Essay on Spark New Zealand Limited

Introduction

Spark New Zealand Limited was founded in 1988 to offer mobile, fixed-line, wireless services, and the internet. Its headquarters are based in Auckland, New Zealand. The company that operates in the telecommunications industry has grown to become a giant in the sector. Its main aim since formation is to ensure that the country wins big in the digital world. The company ensures that at least every child in New Zealand gets an opportunity to learn in the modern digital conditions. They thrive in a competitive environment that is dependent on high technology. As such, the company ensures that its strategy is updated to keep up with recent trends. Its corporate strategy aims at establishing leadership in three major areas, including an increased emphasis on wireless devices investments, price sensitivity, and keep production costs as low as possible. The company has approximately 5000 employees, indicating that it has created jobs for several people (Parsons, 2017). Its corporate structure is based on transformation and inclusion in a bid to ensure that everybody in the nation wins big in the industry. As such, its system of governance allows for quicker decision making when it is necessary. The company has trained many on agile and design thinking, which is a significant prerequisite in the digital world. The company’s mission statement is aimed at promoting other domestic businesses to grow through digital technology because its growth is for the whole nation. Their major business processes include phone services, wireless network investments, internet, and fixed-line. The company has good relations with other companies since it’s the major provider of telecommunication services in the country. With a large number of employees in the country, the company pays a substantial amount of tax to the government, enriching its relationship with New Zealand (Hansen and Jones, 2017). The company thrives on four major values, which include to connect, to be bold, to empower, and succeed together. Also, the organization aims to create a diverse pipeline of leaders and workers who embrace inclusion. The fact that their employees are well rewarded makes the company gain more popularity in the country. The purpose of the study is to examine company practices in detail as a multinational corporation.

IT Infrastructure

Spark New Zealand Limited operates in an environment that is dependent on technology. There is a need to examine IT infrastructure of Spark in a bid to understand how the company has been serving their clients and rise to the top in the region. A company that relies on technology must lay strategic measures that ensure that their market products make an impact. The measures should guarantee the company of well-laid infrastructure in a bid to gain a competitive advantage. The organization has ensured that all departments are interconnected for faster communication (Benson-Armer, Noble and Thiel, 2015). It is through effective communication that a multinational company can be able to thrive globally. As such, Spark has invested heavily in IT infrastructure that has seen the organization become a giant in the telecommunication industry.

Current IT Infrastructure

The company uses a complex IT infrastructure system that allows it to pass information from an office or department to another. The company culture allows both centralized and decentralized forms of decision making. The IT department is headed by the technology director currently, Mark Beder. The central IT department makes decisions, which are made known to other decentralized offices. The company has enjoyed departmental coordination for decades now, a matter that has helped since each business Unit is allowed to make their own decisions. Their current strategy is aimed at ensuring that 5G speed is achieved by the year 2020. This is an indication that the company has invested heavily in technology, which is crucial in the industry that Spark New Zealand thrives. Poor infrastructure can only lead to failure in the industry since it is reliant on technology. The level of competition in the region is high, necessitating the company to offer high-quality service to gain a competitive advantage. Communication systems are set up in a way that enables convenient and effective communication through their devices. Additionally, the company has invested heavily in a digital infrastructure that has allowed internet access remotely a success.

Every business unit that is controlled by the organization has its well-laid infrastructure to service the needs of people as far as telecommunication is concerned. The establishment of the 5G network infrastructure in the country is an opportunity for other businesses to thrive through consistent communication. It is also important to note that the company uses a number of communication strategies to achieve objectivity and satisfaction for customers. Through its technology director, the company pledges to ensure flexibility in its service delivery strategy. The main aim of developing a customer-oriented IT infrastructure is to ensure proper customer management.

Spark New Zealand Limited has an established e-commerce platform that can enable one to view the various products and make decisions as to whether they should purchase them. Equally, the organization has linked with other platforms that sell online to market and create more awareness of the existing company products (Wong and Wong, 2017). An example is the Alibaba website that has sold several of Spark products. The use of cloud-based customer relationship management systems has enabled the company to monitor its users without difficulty. Through online platforms, the company has been able to increase its customer base in the region. IT industry is dynamic and prone to cyber-attacks from time to time. Spark New Zealand has laid infrastructure that protects its clients from such threats. Failure of a company to guarantee its customers’ data safety is a setback, explaining why Spark has invested heavily in essential infrastructure.

Management Issues Related to IT

Spark New Zealand Limited faces various challenges in its management of IT infrastructure, including cyberattacks, high level of expenses, difficulties in handling the differentiated business units, outage incidences, and tremendous changes that occur in the industry. Moreover, decision making can be slow, especially when it requires consultations from senior company management. With the listed challenges, establishing and managing a proper IT infrastructure requires strategic planning and implementation. Moreover, resources are required to purchase various equipment that are necessary for the development of a well-laid infrastructure.

The company operates different business units, including mobile services, internet, and other wireless services. Managing infrastructure that controls all business units has proved to be challenging for the organization. The units require different types of advanced digital infrastructure for them to function. The technology can get complex in handling, given that they are sometimes prone to failure. For instance, infrastructure meant for the internet is somehow different from the technology that is applied to ensure that mobile services are working. As such, the managing and handling of such advanced systems of communication require a high level of competence.

The second management issue that the company faces in the management of its IT infrastructure includes tremendous and more often changes in the industry. The IT sector is so dynamic, a matter that makes the establishment of a long-term strategy to infrastructure impossible. Many changes happen daily in the industry, necessitating a flexible approach towards governance and management of its infrastructure. For instance, one can adopt a management strategy today that will not work tomorrow due to changes that happen in technology. An example that can illustrate well is the level of network development. Companies are working to ensure that they gain an advantage in the market by providing the best. Technology experiences discoveries due to innovations, and a telecommunication company of Spark’s stature should do what it takes to update its infrastructure for better service delivery. Spark New Zealand is a company that enjoys an automated system for all operations, including communication. The advancement in technology, which occurs more often, is a challenge to the organization as there is a need to catch up with the changes trending.

The IT industry is prone to attract cyber-attacks in many cases. Spark New Zealand faces a challenge in handling attacks that risk the functionality of the infrastructure. For instance, a virus can cause the internet to slow down or fail to function correctly. Cybersecurity risks are on the rise, and there is a need for telecommunication companies to establish mechanisms that can handle the threats. Many investors in the world are concerned with the increased cases of cyber attacks, especially on businesses that are reliant on technology. A study that was conducted by Spark Lab indicates that one in every four small businesses in New Zealand is facing an imminent cyber attack. Data security is a matter that needs to be handled skeptically to avoid losses. As such, cybersecurity is a challenge for Spark New Zealand Limited in the pursuance of its objectives.

The rising cost of adopting the latest equipment, which is necessary for delivering efficient services to people, is a threat to the company. New technology is expensive to adopt, especially for commercial purposes. Equally, there are many new technologies that the firm can apply in their IT infrastructure. The technology requires resources for purchase and implementation, which has proved to be costly for the giant firm. Spark has highlighted in its corporate strategy that it has an interest in becoming a company that operates at the lowest cost within the region. As such, adopting an IT infrastructure that is expensive is against the goals of the organization. Another challenge that is dragging IT management back is the idea of governments controlling network advancements. For instance, the ban on the launch of 5G devices is a setback in the industry (Chang, 2017). It is only better if such companies are allowed to have full control over the advancement of their networks. This is evident that government regulations can affect the performance of a company. Multinational companies with established e-commerce platforms should be given a chance to develop their infrastructure that is necessary for their advancement. The high costs of installing such infrastructure have deterred the advancement of the sector, especially for companies that have inadequate funding.

Emerging Technologies

The IT industry is fast-changing, and there is a need for a company operating in any sector to adopt strategic measures that can see the organization updated with the current trends. The industry also requires thorough research to establish how emerging trends affect business operations and the establishment of proper infrastructure (García-Peñalvo, 2018). Spark New Zealand Limited is a beneficiary of advanced technology, and providing products that are up to date with the trends is a great achievement. Emerging trends in the sector include the development of a 5G network, internet of things, data security, and augmented reality is replacing virtual reality. Spark has a strategy in place of ensuring that the 5G network is rolled out by the year 2020. The company intends to take advantage of the trends in the market to make an impact in the industry. The digital world has many trends that companies that operate in the industry need to adopt for better service provision. The trends are meant to ensure that the products available for consumers are in line with the company’s business strategy. Spark New Zealand Limited has strategies in place that can enable it to adjust for improved business operations.

An emerging strategy in the industry that the company should consider is the adoption of infrastructure that is free from cyber attacks. The security of data contained in the company’s system is paramount and should be protected from the reach of unauthorized hands. When such information gets into the wrong hands, it can lead to loss of confidence as privacy has been breached. Ensuring that their infrastructure is updated and secure is an indication that the company is sensitive to matters that affect customers directly. In its new strategy, the organization should advocate for better and faster decision making regarding any threat that the company faces. Moreover, Spark New Zealand Limited should devise and put in place a contingency strategy that can help them recover in case of a cyber attack. Ensuring data security for clients of the company reinforces its position in the market as most companies are exposed and prone to data theft. Consumers have grown continually sensitive on matters that are dealing with their information. This challenges the company to ensure that all information contained in its database does not reach unauthorized hands. In essence, the world is becoming increasingly aware of the vitality of keeping personal information private. This challenges Spark New Zealand Limited to ensure that its corporate strategy aims to protect and secure information belonging to a client.

Background and Recommended Strategy

Big Data

Big data represents large portions of both structured and unstructured data that cannot be analyzed by the help of conventional approaches. For big companies, big data moves fast enough to the extent that one cannot be able to monitor its characteristics easily (Gandomi and Haider, 2015). Big data consist of information that has been stored over a certain period with a view of analyzing it for a better insight. The mainstream of big data represents the three Vs namely volume, velocity, and variety. Volume indicates the amount of data that is collected from various sources, including social media and business transactions that have been conducted. Some applications can be able to manage such data as it was tedious for companies to collect it initially. With the establishment of applications such as Hadoop, the burden of storing such information has reduced. Velocity, on the other hand, refers to the manner that data can stream. A company should always be ready to collect and store the data promptly. Variety takes care of the fact that data streams in all types of formats. Data streaming can be structured, unstructured, numeric, and even financial transactions.

Big data can help a company analyze its position in the market for strategic decision making. Big data has the potential to project any company to greater heights, given that the organization in question uses the information correctly (Erevelles, Fukawa and Swayne, 2016). Many companies do not realize the essence of having big data stored, which can be costly sometimes. There is a need to track a record and check the progress made in the industry. Equally, big data can inform the company where and when to adjust their prices, supplies, and any important detail relating to production. Many businesses use big data to address areas that they feel need to be adjusted. For instance, a high sale of a product in a specific region can indicate that the company needs to increase its supplies to the region. As such, companies use such data to their benefit to project the desired results. The potential in big data can only be realized if companies start storing all information that relates to their operations. The data can also be used to analyze customer trends that are important for companies that operate in dynamic industries, especially telecommunication. Spark New Zealand should use big data as a way of analyzing the market trends and possible demand available.

Big data is an opportunity for many developing businesses who can apply the information to make decisions. The data can also help a business figure out its most valuable customers through analytics (Zhou, Fu and Yang, 2016). Big data provide growth potential to a business through its proper analysis and desired characteristics. According to a report released recently, companies that invested in big data are expected to have had a positive impact on their revenue growth by the year 2015. This is an indication that the data industry is helping businesses establish the best practices. The hunger for data analytics by big companies has resulted in a gap that should be filled. Starting a business that operates in the data science industry can be viable, given the high demand for big data analytics by many businesses. Companies can be able to use big data to evaluate their growth potential. It is through the data analytics that a company can know market trends and how often their products are purchased. This makes it easier to make decisions and deploy resources as required. In essence, data analytics has created a gap that can only be filled by the emergence of more big data analysis firms.

Big data application in businesses has perils associated. First, data analytics experts seem expensive, as the information is crucial to any business. As such, organizations spend much money on analytics, which does not guarantee success. Storing big data the traditional way can prove to be costly, as one would need to keep large volumes of data physically. Such data can be used for manipulation of customer details, a factor that has a far much reaching negative effect. Disadvantageously, big data may not be useful in the short run as it requires one to conduct an analysis after some time. Equally, speedy updates on big data can prove to be disastrous as it can mismatch real figures. Big data analysis also violates basic principles of privacy, and it may increase social stratification. Information that is obtained from big data can sometimes be misleading depending on the accuracy level while recording all transactions that have taken place.

Big data is becoming more important for many organizations day by day. This is because it can be applied to determine insight into the market on a particular product or service. In the future, big data is expected to be more valuable than before since it highlights major areas that an investor can concentrate on to gain proper penetration into the market. The predictive analytics surrounding the concept of big data is important as it can guide any business on inventory that can be released to the market. Moreover, the predictions can help approximate the number of units that the business should be availing daily for sale. Companies such as Spark New Zealand Limited should consider employing the help of big data analytics in evaluating its business position in the market. Both established and non established businesses can use the tool to ensure that their set objectives are met

Recommended Strategy

Spark New Zealand limited company should invest in big data with a view of obtaining a clear insight into the market. A strategy that can project company results to a higher level constitutes the application of big data analytics in Spark’s operations. Reasons why the company should consider investing in big data include the possibility of analyzing the true picture of the market and consumer behavior. Equally, through big data, the organization can be able to predict possible market trends and plan for the future. The application of big data analytics to a company of Spark’s caliber is likely to have an impact on various sectors of the industry. First, customer and supplier intimacy will grow strong with those who frequently do business with Spark. This can be achieved after analytics has indicated who supplies regularly and who buys more often. Future planning of the company will change to a more predictive model that can help improve sales and reduce wastage. Big data can help the company acquire business intelligence that is necessary for carrying out operations. The details obtained from big data analytics play a key role in knowledge management of the business, which is an important factor in marketing. As such, big data collection and analysis might prove fruitful for Spark.

The adoption of the big data strategy has its risks that are associated. For instance, the use of the approach can lead to altering the customer’s information, which is unethical (Flood, Jagadish and Raschid, 2016). The move to make the company reliant on big data might expose the organization to some risks. One of the risks involved is data theft from the common pool of information. Loss of valuable customer data might have a consequential effect on customers. For instance, if someone accesses credit card information, crime cases might be reported. As such, the use of big data analytics makes the company vulnerable to data theft. To mitigate such effects, there is a need to establish a secure bank of data that cannot be accessed by any other source. Supporting tools that the company should establish include a secure e-commerce platform for business, storage applications that ensure that any type of data, whether structured or unstructured, is stored. Moreover, the company should seek to establish solutions to any possible setbacks that might accompany the strategy. In terms of skills, Spark should employ people skilled in IT, computer science, and data science. High skill individuals will see the organization acquiring a true picture of the market.

Spark New Zealand can measure the success of the big data strategy once it is implemented. Assessment can be done by measuring the level of progress that the company has made in terms of revenue. Effective use of resources by lowering production costs is an indication that the initiative has succeeded. Increased expenses indicate that the company is spending more on the initiative. As such, the success of the plan can be accessed through the company’s expenses and what they depict about the strategy. Before the establishment of the initiative, it is better to note that various heads of departments should discuss on the way forward and the approach to use during the implementation stage. Big data policies should be discussed at every level before implementation by embracing inclusivity for a more comprehensive outcome. The heads of the various units and the information department should lead the discussion on the development of big data agenda.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Recommendations

Spark New Zealand Limited should consider conducting an assessment on how viable big data can become to the company. To some extent, applying data science can project the company to higher levels than anticipated. This is because proper analytics enlightens investors about an existing gap or a non-existent gap. Equally, the company should consider improving its e-commerce platform in a bid to ensure that it becomes appealing to every user. Customer care service should also be active all the time to handle client queries at whatever time they appear online. Also, Spark should consider reviewing its prices to provide affordable services and products.

The giant telecommunication company in New Zealand should invest heavily in the modern latest technology in a bid to ensure that it is updated with the current trends. Customers love a brand that is updated with the current happenings, and the adoption of a sustainable strategy is paramount. Spark enjoys a strong financial background and should consider investing in more advanced technology to enhance service delivery. The use of artificial intelligence to detect client needs can prove to be helpful. The company can be able to showcase products to users conveniently online before they are persuaded to buy.

Step by step assessment of the big data implementation plan is crucial since it helps achieve accountability and transparency. Spark should implement the strategy with a well-laid plan on how to check efficiency and accountability. Evaluation can help achieve efficiency in terms of resource usage.

Conclusion

To sum it up, Spark New Zealand Limited is a company whose headquarters are based in Auckland. It specializes in the provision of services such as mobile, internet, and other wireless network services to people in New Zealand. The company thrives in a favorable environment that has been in support of its mission and corporate strategy. The company started mainly to help the country win big in the digital world. Its e-commerce platform enables users to view products and even make purchases online conveniently. The big data strategy can prove to be helpful for the organization as it can critically examine the market before making any move. Additionally, the paper has also expounded on the IT strategy that the company uses to pursue its business activities. In the process of the company implementing a new strategy to govern its business operations, the report has reviewed the essence of big data analytics. To some extent, the company aims at long-term growth through the establishment of a sustainable business strategy that is dependent on predictive analysis. As such, Spark New Zealand should ensure the valuation and assessment of every project or stage of implementation.

References

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Chang, A., 2017. Disclosure standards of large New Zealand companies: a content analysis study of compliance with the FMA’s corporate governance guidelines.

Erevelles, S., Fukawa, N. and Swayne, L., 2016. Big Data consumer analytics and the transformation of marketing. Journal of Business Research, 69(2), pp.897-904.

Flood, M.D., Jagadish, H.V. and Raschid, L., 2016. Big data challenges and opportunities in financial stability monitoring. Banque de France, Financial Stability Review, 20, pp.129-42.

Gandomi, A. and Haider, M., 2015. Beyond the hype: Big data concepts, methods, and analytics. International journal of information management, 35(2), pp.137-144.

García-Peñalvo, F.J., 2018. Emerging Information Technology Trends.

Hansen, S. and Jones, N., 2017. New Zealand Telecommunications: The actual situation-legislation and regulations. Australian Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 5(3), p.83.

Parsons, D., 2017. Stakeholder, corporate, and policy perspectives. Capacity building in a changing ICT environment, 1(10).

Wong, J. and Wong, N., 2017. Corporate tax avoidance or corporate responsibility? AN examination of the NZX 50 companies.

Zhou, K., Fu, C. and Yang, S., 2016. Big data driven smart energy management: From big data to big insights. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 56, pp.215-225.