A2P1 - Role of Integrated Systems

in Reducing Resource Consumption in an SME

Ruqaya Saleh 201102843
MIS (Class 3) Bahrain Polytechnic

Table of contents:
Title
1.1 Infusionsoft
1.2 Use of QR codes
2
Reference list

Page Number
3
4
6

1.1

First technology trend - Infusionsoft:

Infusionsoft unites sales and marketing workflow into one easy-to-use interface.
(Software Advice, 2013)This integrated system is ideal for a small business like Apex Training
Institute in the education industry. Infusionsoft combines CRM, contact, calendar and task
management, marketing automation, marketing reports and e-commerce into one online
system.(Infusionsoft, 2013) The stakeholders are Infusionsoft, the CIO, marketing and
finance departments, and customers of Apex. Apex will use Infusionsoft to sustainably
perform marketing functions and to facilitate its e-commerce.
Infusionsoft helps optimize the marketing departments efficiency by fulfilling its
information needs: internal company information, market research and marketing
intelligence. (Bhasin, 2010) By being more informed, the marketing manager is better versed
to manage existing routines more efficiently and to make decisions aligned with Apexs
strategic goals. Also, Infusionsoft helps the marketing department increase efficiency by
offering features like the ability to personalize campaigns, social lead generation, and
monitoring web activity.(Infusionsoft, 2013) These features will help widen Apexs customer
reach online, thus garnering more brand recognition as a start-up training institute.
Infusionsoft then measures the yield of using these features in marketing reports specific to
Apex. (Infusionsoft, 2013) These marketing reports will aid Apexs marketing department in
rectifying deviations from its marketing strategy, while studying what works and what
doesnt. Infusionsoft will also benefit the marketing department by reducing resource
consumption through improving resource utilization. Infusionsoft scales with the size of the
data, since it is an online platform and does not require a multitude of servers to operate. In
addition, because Infusionsoft dates information and categorizes it within lists and different
tabs (sales reports, tasks, etc.), there wont be multiple or duplicated versions of
information. This is of high importance, as a marketing department requires up-to-date
information to make guided decisions, and to act in an anticipatory rather than reactionary
manner.
Since it meets customer demand while accommodating business growth,
Infusionsoft will facilitate the ease in which Apex can control the business process cycle. This
integrated system will lower costs for Apex, as it will not need to buy individual applications
and software. Costs is a significant factor since Apex is a startup. In addition, information
from Infusionsoft like reports can be redistributed to other departments, to both increase
awareness about internal company affairs and to facilitate inter-department cooperation.
Moreover, using this integrated system will reduce storage requirements for Apex, which
will effectively lower its costs too while being sustainable.
Like any technology, there are some risks associated with implementing
Infusionsoft. One of the risks is security, as only a login on a browser with an Internet
connection is required to access Infusionsoft. This may put Apexs system at risk of being
hacked, or information being available to unauthorized personnel or people outside of Apex.
A way of minimizing this risk would be for Apex to set up network firewalls and to encrypt
the data so that only authorized personnel may see.(Infusionsoft, 2012) Periodic password
changes can also minimize the security risk. Another risk is the garbage in, garbage out
(GIGO) concept which refers to how computers unquestioningly process nonsensical data
and produce undesired, often nonsensical, output. (Garbage in, garbage out, 2013, para
#1) This might lead to the pileup of invalid data that will result in invaluable reports, which
will consequently influence decision-making. Since we will be very dependent on
Infusionsoft, it is important to minimize this risk. A way of minimizing this risk would be
investing in an administrator who would reflect on the data and study the behavior of the
system. Also, training staff on the correct usage of the Infusionsoft can minimize this risk.

A competitor in this education industry who currently uses Infusionsoft is MathPlus

Academy, an Ohio tutoring company that offers coursesin math, science and technology. As
a result of implementing Infusionsoft, time spent on billing was reduced by 85%. In addition,
the integrated e-commerce module made it easy for MathPlus to sell courses and camps
online.(Infusionsoft, 2013) This is significant as Apex plans to sell e-courses, and
implementing Infusionsoft will facilitate that.

1.2

Second technology trend (use of QR codes):

The second integrated system will feature both components of our design and other
components. The core component of this integrated system will be Quick Response codes
which will be printed and hung around Bahrain to promote Apex Training Institute. The QR
codes will be generated by QRstuff.com, which can generate unique QR codes that will
redirect to several smartphone platforms (iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Android).
(QR Stuff, 2013) The QR codes will then redirect to a custom Apex Training Institute
application, which will provide information about Apex, a catalogue of its courses and a map
of its location. We will then be using Google Analytics to study traffic of scanned Apex QR
codes and obtain data about the impact of using QR codes to promote Apex. (Keffer, 2011)
Google Analytics will be linked to our CRM system, Infusionsoft, and they will act as a
coordinated whole; an integrated system. (Cutroni, 2007) The stakeholders are the CIO,
marketing department, end users (scanners of the QR code), Google Analytics and
Infusionsoft. The purpose of this system will be to reduce Apexs carbon footprint as an
organization by sustainable promotion through the reduced use of printed promotional
material.
This integrated system will benefit the marketing department by providing
numerical data to observe the impact of promotional efforts. The more accurate the
information regarding promotional efforts performance is, the simpler it is for the
marketing manager to make decisions where he/she is aware of all of the variables. The QR
scanning tracking data can also assist the marketing department in obtaining market
research information, which it can then use for specific aims like segmentation. It will also
benefit the marketing department by reducing resource consumption. The app will convey
more information than traditional flyers or banners while being sustainable. QR codes are a
green technology that requires very small financial investment. (Barber, n.d.) The marketing
department will be practicing sustainability by both reducing its use of paper and minimizing
cost. Furthermore, because of the novelty of QR codes, they strike curiosity within
onlookers. Apexs app can retain that curiosity by being both informative and interesting.
This will obviously benefit the marketing department as it will be achieving its aims of
strengthening Apexs brand recognition, making Apex more visible and attracting more
customers.
This integrated system can benefit Apex by strengthening brand recognition across
Bahrain. By using a QR code, Apex will be perceived as modern and technologically savvy;
which will be a competitive advantage. Furthermore, using this integrated system will
reduce Apexs energy consumption, since Google Analytics being linked to Infusionsoft will
lower the consumption of energy.There will be less demand on computers because it is an
integrated system and not separate applications.
There are minimal risks with using the integrated system as a whole, but there are
risks associated with QR codes. One major risk is security, as there has been a sharp rise in
malicious code being used to create QR reader apps. More than 30% of QR code readers in
the Google Play app store are malicious code, (Crosman, 2012) malware can infiltrate the
smartphone, stealing its information, and usually rendering it useless. (Geer, 2013) A way of
minimizing this risk would be for Apex to print under its QR code the names of trusted QR

code readers spanning on different smartphone platforms (iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows

Phone, Android). Another risk is that QR code reading apps can be hindered by achancy
Internet connection, turning the supposedly instant process into a very frustrating one for
the user (Visualead, 2012). A way of minimizing this risk would be hanging Apexs QR codes
in urban areas that have the best Internet coverage from Internet providers in Bahrain.
These areas are usually Bahrains financial beehives like the Diplomatic Area.
Using QR codes as part of an integrated system in the education industry has not
picked up momentum yet. A prominent competitor in the use of QR codes is the University
of Baath, located in the United Kingdom. The universitys library automatically displays a QR
code for each catalogue search, which states the title, author, shelf location and key
information of the book being searched. This eases the process while also making it more
efficient. (Law, C. & So, S., 2010)

Reference List:

Software Advice. (2013, October 2). Compare Marketing Automation Systems.

http://www.softwareadvice.com/crm/marketing-automation-comparison/
Infusionsoft. (2013). http://www.infusionsoft.com/
Bhasin, Hitesh. (2010, November 25). MIS Marketing information system.
http://www.marketing91.com/mis-marketing-information-system/
Infusionsoft. (2013). Features. http://www.infusionsoft.com/features
Infusionsoft. (2013). Marketing Automation.
http://www.infusionsoft.com/features/marketing-automation
Infusionsoft. (2012). What does Infusionsoft do to keep credit card information
secure?http://ug.infusionsoft.com/article/AA-00587/0/What-does-Infusionsoft-do-to-keepcredit-card-information-secure.html
Garbage in, garbage out. (n.d.) In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 2, 2013 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_in,_garbage_out
Infusionsoft. (2013). Education success story. http://www.infusionsoft.com/successstories/mathplus-academy
QR Stuff. (2013). http://www.qrstuff.com
Keffer, Christina. (2011, August 18). Tracking QR Codes in Google Analytics Easy as
Pie.http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2011/08/18/tracking-qr-codes-googleanaytics/#sr=g&m=o&st=(opu%20qspwjefe)&ct=-tmc&rf=37011813.1381005559
Cutroni, Jason. (2007, October 29). Integrating Google Analytics With a CRM.
http://cutroni.com/blog/2007/10/29/integrating-google-analytics-with-a-crm/
Barber, Joe. (n.d.). QR Can Be Important Tool for Sustainability.
http://archive.outputlinks.com/html/columnists/Joe_Barber/copi_QR_Tool_Sustainability_0
12309.aspx
Crosman, Penny. (2012, September 17). The Hidden Dangers of QR Codes.
http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/177_180/hidden-dangers-of-qr-codes-10527171.html
Geer, David. (2013, August 19). The dangers of QR codes for security.
http://www.csoonline.com/article/738366/the-dangers-of-qr-codes-for-security?page=1
Visualead. (2012). Pros and Cons of QR Codes.
http://www.visualead.com/blog/2013/07/pros-and-cons-of-qr-codes/
Law, C. & So, S. (2010). QR codes in education. Journal of Educational Technology
Development and Exchange, 3(1), 85-100.