Dell Computers: Infrastructure Using Information Technology

Practical Study of organization

The organization that I have chosen is Dell Computers as the organization has integrated its entire infrastructure using information technology. Dell focused on the relationship with the customer, but in order to sustain a high growth rate while providing necessary customer service. Company Background:

Dell Computer was founded by Michael Dell in 1984, while he was a student at the University of Texas, Austin. Dell began by selling upgrades of IBM-compatible PCs and in 1985 began to sell its own brand of PCs. From the beginning, Dell operated on the direct sales model, taking orders over the phone and building PCs to the customer’s specifications. Dell entered the retail PC channel for several years in the

Since its build-to-order manufacturing processes were already in place, making it easy to offer customers the opportunity to configure products online just as they already did on the telephone.

Dell also used the Internet to link itself more tightly to its large customers by developing extranets. Dell had developed over 50,000 Premier Pages for thousands of business customers by mid-2000. These are used for configuration, ordering, services, and support, all customized to the customer’s systems and needs. Equally important was Dell’s effort to use the Internet to coordinate its entire value network, including suppliers, logistics providers, and distributors of third-party products, system integrators, and service providers. All of this was driven by the tight information linkages between Dell and its customers. Dell’s successful use of the Internet drew the attention of the media and other companies, including its

To have the parts it needs at the right time to assemble a PC, Dell has to ensure everything is planned and coordinated smoothly through its internal IT systems and via electronic linkages with suppliers, its own logistics hubs, shipping companies, and distributors who handle third party items.

Sales and marketing

One-third of Dell’s employee base is in sales and marketing. Initially the company had sales and service representatives but once Dell’s operations were introduced to the internet, everything is handled online.

External Relationships: From Value Chain to Value Web

Dell’s core PC business was organized along the lines of a traditional value chain. Like most other PC companies, it concentrated on building and selling systems, relying on others to provide components, software and services. Unlike most others, however, it sold directly to the end user, thus cutting out the distributor and reseller. However, as Dell expands its boundaries beyond simply selling PCs, it has replaced the simple value chain with a new model that we call the value web or the virtual