Role of IT in Business

Question: Discuss about the Role of IT in Business. Answer: Introduction It can be said that weaving IT and business together was never going to be easy, and it will always remain a problematic issue to sort out. IT, on one hand, is a domain of specialists whereas business is an area exclusively for executives. The systems had always primarily supported the backroom as well as financial functions. Although several organisations have tried to link up IT and business together, the results have been mixed, and it has been making or break scenario for most of the organisations. It is important to understand that technology does not play a pivotal role in this bond rather it depends on how the IT and business executives bind with each other and can implement and execute business and IT strategies which lead the firm towards success (Tack, 2014). Today, although, the scenario has become even more intense regarding IT and business bond as most of the executives are some or the other way dependent on the IT department, and even the business executives have an integral say in most of the IT decisions for a company. (www.modernanalyst.com) Research It cannot be denied that business requires IT, the reason being most of the cash inflows, many supply chains channels for customers, security for information, privacy required for clients for all online purposes, compliances and many other fields are influenced by the IT sector. Hence, the need of IT in businesses cannot be neglected, and it is apt to say that success of failure of it industry can make or break a particular company (Conrad, 2015). It is appropriate to say that most of the IT directors are now a part of the C-suite in an organisation, more than 1/3 of these IT managers report directly to the CEO of the company and are termed as Chief Information Officers instead of IT directors (McClure, 2009). Around 10 percent of total revenue in a company is used for the purpose of technology. The manufacturing and retail organisations have a still lower ratio but on the other hand, both health and finance firms do invest a lot of revenue for IT sector. Some of the necessary costs to keep in mind are the initial cost, upgrade costs, value propositions, opportunity costs and different risks. Now talking about different benefits of IT in business:- It helps the organisations to reach out more potential customers It helps in streamlining the operations, improve efficiency, reduce costs, minimise waste, maximise profit and devote talent for core business purposes For providing better services to the customers It helps the customers to guide the business in a better manner One of the essential components for bridging the gap between IT and Business is to have analytics-driven visibility. It is important for firms to analyse and understand the various impacts of to their very bottom-line. It is essential for looking into major factors of performance such as the end user performance, service cost, resources consumed, the cost of downtime lost revenue, a number of successful/failed transactions for bridging the gap between IT and business. IT sector has brought a lot of new job opportunities for unemployed but deserving candidates; moreover, it has also helped in streamlining various aspects of business on to central cloud systems or a universal hub wherein, the data can be used by any part of the organization bypassing several formalities (Leung, 2010). Everything comes in with a cost and so is the case with IT sector's amalgamation in business fields. With the increasing dependency of operations on it industry, many pundits have started questioning the security of data over cloud servers or various other cyber attacks. Many companies still do not have the cyberinfrastructure for fighting against severe cyber attacks, and this can bring the businesses to a standstill. The other risk is a danger of online fraud which has risen by several folds because some online organisations have turned up and some of them are not registered firms and trap the customers. Moreover, it is important for businesses to realize and evaluate the cost of services and its delivery against the services value which is brought by IT into realms of Business. For this, it is necessary for the analytics department to use certain clear cut service definitions, automated tracking of the used resources by different service and along with that awareness of various cost impacts when certain transactions fail in order to create a good link with business decision points and the underlying technology (Broadbent, 2015). It is really essential for business firms to monitor their IT counterparts reason being websites, nowadays are like business cards for companies. They are the retail and showcase outlet for them. But then what use is a website/shop if it takes too long for entering the shop? That is why, it is important to have a comprehensive and constant monitoring for guaranteeing general availability of website and fast responses time.nwo this can be done with the help of several software and program which can help monitor sites and other IT sectors (Paesllar, 2014). It can be done with the help of software such as PRTG network monitor, for monitoring cloud software such as Microsoft Azure can also be used by firms. Conclusion Now on an end note, it can be said that the report was able to give an insight regarding the impacts of IT on business, talk about the positive effects of IT on the business arena, discuss different requirements such as costs required. Moreover, the paper also analysed the risks related with IT sector and what is the current condition of Business executives and IT professionals in the industry due to this collaboration of IT and business. References Broadbent, M., Kitzis, E. S., Bio, V., Bio, F. (2015). Linking Business And It Strategies Together: Four Factors For Success. Retrieved June 5, 2016, from https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/linking-business-and-it-strategies-together-four-factors-for-success/ Conrad, B. (2016). How do businesses use communication technology to improve their performance?Small Business Chron. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/businesses-use-communication-technology-improve-performance-136.html Leung, E., Systems, D. of I. (2010, September 10).Information technology in business: The big picture. Retrieved June 5, 2016, from https://www.freelock.com/newsletter/information-technology-business-big-picture McClure. (2009).An oracle thought leadership white paper business and IT alignment: An oracle view. Retrieved from https://www.oracle.com/us/solutions/business-intelligence/064025.pdf Tack, S. (2014, June 4).15 ways to bridge the gap between IT and business. Retrieved June 5, 2016, from https://www.apmdigest.com/apm-bridge-gap-between-it-and-business Paesllar, A. (2014). How To: Free Network Monitoring. Retrieved from https://www.paessler.com/howto-free-network-monitoring