Strategic Information System of Commonwealth Bank for Insurance

Question: Discuss about the Strategic Information System of Commonwealth Bank for Insurance. Answer: Introduction Commonwealth Bank is a multinational bank that is based in Australia. It was founded in the year 1911. It conducts the general banking as well as the savings businesses across many countries. The varieties of services that are provided by Commonwealth Bank are retail, insurance, institutional banking as well as investment services (Commbank.com.au 2017). It is considered to be the leader provider of financial services in Australia. Their aim is to create a sustainable and long term corporate value. In this era of ICT, ERP systems are gaining importance in the field of business operations. This system is generally used to replace the existing legacy system in the business. ERP software is used for managing the business processes in an integrated manner. This report discusses about the business processes of the Commonwealth bank and it also mentions about the requirements of the business. This report gives a brief overview of the banks system requirements. This report focuses mainly on the software as well the vendor selection process of the Commonwealth Bank. It determines three such ways by which the bank utilizes the technologies in order to improve the business efficiency along with the efficiency level associated with each technological implementation. This report also examines the potential risks or data breaches that are possible. It also provides suggestions regarding overcoming or mitigating such risks. Business Processes Business processes can be considered to be a set of linked jobs that is completed to accomplish the goals of the organization. The main business processes that are give key priorities in Commonwealth Bank are the customer service, technological process, operations and business banking. The target of this bank is to grow in selected markets. Their strategy is to fulfill the simple requests during the time of sales. The customer service process makes sure that they give main priority to the needs of the customers. The business banking process aims to offer services to more number of retail branches. It also looks after the management of the credit approval process making it sure that the process is simple and responsive. The IT team manages the technical as well as the operational processes. It focuses on increased efficiency as well as consistent delivery. It leverages the expertise and capabilities of IT in order to revitalize processes as well as systems. Competitive pricing and pro duct characteristics are incorporated in the business processes of Commonwealth Bank. The technical process focuses on depending on multiple vendors for improving its process. The main business process is the framework of risk management. This process involves five main steps like identification of the risk, analyzing the risk, evaluation of the risk, and then mitigation of the risk followed by monitoring process. Commonwealth Bank manages all the business processes in an integrated manner so that the efficiency of the bank improves. Business Requirements In order to start a business that is in the banking industry similar to that of Commonwealth Bank, the initial step is to identify the business requirements of the firm. The main aim of the firm should be to identify the structure of the business along with the sales and the appropriate industry. Identification as well as registration is the main step in starting a business. The financial plan needs to be sorted out initially (Fsi.gov.au 2017). A firm must select a business name that is unique and that is not selected by any other business. The firm must perform a trademark check. Initially the bank must get an ABN or Australian Business Number and register the name of the bank. ASIC registration can also be done if it is applicable. The new bank needs to get TFN or tax file number. If the bank is expecting to generate yearly sales above 75000 dollars then it needs to do registration for the GST. A tax of 10 per cent is applied to all the goods and services that are sold. The bank needs to get business licenses as well as permits. The business account must be separated in order to keep proper track of the tax and expenses. After the business needs are identified, the strategic planning is carried out by the board members. The business owners must have sufficient capital in order to start a new business. Policies of the firm must be set before running the business. A five to six year plan must be there in order to successfully implement and run the business. The risk management framework also needs to be developed and formulated to control and mitigate any type of risk. The planning as well as implementation process must incorporate federal as well as state legal characteristics. System Requirements The system requirements of the Commonwealth Bank are a combination of an optimal operating system along with proper browser combination. If the operating system is Windows version 7, 8 or 10 then the system must have Internet Explorer version 11.x along with Google Chrome version 37 or more as well as Mozilla Firefox version 33. In case of Mac OS Safari version 9, Mozilla Firefox version 33 as well as Google Chrome version 37 is required. The digital services of the banks can be done by following certain steps. Initially the bank needs to get an email ID and a standard desktop. DSL or ISDN are required. The web browsers must be updated for the purpose of improving security. The Internet banking method of Commonwealth Bank can be accessed via mobile phones as well as any other mobile device. The Android OS requires the 4.2.X version. The phones and tablets that have iOS are required to the install the iOS version 9.x and 10.x. The latest version of the software as well the browsers ar e required in order to use the facility of net banking system of the Commonwealth Bank. The main focus of the technical department of the bank is to make sure that the Commonwealth bank uses the latest version of the software as well as browsers. Older version of the system will not permit any online facility to the customers of the bank. The display requirement is 1300 pixel display width. The most advanced version of the browsers is required for efficient as well as secured performance as well as experience. Software and Vendor Selection Commonwealth Bank aims to modernize as well as improve the process that exists in the organization. This bank has selected ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning for the purpose of modernization of its operations (HassabElnaby, Hwang and Vonderembse 2012). There are several functional departments in an organization and each of them deals with different jobs. Every unit in a firm cannot operate independently. The functions of each unit need to be integrated in a manner so that the organizational goals are achieved in an effective manner. The ERP software helps the bank to integrate information and functions of different departments like inventory, finance, and inventory as well as human resource department and CRM in order to streamline the processes across the bank. Commonwealth Bank has selected ERP SAP. The technological platform of SAP is called NetWeaver. SAP is responsible for providing banking solutions to the Commonwealth Bank (SAP 2017). SAP along with Accenture integrates the experience and functionalities of the Commonwealth Bank and develops customer oriented systems called CommSee, CommBiz, CommSec, NetBank and the CIF. All these are responsible for identifying the needs of the customers and it also gives idea regarding the implementation of change programs. SAP helps the bank to analyze its profitability and efficiency (Farber et al. 2012). It also helps to calculate the risks that exist in the business and provides pricing as well as costing models. Workday is known to be the leading or main provider of cloud applications for an enterprise. It performs the financial as well as the human resources related tasks of the bank (Schlagwein, Thorogood and Willcocks 2014). The Commonwealth Bank uses the Workday software. AlgoSec is softwar e that is responsible for providing automated security management. It helps in designing and implementing strong security policy in the bank. The flexible platform provided by SAP helps the banks to run their business in an effective manner. Utilization of Technologies to Improve the Business Efficiency The ways by which Commonwealth bank utilizes the ERP in order to improve the efficiency of a business are as follows: Information Management and Process Streamlining: The bank is able to manage all information in an automatic manner. Large and well establishes business will face difficulty in calculating the sales margin as well as the ratio of profit that is earned. ERP software integrates correct information from all the departments and helps the bank to analyze its performance. Synchronized reports are also generated by the system. Commonwealth bank can get access to the required information as fast as possible and this helps to take quick and decisions based on accurate information. ERP software integrates the functions and processes of business into an integrated and unified platform (Hailu and Rahman 2012). The businesses achieve higher level of efficiency by utilizing the ERP software. The processes that are integrated include inventory, accounting, human resource, CRM as well as financial and accounting process. This method of process streamlining helps the organization to access a database that is shared in the entire company. There exists a certain level of transparency in the bank. The redundancies present in the bank can be eliminated by utilization of the ERP software. This helps to improve the efficiency of the business to a great extent. Complete and Effective Solutions: The Commonwealth Bank utilizes the ERP software that provides proper banking solutions that cover the aspects of accounting and cash management along with security management (Schniederjans and Yadav 2013). ERP facilitates the Commonwealth Bank to share the bank processes with its vendors as well as customers. ERP combines the planning, reporting as well as analysis of the assets of the bank in one single process. It provides the bank with a solution on a single platform. Improvement of Planning Process: The Commonwealth Bank utilizes the ERP system in order to improve the process of planning. It helps all types of planning in the organization. It helps to analyzed the financial condition of the firm and plan accordingly. It helps the organization to carry out the process of tactical, operational as well as strategic planning. The bottom level employees utilize the ERP system to make operational plans and carry out the daily tasks. The middle level employees use the ERP system to carry out the tactical planning for the purpose of allocating resources. The highest level employees utilize the ERP system in order to carry out strategic planning process. The overall planning process of the bank plays a major role in improving the productivity of the bank. Efficiency Level of the Technology Implementation The ERP implementation has increased the level of efficiency in the Commonwealth Bank. There are certain challenges of implementing this technology like it is very difficult to decide which processes are to be integrated as well as the process of customization. The training of the employees is also required in order to carry out successful ERP implementation. The integrated information has enabled the bank to use accurate data for making correct and fast decisions. This is applicable in the strategic decision making process. ERP system has enables the bank to improve the cash management process and improve its efficiency. The operational level efficiency is also improved due to the use of the ERP systems. The efficiency level of the ERP systems is high but there are certain challenges as well as risks associated with the ERP software. Potential Security Risks There are several risks associated with ERP implementation. Outdated software can crash and lose all the information. If software is updated late then it can lead to several vulnerabilities. If there is no compliance with the security standards then it can lead to major issue. The ERP system uses a central database that can be exploited by the hackers and misuse the system information for an illegal purpose (Behnia, Rashid and Chaudhry 2012). There are also malware threats like virus, Trojan horses as well as worms. These types of malicious code enter the system and misuse the information. It either modifies or deletes the sensitive data. Other external threats like the phishing attacks are potentially harmful for the system. The attacker can hide its real identity and steal data from the system. The insider threat is more harmful than the external threats. It can cause a major loss in the financial as well as critical data. There can be people inside the organization who willing sha re the data with outsiders, the employees can make errors will modifying or entering data which can lead to loss of huge financial data. The deliberate threats are dangerous because it has a wrong motive but the accidental threats are not much harmful as it can be controlled by the organization. Risk Mitigation There are several potential risks that are associated with the implementation of ERP system. These risks can be reduced or mitigated by several methods. An in house strong technical team is needed for mitigating risk in a proper manner (Aloini, Dulmin and Mininno 2012). This team must make sure that they utilize dedicated resources along with correct practices in order to keep the data secure. They must monitor the system on a regular basis in order to identify any flaws. Proper set of protocols must be incorporated in the ERP system so that employees can view only the required data. Updated ERP software must be used. Older version of ERP software can cause errors in the system. This leads to mismanagement of data in the organization. Strong security policies must be incorporated in the system in order to prevent risk. Conclusion This report concludes that the use of ERP software will increase the efficiency of an organization. This report discussed about the business processes of the Commonwealth bank and it also mentioned about the requirements of the business. This report gave a brief overview of the banks system requirements. The main focus of this report was mainly on the software as well the vendor selection process of the Commonwealth Bank. It determined three such ways by which the bank utilizes the technologies in order to improve the business efficiency along with the efficiency level associated with each technological implementation. This report pointed out that the bank is able to manage all information in an automatic manner. ERP software integrates the functions and processes of business into an integrated and unified platform. The businesses achieve higher level of efficiency by utilizing the ERP software. The Commonwealth Bank utilizes the ERP software that provides proper banking solutions th at cover the aspects of accounting and cash management along with security management. The Commonwealth Bank utilizes the ERP system in order to improve the process of planning. The ERP implementation has increased the level of efficiency in the Commonwealth Bank. This report also examined the potential risks or data breaches that are possible. It also provided suggestions regarding overcoming or mitigating such risks. Commonwealth Bank have certain potential risks involved in implementing ERP system like hacking, malware attacks, phishing attack as well as insider attacks. The malware attacks can be viruses, Trojan horses and worms. These risks can be mitigated by the bank by following certain rules and policies. 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