is still high, with as much as 65% of the work being done at the clients site, but it is expected to decrease further in the coming years with the improved data communication links. In 2000, the percentage of on-site development was the highest.
Development focus
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In the recent years Indian software companies have become more specialty oriented and have a definite focus on specific segments of software development. Nearly two third of the companies are engaged in developing end user application products and services ranging from straight forward accounting systems to specialized niche market products or customized services. The rest obtain their revenue from consultancy, systems integration, supply of specialized software systems, such a software tools, communication software and software for dedicated hardware devices.
Marketing channels used by software companies Marketing is the most critical issue for the development of the Indian software export industry. The size of Indian software export industry is very small compared to the market. To emerge as a major player in the world market there has to be a significant expenditure on marketing. In India, the software vendors operating in the export market have traditionally depended upon the direct marketing to the end users. However lately many software companies have set up their own offices in various countries. Also in an effort to expand their software operations many global and system hardware companies are sub-concentrating software development to a consortium of software.
Segment wise break up
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Indian
software
companies
mainly
concentrate
on
developing
application software for three main sectors, these include. Banking Manufacturing Insurance and other financial services India is increasingly emerging as a software development center with more and more overseas companies setting up operations in India. They are operating in the Indian market either through: 100% equity holding. In joint venture with Indian companies. Marketing or technical collaboration. Strategic alliance.
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SWOT analysis of Indian software industry Strengths: The following are the strengths of the Indian software industry. Strong cost value proposition. Vast base of English speaking people and skilled manpower. High quality orientation expansion in base of ISO, SEI, CM, level 5 companies. Experience on state of art hardware and software platform. Flexibility and adaptability of Indian software professionals. On time, on schedule delivery of projects. High reliability factor of Indian software export companies like Infosys, TCS, Wipro etc. Experience in large project handling with strong project management skills. Strong educational orientation perfect for producing high-class engineering graduates skilled in computer science and software. Government
incentives
for
software
export
sector
–tax
incentives, setting up of STPs, etc. Focus on high value, software off shoring model. Vast base of Fortune 500 customers who are increasingly outsourcing their business to India. Strong cyber law regime, convergence bill in the offing. Support from successful Indians in the Silicon Valley, California USA.
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Weaknesses: Low presence in global packaged software market. Lack of original technology development orientation. Low telephone, PC, Internet penetration. Inadequate utilization of IT budgets by government. Lack of localization of software and low availability of regional language software. Telecom infrastructure still needs improvement to become world class. Physical infrastructure still needs improvement – lack of proper power, highways, housing and international airports etc.
Opportunities: Major demand for Indian It professionals in Europe (Germany, UK, Italy, France etc) can be exploited to push India’s skilled manpower. Major opportunities in ITES segment (Contact centers, back office operations, engineering & medical transcription) Opportunities to increase off shoring. Existing customers are enhancing there off shoring components to India. Number of global customers off shoring projects to India expected to increase rapidly. In the domestic market, corporate, government bodies and sectors like banking, insurance, are expected to computerize heavily. In
Research
and
development(R&D),
more
and
more
multinationals (MNC’S) are setting up R&D facilities in India with business increasing rapidly.
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IT training services is an area where Indian can leverage its strengths in qualified manpower and remote education delivery.
Threats: The emergence of countries such as China, Russia and Ireland as cheaper software development destinations. Visa restrictions and protectionism by export destination. More high quality manpower is required. Inadequate growth in the domestic market.
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Business Process Automation No matter the size of their organization, customers are looking for better, more efficient ways to share information within their organization and with outside key suppliers, partners, and clients. It develops workflow, automation, and document management solutions as a direct result of customer feedback and research into information sharing practices within organizations. The research clearly demonstrated that no one solution could address the information-sharing needs of an entire organization; small and ad hoc teams share information in very different ways than do large teams.
Workflow Workflow Management consists of the automation of business procedures or "workflows" during which documents, information or tasks are passed from one participant to another in a way that is governed by rules or procedures. Workflow software products, like other software technologies, have evolved from diverse origins. While some offerings have been developed as pure workflow software, many have evolved from image management systems, document management systems, relational or object database systems, and electronic mail systems.
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The Key Benefits of Workflow • Improved efficiency - automation of many business processes results in the elimination of many unnecessary steps •
Better process control - improved management of business
processes achieved through standardizing working methods and the availability of audit trails •
Improved customer service – consistency in the processes leads
to greater predictability in levels of response to customers •
Flexibility – software control over processes enables their re-
design in line with changing business needs •
Business process improvement - focus on business processes
leads to their streamlining and simplification
Automation provides companies with three main benefits
Integration of enterprise applications. Today's agile businesses need to make better decisions more quickly. By achieving a unified view of their data and applications both within their organization and with their business partners, these businesses can increase their revenues and decrease their cost of operation. .
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
Automation of business processes. To remain agile, businesses must be able to integrate their data, applications, and business partners in an automated, predictable way so they can achieve the return on investment that application integration can bring.

Development of operational excellence. To realize real return on investment, it must be possible to rapidly deploy and easily manage an integration solution. This flexibility can reduce the cost and complexity associated with application integration.
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To study the need of Business community for the Automation of their Business Processes
Business Process Automation and workflow management
Automated interoperation: It a major way in which computers can be applied to more effective business methods is to allow them to automatically carry out the routine tasks involved in running the day-to-day operation of the organization. This will free human effort for more creative tasks, which can achieve smoother running and develop that all-important competitive edge. It should be noted, that while increased market share and sales is one way in which a competitive edge can be achieved, the benefit is not linear. i.e. one dollar in additional sales usually achieves considerably less than one dollar in extra profit, depending on the cost of attaining that increase in sales and the cost of the sale itself. However, each dollar saved in the costs of operating the business reflects directly as one more dollar in profit on the bottom line of the Operating statement (Profit/Loss report). Thus benefits resulting from business process improvements and reduction of operating costs are a very effective means of developing a competitive edge.
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Consequences of Improved Process Interoperation Efficient interoperation technology such as BSI is now available, whose implementation and operating costs place automated interoperation well within the reach of organizations of all sizes. This now opens the way for many significant improvements in the application of computers to carrying out the routine business processes fully automatically: •
Business processes operated by computers either locally
or remotely can trigger a new business process automatically. Currently, a piece of paper is received containing the transaction attributes. An operator calls up a data entry application program (implementing a business process) from a menu on a computer screen and proceeds to key that information into the computer. This initiates the responding processes required to perform that transaction initiated by another business process - either on the same computer, a remote machine or a human. With BSI in place, the operator's actions are completely eliminated - the interoperation process itself initiating the responding process. At the same time, the cost of manual keying and the cost and disruption caused by the attendant errors (detection and correction) are also eliminated. With
computerized
business
processes
being
triggered
automatically, the elimination of processing delays while operators complete other tasks is an additional benefit.
•
Redirection of Human Ingenuity
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No matter how intelligent the programming of a computer might be in implementing a business process, there are always many exceptions that need human intervention. For instance, a purchasing process operated by a computer might be able to determine how many of what item to order from which supplier and when without any human assistance. But if all the suppliers known to that business process (i.e. are identified as alternate suppliers on the database) are out of stock, a human has to track down an alternative source or determine an alternative action. In a smoothly running operation, these exceptions requiring human intervention are infrequent. So the human effort is now directed into the solving of problems in a more dedicated manner rather attempting to solve them on the fly in order to complete the data entry and get on with the next task. The role of the human has changed from data entry specialist to problem solving specialist. This change in focus can only enhance the effectiveness of the organization and reduce operating costs. Workflow Management Should the operator of a particular business process be absent, transactions for that process might remain unprocessed during that period of absence. Similarly, processing delays could occur when the workload exceeds the capacity of the operators allocated to a particular process. Delays in processing transactions, no matter what the reason, reduce the effectiveness of an organizations and this in turn can lead to customer dissatisfaction. At this point the situation becomes serious.
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With the business processes automated as described above, staff absences can have a much less immediate effect because the computerized business processes continue to operate automatically without human intervention. However, if problems requiring human intervention continue to remain unsolved, e.g. because of absences or overload, then
the
same
consequences could result, even though the timing may not be as crucial as in the un automated scenario. So, is it possible that the staff allocation to the various computerized processes could be held on the business database and the process automatically direct a problem to a specific person or a specific group of people? Is it possible another business process could monitor the progress of the solution to those problems and if any remain unsolved after a specified time period, advises the supervisor of the delay for action? Is it possible to go one step further and that business process redirect the problem to another member of staff, perhaps even a person assigned to a different process, but noted as capable of handling the one involved? These questions are leading to a determination of the feasibility of actually automating the workflow management processes including staff allocation. Perhaps even preparing staffing schedules and advising department managers on overall optimized staffing requirements for overseeing the computerized automatic business processes.
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IT INFRASTRUCTURE Software Technology Parks India (STPI): Software technology Park of India (STPI), Bangalore is a society under the Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India. STPI was established in 1991 to promote the software export industry in India. STPI has the license to provide international high-speed data communication services to IT community in the country. It was started with 2.5 crore investment by the Ministry of Information Technology. Today the investment in the network operation center is in excess of 40 crores. The network-operating center has an area of 8000 sq.feet. There is implementation of every technology one can think of-France Relay, ATM, ISDN, VSAT, fiber optic, microwave and others. The entire STPI system is run on intranet base process, meeting ISO 9001 standards. International Technology Park limited (ITPL) The International Tech. Park, Bangalore is located in Whitefield. It is a high-tech futuristic park build to provide a one-stop solution to multinationals and others conglomerates for conducting high tech business in India. It provides an environment based on integrated concept of work, live and play. Build by the finest brains in the line, it is armed with the latest state of art infrastructure and professionals manage it. A residential condominium is located inside the park complex. Stage one of the park houses corporate majors like AOL, WIPRO, Infosys, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, Ernest & Young etc. operating in a wide range of businesses such as information technology, Biotechnology, Electronics, R&D, Financial services and other IT related services.
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Electronic City: Electronic city is an industrial park spread over 330 Acres of land, exclusively meant electronic industries. It houses more than 100 companies including IT industry leaders such as Infosys, WIPRO, Siemens, ITI, Motorola etc. the area is maintained by KEONICS, which provides all the necessary infrastructure.
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE The purpose of literature review is to deals with various theoretical backgrounds necessary to carryout the project. Every study or project needs certain amount of theoretical background and existing published literature is one of the major sources for it. For this project different kinds of literature reviews have been done. Several books, research papers are available on the software marketing and Internet is also a useful way to get the important key points regarding the subject. Following are the different sources of literature used in this project. Software management and Industrial marketing Books There are many books available in the market on software marketing and Need for automation. But “Software Management” by Sunil Chopra and Peter Meindl helped me a lot to get to the bottom line of the subject. “Industrial Marketing Management” by Donald J. Bowersox and David J. Closs also gave valuable input. 3.1.2 Research Papers A no. Of studies regarding software marketing management have been carried out in India as well as abroad, which gave valuable information’s, few of them are
Software marketing and Management – by Vikas Chandra in Management Review.
Case study analysis of IBM – by Robert J. Bowman and of WalMart – by P.Mahon Chandran.
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World Wide Web (Internet) The Internet i.e., World Wide Web is widely used to gather information regarding variety of research work around the world. In fact, browsing the net helped a great deal to understand everyday pragmatic software business issues.
PURPOSE Literature review is one of the prime parts of every project. The very basic purpose of the literature review is to gain insight on the theoretical backgrounds of the research problem. It helps the researcher to gain strong theoretical basis of the problem under study and also helps to explore whether any one has done research on the related issues. That’s why literature review helps one to find out the path of problem solving. In this regard the very basic purpose of literature review in this dissertation is same as mentioned above.
METHODOLOGY For simplicity and proper understanding of the subject, the literature review has been divided into the following parts. ď ą
Basic introduction and different approaches to software marketing management.
ď ą
Identifying the key elements and drivers of software marketing and their importance. Understand the different assumptions necessary to make optimised decisions.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Type of research The methodology adopted for the present study to obtain the primary data was through a structured questionnaire. Before starting the study a detailed questionnaire was prepared taking all pros and cons into consideration. For this study a sample size of 100 respondents was taken.
The research was undertaken by choosing the segments namely: •
Food Grain dealers.
•
Jewellery dealers.
Sample A wide cross section of Bangalore city was the sampling unit. Greater the sample size, more representative it would be. But still because of certain constrains the ample size was restricted to 100.
Data collection The data can be collected using various methods like;
Direct observation.
Focus group.
Survey feedback.
Delphi method.
Personal interview.
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The method used to collect the primary data was through structured questionnaire using personal interview method.
Data sources The need for the primary data recognized that a structured interview schedule be developed. The questionnaire was formatted keeping in mind that it would not take more than 5-10 minutes for interviewing the respondents as they have a very busy schedule and may not entertain the researcher. Questions were sequenced in such a way that they provide a free flow of answers. The contents of the structured interview schedule have been decided based on the following factors.
The ability of questions to generate needed data.
The type of information needed.
The ability and willingness of the respondent to answer
as accurately as possible. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:
The study was confined to Bangalore city only.
The sample size may not exactly be the true representative of the entire population.
No ready-made database of customers was available and as such a lot of effort went in finding respondents through cold calls.
As the respondents were high business people, meeting them personally require a lot of time and effort.
The respondents may not come out with the actual answer or can be diplomatic in their approach.
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TOOLS USED FOR TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS By hypothesis we mean a statement about the population parameters. Hypothesis deals with a procedure, which accepts or rejects the hypothesis. The hypothesis is of two types. Null Hypothesis It states that there is no significant difference between the sample value and population value. This means that the observed difference is due to the random fluctuations. “Ho” denotes the null hypothesis. Alternate Hypothesis In case the null hypothesis is rejected, we should have an alternate hypothesis to accept. This alternate hypothesis is denoted by “H A”. Types of Errors While testing a hypothesis, there are four possible combinations between the population value and sample value. The four combinations are:
Hypothesis is true and test accepts it.
Hypothesis is true and test rejects it (Type 1 error)
Hypothesis is false and test accepts it (Type 2 error)
Hypothesis is false and test rejects it.
Procedure for Testing Hypothesis
We set up a null hypothesis denoted by Ho. This means there is no significant difference between sample value and population value. In case if Ho is rejected we must have an alternate hypothesis HA. So we set up an alternate hypothesis.
Select the level of significance.
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Select an appropriate distribution for the test, which is known as test statistics. The distribution generally used are normal distribution, skewed ‘t’ distribution, Fishers ‘F’ distribution or Chi-square (ψ2) distribution.
Calculate the necessary values from the given data for the test.
Make conclusions from testing. If the calculated value is less than the tabulated value, Ho is accepted. Or else, HA is accepted, rejecting Ho.
HYPOTHESIS FOR GRAIN INDUSTRY Test for attributes From the information collected from the survey: Total population size = infinite Sample size = 100 Total number of respondents who said YES to automation of there Business =70 Total number of respondents who said NO to automation of there Business =30 Ho= not aware about automation HA=aware about automation Assumptions It is assumed that 10% of the total population will respond negatively i.e. NO The test is conducted at 5% level of significance. This is the test for attributes and one tailed test at 5% level of significance for one tailed test. Ztab=1.645 Test statistic Zcal= | p – P| √PQ/n Where n= sample size P= population proportion P= sample proportion Q= 1 - P There fore from the collected data; N= 100
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P= 10% =10/100= 0.1 P= 70/100= 0.70 Q= 1-P =1 – 0.1 = 0.90 Test statistic= Zcal = | 0.70 – 0.1 | 0.03 = 20 Thus Zcal > Ztab Therefore Null hypothesis Ho is rejected and HA is accepted. Conclusion From the test hypothesis it is concluded that 30% respondents have not adapted automation as yet.
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ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
I. TYPE OF BUSINESS. Table-1 (Figure-1) Sample size; 100 Type of business
Total No. Of
Percentage companie s
Retailer
30
30%
Wholesaler
70
70%
This table shows:
30% of the respondents are into retail business.
70% of the respondents are into wholesale business.
So from the given data it is evident that the number of
wholesaler are more than double the retailers.
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GRAPH: 1
TYPE OF BUSINESS
Retailers Wholesalers
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METHOD OF BUINESS DATA PROCESSING
Table –2 (Figure-2)
Method
Total
Manually Computerized
companies 28 72
no.
Of Percentage 28% 72%
This table shows;
28% of the total dealers are operating manually.
72% of the dealers are computerized.
Therefore the table shows that almost of them have computerized their businesses.
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GRAPH: 2
METHOD OF BUSINESS DATA PROCESSING
Manually Computerized
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FUTURE PLANS FOR COMPUTERIZATION
Table –3 (Figure-3) In favour of computerization
Total no. Of
Percentage companie s
Yes No
22 78
22% 78%
This table shows;
22%
of
the
total
respondents
have
the
future
plans
for
computerization/up gradation.
78% of the total respondents do not want to go for computerization. These 78% respondents are either not aware of the benefits of
computerization or are afraid of implementing new technology because of lack of knowledge.
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CHART: 3
FUTURE PLANS FOR COMPUTERIZATION
22
Yes No
78
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INTENTION OF BUYING A COMPUTER Table-4 (Figure-4)
Intending to buy a computer Immediately Within 1 month Within 6 months Not decided
Percentage of dealers 0% 2% 58% 40%
This table shows;
0% of the total respondents want to buy computer immediately.
2% of them want to buy within 1 month.
58% of the respondents plan to buy within 6 months.
40% of the respondents have not decided yet.
The above findings clearly show that people have started realizing the benefits of computerization of their business as 58% of them intend to buy with in 6 months. One more factor responsible for this trend was found to be value added tax (VAT) which government is planning to implement shortly. Thus people are considering this option more seriously.
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CHART: 4
INTENTION OF BUYING A COMPUTER 70%
58%
60% 50%
40%
40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
0%
2%
Immediately
Within 1 month
Within 6 months
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PURPOSE FOR USING THE SOFTWARE Table-5 (Figure-5)
Purpose Accounting and billing Inventory control & accounting Inventory only Any other purpose
Percentage 40% 60% -
This table shows;
60% of the dealers are using the software for accounting and billing purposes.
40% of them are using the software for inventory control as well as accounting both.
Where as none or very less number of them are using it for some other area of their business.
This clearly shows that people want to get maximum benefits from the software package they are using but the only constrain they are facing is lack of awareness.
CHART: 5
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PURPOSE FOR USING THE SOFTWARE 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
60 40
Accounts only
Inventory & Accounts
0
0
Inventory Only
Any Other
TYPE OF SOFTWARE USED
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Table-6 (Figure-6)
Type of software in use Mandy Munemji Tally In house developed Others
Percentage of dealers 58% 30% 20% 2%
This table shows:
58% of the dealers are using Mandy munemji.
30% of the dealers are using Tally.
20% of them are using in house developed.
2% of the dealers are using other customized software packages. The above findings show that customized software called Mandy
Muneji is prominent in the market Yard. The reason for this is mainly because it serves the clients with KPMC tax details. Other Non Customized software used is Tally.
CHART: 6
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TYPE OF SOFTWARE USED 70% 60%
58%
50% 40% 30%
30%
20%
20% 10%
2%
0% Mandy Munemji
SOFTWARE
Tally
SERVING
In house developed
CUSTOMER
Others
RELATED
INFORMATION Table-7 (Figure-7)
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Customer Information Outstanding Credit Limit Credit Period Customer Performance Customer Buying Pattern
Percentage of dealers 20% 16% 15% 22% 27%
This table shows:
From the above table 20% of the clients use the software for studying the outstanding of the customers.
16% of the respondents use the software for knowing the customer credit
limit.
15% of the respondents use the software to check credit period of the customers.
22% of the respondents use the software to check the customer performance.
27% of the respondents use the software to know the buying patter.
CHART: 7
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SOFTWARE SERVING CUSTOMER RELATED INFORMATION Outstanding 27%
20%
Credit Limit Credit Period 16%
22%
SOFTWARE
15%
SERVING
Customer Performance Customer Buying Pattern
SUPPLIER
RELATED
INFORMATION Table-8 (Figure-8)
Supplier Information
Percentage of dealers
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Supplier Delivery Performance Supplier Quality Performance Credit given By supplier Product availability
28% 50% 2% 20%
This table shows:
The above table indicates that 28% of the respondents use the software to check the supplier delivery performance.
50% of the respondents use the software to check the supplier quality performance.
2% of the respondents use the software to check credit given by the suppliers.
20% of the respondents use the software to check the product availability.
CHART: 8
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Product availability 20% Credit given By supplier 2%
Supplier Delivery Performance 28%
Supplier Quality Performance 50%
SOFTWARE
SERVING
STOCK
RELATED
INFORMATION Table-8 (Figure-8)
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Stock Related Information Stock level of each product Delivery period of each product Critical stock level Product availability
Percentage of companies 30% 20% 28% 22%
This table shows:
The above table indicates that 30% of the respondents use the software to check the stock level of each product.
20% of the respondents use the software to check the delivery period of each product.
28% of the respondents use the software to check critical stock level.
22% of the respondents use the software to check the product availability.
CHART: 9
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SOFTWARE SERVING STOCK RELATED INFORMATION
22%
28%
30%
20%
Stock level of each product Delivery period of each product Critical stock level Product availability
FINDINGS Following are the findings made by the researcher:
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o 70% of the total respondents have computerized operations; this trend shows that these companies are giving importance to the time management. As it is said that time saved is money saved, thus by using computers, Firms are indirectly saving money i.e. decreasing the labour cost, saving time, less human effort, less paper work, less errors in transactions and thus more profits. o 60% of the companies have shown their interest in computerization of their business in future. 40% of the companies do not have any future plans for computerization. This trend is mainly because of the cost factor and maintenance factor. o As computerization needs good investment and also because maintenance & up gradation in technology adds to the variable cost, as technology keeps changing frequently. Most of these firms are not in a position to invest and incur high variable costs required for automation. But I confidently believe that as soon as these companies will realize the benefits of automation, they will definitely adapt it. o Out of 38% who want to go for automation; 2% want to computerize with in 1 month. 58% would like to do it within 6 months. Rest 40% has not yet decided about it. o Among the dealers using computers 60% use them for accounting and billing only. 40% use them for both accounting and inventory control. o 58% of the total dealers are using Mandy muneji software for both Inventory & accounting purposes. o 30% are using Tally for accounting purpose and 20% of them have their own in-house developed software and rest 2% are using other customized software.
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o This shows that most of the dealers prefer using developed software as it caters to their specific needs and at the same time being cost effective. o Most of the market is captured by Lalit InfoTech i.e. Mandy Muneji, as there is a lot of word of mouth as well as media awareness about this software, not to speak about its cost effectiveness. o One more important trend that was noticed is about the annual turn over of the dealers. More the turn over more is the level of automation and customisation of the software they are using in their business.
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HYPOTHESIS FOR JEWELLERY
Test for attributes From the information collected from the survey: Total population size = infinite Sample size
= 50
Total number of respondents who said YES to automation of there Business =20 Total number of respondents who said NO to automation of there Business =30 Ho= not aware about automation HA=aware about automation Assumptions It is assumed that 10% of the total population will respond negatively i.e. NO The test is conducted at 5% level of significance. This is the test for attributes and one tailed test at 5% level of significance for one tailed test. Ztab=1.645 Test statistic Zcal= | p – P| √PQ/n Where n= sample size P= population proportion P= sample proportion Q= 1 - P There fore from the collected data; N= 50 P= 10% =10/100= 0.1
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P= 20/50= 0.4 Q= 1-P =1 – 0.1 = 0.90 Test statistic= Zcal = | 0.40 – 0.10 | 0.04 = 7.5 Thus Zcal > Ztab Therefore Null hypothesis Ho is rejected and HA is accepted. Conclusion From the test hypothesis it is concluded that 30% respondents have not adapted automation as yet.
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METHOD OF BUINESS DATA PROCESSING
Table –1 (Figure-1)
Total
no.
Of Percentage
Method
companies
Manually
30
60%
Computerized
20
40%
This table shows;
60% of the total retailers are operating manually.
40% of the retailers are computerized.
Therefore the table shows that almost of them have computerized their businesses.
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GRAPH: 1
METHOD OF BUSINESS DATA PROCESSING 60% 60% 50%
40%
40% Manually Computerized
30% 20% 10% 0%
Manually
Computerized
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INTENTION OF BUYING A COMPUTER Table-2 (Figure-2)
Intending to buy a computer Immediately Within 1 month Within 6 months Not decided
Percentage of retailers 10% 10% 30% 50%
This table shows;
10% of the total respondents want to buy computer immediately.
10% of them want to buy within 1 month.
30% of the respondents plan to buy within 6 months.
50% of the respondents have not decided yet.
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GRAPH: 2
INTENTION OF BUYING A COMPUTER Immediately Within 1 month
Not decided
Within 6 months
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PURPOSE FOR USING THE SOFTWARE Table-3 (Figure-3)
Purpose Accounting and billing Inventory control & accounting Inventory only Any other purpose
Percentage 64% 36% -
This table shows;
64% of the dealers are using the software for accounting and billing purposes.
36% of them are using the software for inventory control as well as accounting both.
Where as none or very less number of them are using it for some other area of their business.
This clearly shows that people want to get maximum benefits from the software package they are using but the only constrain they are facing is lack of awareness.
CHART: 3
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PURPOSE FOR USING THE SOFTWARE 70
64
60 50 36
40 30 20 10 0 Accounts only
Inventory & Accounts
Inventory Only
Any Other
TYPE OF SOFTWARE USED
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Table-4 (Figure-4)
Type of software in use Tally In house developed Others
Percentage of retailers 60% 34% 6%
This table shows:
60% of the retailers are using Tally.
34% of them are using in house developed.
6% of the retailers are using other customized software packages. The above findings show that customized software called Mandy
Muneji is prominent in the market Yard. The reason for this is mainly because it serves the clients with KPMC tax details. Other Non Customized software used is Tally.
CHART: 4
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TYPE OF SOFTWARE USED
Others In house developed Tally
FINDINGS Following are the findings made by the researcher;
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o Majority of the respondents are still dependent on the age-old manual ways of accounting, maintaining finances and inventory management of their business processes i.e. 60%. o 40% of the total respondents have computerized operations; this trend shows that these companies are giving importance to the time management. As it is said that time saved is money saved, thus by using computers, Firms are indirectly saving money i.e. decreasing the labour cost, saving time, less human effort, less paper work, less errors in transactions and thus more profits. o 50% of the respondents have shown their interest in computerization of their business in future. 50% of the respondents do not have any future plans for computerization. This trend is mainly because of the cost factor and maintenance factor. o As computerization needs good investment and also because maintenance & up gradation in technology adds to the variable cost, as technology keeps changing frequently. Most of these firms are not in a position to invest and incur high variable costs required for automation. But I confidently believe that as soon as these companies will realize the benefits of automation, they will definitely adapt it. o Out of 50% who want to go for automation; 10% want to computerize immediately. 10% want to computerize with in 1 month. 30% would like to do it within 6 months. Rest 50% has not yet decided about it. o Among the dealers using computers 64% use them for accounting and billing only. 36% use them for both accounting and inventory control.
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o 60% are using Tally for accounting purpose and 34% of them have their own in-house developed software and rest 6% are using other customized software. o One more important trend that was noticed is about the annual turn over of the dealers. More the turn over more is the level of automation and customisation of the software they are using in their business.
SUGGESTIONS
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Technologies are ever changing, so is the information technology. People started using computers because it saves time. Now people are directly interacting with each other across the globe through e-mails, voice charts, video conferencing, net telephony etc and all this has become possible only because of computers and the use of information technology. Thus in the present scenario were information is available at the click of a button it becomes all the more important and liable to use the computers for the business purposes. It becomes more relevant in the present context when we consider the concept of global village and information superhighway. Therefore keeping in view the above-mentioned trends the following recommendations are made First of all awareness has to be created among the potential customers about this concept of automation/computerization and we should also highlight the benefits of software, by taking the help of cost/benefit analysis. These days’ people do not just buy any product before knowing and checking for the details of the product they are buying because of a lot of information available to them. Therefore keeping this in view Neotecra India Pvt.Ltd should give free demonstrations to the potential customers about their software and the benefits associated with it. Some people have also misinterpreted the IT burst and see it as a constrain, therefore effort should be made to make them aware about the ground realities. Bangalore being the IT capital of India and has a lots of players (both large and small) in the field of software development, so Neotecra India Pvt.Ltd has to take up more aggressive marketing strategy to capture the more market share.
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ď ś Other benefits such as less paper work, less errors on transaction, ready database, less time should be explained to the potential customers with the help of demonstration of the software.
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CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS Computers and the use of information technology for business purposes have not yet revolutionized the entire business scenario in India. Manual ways of data processing like accounting, billing, inventory management, are still preferred by many. But the attitude towards the emerging technology, however, is positive and inquisitive. This is clear from the data collected from the respondents, which clearly depicts this trend. Among all the respondents interviewed 33% of them use computers for their business. 59% are still doing it manually, rest 8% are doing it both manually as well as by using computers. This again depends on the size of the organization and its yearly turn over, as the computerization requires investment of a good capital amount. While respondents from the smaller companies indicate that they would like to consider the option of computerization to manage their business more effectively but the factors like; high initial investment, complex procedures, lack of proper knowledge are some of the commonly seen constrains in their decision making. According to the respondents the main problem with the computerization is constantly changing operating systems, up gradation costs, outdated software/hardware, difficulty in handling the machines etc. But the study showed that the gap between the first mover and the follower in terms of the use of computers would most probably shorten in the future. It was also observed that the attitude of the people towards the computerization also effects their decision making, as it was found out that people in the young age group (25-40 years) are more open, interested and keen in going for automation than those who are in the higher age group (45 and above).
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This is only because of the lack of knowledge and exposure towards computerization. So after completing the study my opinion is that the market has a good potential for the software in general but these software’s are priced comparatively on the higher side than the other substitute software’s available in the market, thus the customer looking only into the cost aspect, in many cases go for these substitute software’s. Therefore according to me Neotecra India Pvt.Ltd should take steps to create awareness for their range of software products. This can be done through promotional activities and effective advertisement campaigns in print media like the specialty magazines such as; Computers today, Data Quest, eBusiness, Digit, Chip, PC Quest, Developers etc. the long term benefits associated with their software’s should be highlighted and stressed on in these promotional activities. As far as the development cost of the software cost of the software is concerned the company namely Neotecra India Pvt.ltd cannot win over its competitors who enjoy the PRICE LEADERSHIP position. Thus Neotecra India Pvt .ltd should adopt DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY so as to make a dent in the market share of its competitors and at the same time positioning themselves as differentiators in the market.
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