Role of Information Technology in todays Business World

Information Technology has revolutionized the phase of business around the world. Local businesses have become international due to a simple website. I.T has helped businesses in advertising. I.T has helped in customer service, huge corporations like Microsoft attend to customer needs through email and chat services. Networking internal and external in organizations has improved the working of businesses. Staffs and clients likewise can get in touch with the managers for feedback, progress reports and extensions. Technological change refers to the changes in production techniques and production equipment. It could be a change in the machinery used to make a product or the computers to design a product. More recently it is the use of the computers and information technology (IT) to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of businesses that has led to technological change. Since technological is so rapid, there are important implications for businesses. A business can be affected by the following technological change: In production In provision of services In the office Technological change leads to improved production of goods and services due to: 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)

Technological change in production

It is interesting to note however that as different businesses compete with each other, the commercial advantage one can have over another may depend primarily on its use of information technologies. For example being able to extract information as to what the customer really wants and how to provide for that want can provide a significant advantage. This extraction of information is facilitated and indeed made possible by the technology used to store and manipulate this information. As the hardware and software mechanisms used to store and manipulate the information become more sophisticated and quicker the business can utilise its stored information to maximise its commercial advantage. The use of information technology to monitor a businesses performance can also enable the business to highlight areas where they are not making the most use of their resources. The use of information technologies can also increase the businesses income through advertising in the various available forums. Advances in information technology over the last thirty years have lead to the television for example being more widely used today than

thirty years ago (e.g. the introduction of transistor based televisions reduced costs while increasing reliability).

Role Of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP):

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is the latest high end software solution, Information Technology has lent to the world of business application. An ERP software solution seeks to streamline and integrate operations, processes and information flows in an enterprise, to synergize the resources of an organization namely men, material, money and machine. In other words, ERP systems integrate all data and processes of an organization into a unified system. A typical ERP will use multiple components of computer software and hardware to achieve the integration. A key ingredient of most ERP systems is the use of a unified database to store data for the various system modules. Most organizations across the world have realized that in a rapidly changing business environment, it is impossible to create and maintain a custom designed software package which will cater to all their requirements and also be up-to-date. Realizing these requirements of organizations, companies have designed and developed ERP software, which offer an integrated software solution to all the functional processes in an organization. A typical ERP module include: Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Financials, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resources, Warehouse Management and Decision Support System. These solutions are often incorrectly quoted as back office solutions indicating that customers and the general public are not directly involved. This is contrasted with front office systems like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems that directly deal with customers, or ebusiness systems such as eCommerce, eGovernment, eTelecom, and eFinance, or Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) systems. In reality, ERP modules are cross-functional and enterprise wide software solutions. All functional departments that are involved in operations or production can be integrated in one system using it. In addition to manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and Information Technology, it also includes; accounting, human resources, marketing, and strategic management. There are many different flavors of ERP that serve businesses' varying procedure types. An ERP solution has numerous benefits depending on the type of business that it serves; these are business solutions and industry solutions. The industry solutions are designed for people who are working in specific industries, like finance, communications, education, healthcare to name a few. ERP softwares business solutions are designed for companies that work in a wide variety of areas. IT combines a large number of different elements into a single unit. Three of the most important ERP tools available today are manufacturing, human resources, and finance. The finance tools allow companies to successfully maintain their financial information like that of the assets, accounts, budgets and cash. ERP can also assist a company in managing internal as well as external factors affecting it. A company that uses ERP financial products can save a great deal of money over the long term, the reason being, the productivity of the organization will be improved. Enterprise Resource Planning is instrumental in getting rid of time consuming activities as paper management. A company is able to study their processes, earnings, and performance by merging their operational information with their financial information. Once this information is connected together, a company can become more competitive and productive. Synergy is an important part of ERP solutions. The concept of combining multiple processes into a single whole will allow the company to become successful in the long term.

In addition to finance and business processes, it is also important to look at materials maintenance. Enterprise Resource Planning will allow a company to successfully automate the process of buying materials and maintaining them. There are modules that track the supplies that are purchased and can also make calculations about how these materials should be distributed. It also becomes possible for a company to predict the demand of the market based on history, economic statistics, and data from their employees. They can even decide when a product should be produced, and they can do this based on the raw material that is available. Information Technology is having impact on all trade industries and businesses, in service as well as in manufacturing. It is affecting workers at all levels of organizations, from the executives to middle management and clerks. Information technology is increasingly becoming a basic factor of all types of technologies such as craft, engineering, routine, and non-routine.Information Technology would result in remarkable decline in the costs of synchronization that would lead to new, concentrated business structures. It enables the business to respond to the new and urgent competitive forces by providing effective management of interdependence.

Role of VOIP in Business:

For any business organization, having an excellent means of communication plays a key role in the business success. In the modern world VoIP for business is the primary concern to get the maximum capabilities due to its added features and benefits. A VoIP phone is IP built hardware or simply a software device which uses an internet connection to make calls. It is similar in function, fit and functionality to a traditional working desktop telephone with the only difference being the technology by which its working . IP stands for Internet protocol which is used to transfer the packets across local internet and helps us connect to the browser and internet sites. There is no rotary dial, no rabbit popping out of hat and as far you know your phone system and VoIP IP protocol working on same system, they will work smoothly without any interruption of IP given statically. The major components of VoIP for business phones include: screen, keypad, handset, microphone, speaker, Ethernet ports for connecting, headset jack, software.Thus helping organization to reduce cost.

Role of IT in Globalization:
The world is going through one of the most remarkable periods of transformation in human history. Globalization is sweeping across nations. Rapid flows of goods, services, capital, technology, ideas, information and people across borders; increased financial integration of the world economy; and rise of knowledge as a key driver of economic growth are resulting in new challenges and opportunities for development. Improvements in transportation have resulted in a dramatic decline in the costs of transporting goods by air, water, and ground. Technological developments in computing and telecommunications have reduced transaction costs. With decreasing trade and investment restrictions, shrinking economic distance, more mobile resources and integrated world financial markets, socioeconomic trends are fast transmitting across national boundaries. Innovations in transportation, information and communication technologies are resulting in unprecedented levels of integration between separated parts of the globe. Economic activity is now structured on the international rather than the national level. It takes place in a highly integrated, electronically networked and knowledge-based environment. Exchange rates, interest rates and stock prices are now intimately connected across countries through a globally integrated financial market. Globalization and technology are defying the

handicaps of distance and time. Volumes of data and money are quickly transferring between nations. Systems have enabled faster dissemination of ideas, quicker interactions, easier management of interconnections, and integration of business. Information and communication technology (ICT) is emerging as an important catalyst for transformation of business, society, and government in the globalizing world. Today ICT forms the "backbone" of several industries, such as banking, airlines and publishing. It is also an important value-adding component of consumer products, such as television, camera, car, and mobile telephone. ICT has facilitated packaging of information and sending the same across the world at negligible cost. The new technology has increased the velocity of international business operations, division of labor, and integration of production processes. ICT has revolutionized the interactions between government, business and citizens G2B, G2C and B2C, G2G, B2B and C2C operations. The Internet is regarded as one of the most revolutionary transformations that world trade has ever seen. It has enabled trade in services by allowing them to be split into components, each of which can be located where it can be produced most efficiently and at the least cost. It is no longer necessary for providers and users to be physically close to each other. As a result, IT-enabled services are increasingly globalizing in the same way as manufactures did for decades. ICT has led to a shift in trade from atoms to bits, a movement from tangibles to intangibles, from manufactures to services, and a transition from the industrial world to the information world.

Role of IT in Marketing:
Technology has a profound impact on business research, and especially on marketing, because (1) technology changes the way marketing managers do their job, (2) these changes lead to major changes in the topics that are important to study, and (3) technology provides new ways of doing research. The most important result of technological advance is the increasing impact of information technology, resulting in the growing importance of service and relationships in the economy. Future advances in marketing are likely to build from advances in technology and relating improvements in communicating, storing, and processing information about customers.