Zara: It for Fast Fashion
Zara: IT for Fast Fashion
Identification of issues: The case study, Zara: IT for Fast Fashion, focuses on the retail giant, Inditex, and how its largest retail chain, Zara, has been so successful with their business model of high fashion, product variation, low cost, speed, and flexibility. Several issues are identified in this case study. One glaring issue that is apparent relates to the fact that a long term Information Technology (IT) strategy does not exist. There is no formal system in place to plan and predict for their future needs, including operational and capital expenses. Another issue consists of the retailer not having a centralized distribution system in place, their stores do not share inventory counts, and the managers do not have a system in place to look up their inventory balances in their stores or other stores, (they accomplish this by canvassing the stores). Another significant current issue relates to the fact that their current IT system is unsustainable, as the equipment is obsolete and unsupported by Microsoft. Their IT system is not wireless, their screens are small, they are using styluses, which can be cumbersome, and older technology such as floppy disks and modems. The last issue involves a lack of shared knowledge of the current system in place; one person is relied upon and depended for knowledge of the systems functionality. Being so dependant upon one person places the whole system at risk.
Importance of the key issue: The key issue in this case study involves whether or not Inditex should upgrade the retailer’s information technology infrastructure and capabilities or whether they should continue using their current system. The problem that Zara faces now is that their current system, P-O-S (Point of Sales terminals), runs on DOS, which Microsoft does not support any longer. Any hardware change in the POS terminal would not be compatible with their current POS software. Without an upgrade, they
Identification of issues: The case study, Zara: IT for Fast Fashion, focuses on the retail giant, Inditex, and how its largest retail chain, Zara, has been so successful with their business model of high fashion, product variation, low cost, speed, and flexibility. Several issues are identified in this case study. One glaring issue that is apparent relates to the fact that a long term Information Technology (IT) strategy does not exist. There is no formal system in place to plan and predict for their future needs, including operational and capital expenses. Another issue consists of the retailer not having a centralized distribution system in place, their stores do not share inventory counts, and the managers do not have a system in place to look up their inventory balances in their stores or other stores, (they accomplish this by canvassing the stores). Another significant current issue relates to the fact that their current IT system is unsustainable, as the equipment is obsolete and unsupported by Microsoft. Their IT system is not wireless, their screens are small, they are using styluses, which can be cumbersome, and older technology such as floppy disks and modems. The last issue involves a lack of shared knowledge of the current system in place; one person is relied upon and depended for knowledge of the systems functionality. Being so dependant upon one person places the whole system at risk.
Importance of the key issue: The key issue in this case study involves whether or not Inditex should upgrade the retailer’s information technology infrastructure and capabilities or whether they should continue using their current system. The problem that Zara faces now is that their current system, P-O-S (Point of Sales terminals), runs on DOS, which Microsoft does not support any longer. Any hardware change in the POS terminal would not be compatible with their current POS software. Without an upgrade, they