FREE ESSAY ON BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS

BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS

GRC Business Solutions
Proposal 
Business Information Solution
Over the years, the nature of business has changed drastically. Part of the reason for
this is that businesses are no longer "local" in nature in the sense that the business
does not necessarily sell only within its locality. It has to obtain goods and services
from locations that are remote to it, and the products and services it sells are sold
worldwide.
Thankfully, technology has kept up and actually spurred this growth. From the original
telephone, to radio and then onto television, computers, Local Area Networks and finally
to cable and satellites. We have achieved a truly global "business village."
Out of necessity, computer systems have deeply woven themselves into the basic fabric of
business. The real benefits achieved with a quality computer business system is to allow
the business entities, owners, managers, employees, customers and vendors spend more time
in the running of the business and less time on the "processing' portion of the
business.
Business is complex. Your job, no matter what your position or relationship to the
company, is to focus on making the business profitable and therefore successful.
It is the responsibility of GRC Business solutions through our BIZ-VIEWS and other tools
that we provide, to focus on the processing and decision support aspects of the business,
so that our tools can run your business. We have a multi-faceted approach that includes
hardware, software, training, aids and other devices to do this.
This proposal will focus on a very special set of tools to help you do your job.
Chapter
1
GRC's Business Plan
General Business Concepts Incorporated Into BIZVIEWS
Diagram of Processing a Simple Order
BIZVIEWS is a program designed to work with many different kinds of businesses, some of
which may be very complex and require most or all of the features offered in BIZVIEWS. On
the other hand, other businesses may require only the basic features of BIZVIEWS and
possibly some options.
The purpose of this page is to introduce you to the BIZVIEWS product and give you some
insight on how the product could fit into your business. This section does not provide
complete detail on the sales order, but provides a selection of ideas to make your
understanding of the more esoteric features of the program easier. Some of these features
are only found in programs that cost thousands of dollars more. As we discuss the
concepts and features of the program, you can select those features that work for you.
STEP 1: QUOTING CUSTOMERS 
With BIZVIEWS, you can produce a quote for your customer of items that you want to sell
him. The quote lists the items and prices. One advantage with BIZVIEWS is that you can
put an unlimited amount of notes under each item to further describe the item. A quote to
a customer should have a time limit as to how long the customer has to accept or reject
it. The reason for this is that the costs or the availability of obtaining the products
may change after time. In BIZVIEWS, you can set howl long the quote is good for in days
in the SET-UP section of the system. You also have the ability to purge (delete) quotes
from your program after the time limit has expired. 
Stock can be checked to see if you have the product(s) available, or if you will have to
create a purchase order. 
STEP 2: SALES ORDERS 
A quote can be instantly turned into a sales order when the customer indicates acceptance
and at that time, if necessary, it can be modified. A sales order is a commitment from a
customer to buy the items on the sales order. At the same time, it is a commitment for
you to deliver the items to the customer, on time and at the specified price. 
STEP 2A: CUSTOMER CREDIT MANAGEMENT 
The next step is to determine if the customer is creditworthy. The BIZVIEWS credit
management system is one of the most flexible systems on the market. The following
features are incorporated into BIZVIEWS: 
CREDIT LIMIT. In ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE / CUSTOMER CREDIT MANAGEMENT you can establish a
credit limit for any customer. 
CREDIT HOLD. The customer can be put on a total credit hold so that he/she cannot charge
any amount to the account. The customer can still make cash, credit card and check
transactions. 
ADJUSTING CREDIT DURING SALES. BIZVIEWS can be set up to allow the sales person to grant
some additional or starting credit for a customer if permission to do so was established
in the SET-UP MODULE. In SET-UP, we establish a dollar amount limit that the sales person
could grant. For example, a new customer is entered within BIZVIEWS with no credit limit
established (CREDIT LIMIT = 0). Previously in SET-UP, a limit of $300 was set for the
field INCREASE CREDIT AMOUNT. This means that the sales person has the authority to grant
up to $300 in credit or increased credit. 
STEP 3A: ALLOCATING STOCK 
While adding an item to a sales order you can view how much stock you have. What if you
have 20 pieces in stock and the order is for 5 pieces that the customer wants immediately
shipped to him. Can you satisfy the order? The answer is yes. You can ship him the item,
but what about other orders in the system for the same item. By shipping him the item you
might be taking stock away from other orders promised to other customers. "Allocations"
is designed to avoid this situation by automatically displaying what stock is "available"
to this sales order after first looking at the other sales orders for the item in the
system and subtracting them from the quantity in stock. If there is a balance left, then
the balance can be applied to this order for the item. If the quantity available is zero,
then you have the option of not accepting the order or accepting it and creating a
purchase or manufacturing order to get stock in to cover the order by the time that the
order is scheduled to ship. The process of allocations can be violated at any time by
shipping an unallocated order for the item. The system will reallocate the orders
remaining on the system. 
If there are many sales orders on the system, then you can juggle the allocations to the
orders and select which sales orders will be satisfied first, second, and so forth. Doing
"manual allocations" does this. Additional allocation flexibility is provided by allowing
you to allocate stock only up to a specific date, at which time the allocation is
automatically released and the released stock is available to be reallocated to other
orders. A permanent allocation (or reservation) that cannot be easily changed when
conditions change, can be created by giving the allocation an allocation date of
12/31/1999, locking in the allocation, at least 'til that date. 
STEP 3B: LOT CONTROL (ANOTHER WAY TO ALLOCATE STOCK) 
Each item number is unique to itself. It is different from all the other item numbers in
the warehouse (unless, by accident, the same item has been put into stock under two
different stock numbers). Certain unique items have attributes within the item that may
be different and it may be desirable to separate the stock of the item by the
characteristic. For example, let us say that we are stocking grade 'A' milk under the
stock number "MIL-1." 1000 cartons of the milk have an expiration date of 9/27/1998, 1700
cartons have an expiration date of 10/10/1998 and 2000 cartons have an expiration date of
1024/1998. The milk itself is always identified by its stock number of "MIL-1" and always
ordered as such. The problem is that under that stock number it is desirable to segregate
the milk by the attribute of "Expiration Date." This is accomplished by creating three
different lots of the milk under the same stock number and segregating the lots. When
milk is ordered, you can select the lot that has the oldest "Expiration Date" to ship to
the customer. Each lot has a different lot number that is unique. Lots may have more than
one attribute that can be tracked. In fact, each lot could have quite a few attributes
being tracked. In the case of the milk, fat content percent, date inspected and cream
content could also be tracked. Also, whenever one of these attributes change, the change
is recorded as a change of 'level.' For instance, let us say that the content of cream
has changed for half the lot. The lot can be split into two lots; the lot where the cream
content has changed would have a different level than the lot that has not changed in
cream content. 
STEP 3C: TEMPLATES (A WAY TO HANDLE REPETITIOUS ORDERS) 
During the process of making a quote or sales order, it is likely at times that customers
will be ordering the same long list of materials over and over. This could entail many
hours of entering data. In addition, different customers may order a specific product
that requires they also order certain items that go along with it. By using templates,
much of these efforts can be avoided. Merely save the items as a template while creating
a quote or sales order and give them a template name. Whenever these items are required
for a sales order, just call or the template name and the items will appear on the sales
order. 
STEP 4: PROCESSING, TRACKING AND STATUSING ORDERS 
Sales Order Control provides the big picture of what is happening to all of your sales
orders. You have the ability to decide which order needs to be processed first based upon
the due date to the customer. BIZVIEWS is a "Due Date" system and therefore the priority
for an order is set by the date due to deliver to the customer. If it is necessary to
change the priority of an order, then change the due date to an earlier one. 
"THE CONCEPT OF "SLACK": The topmost first browser screen in Sales Order Control contains
a field called 'Slack.' Slack is today's date minus or plus the Committed Due Date for
delivery of the order to the customer. For example: Today is June 20, 1998 and the
customer was promised delivery on June 15, 1998 (five days ago). The slack is -5. The
browser displays the slack value of each order in slack number order. If all the orders
had a slack of 0, this would mean that all orders are being delivered on their due date.
By processing the orders with the largest negative slacks first, you will be following
the proper priority order. 
When you click on the order that you want to work on and go to the second screen, you can
review each of the items on the order and the progress that has been made towards
shipping the order. By pressing the right button on this screen, you are presented a menu
of many choices such as CREATE A PURCHASE ORDER, SHIP ITEM, etc. Process the orders
through to completion. 
STEP 5: INVENTORY - IMPORTANT CONCEPTS 
ITEM NUMBERS: The INVENTORY FILE is made up of item records. Each item in the file is a
record. In the old days, we would say that inventory was just made up of "parts," but
this is no longer true. We use the term "items" now because there are many different
kinds of items in the file. For example, there are "planning" items used in Master
Planning, Features, and Options. The are also reference items (item numbers of drawings
that represent the part in stock). Specific item numbers are sometimes called "SKU's"
(Stock Keeping Units). 
One of the best features in BIZVIEWS is that the description of an item can now be as
long as you want for sales orders, purchase orders and invoices. Normally, the
DESCRIPTION field in BIZVIEWS is 30 characters long. We have another field in the
INVENTORY file called LINE NOTE. This field is 120 characters long. When you print any of
the documents described above, the LINE NOTES directly adjacent to the DESCRIPTION field
and it looks like one description of 150 characters. In addition to all of this, the ITEM
NOTES field prints directly below the LINE NOTES and this gives us an unlimited
description. 
CATALOGS versus WAREHOUSES: In BIZVIEWS, it is important to understand the difference
between CATALOGS and WAREHOUSES. A catalog is a listing of items from a specific source.
It could be a listing of all the items that you sell and buy. It could also be a listing
of all the items that one of your vendors sells (i.e. a manufacturer, distributor or
wholesaler). Each listing is kept in its own separate file called a CATALOG file. A
catalog file contains information about each item, such as its description, manufacturing
part number, cost, and price. In the SET-UP section of the program, you are asked if the
catalog that you set up is also a physical warehouse where a stock balance is kept on the
items. Unless you have answered that it is a physical warehouse, you will never be given
the opportunity to add or take away stock from that catalog. Items ordered from that
catalog have to eventually be put into another catalog that has been designated as a
warehouse. Therefore, the same item will be duplicated in both catalogs. To summarize, a
catalog provides a listing of items that you can select for orders. A warehouse is a
catalog that has associated inventory records with it where stock is stored. You can also
select these items for orders, and when the orders are complete, the items quantities are
incremented in the associated inventory file. 
STEPS 6 & 7: CREATE AND RECEIVE IN PURCHASE ORDERS 
PEGGING: The single most important feature of BIZVIEWS that many purchased programs lack
is the function called "pegging." Pegging allows you to relate back from a purchase order
or order to be shipped to the original source (sales order) where the requirement was
made for a purchase or shipping order. Most systems will tell you that you have to create
a purchase order for a specific quantity of a product, but when the items arrive you have
no idea which sales order(s) the items should be delivered to. BIZVIEWS always provides
information that pegs the sales order to the material that is available. The process that
pegs orders is called allocations. 
CONSOLIDATED PURCHASE ORDERS: If you have a large volume of sales orders with many items
that are purchased from specific vendors who can be identified before-hand in the
INVENTORY file, then many hours of purchase order creation can be saved by using
consolidated purchase orders. Basically, you run two programs: the first program
automatically attaches a vendor name to all of your items that require purchase orders in
a few seconds. The second program takes all of these items, consolidates individual
purchase orders by vendor, and creates purchase orders for many items almost instantly. 
COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS
All our products are written in Visual FoxPro and are IBM compatible. At this time we do
not offer Macintosh support. Macintosh products are expected to be released third quarter
of this year.
Absolute minimum requirements would be a Pentium class processor with the following:
-  32 MB RAM
-  VGA monitor
-  Mouse
-  Printer supported by Windows
-  Windows 95/98/NT recommended. Windows 3.11 require that the configuration file
(config.sys) be changed to include:
FILES=200
BUFFERS=30
NOTE: Although the program has been demonstrated to run without any problems on WINDOWS
3.11 in the past, we no longer support this Windows version and do not in any way
guarantee that it will run with this version. The on-line HELP text requires at least
Windows 95.
The program runs with all The program runs with all standard local area networks.
Networks tested to run with this system are: Windows 95, Windows for Workgroups, Windows
3.1, Windows NT, Novell NetWare, Personal NetWare, Banyan VINES 5.0, IBM LAN Server 3.0,
Microsoft LAN Manager, and LANtastic 6.0. 
STEPS TO IMPLEMENTING A NEW PROGRAM AT YOUR COMPANY 
Probably on of the most important and difficult tasks for a company to accomplish is the
implementation of a new computer system, such as BIZVIEWS™. The purpose of these
chapters is to walk you through the thought processes of what you need to consider in
order to successfully install the new product. 
The broad steps listed here are not necessarily in the order that they must be performed,
but you can base the skeleton of a plan upon. Even if your company is very small you
should go through these steps to determine what course of action you plan to take. 
STEPS OF IMPLEMENTATION 
Determine if your company needs a new computer system. 
Create a Project Team. 
Determine if outside help is warranted. 
Create a Project Plan and schedule. 
Review and compare software programs. 
Select software and hardware. 
Convert files. 
Resolve all Issues. 
Train personnel. 
Cut over to new system. 
Review implementation results periodically. 
DETERMINE IF YOUR COMPANY NEEDS A NEW BUSINESS COMPUTER SOFTWARE SYSTEM. 
Discuss the following with your management team, your co-workers and others that you
respect and optionally write down the discussion results.
Are you presently using a single computer system to run your business? In addition, if
so, are you starting to outgrow it? 
Is it a "legacy" system that is not "state of the art"? 
Are you presently using a series of different computer programs to try to run your
business such as: spreadsheet programs, word processors, contact management programs,
accounting programs, etc.? 
As well as you can determine is your competition running their business using a computer
system? Are they starting to move ahead of you, or do you feel that they may be getting
an "edge" on you? 
Do you spend an appreciable amount of your time trying to gauge the health of you
business? 
Are you missing information that would be helpful in running your business, that you
suspect would be available if you had a system with features such as whether you are
operating within budget, or that your inventory is increasing while sales are declining?

Do your employees spend a large amount of time, or you on tasks that are better
accomplished by the computer. Do you have to do constant or repetitive tasks, make
calculations, or copy information from one source to another place? 
Make a list before reviewing any software of what features you would expect a new system
to have. Make this list as comprehensive as possible. It may be helpful to formulate this
list by function to be performed (e.g. Order Entry, Purchasing, etc.). Create another
list of expect benefits. Create an ROI (Return on Investment document) that shows both
tangible benefits ($) that could be derived from a new system, and intangible benefits
(e.g. not working Saturdays). 
From all this, you can determine if is of benefit to continue and start a project. 
BIZVIEW LICENSE
BIZVIEWS LICENSE AGREEMENT 
This is a legal licensing agreement between either a single entity or individual
(hereinafter called "you") and LCI COMPUTERS SOFTWARE ENTERPRISES (called "LCI"), who
retains ownership of the enclosed Software package, for the BIZVIEWS™ software
product, including all associated media, printed materials (including the BIZVIEWS™
manual and other related documentation), 'on-line' or electronic documentation, product
upgrades and/or supplements to the original product which shall be collectively called
the "Software." 
By using, accessing, installing, downloading or loading the Software, you have carefully
read and agree to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. If you do not wish to so
agree, do not use or install the software. 
OWNERSHIP OF THE BIZVIEWS SOFTWARE PRODUCT 
Ownership of the BIZVIEWS™ Software product and any product upgrades or
customizations is retained by LCI COMPUTERS SOFTWARE ENTERPRISES including this copy of
the enclosed Software product. A LICENSE is hereby licensed to you under the following
conditions. 
GRANT OF LICENSE GIVES YOU THE FOLLOWING RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS 
SINGLE USER LICENSE. If you have purchased the single user license, then you may use this
Software only on one single computer. The software consists of an executable program, and
two sets of database files (one database which will be used to run one company and one
training database). Multiple users may use this program, but not concurrently, even on a
network. Only one user may log on to the program at a time. This user must log off the
program before the next user accesses the program (NO CONCURRENT USE OF THE PROGRAM). 
MULTI-USER / NETWORK USE. You may load the two sets of database files (one database which
will be used to run one company and one training database) on a server computer to be
used on a network, along with the executable program. You may use and install the program
portion of the Software on the number of computers that this license grants (but not the
database portion of the software). For example, if you have purchased a five-user
license, then the executable program (the ".exe" file) for BIZVIEWS could be installed on
five computers. If the server computer is a "dedicated" server in that no one runs and
accesses the BIZVIEWS program from the server, then the server is not counted as one of
the computers. If the server is also used as a workstation, then it is counted as one of
the computers. This license is for concurrent users, and the number and name of actual
users that may log onto the program may exceed the amount of concurrent users on the
system. Simply, this means that if you have a five-user license, only five people can be
using the system at one time regardless of the amount of employees that have log on names
and access to the program. It is your responsibility to make sure that the amount of
users accessing the computer at one time does not exceed the total amount of concurrent
licenses purchased. 
TRANSFER. This software may be transferred to another party one time by the initial user
of the software, as long as: the other party agrees to be bound to the terms and
conditions of this agreement; you sign over your rights to the program in a bill of sale
or other transfer document; all documentation, CD disks and related material is
transferred; and the transferee calls or writes to LCI to register the product in his
name. 
OTHER RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS INCURRED BY THIS AGREEMENT: 
COPYING. You may not copy the Software or documentation except as specifically provided
for within this Agreement. You may make one back up copy of the Software and store it on
any media. 
REVERSE ENGINEERING. You may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, translate,
modify, or otherwise experiment with the Software. You may not make derivative works
based upon the software or any portion of the Software. 
RENTING AND LEASING. You may not rent or lease the Software or documentation unless
specifically given permission, in writing, by LCI. 
UPGRADES. If the software is an upgrade from another product, then this license to
upgrade supercedes any previous license for this product. 
"NOT FOR RESALE." If this software product is labeled "NFR" or "NOT FOR RESALE," then
regardless of the other sections of this Agreement, you may use the product for your own
business, use for demonstration purposes, test, or evaluate the Software. You may not
sell, resell, or transfer the software to another party for value. 
EXPORT CONTROLS. This Software is subject to the export control laws of the United States
and you may not export it without the appropriate United States and foreign government
licenses. 
TITLE. LCI shall maintain ownership and intellectual rights in and to the Software. The
copyright laws of the United States and international copyright treaties protect the
Software and Documentation. 
TERMINATION. Your right to use this Software and this license terminates automatically if
you fail to comply with any provision of this license Agreement. In such case, you must
destroy all copies of the Software product and all of its component parts. 
RIGHTS. This Agreement represents the complete Agreement for licensing this product and
therefore supercedes all previous Agreements. This Agreement may be amended only in
writing that is executed by both parties. LCI's acceptance of any purchase order placed
by you is expressly made conditional on your unqualified assent to all of the terms
contained herein. If any condition of this Agreement is held to be unenforceable for any
reason, then such provision shall be reformed only to the extent required to make it
valid and enforceable and in any case all other provisions of the remainder of this
Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. This user license is governed by the
laws of the State of Oklahoma. If this product is acquired outside of the United States
then this Agreement is enforceable, but only to the extent local laws will allow. 
BIZVIEWS WARRANTY
BIZVIEWS LIMITED WARRANTY AGREEMENT 
LCI COMPUTERS SOFTWARE ENTERPRISES (LCI) warrants the media that contains the BIZVIEWS
software (hereinafter called the Software) and the User Manual documentation for a period
of ninety (90) days from date of purchase to be free from defects in material and
workmanship. Your sole remedy for any breach of this warranty shall be for LCI to replace
the defective media or User Manual. You must notify LCI of the defect within the warranty
period and provide proof of purchase. Regarding the User Manual, since the Software is
being constantly upgraded, this warranty does not cover completeness of the Software User
Manual. 
THIS IS A LIMITED WARRANTY AND LCI COMPUTERS SOFTWARE ENTERPRISES MAKES NO OTHER WARRANTY
(EXPRESS OR IMPLIED), REPRESENTATION, OR CONDITION OTHER THAN THAT WHICH IS EXPRESSED
WITHIN THIS LIMITED WARRANTY. 
LCI COMPUTERS SOFTWARE ENTERPRISES specifically disclaims any implied warranties of
merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement, with
regard to the Software product, and the provisions of or failure to provide support
services. The duration of such implied warranties or conditions, including without
limitation, warranties or conditions of merchantability and of fitness for a particular
purpose is limited to the above stated warranty period. Some jurisdictions do not allow
such limitations and you may have additional rights that you may exercise within your
jurisdiction. 
No LCI COMPUTERS SOFTWARE ENTERPRISES agent, or employee is authorized to make any
modifications, extensions or additions to this warranty. The Software is licensed only on
an "AS-IS" basis, and certain portions of the Software may be incomplete and no warranty
is made express or implied regarding the accuracy, correctness of results of use of the
Software, currentness of the software. The purchasers, his agents, employees and others
that use the program, do so at their own risk. LCI COMPUTERS SOFTWARE ENTERPRISES assumes
no liability for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special or exemplary
damages, regardless of its having been advised of such damages. 
If you make any changes or modify the Software in any way during the warranty period, or
if the media is damaged by improper use or abuse, or accident, or if you violate any of
the terms of this Agreement, then this warranty shall be immediately terminated.
Compatibility of hardware, operating systems, computers and other devices with the
Software is not warranted and is the responsibility of the purchaser, or his agents or
employees. 
Under no circumstances or legal theory should LCI COMPUTERS SOFTWARE ENTERPRISES, its
employees, agents, consultants, sales people, and resellers be held responsible and
liable for any consequential, incidental, special or indirect damages due to work
stoppage, loss of goodwill, act of God. computer malfunction or defective Software. 
All upgrades to the software within 60 days of delivery of the program are free and will
be installed by LCI. All program defects (commonly called "bugs" discovered within one
year of program delivery will be fixed free, all others found after the end of the year
at the discretion of LCI. 
CONCLUSION
We at GRC Business Solutions have been serving the Oklahoma City area for over 17 years
and have won many awards for our top shelf business solutions. We have made it to the top
of our business by being the best in customer support, near flawless implementation, and
follow-up support beyond normal business practices. There are many solutions available on
the market that will help your business grow and be equally successful. However, GRC
Business Solutions will help you to success form start to finish. We guarantee it.