Bead Bar

The Bead Bar is a company that creates bead jewelry. The bead Bar is a hands on company that allows its customers to create their own jewelry. BRJ Consulting was contracted by the Bead Bar to assist in determining information technology needs. The Bead Bar is an arts and crafts oriented company that enables its customers to design and make their own jewelry with wires, beads, and strings. There currently exist three divisions in the company spread throughout the United States: six (6) studios, five (5) franchises, and the Bead Bar on Board which is a portable Bead Bar designed for cruise ships. The Bead Bar has outgrown its paper-based system and is in need of an upgrade in today's technology; the poor efficiency of the Bead Bar's present system limits potential growth opportunities in today's global business market. (Malaga, 2005)

Systems in information technology all for globalization and solve most of the problems prevalent with paper-based systems including lost orders, invoicing errors, and order fulfillment delays. The Bead Bar's information technology needs include the initialization of business website, information sharing between locations, and data confidentiality and security; this means the Bead Bar is in need of a strong networking system which is vital for internal and external communications.

Computers are essential to the daily operations of a growing company such as the Bead Bar with the continuous processing of orders and the various benefits offered to the accounting professionals. As per the recommendations of BRJ Consulting, the Bead Bar has made the following purchases: fifteen (15) desktop computers, two (2) notebook computers, and one (1) handheld computer. (Malaga, 2005)

All of the company's personal computers run on the Microsoft Windows XP Professional operating system, and due to the Bead Bar's multiple locations, the Oracle 9i Database, an enterprise database specifically designed to manage the distributed data necessary for the Bead Bar's organizational needs, was determined to be the best choice to meet the Bead Bar's current and future needs. However, a distributed database necessitates that all the Bead Bar's computers be routed through a network and telecommunication system; the database must be configured properly through a network to enable the database to operate at its full capacity.(Malaga, 2005)

The managers of the Bead Bar described the features each was most concerned or interested in: Meredith, President and Owner, expressed concerns about the unsightly appearance of a wired network; Suzanne, Studios VP, desires the studios to be interconnected with each other and headquarters; Leda, Franchises VP, would like an easier way to send and receive designs; Mitch, Bead Bar on Board VP, needs to be able to have access to the corporate office from virtually anywhere; Julia, Chief Financial Officer, would like a speedier method of receiving financial data but is concerned about the expense involved in connecting all the sites via a network; Miriam, Marketing and Sales VP, would appreciate the ability to electronically receive sales data and send marketing material; Rachel, Operations and Purchasing VP, expressed interest in the ability of a network to reduce paperwork and speed up processing of requests; and Jim, Human Resources Director, would like to be able to send and receive employee forms electronically. (Malaga, 2005)

At first glance, it may seem to be impossible to meet all of these needs and still maintain the economic affordability necessary of a fledgling business; however, an exploration of the Bead Bar's telecommunication system requirements and desires that are outlined in detail below with show that while much of the information technology needed is not the lowest cost alternative available, the selections chosen are the lowest cost while still meeting the Bead Bar's needs now with very little upgrading required as the Bead Bar continues to grow.

A mesh topology is the most cost-effective topology that is suitable to meet the needs of the Bead Bar. Client/server architecture is best suited to facilitate the Bead Bar's wide area network (WAN) that will work on a transmission control protocol and Internet protocol (TCP/IP).

A network topology is the layout of the devices connected on a network: the bus, ring, and star topology are the most widely used; however, the mesh topology will best meet the needs of the Bead