Heelz is a boutique shoe retailer based in England, owned by Sally. The business started with a
single shop, which Sally has grown into a chain of eight. The first four shops were opened from
scratch but in July 2012 Sally bought ‘Zapatos’ a group of four outlets, which she intends to
operate under the Heelz brand. The recent acquisition is a significant expansion in the operation
of the business, not least because two of the new outlets are in Spain. Sally is hoping that this will
help her to gain a foothold in the European market. As a result of the expansion Sally has
identified a need to open a new warehouse in the South of England, and she has decided that this
would be an excellent opportunity to launch an ecommerce arm to the business, capitalising on
the success of the Heelz brand, but with a relatively small additional overhead.
You are a consultant with OIM Consultants, who specialise in Strategic Systems Integration
Planning (SSIP). OIM Consultants have been employed by Sally to advise on how to address the
technology needs of the growing business. Heelz and Zapatos have different IT systems, and in
addition to integrating the two parts of the business there is the need to add ‘b2c’ ecommerce
functionality. Sally would like this to be fully integrated with the retail stores, allowing customers
to collect and return stock via the stores, as well as via courier. She has asked whether the use of
open-source software is appropriate for the business, as Heelz uses packaged software from
commercial vendors, which is proving increasingly expensive.
Your Brief:
Based on the case study outline above, you should prepare a report advising Sally of the key
issues and how they might be addressed. Your report should focus on the information systems
needs of the business. As space is limited you should select a key issue from the module which
will form the focus of your report. Examples of issues include (but are not limited to), integrating
ecommerce, use of packaged software (e.g. CRM, ERP), aligning with business processes, legacy
systems, open source software, globalisation, organisational issues. You should research and
discuss themes with other students, using the RKC Forum thread (Unit 6: Final Assessment).
You should also ensure that the report explains the overall process that OIM will use to manage
the project so that Sally has a clear understanding of how this will fit with the strategy and needs
of the business.
Your report should include an introduction and conclusion, as well as the main body of the report
where you present your argument based on the evidence you have researched relevant to the
report topic. If you wish you may attach appendices illustrating elements of your analysis (such
as models created). These will not be marked but may be referred to from the report.