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Conclusion

Blockbuster Inc. has had successful leadership over the years. They have been able to reinvent their strategy over the years to stay with the times and meet the needs of their customers. When NetFlix emerged Blockbuster countered with the end of late fees and Blockbuster Total Access. Initially NetFlix took a large portion of the market share, but Blockbuster with their deep pockets was able to advertise and offer more incentives to woe the customers back. They also ended their late fees to stay competitive and took a slight lose at the beginning of the end of late fees. They have bounced back since then and are now fighting strong to keep up their revenue. The company has had many internal changes and improvements over the years, and to their own admission they have become a new Blockbuster. As discussed in the technology section they have within the last year and a half introduced new application software called Compass that boosts the efficiency of the company, particularly on the store management level. It has also enabled the corporate offices to directly communicate with the store employees so their messages and intentions don’t get water down through a long link of contacts and intermediaries. The company has been successful over the years and is staying with the times by using up to date technology and business strategies.

Technology

Blockbuster Inc. currently uses personal computers in the stores. Their computers are connected through an Ethernet card and Ethernet Cat 5 cable which links all the stores to a centralized server in the corporate office, with all of the customers’ information. All computers come equipped with a monitor and mouse. Any store can connect using their computer with the customer’s unique identification number. Each store also has a laptop which is used for signing up customers to the recently introduced online program. They are connected to the Internet by a network interface card provided by Sprint. The connection used for the laptops are sprint broadband which operates at 600kbps - 1.4Mbps. The computers in the store also have a broadband connection, and they do not use a voice over IP.Databases that Blockbuster uses are composed of online transaction processing (OLTP) and online analytical processeing (OLAP). Their database that supports OLTP is also known in the business world as an operational database. The information stored in the operational database is very mathematical. For example it includes information such as financial information such as credit card information, customer Id number, and transaction informatin for videos rented. On the other hand, the database that supports the OLAP, the data warehouse, includes information such as what video was rented so they can suggest more videos the think you will like. Also, the data warehouse includes information on how often you rent so they may put you into their rewards program for example. As far as security issues Blockbuster uses confidentiality in that only authorized employees may access the information. They also have authenticity and integrity constraints meaning all their information comes form the source it claims to and the information has not been altered in the process. As far as the availability is concerned the web site or domain (http://www.blockbuster.com/) is up 24 hours and the stores are open 365 days a year within their time frames.

Blockbuster also other types of hardware. They use printers to get reports from the corporate offices and to print up membership cards. All stores also have laser bar code scanners that are used to scan customer membership cards and the bar codes on the products being purchased or rented at the stores. Verifone credit card machines are also used to scan credit cards and gift cards that are used for purchases. All the computers are IBM brand computers and their laptops are Dells. Some Blockbuster stores sell video game systems and system controllers.

Blockbuster has an IT department that stores can call whenever they have any computer issues. When a store experiences any problems with the Dell laptop or the store computer system they contact Computer Support who will then contact the IT department to send out a technician to resolve the issue. The IT department is responsible for gathering any hardware or software that the stores may need.

Blockbusters' operating system is a Point of Sales system which is used in the stores. It stores all the inventory and products that Blockbuster carries and ones that it doesn't. The system is used to look up products and members information. The POS system is very important to the stores because it helps to store all the members’ information and it keeps track of the stores inventory so that stores can know what products the stores currently have on hand. Blockbuster also uses system software called Compass. They use this to clock in and out of shifts. Managers use Compass to log on and get manager reports that tell them how the store is doing on sales and how many hours the store have already used up. Managers also get updates from corporate through Compass; managers get email updates on current updates on programs going on in the stores and if any changes need to be made in the stores. Compass uses Internet Explorer to open up its system, Blockbusters back room computers that are used to clock in are run by Microsoft XP which means Blockbuster does not use Linux. Blockbuster also has a program that they had made for their online program, stores that ship movies to online members use this program to access a list of movies that need to be sent to online customers. Then by using this program they can print labels with the customers name and address and then ship the movies out to the customers. The Dell laptops that are in the stores also use Internet Explorer. The Veriphone is linked up to a broadband satellite to transmit the credit card information but it also has a dial up backup service in case the satellite goes down so that credit cards can still be processed.

Blockbuster uses Microsoft Office and Microsoft Media players in there backroom computers. The laptops only use Internet Explorer and can only be used to access Blockbuster Online. The Media player is used to aid the managers during meetings when they must play video clips to the employees to help show them new promotions that are going on.

Some of the files used in Blockbuster are customer roster, employee roster, and inventory. Customer Roster includes pertinent information about the customers such as their names, addresses, videos rented, and financial information, for example any credit cards used. The employee roster includes the employees' names, addresses, social security number, position employed for, and wage. Inventory file includes important information about the videos such as the name of the video, product number, customers that rented it, price, and its category for example if it's a horror or comedy, etc.