Integrated Professional Skills in Digital Age ( Pass Criteria )

This report focuses on the changes in Information and communication technology in recent times. The collaboration ICT tools which have supported team collaboration during the pandemic are identified and discussed in this report. Cloud storage, privacy and security challenges are also the focus of discussion of this report. Apart from this, the significance and viewpoint on crypto currency is also provided in this report.

Integrated
professional
skills in the
digital age
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Identification and discussion on two collaboration tools.......................................................3
Discussion on cloud storage in improving digitization..........................................................5
Identification and discussion on privacy and security challenges..........................................8
Importance of crypto currency for business...........................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................12
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INTRODUCTION
The communication devices and applications used for communication along with the
infrastructure used for modern computing in contemporary businesses come under the term
information and communication technology (Arthanat, 2021). This report focuses on the changes
in Information and communication technology in recent times. The collaboration ICT tools
which have supported team collaboration during the pandemic are identified and discussed in
this report. Cloud storage, privacy and security challenges are also the focus of discussion of this
report. Apart from this, the significance and viewpoint on crypto currency is also provided in this
report.
MAIN BODY
Identification and discussion on two collaboration tools
Collaboration is significant for achieving high performance result in the workplace.
Effective collaboration at the workplace improves the way in which employees work together
and helps in solving problems quickly. This is beneficial for the company as it improves
innovation efficiency success communication and timely attainment of business goals. COVID-
19 has changed various business habits including the way in which employees collaborate at the
workplace. During the pandemic many companies just to suddenly convert all the non-
fundamental on-site personnel into remote workers and find new innovative ways through which
they are able to communicate and collaborate with each other to resume effective functioning of
the company. This achieved by innovative usage of information and communication technology
and the implementation of information and communication technology tools forgot
collaboration. The significance of information and communication technology tools which were
used for communication and collaboration during the pandemic are explained below:
Office 365
This is this software as a service solution which includes conventional Microsoft Office desktop
application Microsoft application services and Productivity Tools which can be used by
businesses as consumable services from within the cloud platform on Microsoft Azure
(Benckendorff, Xiang and Sheldon, 2019). This software has different tools which support
collaboration at the workplace and have assisted in improving remote working during the
pandemic.
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The most helpful collaboration tool included in office 365 is Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams
is a persistent chat-based collaboration platform which helps in sharing documents, conducting
online meetings and other features which support better business communication. Microsoft
Themes offers conversation board for team mates where team members can view and add to
different conversations in the general channel and invite other members to conversation. This
feature supports flexible location between different members of a team and also cross department
communication (Gardner and et. al., 2019).
Apart from this, there is also a basic chat function which helps in collaboration between team
groups and individuals and the document sharing and storage facility. Customization of security
services to protect sensitive data during document sharing and storage also makes this part of the
Office 365 full helpful in business communication and collaboration. Online video calling and
screen sharing function Helps in seamless and fast video calls and multi user real time
collaboration (Jimenez-Jimenez and et. al., 2019). There is also a feature for conducting business
meetings which includes scheduling aid note taking application file uploading an in meeting chat
messages so that digital meetings can be held during remote working.
Microsoft has recently introduced a new feature in Office 365 which supports team sharing and
integration by ruling out file sharing and access control experience in Microsoft Teams. This
feature is helpful for team collaboration because it will create the option to produce sharing links
that provide access to anyone people within the company people with existing access or specific
people including those in private or group chat so that files can be shared seamlessly. All these
features of Office 65 supported effective collaboration across teams during the pandemic and
improved collaboration at the workplace.
Remote HQ
The primary disadvantage associated with collaborative tools such as Office 365 and
other Microsoft products is that it is limited to a specific ecosystem which only provides
advantages results if the business is logged into these ecosystem. This introduces the demand for
third party solutions which end work effectively in different ecosystems. Remote HQ is an
innovative software solution which focuses on offering a lag free screen sharing technology
which allows multiple users to collaborate in different ecosystems increasing the collaborative
ability of an organization.
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This collaboration information and communication technology tool offers a collaborative
shared browser which adds another layer of interaction in website and web-based application
(Khatwani and Srivastava, 2018). With the help of this information and communication
technology tool different collaboration apps can be introduced in the workplace which enables
organic collaboration between employees it also helps connect with potential consumers similar
to in a physical environment. This collaboration tool is helpful for small businesses during
remote working as it not only connects employees but also helps the company reach consumers
and communicate with them in a lag free environment.
The most advantages feature of this tool is that it enables team and employees to jointly
control any website or web based application instantly with no requirement for software
download. This make the tool easy to use for small businesses and consumers who are not highly
knowledgeable about digital tools. It offers a frictionless experience while dealing with daily
operations in a remote working environment as employees are able to access various website
web applications forms and documents on other participants screens easily.
Employees are also able to enter data on spreadsheets Sign up forms and click through
web links just as simply as using any other browser. This which makes the experience of remote
working better as the tools or the website accessed by employees are running locally on the
machine even if they are running of a remote server in other location. This feature makes this
information communication tool ideal for collaboration during the pandemic (Kramer, Lee and
Guo, 2019).
Discussion on cloud storage in improving digitization
In the current age cloud-based infrastructure is essential for achieving digital transformation and
delivering flexible on demand access to the resources which support digital offerings of the
company (Lloyd, 2020). Cloud based infrastructure assists organisations in achieving scalability
of digital infrastructure as required in order to deal with changing business priorities and
reducing digital risk of wastage of information and communication technology resources. The
advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing and cloud technology in context of enabling
digitisation of business firms is provided below:
Advantages
 Back-up and restoring data: Cloud computing and cloud infrastructure helps business
firms in data storage and also restoring backup data. This Merritt of cloud computing
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supports digital transformation as business firms are able to effectively manage large data
sets and store data in a manner which supports effective usage of data by every employee.
This helps in digitising various business functions and improves knowledge management
at the company which further supports digitization.
 Better Collaboration: Cloud applications enhanced collaboration between teams and
individuals by enabling groups of peoples too quickly and easily share information with
the help of cloud and shared storage. In this way data can be moved across departments
and gained from external sources to continue effective functioning of the company
(Shobande and Ogbeifun, 2022). This what does dictation as data movement in the
company becomes more fluid and digital collaboration is facilitated.
 Improved accessibility: The usage of cloud computing and cloud infrastructure in a
company improves accessibility of data to every employee as they are able to use and end
data in a simple manner. Digitally native employees as well as older generation of
workers can easily utilise cloud storage applications two store and share data with others
which improves accessibility of different types of data at the company. In this way, the
whole workforce is able to participate in digital transformation and accelerates the
process of digitization at the company.
 Low Maintenance Cost: This advantage of cloud computing and cloud infrastructure
makes it beneficial for facilitating digital transformation at small businesses. The
hardware and software maintenance and is lowered because of cloud computing
which allows digital transformation in small and medium sized organisation.
Disadvantages
 Connectivity: The main disadvantage of cloud computing is related to downtime and
Internet connectivity (Sodhar and et. al., 2019). About computing infrastructure is Internet
based and ineffective Internet connectivity leads to lag time which can occur for various
reasons. This not only disrupts the functioning of businesses but also is a reason for extra
expenditure in organisation. There is also no immunity for this issue which leads to
interruption in critical business processes because of ineffective Internet connectivity.
 Control: Securing cloud infrastructure involves loss of control in digital activities of the
company This is because cloud infrastructure is fully under the ownership of the service
provider and is managed and monitored by the service provider. This means that individual
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businesses we utilise cloud computing infrastructure, have low control over the function and
execution of services within the infrastructure. There is also a concern about the limitations
imposed by cloud providers and user licence agreement on what businesses can do with their
deployments. This disadvantage reduces the overall flexibility of the digital infrastructure of
a company and hinders digitalization (Sylvestre, Haiyan and Yiyi, 2018).
 Security: Cloud computing is a information and communication technology which exposes
the company to potential one reliability is related to digital security and privacy. Heavy
reliance on cloud-based infrastructure can introduce various security and privacy risks
related to outsourcing digital capabilities of the company. Any risky link in cloud can
expose sensitive data of the company and lead to cyber-attacks against the company.
 Vendor Lock-In: This limitation of the cloud computing infrastructure is defined as, the
ability to easily switch between cloud services am I great cloud computing services from
one vendor to another. The lack of simplified switching feature and differences between
vendor platforms create challenges in migrating from platforms two different platforms
which introduces additional expenditure and configuration complexities. The compromises
made during migration can also expose the digital infrastructure of the company to security
concerns which can affect digitisation negatively.
Cloud computing is suitable for digital transformation of businesses because it empowers
organisations to leverage technologies such as big data analytics, machine learning augmented
reality, chat bots, Internet of Things and virtual reality. Cloud delivered and cloud enabled
organisations gain the ability to lower complexity of information technology infrastructure and
emphasise on digital transformation by discovering new channels for increasing consumer
outreach.
The suitability of cloud computing infrastructure in enabling digital transformation can
be showcased by the ability of cloud infrastructure to provide organisations with a platform
where they can easily build test and deploy apps on different platforms throughout the
transformation phase (Turulja and Bajgoric, 2018). The characteristic of cloud computing to
facilitate faster prototyping without setting up complex infrastructure makes it suitable for
anybody still transformation in a company.
Another aspect of cloud computing infrastructure which supports its suitability for later
transformation is that it provides the company a scalable service model so that enterprises incur
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expenses for the services only that I used to diced. This makes scalability possible according to
the needs and reduces operational costs of purchasing and managing infrastructure. The
requirement of information technology labourers and staff is also eliminated through the usage of
cloud servers which further reduces the cost of digital transformation. In this way cloud
computing technology is suitable for this transition as it reduces the financial requirements for
digitising a company.
Cloud computing technology can be applied in different ways to ensure digitization of an
organisation (Voogt and et. al., 2018). The primary application of cloud computing technology is
to use it as a platform for running online platforms and reducing the requirement of computer
hardware. This application of cloud computing technology reduces the information technology
costs significantly. In addition to this cloud computing technology is also helpful for businesses
in case of information technology crises.
Cloud computing technology can be applied to recover important files programmes and
data from the cloud storage as long as there is a computer and Internet connection. This
showcases the ability to be applied as foremost you've got for important business information
which can be recovered later on. Another application of cloud computing is related to usage by
technology organisation to test new programmes or processes. Engineers can utilise cloud
computing to test a programme and add data sets and then run the data through the programme to
find any problems before producing the programme for the intended client. These applications of
cloud computing make it useful for digital transformation of the company.
Identification and discussion on privacy and security challenges
The pandemic has accelerated adoption of digital technologies across industries and geographical
boundaries. This is because businesses are forced to utilise digital technology to support remote
working and create a hygienic working environment for employees and consumers. The
increasing usage of digital technology has also introduced a need for rethinking cyber security
and looking at the need for improving security and privacy in the post pandemic age (Xiang,
Fesenmaier and Werthner, 2021). The privacy and security challenge which will affect
businesses in the contemporary age after the pandemic along with the security measures which
can be adopted to face different challenges are explained below:
Ransomware: This is one of the most powerful forms of cyberattack against businesses. this type
of sable's involves hacking user data and preventing access from such data until ransom is paid.
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ransomware attacks steal sensitive data from businesses which affects daily operations as most of
the time such data is essential for running the company. The most effective measures which can
be taken to protect the company from ransomware is to educate employees about usage of digital
infrastructure so that characteristics of ransomware can be identified and prevented along with
implementing a data recovery and backup plan so that sensitive data of the company can be
easily retrieved if it is hacked.
Blockchain and cryptocurrency attacks: The rise of cryptocurrency in recent years has also
increased the cyber security threat to blockchain and cryptocurrency attacks. This security
challenge involves diversified ways of harming blockchains used by businesses and individuals.
Some type of blockchain and cryptocurrency attacks include race attack, Finey attack, % attack
DDoS attack, routing attack and eclipse attack. The most effective way of preventing blockchain
and cryptocurrency attack is to identify defects in blockchain and invest in improving digital
infrastructure of the company (Yulianto, Utari and Satyawan, 2020).
Internet of things Attack: businesses across the world are rapidly adopting Internet of Things
technology which includes smart devices such as laptops smart assistants mobile phones smart
security devices and others. These devices support digitization but can also be a source of cyber-
attack for the company. Preventing cyber-attacks on Internet of Things technology is essential
for improving cyber security for the company as it not only introduces security concerns but can
also invade the privacy of the company and employees. Sensitive user data can be extracted by
attacking Internet of Things technology and safeguarding such technology is the biggest
challenge in cyber security as gaining access to these devices can open the door for other
malicious attacks. The most effective way of preventing attacks of IoT in business is to improve
password security and strength and impose strict policy on usage of IoT devices in the company.
Cloud Attacks: This refers to the attack on cloud technology being used in a in the information
technology infrastructure of the company. In order to prevent cloud attacks businesses need to
reduce reliance on outsourcing cloud computing and cloud infrastructure so that they are able to
control the digital infrastructure of the company end detect weak links which can lead to cyber-
attacks (Sylvestre, Haiyan and Yiyi, 2018).
Importance of crypto currency for business
Cryptocurrency is defined as form of currency which has digital existence and utilise
cryptography for financial transactions. As of now there is no authority for regulation of
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cryptocurrency and it utilise is a decentralised system to record an issue transactions of
cryptocurrency between individuals and businesses. Recent years have seen a rise in public
interest in cryptocurrency as well as usage of cryptocurrency across various industries. In
addition to crypto currency is also entering and entrenching financial world as different financial
institutions have shown interest in promoting the use of cryptocurrency.
Crypto currency has various benefits to businesses. Introducing crypto helps spur internal
awareness in your company about this new technology. It also may help position the company in
this important emerging space for a future that could include central bank digital currencies.
Crypto enables access to new capital and liquidity pools through traditional investments that
have been tokenized, as well as to new asset classes. Crypto furnishes certain options that are
simply not available with fiat currency. For example, programmable money can enable real-time
and accurate revenue-sharing while enhancing transparency to facilitate back-office
reconciliation.
More companies are finding that important clients and vendors want to engage by using crypto.
Consequently, businesses in the current digital environment need to be positioned to receive and
disburse crypto to assure smooth exchanges with key stakeholders.
Crypto provides a new avenue for enhancing a host of more traditional Treasury activities, such
as enabling simple, real-time, and secure money transfers, helping strengthen control over the
capital of the enterprise and managing the risks and opportunities of engaging in digital
investments.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that information and communication technology
tools such as RemoteHQ and Office 365 have played an important role in maintaining team
collaboration during pandemic and will assists in improving workplace collaboration in the
future. Cloud computing and cloud infrastructure has some disadvantages such as vendor lock in
but it is essential for facilitating digital transformation in businesses. Cyber security concerns
such as cloud attacks and ransomware are rising in the post pandemic world and it is important to
prevent such attacks by imposing measures. Crypto currency and blockahin technology is
changing business finance and digital technology usage and will be helpful for furthering growth
of digitization across the world.
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