Impact of Information Technology on Business: A Case Study of Barclays Bank

This report analyses the impact of information technology on business with a case study of Barclays Bank. It covers the ethical and social issues, computer networks and their types, and artificial intelligence.

INTRODUCTION TO
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................2
Literature review .............................................................................................................................2
Analysis and discussion .................................................................................................................3
Impact of IT on business.............................................................................................................3
Ethical and social issues that pertain to running business...........................................................4
Computer Networks and their types with their impact on businesses........................................6
Artificial intelligence..................................................................................................................7
Advantages and disadvantages of information technology ............................................................8
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

ABSTRACT
The information technology is becoming the essential part of individual's lives as it helps
in bringing several aspects in an organisation such as cloud computing, data analytic etc. It helps
in attract the large group of potential customers by which they can rightly sale their product in
the large market. It also helps in taking effective decisions and provide satisfactory results to the
customers by which they can build strong bond with their potential buyers. Organisations are
facing ethical and social issues which are pertaining t information technology and includes
protection of information, privacy etc. there are various networks by which the information is
being stored and connected such as LAN, WAN, MAN. Moreover, The artificial intelligence has
the significant role in the organisation which helps in improving the communications.
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INTRODUCTION
Information technology is the use of any computers, networking and other physical
devices, infrastructure and processes to create, process,store, secure and exchange all forms of
electronic data. In the commercial field, IT encompasses both telecommunications and computer
technology. It also involves the use of networking and other storage devices n order to exchange
the data and the information in the form of electronic data(Wang, Kaushal and Khullar, 2020).
The information technology is the computer system which includes all software, hardware and
peripheral equipment's which is being operated y the IT users. It also helps in having the great
impact on the functionality of the business as it refers to the skills, process and techniques which
is being used for the scientific investigation and production of products and services. the overall
advancement in the technology helps in improving the business operations and accomplishment
of the given task on given time. Barclays is the chosen organisation for this report, It is the
British multinational universal bank which is headquartered in London, England. It is the public
limited company which is being operated by the Nigel Higgins, chairman of the bank. They are
operating in commercial banks, investment banks, retail banking and private banks. The
company is founded in 1690 in the city of London. This report will cover the impact of
information technology on business and also analyse the social and ethical issues which are
existing in the business environment. Moreover, It will evaluate the different types computer
networks and their impact on business. Lastly, It will analyse the advantage and disadvantage of
information technology and Artificial intelligence.
MAIN BODY
Literature review
In current time, information technology is the essential tool which helps in meeting the
competitive edges in the economy. With the effective use of the this, the productivity of the
company can be enhanced with the efficiency by saving time, efforts and money. In maintaining
the employee data and record and tracking the process which the use of information technology
that is very vital for the company (Wang, Teo and Janssen, 2021). This technology is related to
the computing technology which also covers the internet as an example that comes under the
Umbrella term IT. The information technology is available to the ventures and customer 24*7
across the globe related to the banking activities. Such companies is having the three basic parts-
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computational data processing, business software and decision support. These aspects also helps
in developing business and technical skills which gives the interesting job opportunities such as
system analyser, web designers etc. IT consists of networking, hardware and software in which
data is communicated and then processes by designing and implementing the computer
networks. For maintaining and developing the computer networks, it is vital to use the services
and support infrastructure in order to access and manage the information so that it can be rightly
used in the various banking areas.
Analysis and discussion
Impact of IT on business
In the market, there are various benefits of digital tool which is accessing to enhance the
digitalization in the business. The information technology includes innovation and advancement
and the demand of technology is increasing and resources are being efficiently utilised in the
business. This also helping the Barclays bank to access the data and information in generating
higher profits. In the modern era, supervision of the individual is required for the use and the
development of the technology(Schwendicke and et. al., 2021). In order to have success and
working efficiently, the bank needs to use updated information by which they can deal with the
mass clients and other ventures. The bank is providing the online services to the customers so
that it will be easier and quick to store all the information by their own. There are various factors
which sin impacting in enhancing the operations of the business are given below:
 Automation of business process- Information technology helps in automation of the
business process by which the efficiency and working can be improved. It also minimise
the operational cost and time is being saved with the help of automation and it leads to
speed up all the task. This also helps in processing the business activities which includes
the collection of customer data, billing and tracking metrics and monitoring the certain
process with the help of automation.
 Cloud computing- It is the concept which is related to the aspects which provide
efficiency the business operations. It is also used to capitalize the ability to offer
improved resources and time management for the business. In order to accomplish the
task effectively, It is require to have the good connection of internet by which they can
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enhance the collaboration as different services which can be rendered virtually to the
various groups to share the information and the data which is stored in the systems.
 Providing customer satisfaction- It is the major aspects which is needed for the better
customer experience. It is the key to satisfy the customers and cater their certain
requirements(Radu and Smaili, 2021). In context to Barclays bank, the information
technology helps in having the effective communication in order solve their problems.
This also hive access to use the email, social media and other platforms for messaging
which is being given to bank. Happy customer is the key aspects which contributes to the
growth of the business and various cloud-based communication channels have enhance
the customer experience.
 Protection of information- There is huge data base which is being stored by the business
and it is the valuable resources for the company. There are various issues which is being
created with the lose of data such as personal data, banking transactions and this is
necessary for the Barclays bank to keep their information safe. There must be right tools
must be used to protect the information by they can ensure the safety of information.
Virtual storage system gives the limited users to access the information which can reduce
the hacking and keep safe data.
Ethical and social issues that pertain to running business
Information technology is majorly can be sued to store, fetch and manipulate the
information by having the operating system server. The applicability of information technology
is wide as it become the important part of in educational and health department (Prasad, Vaidya
and Mangipudi, 2020). AS the growth of the access of the information technology have caused
the major change in the society as the internal facility which is being provided with the unlimited
information. There are various social and ethical issues which are given below:
Ethical Issues
 Personal privacy- In the field of information technology, It is becoming the ethical
issues for the violation and the disclosing of the information of any individual as the
information is being transferred in the bulk quantity due to the expansion of networks on
large segment. These are the aspects which helps the users of having their own operating
system, hardware, software and related tools which can be linked to each other in order to
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operate the servers with the help of networks. In context to Barclays, It is the major
aspects and the challenge which is existing in the IT sector as integrity of data.
 Harmful actions- These are the actions which are harmful and negatively impact by
demanding the information technology such as loss of property, loss of essential
information, undesirable impacts and the ownership. It is strictly restricted for the
outsiders to use the information of the company without any prior information which can
impact the loss of any employee, users or to the general public ( Prasad, Vaidya and
Mangipudi, 2020). These such actions are basis of intentional destruction or alteration of
the files which can leads to have loss of resources like important information. In order to
recover such harmful actions, more time and efforts is being devoted in order to reduce
the viruses from the computer systems.
 Access rights- For IT companies, having access to the certain rights is becoming the
priority issue in the betterment in the technology. When the individual is having
unauthorised access to the particular networks on the internet which can leads to have
major impact and the unappropriated actions. The e-commerce and the electronic
payments system becoming the frequent application or the method which is being used
by the general public and which is also becoming the serious issue for the government
bodies and the companies.
Social Issues
 Identity theft- This is the major social issues which is being faced by the customers as
their information being used by the third party without the authorisation with the
malicious purpose of fraud by doing online transactions. In context to Barclays, They are
bringing many privacy sources in order to avoid the frauds related to the employees and
the customers.
 Breakdown of communication- In the digital era, It is the another major issue due to
excess use of information technology and their channels. People use to connect on social
media instead of social gathering and the potable devices give the access to the
information and many entertainment watch outs (Lee, Kim and Jeong, 2020). But this
leads to reduce the bond and the family communication. In context to Barclays, they
communicate to the customers directly in order to maintain the effective communication
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in them. They are handling their operation trough online and the minimum visit to the
branch office.
 Online banking- It is the services which is being provides by all most every bank to
access the transaction form their mobile phone but on the same side it is becoming the
issue to secure the data and the information which is being stored in the mobile
application. This can leads to hacking of the mobile phone or the computer systems and
results in theft of the personal data and money of the users.
Computer Networks and their types with their impact on businesses
Computer network is the set of computers in which by the network nodes in which two or
more computer are connected with the aim of transferring, transmitting the data and the
resources. It involves the multiple devices to have the effective communication through two
devices and also helps in having the better connection within the operations. It also includes he
routers, switches, bridges and hubs which are the hardware and the business application in the
computer network(Jain, Katarya and Sachdeva, 2020). As per the size and the purpose of
different computer networking, It is available to share the information. The nodes includes the
optics, wireless communication which connect the computer and to define the how to receive and
sent the information, it follow the protocols which uses the IP address for each devices and there
are different types of computer networks are as follows:
LAN (Local area network)- It is the type of network in which computer is connected to
each other in the small area. It can building, offices and schools. Through a communication
medium two or more personal computer is connected with the help of coaxial cable and twisted
wires etc. The speed of transferring the data is high and provides higher security. This network is
owned and managed privately. It consists of wired network wireless both. In context to Barclays
bank, it is helps in reduction of cost and by using Ethernet cables, the devices are connected and
easily setup by using single internet services in the business. This also helps in improving the
productivity and security and the information with the username and the password.
MAN (Metropolitan area network)- It is defined as the network which operates in the
large geographical location to form the large network by interconnecting the deferment
LAN(Franco and et. al., 2021). In order to connect the private industries and the citizen and the
government agencies use MAN. It is the high range network which is used by airlines
reservation, collages within the city, etc. the size of the MAN is smaller than the WAN and it
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impact the MAN on the business of Barclays which give link to computer through internet
connection in long term metropolitan region. It is less expensive and the internet connection is
being shared between the users and can send the emails faster which gives high security to the
business.
WAN (Wide area network)- It is the network which is extended to the states, countries
with the telephone line, fibre optic cable and satellite link. WAN is the biggest network than
LAN and MAN. Organisation such as Barclays bank uses wide area network to connect different
sites, remote employees and the certain data centres so it is vital to access the information and
data in an easy approach( Wongsuparatkul and Sinthupinyo, 2020). The impact of WAN on the
business provide traffic to the company and having direct communication between the locations
and the data is transmit which gives security to the information.
Artificial intelligence
The artificial intelligence defines as the machine made intelligence process in which all
the simulations are intended to be taken through the human processes. It involves all the highly
advanced computer system through which all the work and the assigning of task are been
performed. The main agenda of all the artificial intelligence is to to overcome all the hurdles and
also to solve the issues which are challenging for the human mind and in general areas. This is
founded in 1965, the main focus of the artificial intelligence involves the planning, knowledge,
reasoning and perception. It also defines that how the people make the best use of certain
technology and also helps in rationalize the actions to be taken in order to attain the goal. It is the
machine which automatically leans the computer programming and the fresh data which is being
adapted without the human interventions(Bhagat, Tung and Yaseen, 2020). Artificial intelligence
is having the four approaches that are thinking humanly, thinking rationally, acting rationally,
acting humanly which results in effective reasoning and processes. The artificial intelligence
play significant role in providing the various opportunities to the business and the influence of
AI for improving the business activities are given below:
Business insights are generated to take smart decisions- In the modern era, data is the
valuable assets for the organisation. With the help of artificial intelligence, the data can be easily
processes as the answers is being provided to the questions in an easy approach. Additionally, AI
machines also giving relevant information and the analysis in order to meet the needs of the
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customer as it is very fast in accessing the data and the information in comparison to the human
being.
Reducing errors- Artificial intelligence gives the accuracy in comparison to the human
being and it range from 99% to 100%.when all the data is being handle by human being then
they forecasts the cash flow which is time consuming whereas AI reduces the errors while
forecasting the cash flow. As it initiate the growth of accuracy without any manual interference
in the predication of cash flow and also increases the chances of business growth. In Barclays
bank, all the forecasting of cash flow is done with the help of artificial intelligence which
minimises the errors and leads to higher the opportunities and the growth chances in the
business.
Productivity is enhanced through artificial intelligence- when the work load of the
employees can be reduces then it leads to having the efficiency in their given job role and they
tends to achieve the predefined goal of the company(Bambauer-Sachse and Helbling, 2021).
The artificial intelligence offers the real time assistance as they are having customer care services
constantly. In Barclays bank, they are reducing the work load which increases the productivity of
the employees for the better results.
Advantages and disadvantages of information technology
The information technology helps Barclays bank to improve the business services as they
are offering many online services such as online payments which also improves the
communication by using tool of electronic mail which helps in flow of information within the
operations. It also store the data which reduces the paper work and make best use of technology
by saving time. In context to Barclays,the customer relationship can be improved with the
effective use of technology by which they can provide information to their clients related their
schemes and the offerings such as investing banking, credit cards, online banking etc.
The disadvantage of IT are, it incurred huge investment cost and lot of time and money to
maintaining the technology. The e-commerce website collect he personal data by using the
cookies and product related to the information given. It also crates the unemployment due to less
use of human being and the company is also having the data security issue as data can be used
and hacked in Barclays bank.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that information technology has a great impact on
the organisation, it builds communications network for the organisation safeguarding data and
information, helping employee troubleshoot problem with their computer and doing of other
work to ensure the security of business. All important documents are stored safely in a separate it
department which is maintained by the organisation. A company faces many ethical and social
issue due to the technology advancement. The information is transferred and shared through
LAN, WAN and MAN in the computer network. The artificial intelligence enhance the business
operation which has its own significance at the workplace and perform task very efficiently.
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REFERENCES
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