1

INFOSYS.110 BUSINESS SYSTEMS:

DELIVERABLE 2: BUSINESS SECTION
2014

Name Sam Button
NetID sbut219
Group Number: 133
Website Link: http://infosys112014fcgroup133.blogspot.co.nz/
Tutorial Details
Tutor: Day: Time:
Helen Chen Tuesday 1pm
Time Spent on
Assignment:
20 hours Word Count: 1639

2


2
CARPOOLING APPLICATION
INTRODUCTION
Congestion, rising transport costs and public transport inefficiencies all contribute to causing
accessibility at the University of Auckland to be a major problem. To help alleviate this
problem, we have designed a carpooling application for students which will allow them to
access the University efficiently and at a lesser cost.
3. BUSINESS SECTION
3.1 Vision
To provide a quality and safe carpooling facilitation service that is costs less and is more
efficient than transportation alternatives.
3.2 Industry Analysis: Carpooling applications industry
Industry: Carpooling applications industry. We are a software application designed for
carpooling and hence operate in the carpooling applications industry.
Force: High/Low: Justification:
Buyer power: Low There are only three national web applications for
carpooling in New Zealand, and only one
recommended by authorities for regular
commutes. (New Zealand Transport Association,
2014) Theere are a number of regional sites
available, but some are situated away from the
major population centers. There are are no apps
in either the iTunes (Apple, 2014) or Android
store (Google, 2014) for carpooling exclusive to
New Zealand. Thus buyer power is low.

3


3
Supplier power: Low There are number of websites to help beginners
learn to code an application, (Wadillove, 2014) as
well as many companies that code software
applications through outsourcing Theres no
shortage of dev[elopment] contractors out there
to help you. (Strohmeyer, 2013) Carpooling apps
require data host, payment and map services, of
which there are a large number of suppliers to
choose from in the market.
Threat of new entrants: High The industry is small, with only a few generalized
applications dedicated to carpooling in New
Zealand. With the advent of smartphone
applications, the industry is ripe for new entrants
as startups are emerging and gaining traction to
serve carpoolers. (inTELEMATICStoday, 2010)
With an emphasis on environmentally-friendly
travel combined with economic restraints,
rideshare and carpooling is increasing in New
Zealand (WikiTravel, 2014). This means new
entrants can capitalize on the opportunity.
Threat of substitutes: High In five years the number of people getting trains
in Auckland has doubled to over 7.5 million a
year (Auckland Transport, 2014). Conventional
methods of transport such as cars and public
transport such as trains and buses are still vastly
popular to carpooling alternatives, and even with
an increasing trend in the popularity of
carpooling, it is not yet a common activity for

4


4
long-distance travellers or routine travel routes.
Rivalry among existing
competitors:
Low Most of the New Zealand carpooling applications
are internet-based and designed for specific
locations such as the University of Canterbury.
(New Zealand Transport Association, 2014)
Applications which serve a national basis are few
in number and only one is recommended for
regular use, so the customer base is small. As
such there is not much of a rivalry among existing
competitors.
Overall attractiveness of the industry: Considering the increasing popularity of carpooling,
limited current applications and potential for growth, despite the high use of substitute
products, this industry appeals.
3.3 Customers and Thei r Needs
Our applications target customers are University of Auckland students who have to travel
long-distances to reach the University on a day-to-day basis.
In the context of increasing accessibility to University, the first need of the customer is a
cheaper alternative to current transport options, especially considering that transport costs
are rising and hit students the hardest. (New Zealand Herald, 2013) The second need is
efficency. The customer will need an easy-to-understand system that can process requests,
payment and other data and provide a service that is consistent and on-time. The third need
is safety. With carpooling, customers will want to know they are being driven by and are
driving trustworthy people.


3.4 The Product and Service

5


5
Our product is a carpooling application exclusive to the University of Auckland. In order to
provide a feasable alternative to other transport, the product must be cheaper. Most of the
cost of parking at university comes from fees $30 a day at the City campus (University of
Auckland, 2014) carpooling with this app would allow the division of cost, providing an
incentive to carpool with more people. Those that park elsewhere would have fees
regulated by the app that would take into account distance and fuel costs to make it
cheaper. To provide efficiency, the app will be synced with a users Uni timetable so users
can choose the best available carpools and integrate search, payment and map. This also
provides safety as the product will be partnered to University databases so the service
requires a NetID login to use you know youre travelling with a fellow student.
3.5 Suppliers and Partners
Our suppliers are those who provide coding for the application, payment services, maps,
and a data hosting service that we can run and operate our application from. These are
suppliers as they would all require payment for services.
Our two main partners are the University of Auckland and Application Stores. The app is
integrated with the University and would require their database of student logins in order to
ensure the app can only be used by those currently attending the university, so we partner
with them. Since we are an application, we would be partnering with the Apple App Store
and the Android Google Play Store to have our application accessible. Since Apple and
Google want apps to be downloaded and we want our app to be downloaded, we are hence
partnering to achieve this similar goal.

3.6 Strategy: Focused Low Cost
Since the product is designed at this stage specifically for University of Auckland students,
targeted toward those who are long-distance, we have a narrow market of potential users.

6


6
Our app is designed to be easy to use and so we are not selling it at a high price on
application stores. Most of our revenue will come from a small cut of payments made within
the app and advertisements it hence counts as low cost.
The overall strategy is therefore Focused low cost.
3.7 Value Chain Activity: Service after the sal e.
The most important value chain activity for this business is Service after the sale.
The product we are selling is the application itself. The important aspect of it is the service
provided after a user buys it through an efficient, safe and secure carpool facilitation
service. Fixing bugs, errors, customer complaints and maintenance are critical to ensuring
the service can work at all through facilitating carpooling.
3.8 Business Processes
3.8.1. CARPOOL SELECTION PROCESS This is the most critical element of service after the
sale as it is the entire point of the application. A customer will purchase the application and
expect it to provide an easy to understand carpooling selection process that is in-depth and
useful. Without this, there would be no point of the app as it would not provide its main
service and be useless to achieving our vision.


7


7

START
Login with
university NetID
Search rides via
timetable or
manually?
Timetable Manually
Enter time and
location to be picked
up from
Geolocation system
View closest
carpools and times
Geolocation system
University
database
Choose ride
Done

3.8.2. PAYMENT PROCESS A primary advantage of our application is that you can pay
through the app itself to ensure both security and that payments are made to drivers. Since
the app would be at a disadvantage if there was no ability to pay, this is a critical part of the
applications service. Payments can be made through cash as well, so this provides an
opportunity for drivers to confirm whether a payment was made and how much. Drivers
expected to be paid and passengers expect an efficient payment system.


8


8
START
Finish
carpool
Pay by cash or
through app?
App Cash
Online payment
system
Manual
payment
made
Payment
made
FINISH
Driver confirms
payment is made
Mutual review


9


9
3.9 Functionalities
3.9.1. CARPOOL SELECTI ON PROCESS
Carpooling route mapping through maps
Carpool timetabling
3.9.2. PAYMENT PROCESS
Automatic division of payment per passenger
Feedback on passengers and drivers
3.10 Systems

3.10. 1. ONLINE PAYMENT SYSTEM This supports the payment process. In order to fulfill
transactional requirements, using an online system makes sense because it allows for
immediate payments and no cash has to be handled. The cost of carpooling, shown as part
of the OPS, will also impact the decision as to whether a person uses carpooling or chooses
an alternative method.
3.10. 2. FEEDBACK AND REVIEW SYSTEM - Supporting the payment process, this is a big part of
whether someone makes a decision about whether or not to carpool. This is included in the
payment process as it part of the end of service once the ride is complete. As each driver
and passenger profile has a ranking and user comments, it also helps to ensure the app is
successful by eliminating the possibility of bad passengers/drivers. In this sense it is a
decision support system.
3.10. 3. GEOLOCATI ON SYSTEM Supporting the selection and payment process, a
geolocation system will support the provision of route mapping through an inbuilt system
similar to Google Maps. This is important to transactional requirements because it shows
the cost of fuel for travelling and also decisional because it will show a driver where a
passenger is, show passengers nearby drivers and show similar timetables so that a decision
can be made. In this sense it is a decision support system.

10


10
3.11. Summary Table: Value Chain to Systems

Value Chain
Activity
Processes Functionalities Specific Information
System(s)
Broad Information
System(s)

Service
after the
sale
1. Carpool
selection
process
1. Carpool route mapping

2. Timetabling
Geolocation system

Geolocation system
Decision support system

Decision support system
2. Payment
process
1. Automatic division of payment per passenger

2. Feedback on passengers and drivers
Online payment system

Feedback and review system
Transaction processing
system
Decision support system

11

11
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, there is an accessibility problem at the University. With our university student
customers, who need a cheaper alternative to current options, efficiency and safety, our
app will provide carpooling facilitation through service after the sale, achieved with efficient
carpooling selection and payment systems. This use of information systems will help achieve
our vision of providing a quality and safe carpooling facilitation service that is costs less and
is more efficient than transportation alternatives and help alleviate the accessibility
problem.
REFERENCES
REFERENCES
Apple. (2014). iTunes App Store. Retrieved from iTunes App Store: apple.com/nz/itunes
Auckland Transport. (2014). Electric trains. Retrieved from Auckland Transport: https://at.govt.nz/projects-
roadworks/auckland-rail-upgrade/electric-trains
Costill, A. (n.d.). Top 12 Alternatives to PayPal. Retrieved from Search Engine Journal website:
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/top-12-alternatives-paypal/
Google. (2014). Google Android Store. Retrieved from Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/
inTELEMATICStoday. (2010, March 2). Social Networking and Phone Apps Enable Smarter Carpooling. Retrieved
from inTELEMATICStoday website: http://intelematicstoday.com/2010/03/02/social-networking-and-
phone-apps-enable-smarter-carpooling/
Let's Carpool. (2014). Auckland Council. Retrieved from Let's Carpool website:
http://www.letscarpool.govt.nz/in-your-area/auckland/employer-schemes/auckland-council/
New Zealand Herald. (2013). Students bear the brunt of Auckland public transport fare rises. Retrieved from
New Zealand Herald website: nzherald.com/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10886051
New Zealand Transport Association. (2014). Carpooling. Retrieved from NZTA website:
http://www.nzta.govt.nz/traffic/businesses/carpooling.html
Strohmeyer, R. (2013, September 11). How to outsource your app development. Retrieved from PC World:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2048502/how-to-outsource-your-app-development.html
University of Auckland. (2014). Campus parking options. Retrieved from University of Auckland website:
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/the-university/how-university-works/campuses-locations-
transport/campus-parking-options.html
Wadillove, R. (2014, May 19). How to code: learning to make apps and software is easier than you think.
Retrieved from PC Advisor: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/software/3517275/how-learn-write-
computer-programs/
WikiTravel. (2014). New Zealand. Retrieved from WikiTravel: http://wikitravel.org/en/New_Zealand

12

12