Building Enterprise Network Infrastructure for a Supermarket Store Chain

Abstract

Enterprise network infrastructure has served as a vehicle on which data and information can be transferred between functional units regardless of their location. Creating the network infrastructure that enables firms and organizations to adapt to rapidly changing business needs has never been more important than now. Building the enterprise network infrastructure requires careful planning, effective design, and appropriate strategies for successful implementation. The current case study examines how a regional supermarket store chain in the retail food industry develops its enterprise network infrastructure to outperform its larger competitors. A detailed description of the evolution of the company’s enterprise network infrastructure is presented to show how the strategy of network infrastructure development has aligned with the organization’s growth strategy for the past two decades. The current case study highlights critical success factors for firms to build an effective enterprise network infrastructure that include IS planning firmly tied to critical business goals, strategic collaboration with technology vendors, and careful evaluation and selection of network services and technical details.