The Six Important Business Objectives of Information Technology

Starting in the early 1980s with the first desktop computers, information technology has played an important part in the U.S. and global economies. Companies rely on IT for fast communications, data processing and market intelligence. IT plays an integral role in every industry, helping companies improve business processes, achieve cost efficiencies, drive revenue growth and maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Product Development

Information technology can speed up the time it takes new products to reach the market. Companies can write product requirement documents by gathering market intelligence from proprietary databases, customers and sales representatives. Computer-assisted design and manufacturing software speed up decision making, while collaborative technologies allow global teams to work on different components of a product simultaneously. From innovations in microprocessors to efficient drug delivery systems, information technology helps businesses respond quickly to changing customer requirements.

Stakeholder Integration

Stakeholder integration is another important objective of information technology. Using global 24/7 inter-connectivity, a customer service call originating in Des Moines, Iowa, ends up in a call center in Manila, Philippines, where a service agent could look up the relevant information on severs based in corporate headquarters in Dallas, Texas, or in Frankfurt, Germany. Public companies use their investor relations websites to communicate with shareholders, research analysts and other market participants.

Process Improvement

Process improvement is another key IT business objective. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems allow managers to review sales, costs and other operating metrics on one integrated software platform, usually in real time. An ERP system may replace dozens of legacy systems for finance, human resources and other functional areas, thus making internal processes more efficient and cost-effective.

Cost Efficiencies

Although the initial IT implementation costs can be substantial, the resulting long-term cost savings are usually worth the investment. IT allows companies to reduce transaction and implementation costs. For example, the cost of a desktop computer today is a fraction of what it was in the early 1980s, and yet the computers are considerably more powerful. IT-based productivity solutions, from word processing to email, have allowed companies to save on the costs of duplication and postage, while maintaining and improving product quality and customer service.

Competitive Advantage

Cost savings, rapid product development and process improvements help companies gain and maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. If a smartphone competitor announces a new device with innovative touch-screen features, the competitors must quickly follow suit with similar products or risk losing market share. Companies can use rapid prototyping, software simulations and other IT-based systems to bring a product to market cost effectively and quickly.

Globalization

Companies that survive in a competitive environment usually have the operational and financial flexibility to grow locally and then internationally. IT is at the core of operating models essential for globalization, such as telecommuting and outsourcing. A company can outsource most of its noncore functions, such as human resources and finances, to offshore companies and use network technologies to stay in contact with its overseas employees, customers and suppliers.

Why is Information Technology Important?

Information technology is used for storing, protecting, processing, securing, transmitting, receiving, and retrieving information. In business establishments, it is used predominantly to solve mathematical and logical problems. Information technology helps in project management systems as well. Firstly, planning is done, then the data is collected, sorted and processed, and finally, results are generated. It helps managers, and workers to inquire about a particular problem, conceive its complexity, and generate new products and services; thereby, improving their productivity and output.

The primary importance of information technology with regards to education is that various learning resources can be accessed instantly by students as well as teachers, with paramount importance laid on the convenience factor. Learners can also adapt to the multimedia approach, coupled with collaborative learning. The information is authentic with the updated information being widespread in terms of availability. Multiple communication approaches, like, chats, forums, emails, etc., can be adopted by them. Students may access the online libraries, in turn having distance learning programs perform a successful feat. In addition, IT has proved to be a significant employer. Many people with knowledge of computers have got jobs in this field, and have successfully made a career out of it. It has helped one find cures for several diseases; thereby, serving mankind in plentiful ways. Different kinds of software are provided for individuals with visual, or hearing impairment; thereby, aiding them in their passion to learn new concepts, and gather information parallel to their subject of interest.

Information technology, as aforementioned, functions in the background; nevertheless, it is also the backbone of the organization. If the IT system falls short of resources in order to make ends meet, the organization's efficacy is hampered. The IT workforce has become such an indispensable section of the organization that we expect it to function with absolute lucidity and alacrity; however, when this scenario ceases to exist - even if it is for a brief period - the infrastructural base of communication endures a beating.

The IT profession has opened doors to communication which is constructively channelized, being debarred from display of opacity of any form. In addition, the IT sector has been coveted the apotheosis of flexibility. Be it an employee, or an entrepreneur, any given location could be his virtual work-station. You may conduct your office work even when you are not in your designated seat. Working from home is a steeplechase concept, gracefully adapted by organizations aplenty, with flexibility being its unique selling proposition. In this manner, your organization remains endowed with its necessary functioning - a behooving quality for any and every business enterprise to thrive. Communication is made easy with the overt influx of technology. Right from its inception, technology has never remained indolent; on the contrary, it has striven to prove its renewed potency with each passing day.

I trust this article has given you an idea about why information technology is important in this day and age, also enlisting its advantages. The IT sector has developed tremendously and will continue doing so in/for the future. With the current scenario, it is, indeed safe to say that IT is the new 'It' sector. Ergo, when an enterprise is sealed with IT professionals that exhibit an undying, and relentless restlessness to achieve operational excellence, business just doesn't survive . . . it thrives! . . .

Why Study Information Technology?

 

 

 

When you study information technology, you will learn the design, development, installation, and implementation of all types of computer information systems and networks. Completing a degree in Information Technology from ETSU, gives you a sense of personal accomplishment, career satisfaction, and endless possibilities.

Possible careers that you might pursue when you have your degree in information technology include network engineer, systems administrator, security specialist, and computer forensic analyst. You might also specialize in distributed systems advancement, network development, and forensics research.

Our faculty believes that academic research and industrial software development require significant understanding of both large systems development and maintenance. For this reason you will learn to work in teams on projects that foster team work and group accomplishments, as well as enhance your individual ability and comprehension of the material. Because of the rapid change in technology and constant shifting in the corporate landscape, you will also come to understand the importance of life long learning and self-education as you develop as a professional.

What Is Information Technology?

In the 1960s and 1970s, the term information technology (IT) was a little known phrase that was used by those who worked in places like banks and hospitals to describe the processes they used to store information. With the paradigm shift to computing technology and "paperless" workplaces, information technology has come to be a household phrase. It defines an industry that uses computers, networking, software programming, and other equipment and processes to store, process, retrieve, transmit, and protect information.

In the early days of computer development, there was no such thing as a college degree in IT. Software development and computer programming were best left to the computer scientists and mathematical engineers, due to their complicated nature. As time passed and technology advanced, such as with the advent of the personal computer in the 1980s and its everyday use in the home and the workplace, the world moved into the information age.

By the early 21st century, nearly every child in the Western world, and many in other parts of the world, knew how to use a personal computer. Businesses' information technology departments have gone from using storage tapes created by a single computer operator to interconnected networks of employee workstations that store information in a server farm, often somewhere away from the main business site. Communication has advanced, from physical postal mail, to telephone fax transmissions, to nearly instantaneous digital communication through electronic mail (email). 

Great technological advances have been made since the days when computers were huge pieces of equipment that were stored in big, air conditioned rooms, getting their information from punch cards. The information technology industry has turned out to be a huge employer of people worldwide, as the focus shifts in some nations from manufacturing to service industries. It is a field where the barrier to entry is generally much lower than that of manufacturing, for example. In the current business environment, being proficient in computers is often a necessity for those who want to compete in the workplace.

Jobs in information technology are widely varied, although many do require some level of higher education. Positions as diverse as software designer, network engineer, and database administrator are all usually considered IT jobs. Nearly any position that involves the intersection of computers and information may be considered part of this field.