When Dell entered the market, it posed a great threat to Sun Microsystems’ substitute products or services. Dell, on the other hand, had a low threat because not many other companies introduced customizable personal computers. It was easy for Dell to enter the market because it was one of the first companies to offer those products. Therefore, there was a great threat from new entrants, but now that many companies are providing customizable computers, it will be more difficult for new companies to enter the market. There is great rivalry between existing competitors in the computer market because only a few computers can be sold. Each company is after the same customer and must compete to get the customer’s attention.
I think Dell had a similar impact on other PC vendors in the same server market because Dell was one of the first to create customizable PCs, which is why every other vendor was hit as hard as Sun Microsystems. Sun’s supply chain is now very similar to Dell Computers. Both are shorter. I think it is advisable to imitate a competitor relatively closely, at least in the field of computer science. If both companies have a shorter supply chain and can reduce costs than in the eyes of the consumer, quality and price are the items that are compared. This makes the competitiveness and the playing field fairer. Blockbuster is now doing the same with Netflix. A customer can have a movie delivered to their home and keep it for as long as they want with no late fees. Convenience attracts people. Customers feel less rushed and aren’t wasting their hard-earned money on late fees. Sun’s collection of software can be an integrated interface. The collection integrates information, provides a set of applications and shortens the supply chain. Organizations must be very organized in the process of getting different providers to communicate with each other. By knowing which suppliers do the best job, they can order from specific suppliers and keep the chain running smoothly.
Sun now makes customizable personal computers. They have increased supply chain efficiencies so that product is delivered to customers within the promised time 95 percent of the time. This helps a lot with competitive advantage because it is very difficult for companies to guarantee a delivery time. Manufacturers access Sun’s order processing system and generate an invoice and shipping order for the customer. They also assemble, configure and test your system before shipping it directly to you. The delivery time has made the company much more efficient. This created an information association with the manufacturers of your suppliers.
Customer relationship management uses information about customers to better understand their needs, wants, and behaviors to better serve them. The director’s efforts are a great example because he collects information such as age, marital and family status, salary, and benefits from his clients. This information helps the company advise clients on how to control their money. The information technology within Principal is both superior and inferior. IT supports fast response times for transactions and is used to find information about customers. So for the top line to reach new customers and offer new products that connect those customers, and the bottom line wants to streamline manufacturing processes and successfully process nearly 1 million online transactions per day. Principal’s focus is to grow and increase market reach, product and service offerings, and expand market share. Principal’s strategy would be focused because it researches a lot about its clients to offer products and services to a particular market segment. Principal focuses on clients who need financial advice primarily for retirement and specific advice to suit those clients.
The manager could use an ERP system only as software to organize and streamline his award-winning information technology. I believe that as service offerings become more and more popular, a service version of ERP may be needed so that companies that do not have physical products can benefit from resource planning. If I were considering a client’s financial services needs, I’d like to know about employment history, real estate, post-college education, driver’s history, and general interests.