Management Decision Problem

Choosing an Internet Connection Service

1 .       You run a graphic design company with 15 employees that do page layout and illustrations for magazine and book publishers in many different parts of the United States. You want to take advantage of network services to send files of your illustrations and layout work to your clients for review. The average size of each graphics file you transmit is 4 megabytes and an average of 25 of these files are sent to clients each day. Schedules are tight and productivity can be impacted if all of your network resources are tied up transmitting files. You are also on a very tight budget. The following network services are available in your area. At its current size, your business could use one dedicated telephone line with software that enables up to 20 employees to share Internet use.

Option

Transmission
Capacity

Cost

Dial-up service with 56 KBPS analog modems for each employee

56 Kbps

$40 per month for Internet service + basic $35 per month phone charge

ISDN line

128 Kbps

$100 per month +  $300 installation fee

Cable modem

1--2 Mbps

$75 per month + $125 installation fee

Synchronous DSL

512 Kbps sending and receiving

$100 for DSL modem + $175 per month

T1 line

1.5 Mbps

$1,200 per month

  1. What is the average amount of time your business would spend daily transmitting files for each of these options?
  2. Which of these options is most appropriate for your company? Why?
  3. If your business expanded and you had 60 employees and 100 files to transmit daily, which option would you choose?