Introduction
Smooth and reliable communication is significant for companies to realize economical routine operations. There is need to provide seamless communication between EZY –Books headquarters and the branch offices. A lot of time and resources are wasted in the traditional way of storing information and data. It is quite worth noting that there are higher chances of losing locally stored data. Data and information is a vital resource for any organization and there is need to store and have a reliable back up. EZY need a centralized file server for faster access of data and reliable back up preferably on the cloud.
A rebuild and integration of Information technology in the publishing company is unavoidable to ensure better service delivery to the esteemed customers. Customers need a better experience in submission of their orders and tracking the status for the same. Customers need to be contented with the service they get from the company so that they remain loyal to the publishing company. Automation of the company operations is necessary in order to remain relevant in the current dynamic market. There is need to perform a complete overhaul of the network to support the current operations within the company and support future possible growth of the firm.
EZY company is a medium sized company which entails digital communication with data, voice and data. Communication is key to run the daily routine of the company and ensure business continuity. Therefore, the company should adopt a properly designed LAN which crucial requirement for conducting business.
Convergence and Unified Communications
Unified communications will seek to simplify and integrate voice and text as the major forms of communication in EZY organization. The company has been using separate equipment, wiring and personnel to enable operation and maintain voice and data networks. Such architecture is costly to build and maintain and EZY has been incurring losses. It is hard for the various networks with the headquarters and the branches. The company need to consider use of Voice over IP which is delivered in digital form as packets of data. It will save much revenue in future as it is free as users have internet access allowing them avoid charges that comes with ordinary phone lines.
EZY need to establish a central call center which should be based at the headquarters. Other centers need to be located at the branch offices for a better interaction with the customers. Converged network will give EZY options that had previously not existed. The company will incur lower cost of implementation and management.
A switched LAN architecture will be useful in satisfying the needs of the business and the company plans are more successful in a hierarchical design. A hierarchical network is quite manageable and the company will find it easier to expand in future. Problems arising within the network can be easily and reliably dealt with (Boyd, 2016 pp. 65). The switched LAN approach will involve dividing the network into separate layers whereby each layer offers specific function which explains its role in the entire network. Devices like Pcs, printers and IP phones will be found in the access layer. The network will also have switches, routers, bridges and hubs at this layer. The layer offers means of connecting devices to network and controlling those that should be allowed to communicate on the network.
The management need to choose proper design for optical-fiber cabling plan. Optical fiber cable has a higher bandwidth and it a powerful telecommunications medium offering support to voice, data and video and even sensor applications. EZY will be dealing with voice and, data and video and the main aim is to boost customer experience through effective service delivery(Oliviero and Woodward, 2014 pp. 45). There is need for the company to consider optic fiber which is an effective media to ensure there is proper connectivity that is designed into the system. EZY will be best suited for structured cabling which uses hierarchical start topology which can offer communication system that can support all topologies. Fiber applications will be best suited for this role because it supports point-to-point, star, ring and bus topologies. The company will find it easier to implement physical star cabling [as recommended by international standards. For the case of EZY publishers, the optical fiber star topology supports the different requirements of the structured cabling of the entire company. The main objective of the cabling is to ensure that there is reliability and dependability of data and shared resources in the publishing company. Redundant routing will be adopted in an effort to provide protection from system downtime. A centralized optic-fiber cabling is a better alternative to be used as the solution will be intended to support centralized electronics. Fiber-optic network management is simplified and it enables an efficient use of orts and easy establishment of work-group networks. Centralized cabling within the Headquarters and the branches will provide direct connections from work areas by allowing pull-through cables.
WAN connection
EZY-Books will need path diversity and will basically have several transport networks that support multi-region WAN. The company should migrate to hybrid access scheme which can meet the current business requirements. The company need to go for premium WAN connections which offer less-expensive transport to meet the ever growing traffic demands at lower costs. For, fast branch office deployment, the company need to consider cellular 3G/4G LTE connectivity. The company need to deploy transport-independent WAN model that is single, an d which can be used over any type of WAN transport.
EZY is using the traditional WAN and there is need to evolve its WAN for better service delivery. Within then existing concept of the traditional WAN there are options that are relative to the organizations WAN topology, applications and objectives. There is need for the EZY publishers to modernize its WAN for mobility, cloud and Internet of things(IoT)(Nema and Cota-Robles, 2016). EZY need to adopt mobile-cloud world where more applications can be hosted in various areas. Applications may also be distributed across private data centers which need more data transfer over the Wide Area Network (WAN). There is need to enable users and customers for EZY-Books access data information from any device and this ensures convenience.
For EZY-Books to remain relevant in the market there is need to modernize its WAN to address mobility issues and cloud. Migration to hybrid WAN will require building transport-independent architecture that will enables business to connect multiple access networks. Such an approach will ensure that relay of data and information within the headquarters and the branch offices will be faster and more efficient. There is need also to offer protection and optimize application performance in order to improve application experience. The WAN structure need to be designed to elevate security at the branch offices and provide infrastructure that quickly expand business and ensure reliability. It is quite important to promote great automation and orchestration by adopting software-based controller which abstracts network elements and allow IT to implement policies with less resources.
Networked Services
EZY-Books has to consider networking some of the common services to reduce on cost and offer services. Data networks are more viable to support various services and converging networks is the new concept that is gaining popularity in the market. It is time for EZY-Books to consider strategies that will work best for it within the existing infrastructure and that which will support future expansion of the business.
Implementation of IP telephony will help EZY-Books bypass long distance toll charges which are as a result of inter-office calls within the company. The company will save a lot on the off-network calls within the enterprise and replace costly Private Branch Exchanges (PBXS) that only serve a few customers in the branch offices(Ramachandran et al., 2012 ). The PBXs are known to be quite expensive to maintain as compared to the IP phones. Deployment of IP telephony will be a major milestone for the company. The organization will need to put the VOIP on the WAN because converging voice and data will be the most appropriate approach. VoIP on the WAN will depict the real advantages of toll bypass.
The company will save on costs especially for long distance phone calls. There will be a need to have VoIP gateway which will be necessary for transmission over the IP-based WAN. EZY –Books has to make the choices on how the phones will be configured at the desktop and their connection to the network. In order to lower costs of installation, it is advisable we daisy-chain desktop PC to the IP phones by basically sharing the network switch port and cable. This connection assists in rapid deployment and it facilitates maintenance. A call server need to designated at the headquarters. The call server need to have a distributed backup server throughout the network. The call servers will be responsible in the management of features and dial plans of phones and all call-setup and call-hand off.
World wide web (www)
It is quite noting that the overwhelming interest in research and keeping updated on the current confirms the argument that business communication and public relations needs a better knowledge of the world and business alerts. There is need for all stakeholders within EZY company to use the world wide web as a research tool and information resource where all users may access the information they need. The web in our case offers cognitive needs that are relevant to seeking of information, knowledge and understanding of the environment. It will mostly depend on the individual’s passion to understand and control the environment based on the information they get.
The web will be able to offer real-time and comprehensive information on business trends to the management and all stakeholders of the company(Rathod et al., 2018 pp. 30). In the modern dynamic market trends, the web offers up to date information that can strengthen people aesthetic and emotional experiences. Mass media is essential for the satisfying people’s desire to have pleasure and entertainment. A lot of information from the web will meet the individuals’ need associated with self-esteem, confidence and even status. The web is a reliable tool that can be easy to use within EZY-Books. Information can be accessed any time so far there is access to the internet. It makes it the most convenient source of information as it is a quick resource to seek specific information.
There is need for EZY-Book to adopt a low cost method of securely connecting the headquarters to the branch offices. EZY need to leverage the permanent internet connections that are in place and avoid security risks that are attributed to making data transfers over the internet. An implementation of VPN technology can be a good approach where we have a switch at the headquarters and routers at the various branch offices. EZY need to ran a server-to-server VPN between the different remote office and the main office. Each remote or branch office should then have its own connection to the main office and can remotely have a secure connection to the headquarters. The branch offices then have a secure connection to the headquarters intranet over its VPN. The VPNS in this structure provides a better security and flexibility that would have been offered by leased lines.
The branch offices should be connected to the internet through the most appropriate method and try to avoid carrier and compatibility issues. The best thing with VPN is that they will provide low-cost connections between the headquarters and the branches. By use of VPNs, EZY-Books provide connections that are secure than leased line and the cost of company’s infrastructure hardware is paid back within a short time. The high speed connections allow a seamless interaction between the head office and the branches integrating it into a single virtual unit. The intranet offers control over the company network and it boosts its performance. The company is able to manage networks and simplify the detection and elimination of loopholes and related problems.
The company extranet will enable it to maintain and improve the performance by having a positive impact on the competitive strategy and efficiency of operations. EZY-Books should focus on how services are delivered and more so how the company is connected with its stakeholders. Adoption of extranet will contribute to cost leadership and will offer standardized and effective customer service and differentiation strategy by offering a tool for customization and value added services. Under the cost leadership, extranet contributes to efficient operations, reduced transaction costs and standardized and efficient customer service. Extranet under EZY-Books will provide value added services, differentiated exchange experience and tailored solutions. There is an improved relationships and cost effective to offer to a broad scope of partners. The company will have the benefit of reduced cost and improved cash flow. Extranet will ensure there are low costs when it comes to procurement and logistics management, better production planning and reduced inventories. EZY-Books will have improved delivery times and reduced sales costs, reduced order processing and service costs. Adoption of extranet will have a potential in improving market and customer knowledge. It will simplify workflows in ordering, reporting and managing customer support. Extranet offers a less expensive method of communication as compared to email and phones. It will reduce massive printings of many numerous mailings, documents and manuals.
Electronic mail is the most used service in the internet because one can send a message any time and at any place. The company need to have an email service which should be used as the official communication. It makes things official as messages may be sent to multiple people at the same time and information can be forwarded to co-workers within the organization. Email need to have the domain name for the organization to ensure data is confidential(van Hoof and Thiell, 2014 pp. 245). The company need to consider patches proposed by software developers which offers updates to improve security of the mail. It is crucial to use up-to-date virus software because a terminal may be contaminated by introduction of a virus. Use of encryption software will ensure that message is confidential as contents of the message are encoded making it difficult to decipher. There is need to frequently modify passwords so that they are not known and they cannot be accessed without authorization.
Data Processing Facilities
Storage Area Network is the most appropriate architecture that can be used by EZY-Books due to its hug throughput and low latency. The company may store its data in a centralized shared storage a concept that can enable it apply consistent methodologies and tools protection of data. SAN is quite effective as it is block-based and it leverages a high-speed architecture which connects server to the logical disk units(Condict, Cosby &Hinkle, 2018 pp.12). By deploying the best technologies, well designed SAN may easily withstand multiple component failures. EZY-Books will enjoy best speeds when it comes to small data requests which servers process frequently(Nema & Cota-Robles, 2016 pp. 43). The SAN will be able to handle high traffic due to great input and output.
The company may consider adopting cloud storage as a strategy to store data and files. Cloud storage facilities offer drag-and –drop accessing and syncing folders and files between devices and the cloud drive. The Dropbox option will allow for collaboration and mobile App support. Collaboration offers the ability of sharing files and folders with Dropbox account users and allows updates to be viewed by the collaborators(Ramesh, 2014 pp.15). The storage facility supports mobile applications and users can access data and information using their phones and tablets. It will be possible for the staff to access files within the network be it they are in the headquarters and even the branch offices. The whole concepts save costs and there is easier access of data and information.
Distributed database is a great concept that EZY has to work with. It will allow for shared processes and resources and save on cost and time. The architecture of the database will enable for dedicated and shared server processes. Employees will be able to handle one user processes or multiple user processes depending on their needs from the system(Faleiro and Abadi, 2015 pp 15.). It is worth noting that the database will be able to manage user privileges and roles. System privileges are assigned by the administrators and they allow users to perform specific database operations.
Data processing Model
Client/ Server architecture data processing model will work for EZY-Books. The model is applicable to programs within a single computer and it is a crucial concept for networking(Dhull, Alam and Hassan, 2017 pp. 268). Client machines will establish connection to the servers through the available EZY-Book LAN and response in form of data or resources will be granted. Computer operations whereby server responds to request from clients is the main concept for network computing(Govindan et al., 2016 pp. 60). The file or software servers may be distributed or centralized and users can send requests through the network. It is a complete architecture of a file server system where if have all the clients connected by a local area network to a file server this file server in turn manages all the data.
Peer to peer model architecture may be applicable whereby all the machines may be dedicated servers and clients at the same time. All the nodes may be decentralized and distribute the workload among the peers. All the nodes will have equal contribution and consumption of resources within the network without bothering of a centralized server(PM, Mohan and Srinivasa, 2018 pp. 107). Some machines especially at the headquarters may be made super peers where they will have more resources and have a higher contribution than the others. Edge peers will also be excluded from contributing since they are meant to consume resources from the network. It is a perfect model that can be beneficial when it comes to file sharing, instant messaging and high performance computing.
Conclusion
Automation of processes is a key aspect in the modern business. EZY need a complete overhaul of its IT infrastructure so that it can save on processing time and cost incurred in the paper work. Loss of crucial data is quite possible with the existing system since there is no reliable back up. A proper and operational network need to be set up to connect the headquarters to the branch offices. All requirements need to be put into considerations for a better service delivery and the structure should accommodate future expansion. The main objective is to create the best customer experience by fast and quality service delivery.
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