Role of Information Technology in

Walmart
Getting and Sharing Information
Accessing and Sharing Information

1.Getting and Sharing Information

Capturing Information

1.Use of Barcodes
2.Use of RFID tags
3.Electronic scanners
Processing Information

1.Data mining
2.Data warehouses
3.Data mart
Protecting Information

1.Network security
2.Use of Biometrics

2.Accesing and Sharing Information

Internal Access and Sharing

1.Executive information system

2.Intranets
External Access and Sharing

1.Electronic data interchange

2.Extranets
Sharing knowledge

1.Use of DSS

Barcodes
Bar code is a visual pattern that represents numerical data by
varying the thickness and pattern of vertical bars.
1. Ensure accurate pricing
2. Improve efficiency
3. Reduce Shrinkage
4. Improve communications

RFID(Radio Frequency Identification)

Tag
RFID tags contains minuscule microchips that transmit

information via radio waves and can be used to track the number
and location of the objects into which tags have been inserted.
Wal-Mart deployed radio frequency identification (RFID)
technology on Jan. 1, 2005.
A RFID system consists of three main components: a tag, a reader,
and a computer system.
Typically, RFID tags are made by joining a radio antenna with a
microchip and then surrounding the two with a protective case.
These tags can then be attached individually to the physical
product itself or to the product packaging.
While the useful information is stored inside of the tag, it needs a
reader to detect, collect, and decode the information.
Finally, a computer system is used to interpret, filter, and store the
collected data in a meaningful way.

Benefits of RFID technology

Preventing theft.
Reduce check-out time.
Automatic check-out (no cashier required).
Adding sensor tags to perishable items such as fruit. Wal-

Mart can track just how long a crate of bananas has been in
transit and can ensure that its sold when the fruit is ripe.
No more out-of-stock items.

Data mining
Data-Mining tools are the software tools you use to query

information in a data ware-house.

These data- mining tools support the concept of OLAP the
manipulation of information to support decision- making.
OLAP is an online application processing query.
Wal-mart uses a global leader in business intelligence software,
Hyperion.
They use Hyperion Essbase OLAP technology to build an advanced
merchandise planning and reporting system. Hyperion's Essbase
technology will help Wal-mart create a scalable system that will
deliver budgeting, forecasting and planning tools to international
operations. Analysts at Wal-mart look for increasing sales in some
region.
The soft ware for data mining is being provided by many companies,
currently the largest producer of the software is SAS. However WalMart uses Accrue, they purchased NeoVista who was the initial
supplier of the software for Wal-Mart.

Data warehouses
A data warehouse is a logical collection of information gathered

from different operational databases and used to create business

intelligence that supports decision making tasks and business
analysis activities.
Wal-mart is known for having the biggest data warehouse used,
which is larger then 4 Petabytes.
Wal-mart turned its data warehouse into an operational system for
managing daily store operations by refreshing the information its
data warehouse holds every hour.
The massive data warehouse is not just a customer of CRM
systems but it also serves as the base for Wal-marts RetailLink
support system.
Teradata is Wal-marts data warehouse vendor.

Data marts
A data mart is a subset of a data warehouse in which only a

focused portion of the data warehouse information is kept.

The CEO may need to see all of the information he can also look
at each section and get individual reports.
Originally Wal-mart did use data marts.
They started out with many small data marts, its first being in IBM
DB2 and the second in IBM VM/SQL.
Eventually the Teradata system was introduced and enabled Walmart to manage all of the information into one database so they
built a big data mart.
The POS table at Wal-mart was 1.2 billion records. Within a six
months of this, Wal-mart then decided to turn it into a data
warehouse with several tables over 500 million rows.

Network security
The four principles of network security are confidentiality, authenticity,

integrity, and availability.

Confidentiality means that information can be obtained only by those
authorized to access it. Wal-Mart use s a technology called Secure
Sockets Layer (SSL), which encrypts sensitive information before it is
sent over the Internet.
Authenticity means that information really comes from the source it
claims to come from.
Integrity means that information has not been altered. Wal-Mart has fire
walls set up to help protect threats against authenticity and integrity.
Availability means simply that a service or resource is available when its
supposed to be. In order for Wal-Mart to get orders to its customers on
time they have an IDS which watches network traffic for intrusion
attempts and reports them. Intrusion detection and prevention systems
work by having information about many different types of network
attacks and matching an attack in progress.

Biometrics
Wal-Mart is investigating biometric payment systems that scan

people's fingers to identify them and call up payment information.

The systems are already in use at some supermarket chains, and
aim to answer privacy concerns by storing just certain
measurements of a person's fingerprint, rather than the entire
fingerprint itself.
The company that makes the equipment pitches benefits to
consumers of faster checkout and higher security,
The transaction speed is really more of a benefit for retailers;
anyway, alongside the lower transaction-processing fees they can
pay by getting people to use their checking accounts instead of
credit or debit cards.
The analyst report says a 20% cut in Wal-Mart's paymentprocessing costs could translate to a 3-4% increase in earnings per
share within three years.

How biometric payment works

To set up an account,customers scan their fingerprint at an in-

store kiosk, enter their phone number, and then submit checking
and credit card account information.
To make a purchase, they place their finger on a scanner at the
register, enter their phone number, and choose how they want to
pay (credit, debit, or checking).
The benefits to customers are twofold.

1)It offers a speedier checkout70% faster than traditional

forms of payment (unless the reader can't identify your finger, so
keep those hands clean.)
2)It enhances security of nearly 10 million cases of identity
theft annually, according to 2003 Federal Trade Commission survey,
13% occurred during a purchase transaction.

EDI(Electronic Data Interchange)

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the process of using computers

to exchange business documents between two companies, called

"Trading Partners", in place of traditional mothods like paper or fax
documents.
Specifically, EDI is the structured transmission of data between
organizations by electronic means and is used to electronically
transfer business documents from one computer system to another.
WalMart encourages its business partners to use EDI because of the
decreased human interaction and errors,
eliminating costs of physical file storage,
reduced management time,
and reduced transaction time realized with EDI.
For smaller companies wishing to do business with WalMart, the
benefits of EDI and the ability to have WalMart as a customer or
supplier, can be outweighed by the high costs of software acquisition
and implementation, high costs of annual license fees which are
required for continued use, and the high costs of communication
charges when using a Value Added Network (VAN) to transmit
documents.

DSS(Decision Support System)

DSS An information system that helps manager understand specific

kind of problems and their potential solutions.

The effectiveness of decision makers rather than on increasing the
efficiency of data storage and retrieval ,is on improving in All categories
and types of DSS focus. some of the benefits of the DSS that were sited
by alter, turban , udo and guimaraes and others were :
DSS improves individual productivity.
It improves the decision quality and speed up problem solving.
It improves interpersonal communications.
It improves decision making skills.
Increase organizational control.

 The type of network Wal-Mart uses

The type of interface Wal-Mart uses
The type of media Wal-Mart uses
The type of communications software Wal-Mart uses
The type of connecting devices or components Wal-Mart uses
The type of system software which is used by Wal-Mart