Running head EXPORTING AND IMPORTING; LEVERAGING RESOUCES IN PL.docx

Running head: EXPORTING AND IMPORTING;
LEVERAGING RESOUCES IN PLANNING.
1
EXPORTING AND IMPORTING; LEVERAGING RESOUCES
IN PLANNING.
5
EXPORTING AND IMPORTING; LEVERAGING RESOUCES
IN PLANNING.
Name:
Instructor:
Course:
Date:
Exporting and Importing from United States
Technological innovations and advancement in
telecommunication have changed the world. The change in the
world has positively affected how organizations conduct their
business operations (Baldwin, 2016). The improved business
operations lead to optimization of resources and quality output.
Producers benefit from optimization of resources and produce
more goods that can meet the global demand. Consumer within
different regions of the world using technology, can search and
find the best producers and make a purchase online. Therefore,
producers can export their goods and consumers can import
goods (Baldwin, 2016). According to my understanding,
Exporting is the process of shipping commodities from the
producing country to a foreign country where the goods can be
used for sale or trade (exchange with another product).
Importing is the processing of obtaining commodities from a
foreign country where they are produced. United States help her
firms to plan for exports and importers to plan adequately
through the provision of useful information provided using
technology.
The United States Commercial services provide information to

help United States exporters plan how they can export their
goods to foreign countries. The information provided targets
U.S firms that want to export their produce. There are four
means through which the US Commercial service help American
Companies to grow internationally; First, the exporter is
exposed to and can find the top market in the world. Second,
organizing events that help the exporters to create awareness
and promote their commodities to buyers who are qualified.
Third, the exporters get the opportunity and get to know
distributors and buyers who are qualified. Fourth, the
Commercial services provide counseling to the exporter
throughout the whole process of exporting (United States
Department of Commerce, 2017).
The US export starts by identifying a local export assistance
office near his/her location and chooses the destination country.
The export assistance offices have qualified international trade
experts. The destination country is used to find the export
information based on that country. The Export Assistance office
prefer the export to start by contacting their local offices.
Contacting the offices ensures the exporters gets relevant
information and advice on the products and services that can be
exported to the country of destination. The services in foreign
countries are offered via US embassies and consulates that span
in over eighty countries in the world. For instance, the office in
Kenya is helpful with information regarding exports to Est
Africa countries such as Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda (United
States Department of Commerce, 2017).
Leveraging resources in organizational planning
Organizational planning has two approaches; the long-term
approach and short-term approach. The long-term approach
focuses on strategies that will help the organization to meet the
set objectives, that is, where the organizations want to be
(Baldwin, 2016). On the other hand, the short-term plans help
the organization to move step by step to achieve the set
objectives, that is, performing activities and evaluation to
determine if the organization is moving in the right direction.

Some of the resources in both of the approaches can be
leveraged (optimize the input and get high output at the same
cost). Organizations leverage resources through the use of
numerous sources of capital to raise the return on investment
(Jeary, 2014). Leverage can happen in both long term and short
term plans.
The first resource that a firm can leverage in short term plans is
partners within the major activities. Each company has specific
key processes regardless of the industry it operates in. These
processes affect the activities within a firm that actualize the
objectives. First, the process of manufacturing products and
rendering services. Second, establishing demand for the
products and services via customer relations, marketing and
sales. Third, manufacturing, distribution and delivery process.
Fourth, man the firm using technology, strategies, finance and
human resources. The right partner will ensure the firm
maximizes its costs and get higher sales revenue (Jeary, 2014).
A second resource worth leveraging in the short term is the
means of sales. The firm can attain higher sales revenue using
lower cost through optimization. In most cases, a firm will
focus on marketing, sales collaterals, and reasonable prospect
and attain very little sales. Leveraging to sales firms can raise
the sales revenue at a cost less than the firm engaging in the
whole process of making products and sales (Jeary, 2014).
The first long-term resources to leverage is the pricing strategy.
A firm needs to be in a position to respond to changes in
demand and quality of goods and services at affordable prices
(Jeary, 2014). Therefore, there is a need to leverage so that a
firm stays competitive and makes sales while meeting the user's
expectations.
The second resource to leverage in long-term planning offered
by the US Commercial Services via Export and Import Bank of
US (Ex-Im Bank), Finance firms and Small Firms
administration is financing strategy. It helps the firms to gain
competition and make sales through competitive prices in the
international market. Moreover that, the firm is exposed to

reduced risks.
References
Baldwin, R. E. (2016). The great convergence: Information
technology and the new globalization. Cambridge,
Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Jeary, T. (2014). Leverage: A leader's answer to extraordinary
results. Franklin, Tennessee : Clovercroft Publishing.
United States Department of Commerce (2017). U.S.
Commercial Service. Retrieved from; http://www.buyusa.gov/
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Running Head: MIGRATION TO WINDOWS 8.1
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MIGRATION TO WINDOWS 8.1
Migration to Windows 8.1
Student Name
Course Title
Professor
Institution Affiliation
Date
Introduction
Several opportunities and benefits that Crescent Manufacturing
Inc. is set to achieve after implementing the decision of
migrating its operating systems from Windows 7 to Windows 8.
Likewise, some potential challenges such as compatibility
issues can come up that might result in higher budgets for the
project and even lead to longer downtime (Wilson, 2013). Since
the project is to involve all the computers and devices at
Maryland, Texas, and Nebraska, a proper project design and
analysis of the impacts is necessary. The operations department

of the organization depends on the applications installed on the
personal computers. This is the ultimate need to ensure that
analysis of opportunities, weaknesses, strengths and threats for
the migration is performed. This report is, therefore, aiming at
providing a detailed information on the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats of the migration. It will also provide
an upgrade plan for the organization. The recommendations are
documented for the Chief Finance Officer and Chief
Information Officer to review before making the migration
decision.
SWOT Analysis
This section will provide the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats that the organization is likely to face
when migrating from Windows 7 to Windows 8.1.
Strengths
a. Improved Encryption in Windows 8.1 is an advantage for the
organization to secure the Finance systems, operations, payroll
information, and customer and employee information. BitLocker
utility is one of the powerful tools in Windows 8.1 that can help
in the encryption that makes the UEFI systems booting safer and
free from malware infection (Habs & Estuary, 2003).
b. Increased Speeds: Windows 8.1 has a shorter boot time than
Windows 7. Windows 8.1 also enhances the performance of the
installed application and this will increase the speeds
particularly at the operations department that makes use of the
applications installed on computers. In fact, Windows 8.1 has
an average boot time of 10-15 seconds while Windows 7 has a
longer average boot time, more than 30 seconds (Wilson, 2013).
Additionally, Windows 8.1 will provide the organization with
abilities to increase the speeds depending on the SSD that the
company has. The practice will allow employees to spend more
time to perform business related activities and increase their
productivity.
c. Availability of more enterprise features in the new Operating
System is a major strength for the organization to achieve
competitive advantage in the provision of home furnishings.

Windows 8.1 has more enterprise features that the company can
use to accommodate other devices like mobile phone, iPads and
remote laptops (Thurrott, 2013). The features can also help
implement safer authentication techniques like biometrics
because the organization can implement biometric scanners.
d. The revamped architecture of Windows 8.1 is a strength to
increase the performance of the systems and even installed
applications thus reducing the wastage of resources.
e. User experience is better in Windows 8.1 as compared to
Windows 7. The radical changes to the screens on Windows 8.1
will provide the company with an advantage of implementing
the operating system to mobile devices unlike the Windows 7
that has a poor UI for smaller screens.
Weaknesses
a. Windows 8.1 user interface and usage of other utilities
require employees to have adequate knowledge. It is therefore
clear that training of employees is necessary after or before the
migration to make the employees comfortable with the usage of
the new User Interface and system utilities (Habs & Estuary,
2003). The training may slow either the production process or
increase downtime or both.
b. It is not easy to migrate all the personal computers and
devices in all the offices from Windows 7 to Windows 8.1
through the typical upgrade because of incompatibility. The
organization may require additional utilities that might lead to
additional costs to the organization. There is also need to
consult with the third parties as vendors of various OS upgrade
services and systems thus incurring extra costs. Licensing of the
new operating system is also an added cost.
c. High incompatibility issues of Windows 8.1 and Windows 7
regarding legacy applications exist. To resolve the issues, there
is need to incur more downtime and related financial losses.
Opportunities
a. The organization has a very high possibility of improving its
productivity and make the operations better. Windows 8.1 has
enterprise solutions and utilities to support the CMI’s business

operations.
b. Windows 8.1 will provide the organization with more
security options such as biometrics and encryption. There is
also an opportunity for the company to expand its operations in
the future to accommodate security-dependent operations (Habs
& Estuary, 2003).
Threats
a. Windows 8.1 upgrade from Windows 7 can result in loss of
useful information and applications. Incompatibility issues pose
a threat of losing information for the organization.
Migration Approach and its Justification
Phase-in migration technique is preferable for the migration
process. In this approach, the devices and personal computers
will need upgrading from one location to another. It is
preferable that the Maryland office or Nebraska office to be the
first to undergo the migration and the Headquarter office will be
the last to have the migration done. This process is convenient
because it will avoid loss of data and minimize downtime costs.
All the information can be backed up easily in the other location
as one location undergoes Windows migration (Thurrott, 2013).
The backup process will involve duplication of files,
applications, and data in one location and copy them to another
office. It is after proper installation that the information will
require reinstallation and the process continues to the second
location and then the headquarter office will be the last.
During the upgrade of the headquarter offices, Maryland office
will serve temporarily as the new headquarters until the upgrade
is complete to minimize downtime costs and enhance the flow
of activities.
The phase-in migration approach will also involve the use of
upgrading utilities from trusted vendors. The process can help
to reduce the chances of having to lose information during the
migration. In whichever case, the information requires retrieval
from the other location. The ability of retrieval provides an
advantage and justification of using the phase-in approach in
large organizations like Crescent Manufacturing Inc. (Microsoft

Corporation, 2012). Furthermore, the phase-in technique will
take into consideration the finer details of the processor
specification and ensure applications that are not compatible
with 64-bit or 32-bit processors are functional.
Migration at Texas Main Offices
The current state of the Texas main office involves 250 users.
All the users’ computers in this location have their machines
installed with Windows 7 Operating System. The clients and
their application are compatible with Windows 8.1 while the
servers run on Windows Server 2012. There is also Active
Directories domain services. There is need to upgrade the 50
salespersons’ mobile devices that they use from their homes.
The salespersons’ team need to replace their mobile devices
from the iOS 7 and implement Windows 8.1. After the migration
of these devices, the laptops will also need migration from
Windows 7 and other operating systems to Windows 8.1. The
following is the migration summary:
Personal computers (clients): 250
Home office devices like personal computers: 50
Mobile devices including iPads: 50
Total number of devices = 300
Phase-in migration at department level
The Texas office contains staff with over ten years of
experience hence making the process easier and faster. The
employees with adequate knowledge in Microsoft products
divide themselves into groups of two and conduct the upgrade in
one department after the other to avoid longer downtime. The
first sector to undergo migration is Administration Department.
Then the marketing department, operations department, finance
department, Information Technology department and the other
department's migrations will follow in that order (Microsoft
Corporation, 2012).
Duration for the Texas Migration
Other employees will also be required to help so that the
timeline for the process can be low. Therefore, the estimated
duration might vary depending on the number of staff members

who will help in the migration. The estimated timeline for the
upgrade is five days. The estimation is based on the assumption
that only the ten skilled IT persons will be involved to perform
the migration on the 300 devices with each employee upgrading
six devices each day. However, other factors may make the
duration longer. Some of the factors include power blackouts
and low employee turn-up. Therefore, the realistic time for the
upgrade is seven days.
Maryland Office Migration
This location has 175 clients hence making the total number of
the devices to be 175. The migration will also be done using a
phase-in approach. Each of the members involved in performing
the migration from Windows 7 to Windows 8.1 will use the
upgrading software (Windows, R, Vista, Xp, & Server, 2010).
The phase-in approach will see the plant manager office
upgraded the first. The Human Resource department will be
next, and the last one will be the line supervisor’s sector. The
migration process will focus on the operations of the
organization to avoid disruption of the activities and
information loss.
Duration of Maryland Upgrade
The Information Technology in this location has very few staff
hence need to insource from the other regional offices liked
Texas and Nebraska. The department also does not have
adequate skills in Microsoft products hence the number of
devices migrated in a day will be fewer than in the Texas office.
Eight days will be required for the upgrade if the consideration
of only two employees from the Texas office will be involved
together with the IT staff at Maryland. If more factors get
consideration, the realistic time is ten days.
Nebraska Office migration
The smallest offices among the three offices of Crescent
Manufacturing Inc. is Nebraska office because it has 25 devices
for the upgrade and very few employees. The devices are
compatible with Windows 8.1 hence there is not much time
required to check for compatibility and perform troubleshooting

(Thurrott, 2013).
Phase-in approach is ideal for the migration at the departmental
level because of the need to reduce downtime costs and risk of
information loss. The migration process will be done at the line
supervisor department first. The production line section will be
next, and the manufacturing department is last. This order
should be followed strictly to avoid interference with the
business operations and flow of activities (Thurrott, 2013).
Duration for Nebraska Migration
The Information Technology in this location has very few staff
just like in the Maryland office hence need to insource from the
other regions liked Texas and Maryland. The IT department also
does not have adequate skills in Microsoft products hence the
number of devices migrated in a day will be fewer than in the
Texas office. Eight days will be required for the upgrade if the
consideration is made that only two employees from the Texas
office will be involved together with the IT staff at Nebraska. If
more factors get consideration, the realistic time is ten days.
Testing the Critical Application
The approach to be used the Information Technology
department to test the critical application is the black box
testing with the implementation of decision table technique. In
this testing approach, the information technology staff will
select some inputs and test them to check if they yield the
desired output. Regardless of the input-output transformation,
the tester will have a major concern on the functionality of the
business applications. The logic of the application is also part
of the main emphasis in this testing technique (Brown, Kölling,
McCall, & Utting, 2014).
Securing Laptops and Tablets
Security of laptops and tablet is important because it will help
protect the information of the organization when the devices
access the network resources of the organization. Three best
practices are necessary to ensure the security of the laptops and
tablets:
a. Making use of BitLocker utility to encrypt resources: laptops

and tablets can get lost or unauthorized users use them. In this
case, BitLocker will ensure that unauthorized persons do not
access the critical information of the organization by encrypting
folders and files with the organizational information. BitLocker
utility automatically detects the change in BIOS and encrypts
the entire Disk space volume thus securing contents (Habs &
Estuary, 2003).
b. Making use of data recovery agent in all laptops: the network
is already in support of the AD domain services hence the IT
staff can create a Data Recovery Agent accounts for the tablets
and laptops to back up the information. Additionally, the
information will be protected through encryption hence secure
recovery (Habs & Estuary, 2003).
c. Making use of Remove Wipe tool: implementing this tool is a
best practice because it allows resetting of the tablets and
laptops' setting to factory mode. The utility allows remote
default setting thus securing the information of the organization
even after the loss of the devices (Thurrott, 2013).
Pros and Cons of AppLocker
a. Management of users is easy because it allows monitoring of
users and determining the application that they can access,
execute and run (Habs & Estuary, 2003).
b. It ensures easy file identification. AppLocker can help
determine the name of files and applications, version, license
and other details.
c. Convenient is the selections of rules and configuration.
AppLocker is easy in and fast in setting rules because of
inclusion of filenames, publisher, hash and other relevant
information of the files and applications to be restricted
(Thurrott, 2013).
The list below shows the cons of AppLocker:
a. Security compromise is possible. The support for applets and
consoles is not the best thus leading to few vulnerabilities that
an attacker can exploit to access the restricted files and
information. For example, the attacker can launch snap-ins
quikly and exploit the system (Microsoft Corporation, 2012).

Managing Applications
The issues voiced by the CIO are taken care of in the Windows
81 environment. Group policy is one of the ways that the
Information Technology department can use to ensure that the
control of applications through the Windows store is possible
and effective. Some configurations are required to ensure proper
functionality and solve the issues from the CIO. The WAN and
LAN abilities should support the application management (Habs
& Estuary, 2003). Managing applications need the following
options:
a. A configuration policy option to allow the scheduled updated
from the Windows store while blocking or disabling other
installations (Windows et al., 2010).
b. An option to configure the Group Policy, so that allows
installation of update when the dialog box is only in the
shutdown mode. Alternatively, the IT staff can disable default
option and enable old client applications to undergo updating
while new applications fails from the installation process.
c. The last option is to have the automatic update through the
Intranet Microsoft services where certain applications are
allowed to be installed for the three locations (Windows et al.,
2010).
In conclusion, Windows 8.1 presents many opportunities that
the organization should leverage and gain the competitive
advantage. There are also significant issues that the operating
system addresses. Security of the organizational information is
one of the issues solved. AppLocker, BitLocker and other
utilities are also available in the new operating system hence
making the organization have an opportunity to expand into
operations that are very dependent on the network security
(Thurrott, 2013). Through there are some threats and
weaknesses, the organization is justified to migrate from
Windows 7 to Windows 8.1.
References
Brown, N. C. C., Kölling, M., McCall, D., & Utting, I. (2014).

Blackbox. In Proceedings of the 45th ACM technical
symposium on Computer science education - SIGCSE ’14 (pp.
223–228). https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538924
Habs, I., & Estuary, S. R. (2003). 8.1 Introduction. Methods,
246–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1861-6
Microsoft Corporation. (2012). A history of Windows -
Microsoft Windows.
Thurrott, P. (2013). Windows 8.1 Tip: Use System Image
Backup, SuperSite for Windows, 1–9.
Wilson, P. (2013). A forensic comparison: Windows 7 and
Windows 8. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 113.
Windows, D., R, W. S., Vista, W., Xp, W., & Server, W. (2010).
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit. Office, 2010–2010.

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