IT Legistilation and Ethics. Cloud Computing Based MIS - Essay Example

? INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LEGISLATION AND ETHICS goes here] [Your goes here] [Due the paper] Task Personal Profile I am a motivated and enthusiastic individual with a keen interest in business information management. I have done Diploma in software Engineering from Aptech Computer Education Abuja Centre and have worked in ICT Department of Famaks international School as assistant manager for almost one year. I possess excellent presentation and communication skills. I am able to communicate effectively with a range of students and colleagues by showing interest, carefully listening to their viewpoints, and expressing my own viewpoint in a clear and coherent manner. I am also very good at teamwork and have demonstrated exceptional collaborative skills while working win teams in my university. I possess the ability to plan ahead and manage time effectively. These were some of the main skills that I will use in my professional career. I aim to become an Information System (IS) manager after graduation. I have already worked in the similar capacity and that experience will definitely help me excel in my chosen professional career. I have planned to work in the information management department of some multinational company where I should be responsible for managing the information of the company using the management information system. I am interested in performing key roles relate to MIS department, such as, developing IS, assembling information stored in the system, generating relevant reports based on the stored information, evaluating data processing proposals, installing hardware and software applications, managing computer networks, developing public intranet, and ensuring digital security of all networks. I believe that my educational background will help me in becoming a skilled and competent information system professional. In the first year of my professional life, I aim to work in some private company to gain some valuable experience. I have planned to do some certification in the following year to gain some new programming skills. Those skills will help me in getting quick promotions in my professional career. For the next three years, I will work in some high reputed multinational firm to grow mentally and professionally in a pure competitive environment. I believe that working in a competitive environment will definitely help me develop a high level of confidence, as well as a professional attitude. I have also planned to get membership of Association for Information Systems (AIS) which is a professional body related to the field of information technology. The goals of AIS include becoming the leader of the information system research, education, and professional practice, promoting excellence in IT education, promoting information system as the world’s best professional career, and helping information system professionals and related communities in improving their professional skills and abilities. Some of the main benefits which I will get from that membership include access to world’s best information system professionals, opportunity of knowledge sharing with IT experts, career placement services, access to world-class information systems conferences, exclusive right to use to the AIS library, and opportunity to get monthly newsletters about the latest updates regarding information technology services. I believe that this membership will help me become a well-informed and competent information system professional. Task 2: 1. Chosen Technology: Cloud Computing Based MIS Information technology is the most rapidly expanding field of technology that has influenced almost every business. In this report, we will talk about a modern technology associated with the information technology. The technology we are talking about is Cloud Management Information System (Cloud MIS). Cloud MIS involves using cloud computing services to manage information and data that companies put into their information management systems. Cloud based management information systems provide a number of benefits to companies. Some of the most considerable benefits of using Cloud based MIS include improved efficiency, greater flexibility and storage, lower initial capital expenditure, secure data management, improved management of the system, and lower operational expenditure. The basic concept of using this technology to manage MIS was developed in the recent years. However, with the passage of time, more and more developments are taking place that are making this technology a reliable choice for companies to store and manage their data. 2. Cloud Computing Talking about cloud based MIS, let us first get an understanding of what cloud computing actually is. Cloud computing is a network based online service that assists people in using a wide range of software applications on their personal computer systems using internet. Internet is the main requirement for using cloud services because of its network orientation. As Schauland (2011, p. 1) states, “Surfacing in late 2007, cloud computing is used to allow services used in everyday practice to be moved onto the Internet rather than stored on a local computer”. Cloud computing also helps companies in managing their data management tasks. Cloud services help businesspeople in such a way that employees and managers or any other user of the system do not need to be at some particular place to be able to use cloud services, rather they can carry out their data management activities being anywhere in the world. The only thing they need to do is to have a computer system and an internet connection to access the cloud services. Cheow (2010) states that the users can make use of cloud computing applications as along as they have an access to the internet services. Another benefit of using cloud computing services is that they eliminates the issue of hardware or software failure as users do not have to install the software products in their computer systems. As we know that in business settings, companies usually have to install, organize, and run software products on their own in order to use them. On the other hand, using cloud services, all what companies need to do is to hire the services of some cloud services providing company to use the applications. They do not need to pay extra money to customize the software applications as per their needs and then worry about the risk of facing some sort of software/hardware failure and data loss (Zaman 2009). This benefit makes cloud computing an attractive choice for many companies. Cloud services providing company reduces the need of making relevant changes to the setting of any software application by providing highly efficient, reliable, and customized services to the users (Alves 2012). Apart from the benefits of reduced work load and software customization, cloud computing also offers many other significant benefits to users. Two of those benefits include proper management of business records and digitization. These features of cloud computing help businesspeople in tracing the level of their businesses’ performance, as well as in improving the managerial abilities of employees and managers. In addition, cloud computing also provides the users with a user-friendly interface to deal with the cloud based software applications. Here, one point to mention is that the interface of the software applications that a person uses using cloud is not similar to the one which comes in pirated copies of those applications. The reason is that cloud computing offers customized interfaces to the users in accordance with their personal or professional needs making them more attractive and easy to use for the users. Another important point regarding the use of cloud computing services is that there is no bug or flaw in any of the services that the cloud provides to its users. It is a great benefit as users do not have to worry about taking preventive measures and worrying about the occurrence of bugs in their personally developed and customized software applications. 2.1 Specialty Areas of Cloud Services There are three main deployment models which are private, public, and hybrid clouds using which cloud computing provides a number of services to the users of the system (Sohail 2012). Some of the main services that cloud computing offers to its users include flexible and reliable mobile access, sales force automation, management of business information, marketing automation, in-depth business reporting, call center management, cloud-based customer relationship management, and point-and-click customization of applications. 3. Cloud-Based Management Information System Let us now analyze the way cloud computing can be used to manage business information. Cloud based management information system is the technology that helps users and businesses in performing all tasks related to information management. As Tosic et al. (2011, p. 1) states, “Many organizations are attracted to cloud computing as an ICT”. In traditional settings, the complete responsibility to develop, configure, customize, implement the management information system is on the shoulders of employees of the MIS department of a company. They have to look after all issues related to data management. On the other hand, in case of cloud computing services, all workload is upon the cloud services providing company as it has to mange all information related activities itself instead of leaving some tasks for the users. The users only need to store information in the required slots. All other tasks, such as, information management, retrieval, assembling, restore, and report generation are done by the cloud based MIS. For example, if a user needs a report to analysis of some particular set of data, he/she will have to write the query to the system and the system will provide the report to the user. The report will not contain any irrelevant information. Moreover, there is a very little amount of workload on users as they only need to update the system regularly with the business related information. 3.1 No Need to Hire IT Professionals Another benefit of cloud MIS is that it eliminates the need to hire information technology experts to develop and manage the system. This also reduces the need to give heavy salaries to the IT professionals. In addition, it also eliminates the cost of developing the management information system as a company can use the pre-designed information system using cloud services. 3.2 Help in Operating MIS Operating a management information system is not an easy task as users may have to deal with some complex, such as, maintenance of the MIS, troubleshooting in case of bugs, identifying the most suitable measure to remove the bugs, and implementing new systems if the old system stops working. Cloud MIS eliminates all these issues by providing a reliable and free of flaws management information system. 3.3 Some Other Benefits As Gilenson (2012, p. 1) states, “Cloud in conjunction with other technology trends such as virtualization, makes it possible to create large and highly automated sets of computing resources”. Some other benefits of using cloud based MIS include low initial development capital investment, user-friendly interface, eliminated need of developing a new MIS in case the old one stops working, ease of integration with proprietary systems, and reduced workload. Some more benefits include improved organization and efficiency of business processes, large storage capacity, low risk regarding system failure, and improved customer service. Basic and complex document management, simple storage and information retrieval, and functional data storage add to the benefits of using Cloud MIS (Porter-Roth 2012). 3.4 Ethical Issues regarding Cloud MIS Privacy of data can be a concern for companies that use Cloud based MIS. The issue is that expert network hackers may find some way to download the private information of companies from the Cloud MIS. Therefore, it is an ethical obligation of the cloud services providing companies to implement preventive measures to decrease or reduce the risk of data loss for their customers. 3.5 Legislation Regulating the Use of Cloud Computing A recent legislation that governs the use of cloud computing is the ‘Cloud Computing Act of 2012’. The bill provides extra protection to the users regarding the use of cloud services by regulating the activities and services of the cloud using the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. 4. Conclusion Summing it up, Cloud based management information system is a developing technology that has the potential to offer a wide range of benefits for its users some of which include user-friendly interface, no need to hire IT professionals, low capital investment, improved efficiency, and increased data storage capacity. It also reduces the workload for its users by managing all information management related activities on its own. However, some privacy or ethical concerns exist that cloud computing still needs to address in order to make the technology more reliable and attractive for users. 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