Foundations of Business Computing - Assignment Example

Running Header: Foundations of Business Computing Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission: Table of Contents Date of Submission: 1 Table of Contents 2 1.0 Business Outsourcing 3 2.0 Information technology and information system 3 3.0 Databases 4 4.0 Technical knowledge 5 5.0 Current technology. 5 6.0 Challenges of operating in the digital world. 6 7.0 Information systems 6 8.0 Information accuracy, information privacy and information property 7 Question 8: Compare and contrast information accuracy, information privacy and information property 7 9.0 Government regulation to e-commerce 7 10. Risk analysis 8 11.0 Advantages and disadvantages of Web-based collaboration tools 8 12. Data mining and Visualization 9 13. Ethical issues 9 1.0 Business Outsourcing Question 1: Describe the reasons why organisations are choosing to out-source business activities. Answer: Outsourcing is giving another company or an individual to perform particular tasks of the organisation of which it pays for the service. For example a communication company can outsource marketing services from an advertising company and they pay for the service. There are several reasons why the organisations outsource: one of the main reasons for outsourcing is to reduce cost that are involved in the service and hence increase the profit margin of the organisation. The company may not have enough resources to perform the outsourced activities (Valacich & Schneider, 2012). The organisations may outsource to increase efficiency in its processes and also to be able to put more concentration on the major activities of the organisation. Finally the organisation may outsource for it to compensate for the skills it does not have. 2.0 Information technology and information system Question 2: Define and contrast technology, information technology and information system. Answer: Information technology and information system are fields of study which are very close and they have overlapping topics. Information systems are built to distribute, store, modify and create information. The information systems were present even before the computers were invented. They comprise the combination of technology, processes, machines and people. Information systems are considered to be used everywhere even in places where computers are not used (Valacich & Schneider, 2012). On the other hand information technology is a part of the information systems. It deals with the part of the technology i.e. software, operating systems, servers and hardware. Information technology started when the computers were invented and it has advanced with time (Stogdill, 2008). In the earlier days the only desktop computers that were available but these days the technology has evolved to laptops computers, Ipads and tablets. The latest information technology use is the cloud computing where all information is processed at one central server. Generally information technology is a part of the information system. 3.0 Databases Question 3: Describe why databases have become so important to modern organisations. Answer: Databases are used by organisation to store their data securely and they can be accessed conveniently. Modern organisations have embraced the use of databases so that they can organize and arrange data. They also use it to keep track of the inventory, employees and customers. Databases help organisations to retrieve, store and organize information as effectively and efficiently as possible. This helps the organisation to run its activities very efficiently and also to reduce cost (Sanborn, 2009). Using the current technology reduces a lot of paper work and this reduces cost that could be incurred by the organisation. Databases are very efficient and can store a lot of information which can be accessed with ease. 4.0 Technical knowledge Question 4: List and define three technical knowledge and/or skills core competencies. Answer: Technical knowledge and skills can be the abilities and the knowledge that is required to perform some tasks such as computing, scientific, engineering and mathematical. Those that are called technicians they normally have the technical skills. One of the core competencies is the ability to give out quality and timely work without being supervised and using the right tools in the line of duty (Shneiderman, 2008). The other competence is to apply knowledge and experience when working out assignment and in the problem solving. This clearly indicates that being knowledgeable is one of the key elements of the workers in any organisations and it should be applied everywhere. The other element of knowledge is to work efficiently and to always acknowledge mistakes and learn from them. 5.0 Current technology. Question 5: The current technology to business managers Answer: According to computerworld.com website the current and ‘hot’ technology is the cloud computing. Cloud computing is where all the computing services are provided under one platform to the clients or to the business using one server i.e. the provision of the infrastructure and the software. There are several reasons why this technology is ‘hot’ to businesses. The service helps to reduce cost that is used to run the organisation (Archie & Stephen, 2010). The services provided by cloud computing are many. Software is just installed in one computer and all computers can access it via the internet. The hardware that is used is minimal hence reducing the cost of installing servers everywhere. The maintenance of the infrastructure it is cheap and it ca n be upgraded with ease. Many organisation are adopting the technology because is easy to use, cheap in terms of cost and efficient. 6.0 Challenges of operating in the digital world. Question 6: List and contrast three challenges of operating in the digital world Answer: One of the challenges of operating in the digital world is the ‘information overload’. This is where an individual has a lot of information and it becomes difficult to come up with the right conclusion because of the information that is present to him. The information age all the information in world is in the internet and with all this information at one’s disposal it can be very difficult to make some conclusions (Nielsen, 2006). The other challenge of the digital world is lack of privacy and security. The present social media like the facebook.com and tweeter individual information can be spread all over and the mane of that person can be destroyed. The other challenge that is presented by the digital world is the moral decay. The internet has pornographic materials which cause moral decay to the society and causing sex addictions to the community. 7.0 Information systems Question 7: What are four major types of Information Systems and how do organisations use them for competitive advantage? Answer: One of the information systems that are used in organisations is the operational level systems. This is used by the operational managers to monitor the transactions and activities in the organization in daily bases. It helps the managers to keep tract of the activities in the organization. The other type is the knowledge level that is used to support data workers in carrying out the paperwork, distributing the information and designing of the products in the organization. The other type is the management level system (Valacich & Schneider, 2012). This helps in administrative activities, decision making, controlling and monitoring of activities. The other type is the strategic level systems which are used by the senior management to plan activities of long term. 8.0 Information accuracy, information privacy and information property Question 8: Compare and contrast information accuracy, information privacy and information property Answer: Information accuracy is used to determine how accurate is the information we are accessing how it can be useful. The accuracy is used to determine the credibility of the writer or the author. Information accuracy is all about provision of information to the readers that is accurate for the purpose that is intended. In most of the cases accuracy is determined by the reader asking himself probing questions and putting in practice critical thinking (Monk & Wright, 2007). Information privacy can be treated as the relationship between dissemination and collection of data. The privacy in normally concerned by where the information is stored and where it was collected from and if the information should remain private it is not supposed to released to the public. On the other hand information property is to protect information from being taken by another person without the permission of the author. 9.0 Government regulation to e-commerce Question 9: What type of government regulations might be regarded by some as potential inhibitors to ecommerce and why? Name an example of such a government regulation either in Australia or overseas. Answer: There are several governments’ business laws and regulations and these laws do affect the growth of the ecommerce. These laws and regulation cover electronic contracts, mobile communications, distribution, copyrights, content, pricing, data protection, privacy, taxation, limited internet access, the operation and design of websites, services of online payments and quality of services (Jansen & Pooch, 2007). The personal privacy, libel and property ownership do apply to e-commerce and internet. One of the regulations we have is in the internet usage where the government have put a lot of regulation in the fibre optic cable. This makes it hard to access the internet very easily and prevents growth in the technology sector. 10. Risk analysis Question 10: Explain why it is necessary to conduct a ‘risk analysis’ as a first step in creating an information systems security plan. Answer: Risk analysis is the procedure of analyzing and defining the dangers to government agencies, businesses and individuals. In the technology world it is very important to perform risk analysis when creating an information system. The analysis will help determine any threat that threat which are likely to occur and come up with countermeasures to reduce any attack (Valacich & Schneider, 2012). Security is one of the critical areas in the information system and necessary measures should be taken reduce any vulnerability of the system and to make sure that it is secure. 11.0 Advantages and disadvantages of Web-based collaboration tools Question 11: What are the advantages and disadvantages of Web-based collaboration tools Answer: Web based tools are very useful and they are normally divided by installation and access. To utilize the web based collaboration tool one has to have an online account. One of the advantages of them is the idea of adding and deleting. These tools can be accessed everywhere by any one and they should be considered useful for any work (Valacich & Schneider, 2012). They allow collaboration which is real time in text editing and changes are effected immediately. One of the disadvantages is that exporting and importing files is not always easy for the users. They do not work best with the internet explorer. 12. Data mining and Visualization Question 12: How can data mining and visualization be used to gain business intelligence and improve decision making? Answer: Data mining is the analyzing of large amount of data in database systems, statistics, and machine learning and even in artificial intelligence. The main reason for this is to come up with knowledge which is understandable in human nature while visualization of data is the data representation for the people to understand (Haykin & Moher, 2009). First data mining is done to come up with relevant information and then the data is represented to the readers in an understandable manner. Both data mining and visualization are very important to businesses because they are used in decision making and also to provide the best alternative which can be used. 13. Ethical issues Question 13: Four major ethical issues in computing have been identified as Property, Privacy, Access and Accuracy. In January 2011, the MegaUpload web site was shut down, and owners and senior managers of the company arrested. Review the news breaks on this issue and discuss what impact you think this case has on the four major ethical issues. How has this closure impacted the various potential users of MegaUpload? What do you think the future holds for other file sharing web sites? Answer: The website was shut down because the company that hosted the website had violated some rules. The information that was in the website was supposed to be protected and copyright rules state that information should not be duplicated. The privacy should be observed all the time but this company did not observe it (Walsham, 2006). The information that was hosted by that website was no accurate and it misled the users. The users of the website will be devastated and they will lose trust with the company and they might not use the site even if it comes back to use. The future of the file sharing web sites is uncertain because they are under scrutiny for any activity they perform. References Archie, R., & Stephen, B. (2010), Silver clouds: A concise guide to silver lining, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Haykin, S., & Moher, M. (2009), Introduction to computing, Prentice Hall: New Jersey Jansen, B., & Pooch, U., (2007), ``A review of Web searching studies and a framework for future research’’, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 63, No. 5, pp. 232-66. Monk, A., & Wright, P. (2007), Improving your Human-Computer Inter-face, New York: Prentice Hall. Nielsen, J. (2006) Usability Engineering, San Diego, California: Academic Press Shneiderman, B. (2008) Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective User Interface Interaction, MA: Addison Wesley Longman Sanborn, M. (2009). Introduction to Business Process Outsourcing, New York:Doubleday. Stogdill, R. (2008) information systems, New York: Free Press. Valacich, J., & Schneider, C. (2012) Information Systems Today, Upper Saddle River State, NJ: Pearson Walsham, G., (2006) Interpreting Information Systems in Organisations, New York: Wiley & Sons Read More