Technologies for Business - Term Paper Example

Introduction Start up businesses face many difficulties in their initial phase of development as they not only face financial constraints but alsohave to take care of other delicacies of doing business. 2. With the advent of globalization, it has now become important for businesses of any size to integrate information technology into their fold in order to remain competitive. 3. There are different options available to companies to integrate information technology tools and techniques however, it is also important to note that extent of information technology also depends upon the magnitude and financial strength as well as peculiar requirements of such organizations. 4. However, there are certain technologies which every organization may need to integrate in order to remain functional as well as productive at the same time. It is also important to note that investments in such technologies still depend upon as to how the new firms perceive themselves and how they interact with their market and its participants. 5. It is critical to note that success and failure of such technologies also depends upon the way you project yourself and your company. Normally, small and start up businesses are largely dependent upon the person who is running the whole show therefore the business vision as well as strategic direction of the company which it is going to take. 6. The available technologies which can serve the basic purpose functionality as well as advanced functionalities for the firm include operating systems, PHP, .NET, Java Beans, J2EE, Java Scripting, FLASH, MySQL, ORACLE, SQL SERVER, SAAS and AJAX. 7. These technologies are easily available at relatively low expect few technologies such as Oracle etc. Start up businesses can easily integrate them into viable information technology solutions to remain competitive. 8. It is also important to note that these technologies offer different opportunities however, on the other hand there are associated risks with using such technologies also and start up businesses, due to their lack of expertise in each area, may find it difficult to utilize all such technologies to their fullest advantage. 9. This presentation will discuss some of the risks and opportunities offered by above technologies besides discussing as to how and why they can be suitable for the businesses. Operating Systems "The purpose of an operating system is to organize and control hardware and software so that the device it lives in behaves in a flexible but predictable way."(http://computer.howstuffworks.com).1 There are normally two types of operating system which are in use. These are: MS -Windows Operating System 1. Microsoft Windows Operating system is one of the most widely used operating systems in the world. 2. It is used in more than 90% of the computers in use. 3. It is based on graphical user interface technology. 4. There are different versions of this operating system as from time, Microsoft has made changes to its system in order to accommodate new and more demanding technological requirements. 5. It is not that much costly and can run on any machine regardless of hardware configuration. Other operating systems such as Apple Mac can only run on the PCs made by Apple itself. Linux 1. Linux is the only open source freeware operating system in the world which is easily available. 2. It is technically one of the most sophisticated operating system and is mostly run on the servers meant for networking and storage requirements. 3. Linux is based on UNIX based operating system and support different programming languages. 4. This operating system however would be only suitable if business is willing to run some online services and require on-going server support. Other Technologies PHP 1. PHP is one of the scripting languages which are used for writing dynamic and interactive websites. 2. PHP is highly flexible and robust and can be imbedded into HTML. 3. This is an easy to use language and can be used for developing dynamic websites such as online web stores, shopping carts etc. 4. One of the most critical aspects of PHP is the fact that it takes input from different sources and produce output into HTML etc. .Net 1. .Net is offered by Microsoft and is one of the main offerings of Microsoft. 2. It is basically a library of different codes and supports different languages and is also critical to support virtual machine operations. 3. .Net is used on the MS Windows operating system and is considered as must for running Windows in most optimized way. 4. It is critical that operating system running on the PCs of the businesses must be supported by the .Net framework which is a freely available from Microsoft. 5. There are different versions of .Net framework which supports the different versions of Windows Operating System. 6. It is however, critical to note that .Net framework tends to take most of the system resources and if hardware configuration is not optimized with the software environment, it can really slow down the system. Java Beans 1. Java Beans are reusable software components which are used in the Java language in building websites. 2. They can only be used with Java. 3. Java Beans are only used if business wants to build its own websites and want some specific functionality in their dynamic websites. J2EE 1. J2EE is considered as the Industry Standard for implementing enterprise- class architecture in different web applications. 2. J2EE is an extended version of the Java Platform Standard Edition. 3. This is used in programming and building dynamic websites which basically interact with users. 4. It is widely used for the Server level programming and is one of the high end next generation tools for building dynamic websites. 5. J2EE is offered as a separate certification from Java therefore requires specialized knowledge. 6. J2EE is therefore used by highly trained programmers and small businesses may require programmers to effectively use J2EE. Java Scripting 1. Java scripting is an scripting language which can be used to gain access to different other components imbedded into other applications. 2. Java Scripting is also used outside web applications and is used in different tools such as widgets etc. 3. Java Scripting is not related with Java however, both are related in the sense that both are used for almost similar purposes. FLASH 1. Flash is one of the most popularly used programs to add animations to websites and other different applications. 2. Flash can be effectively used for developing more attractive marketing campaigns due to its rich graphical contents. Oracle 1. Oracle is a relational database system which can be used to develop interactive databases. 2. Oracle is expensive and may not be a proper choice for a small start up business. 3. Databases are developed where there is a great amount of data which need to be easily manipulated and customized for different uses. SQL Server 1. SQL Server is a relational database server used primarily as a query language. 2. In order to communicate with a database such as Oracle, SQL server can be used to retrieve data from the database. 3. SQL Server can only be utilized with a database and may not be of great use for a small business with limited resources as well as data. SAAS 1. Service as a service is an on-demand software deployment where as developer allows its users to use the software as a service. 2. It is one of the most unique and latest developments into the field of information technology where developers or providers may either host the software on their own servers or download it on the servers of the clients and then disable it after the expiry of service contracts. 3. SAAS is one of the most cost effective and viable options for a small business because by adapting such services, small businesses can virtually be free from maintaining and deploying costly software. 4. SAAS is a risky in the sense that control of data remains within the access of vendors and businesses may not have the complete control over their I.T. processes. AJAX 1. Like Java and other languages, AJAX is a language too which is used to develop interactive websites. 2. AJAX provides better functionality as compared to other applications because of its ability to interact with the server in more efficient manner without consuming too many resources. It also resources the bandwidth usage. 3. AJAX itself is not a technology but a group of technologies which are combined together to deliver more prominent results. 4. AJAX can be used in developing interactive websites or web stores. Valid combinations 1. A new and start up business may use MS Windows operating system along with some SAAS services such as Google Apps to fulfilling their word processing as well as spreadsheet requirements. 2. In order to develop a website, the new businesses may use AJAX as a valid technological tool to build an interactive website so that the business can have a presence in the virtual world also. Read More