Integrated Professional Skills in Digital Age

This report explores various aspects of ICT such as collaborative tools and usage of cloud storage and computing. The report also analyses privacy and security challenges related to cyber security. Lastly, importance of crypto currency for business has been discussed.

Integrated Professional Skills
in Digital Age
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Table of contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Use of collaborative tools............................................................................................................3
Cloud storage and computing......................................................................................................5
Identifying privacy and security challenges and discussing what possible measures could be
taken.............................................................................................................................................7
Importance of crypto currency for businesses and opinion on adopting the crypto currency
such as bit coin for businesses.....................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
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INTRODUCTION
Digital businesses rely heavily on Information and communication technology. After the
pandemic, this has become even more important for businesses. This is because organizations
had to adopt the work from home policy which required them to use technology to be connected
with their teams (Avdiji and et.al., 2018).
The present report explores various aspects of ICT such as collaborative tools and usage
of cloud storage and computing. The report also analyses privacy and security challenges related
to cyber security. Lastly, importance of crypto currency for business has been discussed.
MAIN BODY
Use of collaborative tools
The hybrid work environment of the present time has been significantly supported by the
collaboration tools which have assisted the organizations to maintain the productivity of their
workforce. Since the pandemic began, the use of these tools has increased substantially. These
have made the collaboration possible in the best ways. The ways of working has been changed
drastically by Covid- 19 pandemic and the tools have adapted themselves to meet the changing
working needs of the employees (Vasilijevic and et.al., 2021). There are various collaboration
tools such as Zimbra, Askaway, Sketrchboard and RemoteHQ.
Remote HQ
The technology for screen sharing is almost 30 years old. Remote HQ is a tool which
aims to build its collaborative product based on the concept of shared browser. It is free for one
room and five participants. The shared browser concept of this tool makes it possible to
collaborate instantly while working on any website and every web application. Hence, it is such
that every website behaves as a Google docs. While working on the remote HQ, it is possible for
any employee in the shared browser room to co- browse and co- edit the displayed documents as
well as pages in real time. In addition to this, RemoteHQ also provides the function of basic
video conferencing and chat. This enabled the organization to interact efficiently with their
remote teams that were working from home during pandemic (Rahman and et.al., 2020). It also
made the interact feel more real and natural. Furthermore, there is a tiled user interface in this
tool which allows the users to open a number of web applications and service open all at the
same time.
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Since March 2020, there was great surge in the usage of RemoteHQ across various
organizations. The employees and teams felt that RemoteHQ made it convenient to work with
diversely located teams and increase their productivity as it assisted in bringing together various
collaborative apps into the workplace. Moreover, with its use, the organizations could even have
fruitful interactions with their potential customers. Following it, the teams and customers can
control any website in a joint manner without the need for downloading any software.
Sketchboard
This is another collaborative tool which is in the form of an online whiteboard. It also has
been designed to foster real time collaboration between teams that have been working remotely.
This is an infinite virtual whiteboard that is live instead of being in the conference room. It
assists in collaborative visualization thus helping the team members to be able to put their ideas
on a virtual paper all at the same time (Hernández-Sellés, Muñoz-Carril and González-
Sanmamed, 2019). It can be analysed that these features of Sketchboard provide a broad
potential customer base across various sectors. It also fosters online learning and training in the
best possible ways while working form different locations.
There are almost 400 sketch shapes as well as connectors provided by Sketchboard which
assist the users to draw diagrams in real time collaboratively. In addition to these, Sketchboard
also provides the function of dynamic linking in which movement in the elements of the
diagrams are automatically coordinated with the movement of their connectors. As a result of
this, the organizations get the facility of an infinite whiteboard which enables them for smooth
collaboration between teams. Moreover, the sketches made on sketchboard can be shared. It also
fosters interaction between participants as they get the option to leave notes by using the feature
of an in- system chat functionality.
Another powerful persistence feature of sketchboard is that the employees have the
ability to access earlier sessions and sketches. During the Covid pandemic, the teams are widely
distributed and sketchboard provides a centralized service which assists the team members to
stay connected during their projects. This tool is efficient to be used for provision of online
training which was much needed during the pandemic owing to the inability to working with
each other in a physical manner (Verma and et.al., 2021).
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Cloud storage and computing
Cloud storage has been efficient in providing the users with the ability to share and
access the files remotely without the need to access their local storage. Many doors have been
opened by these for the video teams (Alam, 2021). However, there are certain conditions
attached with them as well.
Advantages
Cost
It can be expensive to purchase physical storage system. Cloud storage does not need a
hardware. Therefore it is exceptionally cheaper per GB in comparison to the use of external
drives.
Accessibility
This is the prime advantage that cloud storage provides to the users. They are able to
access the files and documents anytime from anywhere. The only condition is the availability of
internet for sharing and accessing.
Recovery
Another advantage that cloud storage and computing provides the users is ability to
recover. In the situation when a hard drive fails or during malfunction of other hardware, the files
can be easily accessed on the cloud. It also acts as a backup for the local storage or physical
drives (Venkatesh and Eastaff, 2018). Also, due to malfunctioning of the physical drive, if there
is loss of any data, it can be easily recovered from the cloud. Hence, it saves the users from data
loss.
Syncing and updating
When a user is working with cloud storage, it provides with the facility of syncing and
updating every time a correction is made to a file across all devices from which the cloud is
accessed. This helps in updating the files as they are being changed on the device.
Security
Another advantage of cloud storage is that it provides additional security to the services.
Many people have their files stored on cloud. Therefore, cloud storage provides strong security
so that the files are not accessed by any other user.
Disadvantages
Internet connection
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One of the disadvantages of cloud storage is that it is dependent n the presence of an
internet connection. If the network on the internet is slow, the user may face issues in accessing
and sharing files (Alsmadi and Prybutok, 2018). Also, in the absence of internet, one cannot
access the files at all.
Costs
Uploading and downloading the files from the cloud storage has additional costs.
Therefore, it can be expensive for those users who have to access and share a larger number of
files.
Hard drives
While cloud storage is known for eliminating the need for hard drives, there are some
business cloud storage providers which require the users to possess hard drive as well for storing
their data.
Support
If the user needs a support regarding cloud storage, the services available are not good.
This is specifically the case if a user is utilizing a free version of cloud provider (Kim and Jeong,
2018). Mostly, the cloud storage providers ask the users to refer to FAQs if they face any issue.
Hence, the required support is generally lacking and users may face difficulties.
Privacy
Cloud storage may make their users deal with the issues of privacy as there is no
guarantee that the data is safe.
Cloud storage and computing- suitability
Here are various types of cloud storage which suit the needs of individual users. These have been
discussed below:
 Personal cloud storage- This finds its use in the android and IOS systems. This is
personal storage that suits the personal needs of individual users of smart phones
(Vafamehr and Khodayar, 2018).
 Public cloud storage- These are services which are required by large industry groups.
These services are made available by third party – organizations. The users of these types
of cloud services are usually residential users or internet service providers.
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 Private cloud storage- This system finds its use for an individual or private company. It
is suitable for businesses as its purpose is to enable only the users of an organization to
access files, rather than the general public.
 Hybrid cloud storage- This involves the use of more than two clouds such as public
cloud, private cloud or community cloud. It is characterized by the presence of a more
complex deployment model (Arpaci, 2019). This suitability of this cloud is for banking
organizations whose data is stored on public cloud so that the users can interact with the
banking officials through their own accounts.
 Community cloud storage- This is a design between private and public clouds. This is
suitable to be used by two or more remotely located branches of a company.
Applications
Cloud computing fids its applications in numerous fields. It offers various applications
which assist in designing attractive cards and booklets. It also has various business applications
which are based on cloud service providers (Alam, 2021). Some examples are MailChimp which
is a platform for email publishing, SalesForce which provides tools for marketing and sales,
Chatter which assists in sharing important information about busiess in real time etc. other
examples include Quickbooks, Slack, Paypal, Bitrix24 etc. cloud computing also has data storage
and backup applications for example Box.com, Mozy, Joukuu and Google G Suite etc.
Identifying privacy and security challenges and discussing what possible measures could be
taken
Current pandemic has caused many problems and issues in businesses and its working therefore
companies are offering work from home facilities to employees for their health and safety which
is undertaken (Tawalbeh and et.al., 2020). There are various challenges and issues which
employees face while working from home such as cyber attack, security of personal information
etc. The year 2020, has provided the safety measures as to how the data and information can be
stored and this helps in also knowing that the individuals have turned their mind towards the
hybrid arrangements. But there are some ranges of difficulties which are faced by the employees
while working at home in context of privacy and security issues. These are described as below –
Weak Backup and Recovery Measure – There are many employees who are working from
home since more than 20 months who are saving their data and information in their computers
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and laptops which is creating a hog up of all the information which is being saved in the devices.
Hence, strained memory has resulted issue due to which the employees have deleted all the
essential information which are related to the organization (Axelrod, 2020).
Therefore, organization is setting up a robust and strong and enough data system so that
data which is stored does not get lost. Amazon and Google are providing data security and
storage facilities to the employees to store their necessary and important information in their
devices. It is also suggested that local storage devices must be present to store the data and
information which is required at large scale.
Insecure and Weak Passwords – This is another challenge which the employees face which is
having weak passwords and insecurity of the data which has been stored. In this case, it becomes
very easy for the hacker to hack the system and devices in which the information is stored. There
are many employees within organization who do not set long passwords which makes easy for
the hacker to hack the system (Anderson, 2021).
For creating strong passwords special characteristics should be used such as #,&,*,@ so
that the emails and the personal information is protected at large scale. Therefore, focus must be
lead on creating eight characters which helps in knowing the aspects as to how the changes are
there at large scale in appropriate manner. There should be different passwords which should be
set sp that the access is only to the employee or the individual working on it.
Phishing Emails and Scams – There has been an increase in the phishing scams which has led
to information which leaks. This has increased the number of fraudulent activities which are
related to the exposure of all the essential information and detail which is being faced at large
scale. This affects both employees and the organization. The number of cyber attacks has been
doubled from 2019 and ongoing (Parsons and et.al., 2019).
The best suggestion which is provided to the employees is that they should be cautious
while reading any email or information which is regarding any topic and what are the details it
consists of. They should take concern of all important emails which they receive from other
authorities, credit card and debit card details. This helps in knowing the aspects as to how the
changes are to be made concerning the information and data which is to be protected at large
scale.
Unencrypted File Sharing Practice – There are most of the organizations which share their
files with employees’ at large scale and in effective manner. But there are some of the unsecure
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data and information transfer which leads to breaches which are related to security. There are
some major issues and problems which arise due to the safety and security of the data as there
are unencrypted files and folders in the devices (Mwamba, 2021).
To prevent the data and information of the company and employees the organization is
taking concern of how the employees’ data and information is being secured at large scale within
the organization. Moreover, employees should lay efforts on P2P file sharing, corrupt file
download and limited unapproved. This helps in creating the value of how the data and
information are saved and secured at large scale. The employees also create value for how the
safety of data.
Importance of crypto currency for businesses and opinion on adopting the crypto currency such
as bit coin for businesses
Crypto current is any type of currency which is present in digital form and makes the use of
cryptography which helps in promoting the secure transactions. This does not have any
regulating authority thus the decentralized system is being used which helps in ordering and
issuing the transactions. It is the digital and tradable asset in the form of money which is made
on block chain technology for the digital services to be served to people and customers. There
are many companies which are making use of crypto currencies worldwide for operational,
transactional and investment purpose (Smales, 2020). When the crypto currency was introduced
there was less number of businesses which could use this facility to grow and develop their
business at large scale. But on the other hand the crypto currencies are slightly unethical in their
ways which are creating the scale of how effective and in manner the scale of progress continues
within the business.
However, crypto currency is the most secured way for payment and transactions which
are being initiated at large scale. It helps the business to grow and develop at large scale and
creates value for knowing that how effective the businesses are able to run when there are such
methods in the external business environment. Currently there are more than 2300 US businesses
which are currently adopting the Bit coin as it contains many opportunities and helps in growing
the business at large scale (Hazar, 2019). There are many opportunities and challenges in the
business which are solved by the companies and with the help of that they are able to take
control of all the measures which helps the business to grow in the external market environment.
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The opportunities are such that it provides new demographic group at large scale and
helps in ensuring that some time users take the cutting edge in the business which helps in
valuing the transparency within the business at large scale. It is also represented that the 40%
customers have make use of the crypto currency which has helped in using the basis through the
organization. This helps in enhancing the overall market share of the firm at large scale. Crypto
currency helps in providing the internal functions of the society as to how the changes are taken
place at large scale (Nasir and et.al., 2019). With the help of this, companies and businesses can
easily focus on working more effectively and in appropriate manner at large scale. Crypto
currency is the asset to the cash which depreciates over time because of the situation which has
arisen due to inflation at large scale. Likewise, Bit coin is the investable asset which has
performed well during the past few years. It is very helpful and easy to adopt the crypto currency
which helps in creating safe transactions which are also related to digital investments. It is one of
the best methods which help in engaging the clients to make use of crypto currency.
The business should adopt bit coins because of the different advantages it holds which are
described as below –
 Bit coin has less cost as compared to credit card. It helps in saving overall bank charges.
 The businesses should encourage the use of bit coins as it removes the causes of fraud
which happens. It helps in creating value for the transactions which are undertaken.
 With the help of use of bit coin, there is instant payment which helps in increasing the
value for making the transactions easy and consume less time overall (Bação and et.al.,
2018).
 There are no barriers to crypto currency as there can be international trade which can take
place in effective and efficient manner.
 Crypto currency bit coins helps in contributing to the customers by making them
available the services within the transaction so that they are easily transferring their
money in different accounts significantly.
CONCLUSION
Thus, it is concluded from the above report that collaboration tools were used for the
businesses to survive current pandemic. Further, advantages, disadvantages, suitability and
application of cloud storage and computing in improving digitalization was explained in detail
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concerning all points of essentiality. Moreover, privacy and security challenges were discussed
and described for knowing the challenges and issues individuals are facing in the organization
along with the possible measures which were taken. Importance of crypto currency for
businesses was described in detail and opinion on adopting crypto currency such as bit coin for
businesses was also analyzed and described in detail effectively and in significant manner.
Therefore, in this manner the report explained aspects of opportunities and challenges in
businesses by facing the effects and impact of current pandemic.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Alam, T., 2021. Cloud Computing and its role in the Information Technology. IAIC Transactions
on Sustainable Digital Innovation (ITSDI), 1, pp.108-115.
Alsmadi, D. and Prybutok, V., 2018. Sharing and storage behavior via cloud computing: Security
and privacy in research and practice. Computers in Human Behavior, 85, pp.218-226.
Anderson, L., 2021. The Internet of Things: Security and Insecurity Challenges (Doctoral
dissertation, Utica College).
Arpaci, I., 2019. A hybrid modeling approach for predicting the educational use of mobile cloud
computing services in higher education. Computers in Human Behavior, 90, pp.181-187.
Avdiji, H. and et.al., 2018. January. Designing tools for collectively solving ill-structured
problems. In Proceedings of the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System
Sciences.
Axelrod, C.W., 2020. Data Processing and Communications Security During Recovery and
Repair. In Enterprise Operations Management (pp. 631-640). Auerbach Publications.
Bação, P. and et.al., 2018. Information transmission between cryptocurrencies: does bitcoin rule
the cryptocurrency world?. Scientific Annals of Economics and Business. 65(2). pp.97-
117.
Hazar, H.B., 2019. The importance of regulations on cryptocurrency transactions. SOCIAL
SCIENCES, MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS JOURNAL. 1(2). pp.28-35.
Hernández-Sellés, N., Muñoz-Carril, P.C. and González-Sanmamed, M., 2019. Computer-
supported collaborative learning: An analysis of the relationship between interaction,
emotional support and online collaborative tools. Computers & Education, 138, pp.1-12.
Kim, H.W. and Jeong, Y.S., 2018. Secure authentication-management human-centric scheme for
trusting personal resource information on mobile cloud computing with blockchain.
Human-centric Computing and Information Sciences, 8(1), pp.1-13.
Mwamba, J.O., 2021. Secure Password Sharing and Storage Using Encryption and Key-
exchange (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi).
Nasir, M.A. and et.al., 2019. Forecasting cryptocurrency returns and volume using search
engines. Financial Innovation. 5(1). pp.1-13.
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Parsons, K. and et.al., 2019. Predicting susceptibility to social influence in phishing
emails. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 128. pp.17-26.
Rahman, A.U. and et.al., 2020. Use of Collaborative Tools and Modern Technologies As Critical
Success Factor In Global Software Development. i-Manager's Journal on Software
Engineering, 15(1), p.48.
Smales, L.A., 2020. One Cryptocurrency to explain them all? Understanding the importance of
Bitcoin in Cryptocurrency returns. Economic Papers: A journal of applied economics
and policy. 39(2). pp.118-132.
Tawalbeh, L.A. and et.al., 2020. IoT Privacy and security: Challenges and solutions. Applied
Sciences. 10(12). p.4102.
Vafamehr, A. and Khodayar, M.E., 2018. Energy-aware cloud computing. The Electricity
Journal, 31(2), pp.40-49.
Vasilijevic, M. and et.al., 2021. SELECTING EFFECTIVE COLLABORATIVE TOOLS FOR
CREATING NEW SOCIAL NETWORK IN COMPANY FOR RAISING
EMPLOYEE’S ENGAGEMENT DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
Venkatesh, A. and Eastaff, M.S., 2018. A study of data storage security issues in cloud
computing. International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science,
Engineering and Information Technology, 3(1), pp.1741-1745.
Verma, H. and et.al., 2021. August. “WhatsApp in Politics?!”: Collaborative Tools Shifting
Boundaries. In IFIP Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 655-677).
Springer, Cham.
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