Importance of Information and Communications Technology in Business (I

Question: Describe about the Importance of Information and Communications Technology in Business (ICT)? Answer: Executive summary In todays dynamic world, any organization needs a basic set up of computers and good networking and IT solutions to continue their day to day operations without any hassle. All across the globe, without the help of computers and computer based applications, any industry in any sector cannot survive and sustain in the long run (Boshe, 2015). This article aims to reflect the utility of information technology in setting up the business of Dynamic Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which was set up on 20th September 2013 in London, U. K. This is a company which manufactures application software for several organizations like banks, insurance companies, automobile companies and others. Now, they are planning for a technological improvisation and implementation of State-of-the-art IT and IT-enabled services as a part of their renovation project. Description of the organization Dynamic Solutions Pvt. Ltd. began its operations in London in September 2013. The company has its headquarters in Southampton. The company has currently 5 branches and they are planning to open up more in recent future. There are currently 4500 employees working. The company has earned revenue of 267469(GBP) in 2013 and is looking to expand even more. Mr. Alec Stewart is the CEO and MD of the company. It is mainly into manufacturing application software for the various organizations, which will need this software to maintain their database and to electronically record each and every detail of the suppliers, clients and stakeholders. The company has designed vision and mission statements for itself, so that it can serve the customers with purpose and objective. They are as follows: Vision of the company The vision is to deliver on right time at the right place. Mission of the company The mission is to be the leader by providing relevant and prompt business solutions. Now, Mr. Alec is looking to cross the national barrier and enter the international market by storm and he has challenged a few of the rival companies by declaring that they could not offer business application software at the rate at which his company will offer to the end users. Now the company is following a typical ICT model which is demonstrated below: Hardware software The company typically uses around 250 desktop computers, 40 laptops. The Operating System runs on Windows XP, Service Pack 3. All the staffs and employees have access to the systems and they need to mark their attendance through the systems. All the payrolls and salary slips are made through the systems. Daily sale records, inter-departmental transactions and all the bank accounts are stored and maintained on the systems. But the company is looking to upgrade its systems to Windows 8 and also invest in several antivirus programs and firewall software to protect the authenticity and privacy of data. They are also looking to use better security software to prevent their database from hackers (Sanvenero, 2013). They have made an annual contract with Kaspersky Lab to provide their systems with security software and also for giving support services to their company. Technical support system In order to support the systems and applications the company has decided to hire specialized IT and networking professionals who are adept at providing instant service to the company and also to the end users who are purchasing the software application from the company. The company made plans to open a 24x7 helpline to help the clients in case they have troubles with the software. There will be more IT trained professionals present across the 5 branches, which will provide help to the staffs whenever the need arises. (Silberstein, 2014) The employees will have restricted access to the internet when they are in the office premises. There will be restrictions in using search engines like Google, Yahoo. This is done to minimize the chances of any threat arriving from the malicious websites which may open up while the employee is browsing the internet. Providing information access is definitely a wise thinking but not to take notice of unauthorized access is an act of the fool (Bosseau, 2014). The product range and services Here the company reflects the various system applications that it is manufacturing and the services it provides to the clients. To provide the right service at the right time should be the motto of every firm with a view to serving the society at large (Coe, 2015). Here is the list of software that the company is currently manufacturing Accounting Software The company has a manufacturing unit which produces accounting software named Insta Accounts. This particular application saves time by keeping records of all the basic book-keeping and accounting transactions like the daily journals and ledgers. The accountant does not have to make each entry following the Double Entry System manually. He will just put in the data and automatically the journal and ledger will be updated. This will automatically be reflected in the final Balance Sheet of the company. (Simpson, 2014) This will result in an errorless computation of financial position of the company as on a particular date and time. Backup and retrieval software This software helps in retrieval of corrupted data from the system. The company has named it Data Investigator. It may happen that some crucial data may get deleted from the database of a company and that can be immensely harmful and may cost the company dearly. Sometimes it may even lead to insolvency and subsequent dissolution of a company (Favale, 2014). In order to prevent such a contingency, this software will make sure that all the vital data are securely backed up in the system and can be retrieved whenever the need arises. This software should be of great utility to any organization which has to maintain records on internal systems. Competitor analysis Currently Dynamic Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is facing the rivalry from three other software giants which manufacture similar kinds of applications. They are listed below according to their degree of threat: Microsoft Corporation The software mogul from US has been the top competitor of this company. They are manufacturing similar kinds of products and are the pioneers in this industry since 1975. It is not an easy task to compete with the leader in application software. However, if the company can provide the similar software at a comparatively cheaper price, then surely the customers will try to experiment with the products from this company. It is important to move ahead with challenge at every step. Perseverance and self belief is the key to succeed in the long run (Makulilo, 2013). McAfee, Inc The next competitor is the US based antivirus developer. Founded in 1987, the corporation has captured the global market by storm by providing reliable security solutions to the home users as well as to the corporate. The strategy here is to provide reliable solutions at cheaper rates to capture the attention of the customers. There should be a desire to win in any adverse situation and even if it takes a long time to fulfill the dream, one shall never shy away from the course. (Martin, 2014) Symantec Corporation This organization has to receive a special mention among the major threats to the company. Founded in 1982 in the US, the manufacturer of the renowned Norton Antivirus software has managed to capture a leading position in the market. 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