IT for Business: Importance of Information Technology in the Banking and Finance Industry

This article discusses the importance of information technology in the banking and finance industry, focusing on the need for IT in Barclays Bank. It explores the benefits of IT in terms of revenue generation and cost reduction, as well as the risks and challenges associated with IT implementation. The article also highlights how Barclays Bank uses IT internally and externally, and how it maintains and monitors its IT system.

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IT for business
Institution
Student name
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Executive summary
This article is written to report on the current information breaches news in the banking and
finance industry. The purpose of this report is to deliver and justify the need and the use of information
technology in the business setting as well as how the system can be integrated into the business for
long-life service.
The data and information of relevance collection are based on the information available on the
Barclays bank portal on the information security breaches in recent times. The information is, therefore
limited and does not explore all the existing security breaches on, matter information. The developer of
this article assumes the scenarios of information breaches in the organization are universal and have a
likelihood of occurrence in any business setting.

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Does Barclays Bank need IT?.......................................................................................................................2
Why IT is important for Barclay’s survival...................................................................................................3
The requirement for IT installation..............................................................................................................3
Cost..........................................................................................................................................................3
Planning and installation.........................................................................................................................3
Design and equipment’s..........................................................................................................................3
How Barclays Bank use IT............................................................................................................................4
Internally.................................................................................................................................................4
External...................................................................................................................................................4
Benefits of the system to Barclays Bank......................................................................................................4
Revenue...................................................................................................................................................4
Reducing cost..........................................................................................................................................4
Types of risk IT brings to Barclays Bank.......................................................................................................5
Security....................................................................................................................................................5
Privacy and confidentiality..........................................................................................................................5
How Barclays bank maintains and monitors the IT......................................................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................5

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References...................................................................................................................................................6
Appendices..................................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
Information is one of the vital resources any organization treasure and has to keep it as safe as
the management can afford. Since the time immemorial, businesses have kept track of their records for:
stock, sales, loyal customers, profit among other areas of interest as a tool of assessing the performance
of the business of the organization.
The information traditionally was stored in the brain of the trader, and as the information
technology evolved, paperwork in record keeping was realized. The scenario faced security issues of
information; at times, the information could be accessed by the unauthorized third party or at times, the
paper destroyed or the paint fades away (Goldratt, 2017)
With the recent information technology, businesses, today uses computerized information
technology, which also faces security issues. The information in the computer system is subject to attack
by the cybercriminals. Also, malware and viruses attack the data and destroy it halting the operations of
the organization. The passwords on the important information can also be used to attack the
organization information system by the ex-workers who turn malicious.
Does Barclays Bank need IT?
The answer to this is yes. Banking involves a lot of clients who have huge records of finance and
transaction record. Initially, when Barclays Bank used the paper method of information storage, the
process was complicated, and the line to the bank grew exponentially every day. The information
available from the management claim a transaction on withdrawal could take up to three days as the
clerk peruse the huge files seeking the client's information. Not only on the transactions but also the
records on human resource of the organization inventory and marketing faced the same challenges of
difficulty in information retrieval (Sekaran, & Bougie, 2016).

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The paper is also subject to sabotage and loss. This proves the necessity of the use of IT in the
organization. The transactions are fast since the data on the client is retrieved on click of a button. The
information is more secure on the use of passwords and authentication. For these reasons, the
organization needs IT in the organization.
Why IT is important for Barclay’s survival
When talking of the importance of IT for the organization survival, the best way to think about it
would probably reflect on the importance of reducing the time for data retrieval of the customer during
the service delivery. if the organization does not use IT in recording keeping, the clients will continue to
take a long time waiting for simple basic services to be delivered. The alternative the customers will take
will probably be to abandon the organization and join the competitor who embraces the use of it in the
business. This subjects the organization to the narrow end of operations due to reduced profits and
could even lead to the closure of the business (Quinlan, Babin, Carr, & Griffin, 2019).
Imagine if a situation where the client call into the business demanding for the business service
only to inform his paper file is missing and no transaction can, therefore, be initiated. The situating is
perplexing, disgusting, and shocking. At this situation, the client will have to be served justice at the end
of the day, and if he has an ill motif, he is likely to lie on his financial status for self-benefits. This proves
that the use of IT is important for organization survival.
The requirement for IT installation
Cost
The information technology system is expensive to install and maintain. The organization is
budgeting $7353565 for the installation of the system. The budget is meant for buying of the

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equipment’s, installation and maintenance. The system will also need the power supply; hence, the
budget has also to cater to the power bills (Anderson, Sweeney, Williams, Camm, &Cochran, 2016).
Planning and installation
The system will only be implemented on the evaluation of the cost-benefit effectiveness on the
mode of installation to be adopted. The most basic plan the installation process will take is to start
installing the system at the headquarters and deploying staffs to monitor the other branches that will be
installed with the system later.
Design and equipment’s
The equipment’s to be used in the process are vast and vary from the simple mind of a basic
computer, and it involves complex machinery using artificial intelligence and is fitted with cameras. This
will ensure the management has access to biometric data of the clients and cases like accidents of burn
that could affect the look of the client raising the alarm on identity are dealt with. Counting of the notes
and the coins are also automated and made easy (Burns, & Dewhurst, 2016).
The design of the system comprises of the interfaces with different features and security
measures for different users. The system has interfaces for the: management, customers, suppliers,
government, and the staffs.
How Barclays Bank use IT
Internally
The employees use the system to store the information of the clients as well as retrieving it. The
information of the employees is also stored in the system hence the management uses the information
available to determine the pay the individuals are worth and determining and selecting the employees

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worth promotion rather than promoting individuals on the foundation of how the employee is known to
the managers. The criteria make use of the record available on the employee’s skills and experience
(Hinkelmann, Gerber, Karagiannis, Thoenssen, Merwe, &Woitsch, 2016)
External
The system is used by the supplies to track the volume of the supply available in the
organization on the order they delivered before to estimate when to deliver the next lot. They also use
the system to alert the organization on the existence of a new, more efficient product for the given
purpose.
The government also uses the system to track the operations of the business to determine its
regality and compute the taxes to be charged (Luca, & Zervas, 2016).
Benefits of the system to Barclays Bank
Revenue
Internet use today is probably the biggest venture. The more the user attracts traffics, the more
the organization is likely to earn. The traffic arising from the use by the customers, employee’s
government, and individuals interested to know how the organization operates generate revenue for
the organization (Trevino, & Nelson, 2016).
Reducing cost
The use of the system reduces the cost incurred by the organization in numerous ways. First, the
system allows the business to generate its blog. The blogs, besides attracting traffic and gathering
revenue, also save the organization from the cost of the advertisement. The traditional method of
information storage is expensive when the issue of replication of data is raised for security of the stored
data. Photocopying process takes a lot of time, and at the same time, it’s costly. The use of the system

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only needs a button click to replicate the data and sending it to other machines storage for extended
security.
Types of risk IT brings to Barclays Bank
Security
The security of the customers, employees, and the suppliers stored in the system; stand to be
challenged security wise. The data and the information stored are subject to attack by the
cybercriminals, virus, and malware. This implies the information on the mentioned subjects may go
missing at any one time if attacked by any of the above (Hansmann, & Kraakman, 2017)
Privacy and confidentiality
The financial detail of an individual is private, according to the law of many states. The system
privacy to the data can be easily compromised due to ignorance and recklessness of the staffs, leaving
the passwords on the monitors availing them to malicious unauthorized employees. The ex-workers may
also compromise the privacy of the system detail as they use the passwords to access the information in
the system beside the denial of the authority.
The access to the information by the third party reduces the confidentiality of the staffs and the
customers to the system. At the same note, it is important to note the system is electric power reliant.
The outage of power suggests the system will halt the operations of the organization compromising the
confidentiality of the system (Horlach, Drews, & Schirmer, 2016).

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How Barclays bank maintains and monitors the IT
The organization understands and appreciate the fact every system is subject to failure on
various grounds hence need to be maintained and monitored for the efficiency of the operations to be
achieved in the desired manner.
The organization has employed experts for maintenance on both the physical pieces of the
system and the software part and functionality. The failure related to the physical part occurs due to
variations in power supply blowing some parts of the system. The physical parts that are more effective
are discovered every day and the monitors of the system for suitability of the components in the
system. The system update is a measure for maintenance as a component to improve the security of the
system (Hunter, Saunders, & Constance, 2016).
Conclusion
The use of IT in the business organizations is for the betterment of the organization, as discussed
by the reports. The report discusses the advantages of the use of IT in business on matter saving cost,
generating revenue, and improving the efficiency in storage and retrieval of the information and
maintaining the privacy of the information.
On the report, the advantages mentioned are only achievable through proper planning and
design, and it is achievable at a cost. The system has to be monitored and maintained to ensure the
system does not lose its efficiency.

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References
Anderson, D.R., Sweeney, D.J., Williams, T.A., Camm, J.D. and Cochran, J.J., 2016. Statistics for
business & economics. Nelson Education.
Burns, P. and Dewhurst, J. eds., 2016. Small business and entrepreneurship. Macmillan International
Higher Education.
Goldratt, E.M., 2017. Critical chain: A business novel. Routledge.
Hansmann, H. and Kraakman, R., 2017. The end of history for corporate law. In Corporate
Governance (pp. 49-78). Gower.
Hinkelmann, K., Gerber, A., Karagiannis, D., Thoenssen, B., Van der Merwe, A. and Woitsch, R., 2016. A
new paradigm for the continuous alignment of business and IT: Combining enterprise architecture
modelling and enterprise ontology. Computers in Industry, 79, pp.77-86.
Horlach, B., Drews, P. and Schirmer, I., 2016. Bimodal IT: Business-IT alignment in the age of digital
transformation. Multikonferenz Wirtschaftsinformatik (MKWI), pp.1417-1428.
Hunter, I., Saunders, J. and Constance, S., 2016. HR business partners. Routledge.
Luca, M. and Zervas, G., 2016. Fake it till you make it: Reputation, competition, and Yelp review
fraud. Management Science, 62(12), pp.3412-3427.
Quinlan, C., Babin, B., Carr, J. and Griffin, M., 2019. Business research methods. South Western
Cengage.
Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R., 2016. Research methods for business: A skill building approach. John Wiley
& Sons.
Trevino, L.K. and Nelson, K.A., 2016. Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right.
John Wiley & Sons.

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Appendices
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/data_breaches_reported_by_barcla
https://www.cio.co.ke/hackers-steal-11-5-million-from-barclays-bank-teller-machines-in-nairobi/
https://www.cbronline.com/news/2019s-first-data-breach