The JD Group Chooses Microsoft over Linux for Next-Generation Point-of-Sale
Situation
Innovative retailers are making use of a new generation of Point-of-Sale (POS) technologies. They offer a full range of payments functionality, combined with applications that improve access to real-time information stored in back-end systems. These technologies empower employees to provide better, more timely information for customers. In addition, they enable real-time reporting on performance and greater visibility of stock as it flows through the supply chain.
As the leading furniture retailer in South Africa, the JD Group strives to provide consistently high levels of customer service in-store. The company operates 1,000 stores across South Africa, 22 in Poland, and five in the UK.
The JD Group has traditionally operated its in-store systems using dumb terminals. Its IT infrastructure was complicated further when the company acquired furniture retailer, Profurn, which operated its in-store devices based on the Linux operating system. As a result, the company wanted to upgrade and standardise its in-store devices to simplify maintenance and increase efficiency across the organisation.
With Linux already in place at Profurn, the JD Group investigated the option of standardising on the operating system across all its 1,000 stores. Instead, after in-depth research and testing, the company decided to implement the Microsoft® Windows® XP embedded operating system. This is because it was found to be more cost effective, feature-rich, and well supported.
Solution
The JD Group deployed Microsoft Windows XP Embedded operating system, running on Dell OptiPlex SX260 computers across its 1,000 stores. Microsoft and Dell worked closel...
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...oft was the range of tools available to us. With Windows XP Embedded, we are able to manage and access information much more quickly than we were on the Linux-based system."
The operating system also gives the JD Group access to more third-party software applications than any other operating system. This high level of interoperability gives the company a range of options to deploy new solutions as its needs evolve.
Child says: "The success of this project will give us greater visibility across our operations and help us streamline our business processes. With the Microsoft solution we will cut development time for new applications and reduce the overall costs of running our in-store systems. The new platform is also highly secure and supported on a 24 hour a day, seven days a week basis, ensuring maximum uptime, and the best possible service for our customers."
BBS Computing is located in Greece New York It is a Computer Sales, Service center that also does some Networking systems. Paul Saussa, Ron Bess and John Bonacci are both owners and employees of the business. It is a relatively small business that mainly does computer sales and repair with some occasional networking jobs. The actual business consists of a show room and a workshop. The showroom has different models of computers that customers can have built to buy. There are 4 different types depending on a customer’s budget for a computer. The low-end models consisting of a Pentium III processor and 256 Mb of RAM and the basic keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer, and speakers, and the high-end models consisting of a Pentium 4 processor or equivalent with 256 or more Mb of DDR RAM and premium speakers, keyboard, mouse, printer and monitor. Thus, meaning you get what you pay for. The display models allow you to show a customer some of the features of the different types of computer systems that are offered. Such things as operating systems such as Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, and also programs like Nero for CD burners, All-in-Wonder TV tuner cards and applications such as Microsoft Office. This was my first opportunity to work with Windows XP.
Microsoft and Apple are two of the world’s main competitors in the computer industry. There has always been much debate over which system is better; Apple or Microsoft. This all depends on what the person is using the computer for. Both Microsoft and Apple can be used for personal, commercial or corporate use. It is a well-known fact that Microsoft is the most marketed operating system. Microsoft designs and sells its operating systems to other computer manufacturers. This makes Microsoft compatible with other hardware. Apple chose to not do this; Apple makes its operating system only compatible with its own computer hardware (Derene).
...ctioned, communicated, and performed their daily activities. In doing this however, they must stay on top of other competitors by creating new innovative ways to attract the consumers. Some had a long history while others had a short one. Some were provided great feature while others didn’t do so well in this area. One thing is for certain, each operating system provided a use for many consumers that helped not only in the personal lives of many but also within the business world. As we see the history shows that once upon a time what began as a way to for businesses to operate has now turned into a way that people communicate. Technology continues to grow and advance and with that waiting to see what the future holds is a mystery but I’m certain that it will be world of amazement especially seeing where operating systems have come from to where they are currently.
Analysis & Recommendation: Zara’s main strategy is the ability to respond very quickly to the demands of target customers which called for identifying trends of the customer in advance. The company has been able to identify the trends and meet the demand with the help of its autonomously organized structure and its effective value chain systems. The present system followed by Zara has been very effective and very easy to maintain, which as a result has persuaded the company to continue without any change in the present system so far. The problem that Zara faces right now is that the system that they use, P-O-S (Point of Sale terminals), runs on DOS which Microsoft does not support anymore and any hardware change in the POS terminal will not be compatible with the current POS software. Although the sense of urgency for the change may not be that high, investing in IT infrastructure is a must as MS Dos is an obsolete technology and there is no contract or guarantee from their POS terminal vendor that they will continue supplying the same terminal with out much changes in the hardware for any specific period of time, therefore change is unavoidable. The other main issue that Zara faces is that the stores don’t share inventory information electronically and hence inventory management becomes highly difficult and manual. The decision making process is based on the judgment of employees throughout the company instead of relying on a small set of decision makers; the majority of the decisions were made by store managers and as a result they placed orders for the items rather than simply accepting and displaying what headquarters decided to send them.
The flexibility offered through the Windows Embedded and Intel optimised platform simplifies development to lower the total cost of ownership, and enables digital signage device-manufacturers to focus on creating rich, connected user experiences that can be managed and deployed remotely.
Hardware, software, support and maintenance costs grow each year with multiple systems in each local region running different types of software and hardware. The application and hardware support teams are larger than could be possible with one integrated solution.
Since the early 1980’s, Microsoft Corporation has been a global leader in software technology . Founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen , Microsoft’s history with computing and software is quite lengthy as is accomplished. According to their company website, Gates and Allen began small, but went on with the express goal to famously ensure that there was “a computer on every desktop and in every home. ” In subsequent years, Microsoft positioned its brand as an innovative leader in software, and begins to proceed to change the way we work. From producing operating systems for IBM’s Personal Computer , to purchasing exclusive rights of the QDOS operating system from Seattle Computer, to then further modifying QDOS into the iconic MS-DOS — a product
JD has more than 800 retail stores, and it keeps increasing its presence in the European market with additional stores in France, Spain, The Netherlands and Germany.
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