a. How did Gerbang Furniture go about developing its information systems? Why do you think the company chose this option? What other options were available?

1). It was indicated that gerbang Furniture developed its information systems in house and the reason that they might have done this is to address unique needs that they had. They might not have been able to address these unique needs by using off-the shelf prepackaged systems. Another reason could be that they felt it was more cost effective that they develop the information systems themselves and they had effectively done so up to the present. Perhaps they felt that developing their own system gave them a competitive advantage.

The other options that were available to Gerbang Furniture are listed:

1). Outsource by using an information technology firm to develop the system for you

2). Purchase off-the-shelf prepackaged information systems software

3). Use open source software

4). Purchase an Enterprise Resource Planning System with the accompanying needed support for implementation.

b. One option available to Gerbang Furniture was an enterprise-wide system. What features does an enterprise-wide system, such as SAP, provide? What is the primary advantage of an enterprise-wide system?

An Enterprise-wide system such as a SAP provides the ability to integrate information across the organization. It has business function modules that are tied together that share a common database so that everyone has all the information. That common database is the single repository of data for all aspects of a business process and enables flexibility of the modules . A single repository ensures that the data is consistent and accurate with less maintenance required. The integration is its primary advantage. The end result is a reduction in redundancy in data. The primary advantage of an