E-Supply and logistics

Amazon is one of the world's most popular online retailers. The corporation provides its services on an online platform that enables many users in many parts of the world to have access to these services. Amazone company has undertaken massive investments in technology innovations. Amazone has a large base of customers who access the online service offered by the corporation. A large number of online users require that the company adopts the use of cloud computing and ERP systems in its operations.

Modern business organizations heavily rely on cloud computing technology in their operations. Cloud computing refers to the process of delivering computer services, which are on-demand from storage applications. Cloud computing happens both over the internet and also on a pay as you go basis. Companies in the modern world prefer not to have their computing infrastructure. They opt to rent access to anything from the use of applications to the storage capacity from a cloud service provider. It is costly for companies to own their cloud computing services. The Maintenace of the infrastructure is expensive too. Companies save operational expenses by renting the infrastructure.

Cloud computing enables companies to incur expenses of the only service they use, and they can pay for it only at the instance of use. The companies which engage in the provision of cloud computing services, in turn, make profits from the sale of the services to many users. (Yang et al, 2017). Cloud computing offers a wide range of services today. Through computer networking, companies can get storage space for their information and data. Cloud computing also enables networking and enhances processing power through the use of computer languages and artificial intelligence. Cloud computing also offers ideal office applications. The services do not require the users to be at the computer hardware physically. Individuals today make use of cloud computing technology.

Cloud is a term that could, in other words, mean the internet. The information stored in the cloud is information stored on the internet. There are three main models of cloud computing. The first model is the Infrastructure-as-a-service. This term refers to the units that build up the computer service that is possible to lend, such as the storage service, networking service, virtual, or even physical servers. The second model is Platform-as-a-service. The building blocks that makeup Cloud computing are in layers. The next layer up and the layer underlying is what is referred to as platform-as-a-service.

Amazon uses Enterprise resource technologies. Enterprise resource planning allows Amazon to integrate various business practices. ERP provides ideal solutions to various organizations. It will enable Amazon Corporation to optimize the use of resources with more significant innovation. Regardless of the size of the organization, ERP helps to reduce the waste of time. ERP heavily makes use of modern technology in enhancing business solutions. SAP offers a wide range of business solutions and helps to address the specific organizational needs. SAP is not limited by the number of staff available in an organization by offering essential support teams. SAP is widely flexible and has essential security features.(Yang et al, 2017)

SAP makes use of current enhanced technology to secure the data of an organization. ERP makes use of several application softwares. Some of these include the management of the entire purchases done and the management of an organization's inventory. ERP applies the use of end to end applications. This facilitates the activities of managing complicated tasks in an organization.

The application can be modified in a way to accommodate diverse industries. ERP systems that are concerned about the sales, for instance, enable the responsible managers to manage the overall sales activities. ERP systems enhance not only the diversity in operational activities but also the challenging tasks of the application.

Amazon uses the application of traceability technologies. The need to use traceability has been enhanced by the need to increase the quality of products. (Shen et al, 2017). It allows the corporation to track the entire process of a product from the time of procurement to consumption. Traceability allows companies to track products forward and backward. It enhances efficiency when there arises the need to investigate certain unexpected behaviors in products. Traceability has a variety of significance to an organization. It allows for the detection of problems in product performance. It has also been important in facilitating globalization of Amazon operations. Due to the globalization of businesses today, the use and application of traceability have become essential for companies. (Shen et al, 2017).

E-Procurement enables Amazon to achieve cost efficiency. Procurement allows organizations to obtain goods and services competitively. Procurement involves a process that ensures that what the organization gets is of the best quality at competitive prices. Traditional procurement systems were manual and involved vetting processes. The modern corporations such as Amazon use e-procurement to cut down on the costs of acquiring certain goods and services. Automating the process of procurement is essentially what is referred to as the e-procurement. The automation reduces the chances of occurrence of errors in the procurement process.

E-procurement allows the compliance of contracts. This is enhanced by the existence of structured templates suppliers must abide by the terms which are laid down in the templates. E-procurement process tends to be more binding than the traditional agreements, which were mainly verbal. E-procurement avails information very essential in the process of decision making. Less time is spent in the process of selection of best-suited suppliers. The use of e-procurement reduces expenses of procurement; there is no need to spend money on printing a large volume of papers. E-procurement generates data that is essential in the analysis. Information about the vendors can easily be analyzed, and the information used to make real-time decisions. E-auctions have a big impact on the process of procurement in Amazon and other modernized corporations. The need to use e-actions by Amazon is enhanced by the drive to build stronger relations with the customers besides making optimal the prices of various goods and services. E-action is associated with several challenges.

Industry response towards the use of ICT and other tools.

Amazon largely applies cloud computing in its activities, and other types of ERPs, Amazon is aiming to remain competitive now and in the days to come. The major challenge here is the challenges that emanate from traceability issues. Organizations such as Amazon serve a large number of people online. The corporation should respond to this opportunity by keeping track of its customers' needs and addressing any complaints. Amazon, due to this reason, has resulted in substantial investments in cloud computing technology advancements. Amazon has its data management system that is internal. Amazon makes use of product traceability initiative to detect problems in their products.

Usability modeling of ICT and other resources (UM)

The success of Amazon is closely related to the usability modeling of ICT. Companies and corporations such as Amazon have adopted the use of different models and resources, which enable them to remain competitive. Usability modeling has two main points of focus. One is the ways of obtaining optimal solutions in production and evaluating the benefit and costs analysis.

In the determination of optimal solutions, big online retailers such as Amazon, whose activities involve cross-border operations, strive to develop UM systems that will give them optimal organizational solutions. The systems adopted enable Amazon to reduce operational costs without compromising on the time taken to supply the orders. (Standing & Mattsson 2018)

Costs and schedule analysis. Costs minimization has been a priority in Amazon, just like in many other companies. The efforts to cut costs have been fueled by the rising economic challenges in the world. Amazon is known to cut costs in their operations by automating their operations and trimming costs and use of staff scheduling programs. Amazon has a large base of staff; this big staff base makes it necessary to schedule employees in the production process to reduce costs.

Web-enabled supply chains (WEB)

A modernized corporation such as Amazon applies the use of WEB, which has become very popular in modern business. (Aliu et al, 2019). The adoption of various WEB systems enables corporations to increase their levels of competitiveness. WEB enhances the efficiency of an organization through two main points of focus. The web-enables system of procurement and customer relationship management.

The web-enabled procurement system is one of the essential ways of facilitating the performance of the general supply chain in Amazon. It gives an ideal platform for information to be shared between the suppliers and the buyers. (Aliu et al, 2019). It also cuts down the process of purchasing besides also reducing the time which an organization takes to purchase a product. The web-based procurement systems are commonly universal, and anyone who is using that software can make use of it only if they are inside the system. Amazon uses this system to increase its competitiveness.

Customer relationship management (CRM). Amazon has earned a great deal of customer loyalty. Amazon always ensures that customers receive products on time and the best quality. This has overtime earned them loyalty from their worldwide base of customers. Amazon uses data from its systems to meet the needs of their customers and identify ways of serving them better.

References

Shen, J., Zhou, T., Chen, X., Li, J., & Susilo, W. (2017). Anonymous and traceable group data sharing in cloud computing. IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, 13(4), 912-925.

Satit, K., & Somjit, A. I. (2017). RESTful economic-ADS model for cost-effective chain-wide traceability system-based cloud computing. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 139, 164-179.

Standing, C., & Mattsson, J. (2018). “Fake it until you make it”: business model conceptualization in digital entrepreneurship. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 26(5), 385-399.

Aliu, A., Stapleton, L., Metin, H., & Hajrizi, E. (2019). Web-Enabled Business in SMEs in Less Developed Regions: An Empirical Study of the Influence of Government Incentives, Physical Location and Cost. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 52(25), 29-34.

Yang, C., Huang, Q., Li, Z., Liu, K., & Hu, F. (2017). Big Data and cloud computing: innovation opportunities and challenges. International Journal of Digital