IT Industry and Business Sector Analysis - Assignment Example

Industry and Business Sector Analysis The IT industry has been around for about three decades, prior to this very few individuals accessed as much technology as most people do today. While the industry is expanding and becoming more prominent various challenges have come into play while there are still many opportunities the industry is experiencing a lot of growth and therefore some of its practices are still undefined. Major attractions in the industry is occurrence of many unsolved IT problems, this is because while the main discoveries have been provided there still so many interactive spaces that have been left blank. Also despite the fact that the IT technology has brought great changes in the world we are living today it is also responsible to a number of misfortunes, it is with this reason why numerous regulations from the government among other forces act in the IT industry as discussed below in the following pestle analysis (Pfannenstein, 2004). Pestle Analysis The political effect on the IT industry is highly felt, with numerous cybercrimes, governments set high regulation on the technology that enter into a border and which ones cannot. This further indicates that the application developers have to follow various government set regulations before taking to the market. In some cases the government impose very high taxations to IT companies, or disregard its importance in improving the economy. Political stability also affect the industry since installation of some technological sites require habitable coexistence and the will of a government to protect and allow the citizens to utilize the facility (Sooksiriserikul, 2010). Social impact on the IT industry, is that the society has found a new way to relate and socialize, the introduction of the social media has brought the need for other medium of communications between parties that cannot use the social media. On the other side the introduction of current and upgradable products in the market have oriented the society to embrace new technologies, thereby the latest versions of the existing IT products will always find the demand in the market. Therefore for companies to remain relevant in the market their need to keep a series on upgrades on their products. With the vast adaptation of technology by the society, this application has a very big ability of hitting the market since it is meant to help the blind who are part of the community. The technological factors, operation of various IT products require certain technological support, such as wireless connectivity, provision for upgrading among others. Availability of technology offer a favourable condition for IT industries to thrive since the customers around the regions are enabled to use the technology. Example is if an IT company develops an android products it will favour android users, also increase in android users will increase the company’s profitability. Most IT companies operate in the regions where there are supporting technologies (Lucheng, 2009). Therefore, the application will require additional support technology to make it deliver the required help to its users who are the blind people. There are various environmental factors that affect IT industry, the production of the software goes hand in hand with hardware which are made using toxic materials that are harmful to the environment when disposed. Therefore, production of some IT product may be prohibited in various regions or selling of particular products prohibited within some localities. High mercury products computers and phones have been banned by some countries. Most prominent technology companies such as Apple Inc. currently do not incorporate some harmful materials in their devices to abide by the rules and retain their clients who are environmental cautious. Also some introduced products have been found to be medically unfit, because of dangerous waves, vibrations and even explosions. With various shortcomings on the industry various rules need to be set in place in order to ensure smooth running of the industry. The legal programs may be burdening the young innovative minds. Third party rights infringements are so common in the current world, or when terrorists use a company’s technology the company is compelled to disclose private information against their disclaimer or government sanctions for holding your grounds. As a result the production of the blind application will take into consideration of various environmental concerns. Although the applications production, processing, installations, marketing and other processes involved are virtually not capable of environmental pollution, it would be necessary for the company to show concern in fighting pollution to avoid social issues. SWOT Analysis and Risk Assessment. The strength of the IT industry, is the main driver of major research, conferences, innovations, education, growth and social change. IT has been identified as a tool to express a company’s competitiveness and sustainability, the internet and ITCs are important tools in research and innovations and government are willing to support research and developments in IT. Due to this, the application enjoys high credibility levels from the users. The fact that people have great confidence in technology will make it enjoy a big pool of clients. The companies operating in the IT industry are therefore supported by various government agencies to foster their missions. The incentives taken from the governments, high quality products are easily bought in the market, most countries offer a quality telecommunication infrastructure. The industry benefits from the developing economies, high technology is experienced in Thailand among other regions where economy is growing fast. Political stabilities across the globe offer small and big company’s equal opportunities to market their products (Lucheng, 2009). As the application developers, we will have to understand for the purposes of determining right marketing strategies of the application. More so, introduction of support services will be important because there is growing market for easy connectivity and installation from the companies who offer customer care services to their customers. Therefore consumer illustration and high quality services would be paramount for success of the application. The basic weakness of the application lies on its usage. Many of thee users might find it hard to use the application. More so, there will be need for training and illustration to the users on how to use which might prove to be not only difficult but also expensive. Risk Assessment Plan Working in this industry would require effective risk assessment skills to determine the impending changes and possible means of averting the changes. A correct way to assess risk in the market is by following the following risk assessment and aversion procedure, identify the risk and the operational hazards, analysis of the occurrence and the predisposing factors as well as the likelihood of occurring in my company, tracking the evidence and real case scenario about the identified risk, this can be achieved by critically identifying various market risky encounters that have affected the operations of a company within or related to the IT industry. Document the problem to be available for others to access and comment on their take on how to deal with the problem (Peter, 2011). The risk need to be pointed out and the level of harm the risk can cause to individuals or to the business identified, this will define the cause of action depending on the effect of the risk to the business, hazardous risks are discarded or highly special techniques to offset some of the risk are used such as taking insurance cavers against the occurrence. If discarding is not a probable solution then we need to figure out if the risk can withstood. For effective risk assessment in the IT Company I would first ensure that the company operates in the less risky option, the company avoids the hazard at all costs, the company work on ways to actively avoid or eliminate the risk from the working environment. Once the company has created a risk catalogue of the associated risks with various ways to mitigate them it is important to revisit the risk on an annual basis to see and determine if the risks are still uncontrollable or the company has acquired the capability to handle the problem (Strategis, 2010). Marketing Plan A market plan need to be preceded by a market analysis, the more the company is aware of its target market the easier in implementing the marketing plan. If the company is able to expand the market to accommodate more customers (apart from the blind people only) will be important. If the application is meant to help the blind, the goals and the objective of the product market plan should capture a method that will reach the highest number of targeted blind people as possible. Given that the product has not been introduced, the company will consider creating a high quality, superior brand that will demand for most people’s attention and introduce a need to help the blind (Peter, 2011). The company need to learn the current and future global market trends through analyzing and taking keen considerations on the marketing opportunities. The company need to consider its financial capability, its internal and external environment on the run to establish its strengths and weaknesses. This will be important in coming up with the modest marketing plan that will conveniently work for the company (Trade partners UK, 2010). The company need to understand their target customer, rolling out a blind assisting application will not only target the blind but also the socially responsible people who take care of the less privileged persons in the society, many companies would wish to use the product to appreciate their visually impaired customers and some service providers such as hospitals, hospitality businesses among others. With a clear picture of the targeted customers, it would be easier to figure out how to reach them; which is the most effective way of reaching the blind and the people concerned about the blind in the society? No usual marketing plan will adequately serve our need ad therefore the company need to figure out a unique way to advertise the product. Think of something that starts-off like an initiative to care and show our love to the visually impaired people, deliver the application to the relatives and friends of the blind. Use the application as the lifelong gifts the relatives need to offer to their visually impaired relatives and friends. A platform where they can share their vision with the blind. The application can also be offered in various institution that deal with the visually impaired people. If the application provide a platform where people could virtually lead the blind in their daily chores, the application would pick a high popularity to the customers around the would The company need also to create the application in such a way that it can also be used by the people who are not visually impaired. If the application offer an sought of a an interface for the non-blind and the blind people to interact, it would be easier to market since everyone would require the application for the one time instance they will meet a blind person lost in the road or in a shopping mall. Incorporating the people who are not blind in the application operations will first enlarge the target customers and at the same time provide a more captivating experience where people can appreciated other heroic actions of helping the blinds crossing a busy road. Ensuring that the company’s product is relevant and useful to more than just the blind is a very important marketing tool, it will be important in creating an exciting product that will bring many people together, offer the company as opportunities to upgrade the application on a regular basis, to provide other related products and services on the run to maximize on the market. The marketing plan need to be cautious of the budget allocated, by producing a superior brand that will demand for the customer’s attention and seek to use it them high marketing budget will be appropriate since the return are likely to be high. The strength of the product to penetrate though all social boarder in the world in the It world solely depend on the applicability and importance of the product and therefore, special considerations must be placed at creating high quality, superior brand hard to replace blind leading application. References Pfannenstein, L. L., & Tsai, R. J. (2004). Offshore outsourcing: Current and future effects on K American IT industry. Information Systems Management, 21(4), 72. Sooksiriserikul, S. Potential and capacity of Thailand in IT industry competitiveness, Institute of Human Resource,Thammasat University, (2010) Strategis, Market Assessment. 2003, Industry Canada: Trade partners UK, IT & Electronics Market in Thailand. 2010, UK government: Peter, J. P., & Donnelly, J. H. (2011). Marketing management: knowledge and skills: text, analysis, cases, plans. Plano: Business pub., INC. Lucheng H., K. W., (2009) SWOT analysis of information technology industry in Beijing, China using patent data Read More