Indo Gives Its Sales Force a New Mobility Technology

In April 2007, the Spanish optical company indo Internacional was facing a renewal decision of the mobility solution for its eyeglasses division’s sales force. Initially, the company was seeking to implement a solution that would allow to look up inventories in real time. One of the potential providers offers to extend the functionality with a virtual catalog, which would allow the company to eliminate part of the current physical sample collection of the sales force. Nevertheless, the virtual catalog would imply a major change in the current work practice of the sales force, and a new way of purchasing for the clients. The objective of this case is to analyze the complexities of IS investment decisions from a variety of perspectives, including a financial analysis. It also focuses on broader qualitative implications in terms of its impact on current work practices of part of the organization.