Presented by : Group 5

What is Information Technology?

Information technology (IT) is the application of
computers and telecommunications equipment to store,
retrieve, transmit and manipulate data, often in the
context of a business or other enterprise.
Information Technology & Business
In a business context, the Information Technology
Association of America has defined information
technology as "the study, design, development,
application, implementation, support or management
of computer-based information systems to business
process"
A traditional business is an organisational
entity which is mostly thought of as a store,
restaurant or agency and it is designed to offer
consumer goods or services. It is all about
enormous transactions in order to pay off bills,
salaries and also get the owners' worth in
investment.
Traditional Business
Cons of traditional business
Why IT in Business
Reach
Conventionally refers to the potential
number of customers a business can
interact with.
The internet enables reach to be
increased nationally and internationally
at a very low cost.

And from customer point of view reach
will be referred as the amount of product
that he can reach thru the use of
internet, Which is larger than his previous
experience in traditional business.
Richness
This is a characteristic of the
information itself.

The internet enables more
information that can be made
available about products, prices
and the availability in the market.

It enables more interactivity and
customization to engage the
customer and also provide more up-
to-date information
Affiliation
This refers to the effectiveness of links with the partners .
In and online context, an organization which has the most
and richest links with other compatible organizations will
be able to gain a larger reach and influence.
What are the benefits of technology for a business? There are
many, but most fall under a few categories:
Reach more potential customers, develop a business
relationship with potential customers
Streamline operations, reduce costs, improve efficiency,
maximize profit, minimize waste, devote talent to core business
instead of overhead
Provide better service to customers
Support better relationships with key partners
Allow customers to guide the business in a better way.
The very first question businesses should ask before spending any money or time
on technology is, why am I doing this? If there is not a core business benefit to
be gained, why do it in the first place?
Why am I doing this?
A retail store. If the store sticks to merely doing
physical transactions from its brick and mortar
store, it limits the possible clientele to the
people within its location.

But by using the internet, the store can be
part of a nationaland even global
marketplace.

This is the basic concept that makes websites
such as eBay and Amazon a success.
A small example
Areas where IT can be applied in
business
Inventory, sales, receivables and
payables stored in Excel, Open Office
or a similar program keeps these
figures at your fingertips.
Accounting software stores your
payroll information, tax records and
specialized data for your business.
You can eliminate much of the
physical storage at the office by
using information technology to scan
and store old personnel and payroll
files, tax files or client files.
You may need less square footage
with information technology.
Producing the best products and services will not guarantee
business success.
You need to use technology to promote your services and
products.
Internet marketing is affordable and if it is well executed, its
impacts can be great.

You can have a web presence, take orders, buy merchandise, sell
excess or even operate some businesses entirely online

Many small businesses have resorted to internet
technology to reach big masses of consumers online.

With the rise of social networks such as Facebook, Myspace,
Digg and others, a form of crowd-based media known as
social media has emerged.

Businesses can take advantage of social media as another
aspect of business communication, by performing such tasks
as creating profiles on social networks, submitting online
media to sites such as Digg, and using websites like Twitter
to answer consumer questions.

Many businesses have already jumped on the social media
bandwagon, with some having experimented with their own
social networks.
Eg: Microsoft and Wal-Mart
The Internet is a wealth of information to keep you
current with trends, techniques, software and human
resources.

You can draw on online databases and websites to
locate potential employees, compare insurance
proposals, tackle employee issues or check out the
competition.

Managing your business with information gleaned
from the Internet keeps you knowledgeable and on
the cutting edge.
Small businesses have had a chance to gain competitive
advantage in highly competitive markets.
If technology is well implemented, a small business can
produce the best products basing on their customer needs
and wants.
They can also use technology to deliver services and products
to potential customers on time.
Many well established big companies ignore customer needs
and wants, so they end up losing potential customers to small
enterprises.


We live in a world where products and services are supposed
to be tailored basing on what customers want.
Technology is being used to simplify communication in a business.

New communication technologies like electronic mails, e-fax, cell phones,
videoconferencing tools, text messaging and social networks have
simplified the way business owners communicate with their teams and
customers.

Communication by email is faster and costs less than sending a paper
letter in the mail.

These advanced communication tools can be used in customer care
department.

Also communication technology helps in the flow of information with in an
organization, this process will create a certain degree of efficiency within a
business and it also helps in the decision making process.
The main goal of any business is to serve its customers.

It does not matter whether your business makes dog food, or
serves big organizations, the only reason you will stay in
business is to serve your customers well and on time.

Serving the needs of customers goes beyond offering the
best service or product.
If your customers find it easy to contact you and get
response on time, they will gain confidence whenever
they deal with you and this will help your business grow
and expand.
It involves understanding what your customers want, so
even though your product or service is good, do your
customers need to use it? .
As opposed to human labour, technology is efficient and fast.

Most businesses are involved in manufacturing of products and these
business need to utilize the two factors of production which include time
and efficiency.

A business can use technology to automate certain areas of production,
this will help the business increase on its output and it will also enable the
business to serve its customers on time.

People want to get what they want when they need it on time.

So if a business implements technology in its production process, they will
save time and deliver the product to the end user on time.
Technological change in production

Computer-aided manufacturing ( CAM) this reduces labour costs, is
more accurate and faster and can work at any hour of the day. The
computer controls the machinery.

Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) here, computers control
the whole production line. Best example is in car production where
robots undertake much of the work, reducing the need for labour to
perform boring, routine tasks.

Computer-aided design (CAD) Computers are used to help design
products using computer generated models and 3D drawings.
Reduces the need to build physical models to test certain conditions,
known as prototypes. This can be expensive to produce just for testing
purposes . e.g. aircraft or new cars.

A business can not operate without experienced employees. However
small businesses many be, it will need to hire experts to complete
specific tasks. So how does a business use technology in its human
resource management?

A business can use the internet to recruit experienced labour. Now
days their so many job portals which allow business post jobs for free and
get applicants.

Human resource managers can use technology to assign tasks to new
employees and test them; the same technology can be used to
monitor the performance and behaviour of the employee.
IT applications are everywhere in the modern business and their
great advantage is the way that they can lower costs.

One way that costs can be lowered is in time saving. For
example, time is saved in the retrieval of information from a
database or website. Rapid searches can be carried out by
simply cueing in a key word

Another way that time can be saved is in the rapid duplication of
information. For example, an e-mail can be sent to all of the
relevant members of an organisation simply by creating a pre-
prepared mailing list for all communications of a certain type.

Material can be rapidly edited and altered using modern desktop
computers.
Automation or automatic control, is the use of various control
systems for operating equipment such as machinery, processes
in factories,switching in telephone networks, steering and
stabilization of ships or aircraft and other applications with
minimal or reduced human intervention.

Some processes have been completely automated.

The biggest benefit of automation is that it saves labour,
however, it is also used to save energy and materials and to
improve quality, accuracy and precision.
The List is endless but we can use IT in the following
fields as related to business:
Meetings and Scheduling
Financing
Banking
Transaction
Translation
Stocks
Business Monitoring
Ordering
Spread sheets
Inventory Records
Communication
Promotion and Marketing
Networking and Relaying Information
Advertising
Collaborations
Calculation
Integration
Analysis
Business News
Research
Limitations of usages of IT in business
Requires training- implementation expenses
Cyber crime- Hacking
Require additional infrastructure - increase in costs
Replaces human labour- job elimination
Dependency on electricity
Reliability The integrity of data
Difficultly reaching the right people - Phishing
Bad publicity Social Media gone wrong