Conclusion

If you take a step back and look at the Wal-Mart organization, you find several interesting and impressive feats that the company has achieved over the years. The low price strategy has catapulted them to the top of the industry and made them the number one U.S retailer. But low pricing is not the only reason Wal-Mart has achieved the status that they have today. Being the overall cost leader and price setter is very important in that industry, but what goes on behind the scenes with management's set up of the company, and the technology used to do it, is what really keeps Wal-Mart ahead of the curve. Their superior supply chain management system coupled with the advanced hardware and software used to run it already allow them for fast communication with the warehouses to have new inventory coming on a daily basis, and have Wal-Mart’s competitors at a loss. But what really puts them over the top is their superior logistics, and inventory management control. Wal-Mart's computer system is able to interface with their suppliers within a matter of minutes to replenish sold stock to the store, what makes it more advanced is the fact that a phone call, fax, or e-mail is never sent to place orders, everything is done strictly from computer to computer in order to get things done quicker. Sending security encrypted messages with orders between Wal-Mart and their suppliers to make it easy and convenient for Wal-Mart, their suppliers, and the end user, who is the consumer to get, and be satisfied.

When you look a any industry leader, whether it be retail, food, automotive, aviation, or any other, the leader of that industry may have a great product, a low price, or a great reputation, but what happens behind what the consumers see is what really drives a business. Management and the technology they use to support their organization make the difference between the industry leader and the company that comes in second place.

Wal*Mart Dictates Technological Terms

Many companies are made or broken by the way their products sell at Wal-Mart. Being that Wal-Mart is the country’s single largest retailer, they have the ability to be the price leader for their industry. But even with that said, on the supplier side Wal-Mart is also able to dictate how suppliers interface with them as well. Wal-Mart sent out letters to each of their 14,000 suppliers stating if they wanted to continue to do business with them, it would have to be on Wal-Mart’s technical terms. The company requires that all of its vendors would need to use new data transmission protocols called EDI-INT, which are electronic data interchange internet integration, and another application called Applicability Statement 2, which handles all purchase orders, invoices, billing, and correspondence for all pricing. The new systems allow for Wal-Mart to directly exchange data and information between them and their suppliers rather than have it routed over the Internet through an e-mail server. Wal-Mart does not want its suppliers to use a traditional EDI that requires Value-Added Networks to securely pass communications between Wal-Mart and its partners. Before AS2 was created, Wal-Mart’s suppliers needed VANs to send information, which basically use the communication services of a third party commercial carrier to transmit the data between the two. AS2 on the other hand takes the data that needs to be sent, puts it into a file and encrypts with a digital certification, once the recipient receives the document, the person would need that software as well to decrypt the document for easy translation, this provides a much more scrutinized form of security for Wal-Mart and their suppliers. With all of the low pricing strategies Wal-Mart maintains, they must stay on the cutting edge of technological security in order to stay ahead of the curve and not let any information fall into the hands of their competitors.

http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Business-Intelligence/WalMart-Dictates-Technological-Terms/

Why Wal*Mart may just be good for the U.S

This article, discusses a study that was conducted from 1985-2003 in 89 counties across the country to determine the effect Wal-Mart had on certain regions. The study tested personal income, overall employment, and retail employment. The study showed in all three categories Wal-Mart had a significant positive economic impact for those regions. Many people previously believed that Wal-Mart wiped out jobs and lowered wages, this study in-turn proved to be the exact opposite, in fact when Wal-Mart’s open up many businesses flock to the areas surrounding the store because of the traffic and exposure it brings in, two thirds of major retailers locate themselves within a five mile radius of a Wal-Mart store. As far as critics complaints of low wages, the U.S Department of Labor Statistics show that Wal-Mart is just slightly under the retail industry average. Wal-Mart’s low cost strategy allows lower income families to enjoy flat screen televisions, expensive computers, and other electronics and household items and a much more affordable price than a even the distributer cannot match. Wal-Mart accounts for 6% of all food and retail sales for the country and 90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart store. With all of their critics complaining about how Wal-Mart is bad for the economy; Wal-Mart was able to show strong firm growth as well as higher total earnings throughout the recession, the lower prices and multiple choices drove in customers who were looking for bargains and to save money. Although many will still debate the economic value Wal-Mart has for the economy, this study shows that the good effects highly weigh out the bad.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22719054/ns/business-forbescom

Wal*Mart's Diversity

Wal*Mart's Customer Service

Wal*Mart International

Walmart's Sustainability Efforts

How do they connect to the internet and at what speed?Frame Relay and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) are the best for Wal-Mart since they are a worldwide company with location even in Japan; these services have a high-speed line like T1 (high-speed circuit typically used for business connections, running at speeds up to 1.544 Mbps) and DS3 (is a high-speed business network circuit running at 44.736 Mbps) that create virtual circuits that provide connections from each office to the other with no need of lines running around. Also this type of connection is cheaper because there is no need of lines that could depend on the distance they run, with Frame relay or ATM, the T1 and DS3 lines run from each office to the telecommunications provider, rather that from office to office, so the distance and price can both be lower than when T1 lines are run directly form office to office.

Do they use Voice over IP?
Wal-Mart use wireless technology throughout their store. Voice over IP lets you communicate over the internet and avoid the charges that is normally receive from a long distance carrier, it is like transmitting a voice call over a computer data network.

How do they apply the four principles of network security?

Wal-Mart uses the four principles of network security
Confidentiality which is that the information the company has is used just by a person who is authorized. A good example could be a holder of a Wal-mart Credit Card, this person can view their statement when login in with their user ID and Password. There is always threats that’s why it is recommended to create passwords that would include capital letters, symbols etc. Wal-mart uses a technology called Secure Sockets layer (SSL) which encrypts over the internet.
Authenticity which is making sure that the information comes from a trustable source
Integrity which is making sure that certain information has not been altered. An example could be a credit card statement showing a balance with the correct credit cards charges.
Availability which is knowing that the service is available at all times. Wal-mart gets orders to its customers on time and to make sure they have an IDS which lets see the network traffic for intrusion attempts and reports them, this works by having information about different types of network attacks and matching an attack in progress.

What is their domain name?
The domain name is Walmart.com. The company's name is a unique name known worldwide and the .com is used for commercial companies and has no restrictions such as ".gov" which is restricted.

Networking

What type of network do they have?

The type of network Wal-Mart usesA quick definition explains wireless networks, Walmart uses (LAN) a local area network, is basically the linking of two or more computers without using any form of wires, it’s the same as a LAN but with a wireless interface. WLAN uses spread-spectrum technology through radio waves to facilitate communication among devices in some partial areas which are also known to be the basic service set. This allows users the flexibility to move along a broad coverage area while still being connecting to the network. Through a reasonable low cost Walmart stores are able to operate connections between nearby stores and between employers on the floor. Proponents of wireless networks have given the benefits an acronym. CAMP means convenience, affordability, mobility and productivity.