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trengths and Weaknesses of Riordan’s Information Systems
Riordan Manufacturing, though currently keeping up with its competitors, is falling into a situation where the company is not operating as strongly as it should be due to outdated equipment, increasing cost of operations, and security issues within the system.   In order for Riordan to sustain profitability and stay competitive, updates need to be implemented to the existing information systems.   Within the Finance, Accounting, and HR departments of Riordan there have been weaknesses identified that are causing problems throughout the company and solutions need to be implemented to retain the company’s competitive advantage.  
Problems that have been discovered include a need for simplifying Riordan’s accounting systems as well as processes for better reporting to market and shareholders.   When financials are being put into the corporate accounting system many man hours are required due to the inconsistency of the systems interface, transfer methods, and accounting codes.   Reporting is imperative for the company and business units are demanding we provide simpler methods and user interfaces for reporting their operational and capital expenditures.   Too many spreadsheets and MSAccess databases that store authoritative financial information are held outside of the accounting system exposing Riordan to security risk and the potential to erroneously report accurate financials.
Another issue seen within Riordan is the fact that the offices located throughout the world are running on separate operating systems, using different hardware, and accounting software.   This has an increasing cost affect due to the offices not being able to share information and therefore again consuming more hours than need be trying to get accurate reporting within the Riordan corporation.   Due to each office using their own operating systems, hardware, and accounting software another cost is ensuring these systems are... [continues]

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