Introduction This presentation will explain the Technology Plan for Club IT. Club IT needs to get their business to where it needs to be and to fulfill their goals. Club IT has been struggling with productivity, clientele, and promoting their business because of simple technology issues that can be easily fixed and improved with beneficial Information Systems. The goal is to offer an easy and affordable way to help the business grow and also make things run much smoother. These changes are necessary to ensure that the business thrives in the way that it needs to. Club IT Description Club IT is a night club that caters to many people looking for concert events, music, dancing, drinking, food and fun. They are hoping to get on track as far as their systems are concerned and depending on how well this works out for them, they are hoping to open another location. The owners are Ruben and Lisa and they are very invested in their business, as are all of their employees that work for them. It is imperative that we get all of their current inventory updated and new systems installed so that they can start to see the benefits of this program. Goals and Strategy There is now a clear idea of what needs to be implemented in order to make sure Club IT runs efficiently, gain and keep clientele, achieving the goal so that Club IT can profit. In order to achieve the goals that the owners have stated, it will be necessary to implement a Office Information System, which is a form a Manager Information System. This way, the entire staff is able to have everything better organized. What they have been doing up until this point is using spreadsheets to keep track of their inventory and accounting, their finances, employees, and happening inside of the club. When introducing the new Office Information System (OIS) all of the employees will need to have extensive training on how to use the system in order to avoid any issues and to also avoid data entry errors that could hurt the business. For the entire process I will be using the Water Fall approach in order to investigate, analyze, design, program, test, implement, operate, and maintain every program that they will be using. In addition to the MIS System, Club IT has been using a dial up connection which has really been hurting their productivity because dial up connections are typically very slow, taking up valuable time, time that could be better used in other parts of the business. We will need to get them set up with a reputable Internet company that can both offer a strong and fast Internet connection for the business. Club IT should also offer a free WI-FI connection for all of the patrons that frequent the business. The Internet connection will allow them to communicate faster, update events faster, and basically do everything that involves using their computer much faster. The WI-FI connection is always favored by younger people these days because they are able to check into many of the social networking sites that have become so popular in order to let their friends know where they are. Putting status updates with the name of the place of where you are is a really productive way of advertising. After getting the business organized implementing the 2 steps above, I will them start to work on their website in order to start attracting more business and to make it easier for people to use. Easier for the owners as well as the customers. I will start Web Content development which will focus on making sure that everything is flowing correctly on the website and that it is user friendly. We will also do a complete overhaul of the way that the page looks and add some new web design that will make the page “pop” to the consumer and make them interested in visiting the club in person. Personally, I feel that many people will go to websites in order to look up directions, to see offers, to view what is new, and to purchase what the company is offering all in one place and that one place is on their website. For this reason it is very important to make sure that the website is trendy and appealing but at the same time easy to use and functional. E-Commerce will also need to be developed in order to start selling items, tickets, and reservations. Being able to sell tickets and make reservations online will greatly improve business because people need to realize that it is the way that the majority of people would rather buy these days. It is all about convenience and many people just really do not want to have to drive somewhere to purchase tickets or call and have to worry about whether or not their tickets will be there when they arrive. They would rather purchase the tickets, make reservations, print the confirmation and be done with it so that they are able to get it done easily and of course, in order to ensure that all of these new things work for the company. Everyone involved will need to be trained on all programs, the progress will need to be closely monitored. The activity will need to be documented so that it is ensured that everything is working correctly and also so that things can be improved if needed so that everyone is able to get the best experience possible. It would be ideal to initiate a pilot program but since we are working with a small business that would be impossible. Professional Development In order to make sure that everyone knows what to do, how to navigate through the system, and to maintain their knowledge of the system, training will be necessary. The employees and the owners will need to be trained either in the morning hours when the business is closed, or on a Sunday for about 6 hours. Our company will facilitate this training for 6 hours. We will train them on how to log in, how everything needs to be used in order to ensure the efficiency of the program, and we will also be doing some real life scenario training towards the end of the course. The system will be introduced little by little. At first we will let them familiarize themselves with the High Speed Internet that we have installed as well as the codes and use of the Free Wi-Fi. We will then get feedback. After this we will start to introduce everything else such as the new things that we added to the website. They will be shown how to use the online purchasing system, the reservation system, and the new time keeping system. Any questions that they may have will be directed to a team member that helped set up the MIS. Manuals will also be given to all of the employees. Assessment of Needs The current technology that is currently being used at Club IT is little to none. Though they are still a very popular club, we can help them gain popularity. They are currently using a paper system to keep track of most of their records and are also using paper time sheets for all of their employees. We will need to purchase 4 new computers because the ones that are currently being used are very outdated. The Internet connection that is being used is dial up which is very slow and unproductive. Their website is up and running but does not offer the customer a way to make reservations, see events, or purchase merchandise or tickets. The services and systems that will be purchased are few but will greatly improve the way that business works and also improve the number of customers. We will purchase Manager Information System and this will be the heart and soul of the organization for the time being or until when add on more locations. A Point of Sale System will be installed in order to receive more types of credit card types and also so that we can link it to the MIS. We will install a High Speed Internet System so that everything runs faster and more efficiently. A Transaction Processing System will also be installed in order to link the POS system and to track all purchases. We will also install a Time Maintenance system so that the employees have to actually log into the MIS system to track their time. The timeline for implementation will only be about one or two weeks. The Budget The budget has been determined by the owners of the company in the amount of 7 thousand dollars but I am confident that including all systems needed, training and time we will not exceed 5 thousand dollars total. This amount is an investment for the owners as they will be gaining more business. Evaluation Evaluation of the staff will be done every other day once the system is implemented. After 2 weeks we will hold a meeting with the entire staff addressing any questions and concerns they might have and to also get feedback as to what they think they might need further assistance on. We will also be taking phone calls from the staff when they run into problems when we are not there. Inventory * 4 outdated computers * 1 outdated POS system * Current Website * Old version of Excel (being used for tracking) Conclusion We are very confident that with all of the new technology, systems, hardware, and also the new website, that Club IT will start to see a growth in clientele very soon. We will provide the training that is needed to ensure that the staff will be able to work everything properly. Keeping up with current technology in order to help your business grow is essential. The way that people communicate, make purchases, and function in general is changing on a day to day basis and it is imperative that business owners keep up with this demand in order to make sure that their business continues to thrive. Many companies do not realize the positive impact that IT Systems can bring to the table. They continue to run their businesses without changing anything and then wonder why their business is either declining or not growing. Small businesses especially really need to take advantage of the new systems and hardware that can help them grow so that they can stay competitive.