Introduction to Information Technology

This document provides an introduction to information technology, its role in business success, ethical and social issues, different networking technologies, developments in artificial intelligence, and stages of software development lifecycle. The document focuses on Barclays Bank as a case study.

Introduction to
Information
Technology

ABSTRACT
The information technology is being contributing majorly in the working of the business
and change the scenario in which the companies work in today's time. There are many
advantages being provided to the organizations when deploying information technology in their
system but there are many issues that are faced by them which include social and ethical issues.
There are various types of networking technologies like LAN, WAN and MAN that are used in
transferring data within the range that is specified under it. Artificial intelligence also plays an
important role as it helps in building the secure system and contributes and enhancing the
productivity of the business. The software development life cycle consists of many stages which
help in developing the software application.

Contents
ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................................................4
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...............................................................................................................5
Role of Information technology in the success of business......................................................................5
Ethical and social issues that pertain to the information technology........................................................6
Different kinds of networking technologies.............................................................................................7
Development in the Artificial intelligence...............................................................................................8
Stages of software development lifecycle................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
The information technology is defined as something that is used in computer for the
motive to store and retrieve information or data. Nowadays, businesses have been using IT in
their working in order to perform efficiently so that a competitive edge can be taken in the
market. It is the subset of information and communication technology and mainly consists of
information, system, communication, system and the computer system and includes the use of
software and hardware. In simple terms, IT is the development, support, implementation,
management, study or design of the system which is computer based and involves the
applications of computer software and hardware (Adell, Várhelyi and Nilsson, 2018). The
organization chosen for this report is Barclays Bank, a universal bank that is headquartered in
London. It was founded in the year 1690 and deals in retail, commercial, wholesale, investment
and private banking. This report shall cover role of IT in business’s success, issues faced by
businesses in relation to it, different networking technologies, artificial intelligence and software
development life cycle.
LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Nikki La Marco, 2019, In digitalization era, the business has explored in
trade and commerce in which the traditional model is being revolutionized so that more
opportunities are given to the organizations in order to enhance its efficiency. This is also given a
source of security and support in order to provide enhanced offering to consumers with high
speed model.
According to Vivek Patil 2020, IT can be defined as the use of computers networks and other
devices mainly for the purpose of storing, exchanging, securing, creating and processing the
electronic data. It is used by the businesses more as compared to personal or entertainment
purpose. In context to commercial purpose, the IT encompass in the telecommunication and
computer technologies both (Sepasgozar and et. al., 2018).

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Role of Information technology in the success of business.
At the time of digitalization, it is very important for the organizations to introduce
innovation which is meant to do something smarter, different and better in order to bring positive
difference in value, quality and productivity of the business working. Each business wants
success and it depends on many factors such as correct analysis, vision and the deployment of
correct technology. It is truly said that the businesses that invest in the innovation and technology
have more probability to become successful. There has been change in the way businesses work
due to the coming of information technology as it is regarded as one of the key in survival of the
business in the modern world (Héroux and Fortin, 2018). Barclays Bank uses information
technology in order to provide efficient services to the consumers. For the success of Barclays
bank, the role of IT is narrated below-
 Communication has become an easy part with the help of information technology so it is
very important for the organisations to have proper communication channel so that
effective relationship is maintained with the customers, suppliers and employees.
Communication is regarded as an essential aspect in the working of business as it avoids
confusion and chaos. Barclays Bank makes use of IT so that it can communicate with the
personnel in order to build healthy communication between them. It uses emails, phone
calls, video calling and other modes of communication.
 The management information system is used to keep the data and information in a
secured manner which is an important part for organizations. It is a part of IT which
mainly supports the businesses in tracking their data for the profit, sales and other aspects
in order to have higher return from investment. There are various improvement areas
which are provided by information technology so that the company is capable to compete
with competitors. Barclays Bank make use of management information system so that it
can track the investment made by it so that and it can keep eye on the returns and profits
out of it.
 The information technology has been played a major role at the time of pandemic of
COVID-19 as due to the national lockdown where the working of the businesses has been
shut down in their physical offices. The information technology helped in working from

home by providing them access to technology in order to enhance their productivity
while working from home. The functioning of Barclays Bank was also from home during
the national lockdown so it make use of information technology so that the workforce
have enhanced productivity in their working as there was more of the flexibility being
given to them as compared to working from office. The use of video calls, data exchange
etc. has made the working easy.
 Information technology also plays an important role in improvising the customer
relationship as it has the ability to capture a relationship which the business shares with
the customers (Howell, van Beers and Doorn, 2018). Barclays Bank makes use of
customer relationship management system so that a positive and healthy relation is built
with them. It includes making the call at customer call centre and reporting the issue so
that the customer relation officer can resolve it. It provided 24 hour access to the service
for the customers so that a positive relationship is built between the bank and its
customers.
Ethical and social issues that pertain to the information technology
When there are many benefits of using the information technology in the organizations,
there are many issues being faced by it. The growth in the affordable technology has resulted in
creation of various shifts in such a way in which the whole community operates.
Social issues that have been given rise by the use of technology directly into the system are
many. The Barclays Bank also faces these issues that are illustrated thereunder-
 Hacking- This is one of that issue which is very prevalent in today's era wherein the
unauthorised party makes an attempt to take the command of information and data of
others and make use of it for the illegal purpose. Barclays Bank has security technologies
that help it to keep the data safe. Usually the banks have all the personal details of each
customer so it is very essential for Barclays Bank to prevent this issue from its working
so that the trust of the customers are gained and maintained.
 Identity theft- Fraud is the spurious activity which has been evolved in today's era. In this
issue, the personal information of the people is used by the unauthorised person for the
purpose of malicious use. It involves making the online transaction in an illegal manner

so that a financial fraud is committed. Barclays Bank is the financial service provider
which has data and information of various customers so this is a very serious issue for it
so that no harm is caused to the customers and employees of it (Jorfi, Nor and Najjar,
2017).
Ethical issues
With the advancement in the technology, there are many ethical issues which are being faced
by the organizations when using the technology in their system. Some of them are discussed
below for Barclays Bank-
 Privacy- This is one of the widespread issue in the business where the companies uses the
social media platforms for checking the employee’s background so the person who has
no privacy setting in its system can be subject to this issue. Barclays Bank deals with
different customers so it is very essential for it to make sure that there is no breach or
violation of privacy of its customers and the staff member.
 Access of right- It involves damaging the system of business that may result in losing
important information and resources. This issue is faced by organization from actions like
the intentional destruction of files which may give rise to loss to the business (Bowie,
2020). One such example of this is virus so Barclays Bank must ensure those proper
antiviruses are installed in the IT system so that the data and information of the people is
not lost.
Different kinds of networking technologies
The network technology in computer is referred to as the system which allows business
and institutions to send the information digitally with the help of the information system. When
the information or data is transmitted from one computer to the other by usage of communication
like wires and cables, it is known as computer network and when the information is transmitted
from one mobile to other by using of cables or wires, it is known as mobile network.
Every technology that is being used for exchanging the information for large or small
data is the networking technology and by using this, the businesses can send their important files
and messages by way of emails or other channels in order to ensure effective working. There are

various types of network technology which may be used by Barclays Bank that are narrated
thereunder-
On the basis of transmission
 Multipoint- When various nodes are connected with the common medium directly in a
linear manner it is multipoint. It mainly works on the connection such as ad time sharing.
 Point to point- This involves the receiver and sender directly connected for the transfer of
data which may be done by using guided medium for the wired network and wireless
network (Kalajtzidis, 2017).
On the basis of scale
Basis WAN LAN MAN
Ownership It is owned by the
private body or
public.
It is owned by private
individual or public.
The owner of this is
public or the private
individual.
Speed There is low speed of
LAN due to large
range.
There is high speed of
LAN due to limited
range.
The speed of MAN is
average as compared
to both LAN and
MAN.
Fault tolerance There is less fault
tolerance in WAN as
compared to other
two.
There is high fault
tolerance than WAN.
There is less fault
tolerance in MAN
than LAN (Price,
Gerke and Cohen,
2019).
Development in the Artificial intelligence
The artificial intelligence is defined as something which leverages the machines and
computers for making decisions and has the capability of solving the problems just as human
mind. It is the ability which is being provided to the computer or robot which is controlled by
computer so that the work is completed by it just as the human being does as artificial
intelligence requires the human intelligence and discernment (Sun, 2019). This has changed the

IT sector and a positive impact has been placed by it in the industry. There has been a change in
the working by artificial intelligence that involves modernizing the financial streams and various
other sectors such as healthcare, research and manufacturing.
It is the branch of the computer science which has a ability to turn the computers into the
intelligent machines. Barclays Bank is engaged in providing financial services so it makes use of
the artificial intelligence in its working so that enhance services provided to every customer.
There are many developments in the artificial intelligence which are illustrated below-
 Secured system building- It is very essential to have the security of data so that the data
or information is secured in the confidential manner. The companies store information
and data of its customers and staff in a proper manner so that it is safe and the artificial
intelligence gives the security to it by creating layers of security so that it is enabled. It
also helps in identifying the data breach on a timely basis so that necessary solutions are
brought to prevent it.
 Improved productivity- Many algorithms are used which are directly applied so that a
programmer is given assistance when codes are written in a proper manner and it also
helps in mitigation of software bugs. It provides the advice for the coding that helps in
enhancing the productivity and efficiency of the employees. Barclays Bank uses the
artificial intelligence so that different series of the algorithm are used in order to increase
the efficiency of workers so that smooth working of it is insured.
 Automatic processing- The artificial intelligence helps in making the working of the
business easy without the interference of humans (Mechtri and et. al., 2017). Barclays
Bank uses the process so that there are automatic changes being made to the data of
customers when they avail the services of bank like withdrawing cash or depositing the
money.
Stages of software development lifecycle
This is the application of the business practice that is used to make the software
application. Different stages of software development life cycle are discussed thereunder-

 Planning- This stage involves evaluating the terms of project and includes calculating the
various cost like labour or material, preparing timetable, creating teams and setting the
goals. Simply, it is just the planning of the whole process.
 Define requirements- It is also regarded as a part of planning stage where what to do and
other requirements like resources are defined in order to prepare the software.
 Design and prototyping- This gives a model wherein the application works. There are
different aspects of designing such as architecture, user interface, platform, security,
communication etc. Prototyping is also one of the central part of design wherein the early
version of the software is being created (Gillath and et. al., 2021).
 Software development- It involves writing a program and if the project is small the single
developer writes it while the large project involves breaking it in different parts and then
distributing it in the teams so that each of the team can work on it. It also involves the
coding process.
 Testing- In this stage, the application is tested before it is being made available to the
users. There is automatic testing also like security and it is done in the specific
environment.
 Deployment- The application is being made available to the users in this stage and the
organization prefers that this process is automatic which involves downloading the
application on smartphone or from the link available on website.
 Maintenance and operations- This stage involves maintaining the application but
various bugs are discovered at this stage which is not identified at the time of testing so
this stage involved fixing it so that the users are given proper services of application
(Masso and et. al., 2020).

CONCLUSION
It is concluded from this report that the information technology has changed the way the
businesses work but there are various issues that are faced by it which involves hacking, viruses,
identity theft, privacy issues etc. There are many benefits being attached by using the
information technology in the working which involves maintaining good customer relationship,
healthy communication, smooth working and many others. There are many networking
technologies which help in transmitting the information from one place or device to other as per
the range which is specified. It is categorized on the basis of scale and transmission. Further, it
is summarized that the artificial intelligence is the part of IT which helps in making the secure
system, automatic procession and also contributes in enhancing the productivity as it eliminates
the human mind working and works just as human beings. The software development lifecycle
consist of 7 steps which begin from planning and ends at maintenance and operations.

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