Integrated Professional Skills in Digital Age: Collaboration, Cloud

This report examines the crucial role of information and communication technology in modern businesses, particularly during the pandemic. It evaluates the significance of collaboration at the workplace, emphasizing how online tools like Zoom and Zimbra facilitated remote work and reduced physical contact. The report also explains cloud computing, cloud storage, and e-commerce, highlighting their advantages, disadvantages, suitability, and applications for enhancing digitalization. Furthermore, it addresses privacy and security challenges associated with remote work, suggesting measures like secured networks, VPNs, and strict remote working policies. Finally, the report discusses the importance of cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, for businesses, considering its potential benefits and challenges in the digital economy. The document is contributed by a student and available on Desklib, a platform offering AI-based study tools for students.

Integrated Professional
Skills in Digital Age

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASKS.............................................................................................................................................1
1.Role of Collaboration at the workplace, especially during pandemic..........................1
2. About Cloud computing, cloud storage and ecommerce..............................................1
3.Identification of privacy and security challenges and discussion about the possible
measures which could be taken...........................................................................................1
4.Discuss the importance of crypto currency for businesses. What is your opinion on
adopting crypto currency such as Bit coin (₿) for businesses?........................................1
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1
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INTRODUCTION
Information and communication technology is used for all the communication technologies for
example wireless networks, cell phones, internet, video conferencing, social networking and
many others. These technologies are helpful for the users so that they can access, store,
transmit and manipulate the information in the present digital era. The report is going to
highlight about the information and communication technology which has become important
for the businesses mainly during the current pandemic. The report is going to evaluate the
importance of collaboration at the workplace mainly during the time of pandemic as these
collaborations helped the businesses to survive in the scenario so that the physical contact
can be reduced among the participants. Report will further explain about cloud computing
cloud storage and ecommerce with their advantages, disadvantages, suitability and
applications of cloud storage and computing in order to improvise the digitalization. The
term cryptocurrency refers to the amount of fees that can be transferred from a digital wallet
to a bank account and that transaction can be done at any time of the day either day or night
and there are no limits on the purchase and as well as withdrawals and the report will
demonstrate the importance of cryptocurrency for the businesses and the main opinion on
adopting cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin for the businesses (Alexiadis and de Streel, 2020).
TASKS
1.Role of Collaboration at the workplace, especially during pandemic
TWO collaboration tools that helped businesses to survive the current pandemic reducing the
physical contact among the participants.
The online collaborative tools are very important at the workplace as they support in solving the
complex problem along with learning new things that can be a benefit for the organization and
colleagues. During the COVID-19, the employees are using the collaborative tools in order to
enhance the work efficiency at the workplace for example cloud based personal and team
technologies helped in achieving the desired goals of the company with the help of audio and
video enable meeting solution got increased during the pandemic because the employees spend
most of their time in meeting online and virtually rather than meeting in person.
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TWO collaboration tools that helped businesses to survive the current pandemic reducing the physical
contact among the participants are explained below-
 Zoom application- Zoom meetings is a software program which is used for video
teleconferencing during the pandemic, the zoom application is one of the most used application
due to the distance work and education worldwide. It is best with windows, Android, IOS,
Chrome and many others as it has features like group video conferencing, screen sharing and one
on one meetings and in addition to this the person can record the meetings on the computer and
operating systems they can also set a virtual background as per their choice which can be
downloaded from various sites. It can contain 100 participants at once with the time duration of
40 minutes. During the pandemic zoom application has been used by workplaces, universities,
agencies, schools, health professionals or ceremonies and many others. The situation of the
pandemic has been a difficult situation for each and everybody at a global level this was a
challenge that helped to push the limits.
 Zimbra -Zimbra provides helps both the client and server which offers a desktop email
system and it is an open source with the help of that the company can get cloud-based email
calendaring platform it is safe and the government agencies has control over the data. In the era
of COVID-19 the clients can have the access to the collaborative features for example chat,
video conferencing and email in a very flexible manner and it acts as an online collaborative tool
with the help of that tool the workplace can become more productive and colleagues can contact
with each other that supports in improving the team communication skills. Relative tools aid in
increasing the level of productivity because the time will be spent on the important activities
rather than wasting time and the employees will be more focused on the tasks given as the digital
tool helps to save the time.
2. About Cloud computing, cloud storage and ecommerce
are becoming the new normal even in industries that, before the pandemic, seemed decades
away from digitalisation. Discuss advantages, disadvantages, suitability, and applications of
cloud storage and computing in improving digitalisation.
Cloud computing- Cloud computing refers to a technology that provides the help for the users so
that the data can be managed and stored with the help of internet. Cloud computing also includes
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delivering the hosted services with the help of Internet which can be public or private and the
name was inspired by a symbol of cloud
Benefits
 The main advantage of the cloud computing is that the data security as it is one of the
main requirements of the end users because their data will be secured and stored safely
and it allows the groups to share the information in an easy and quick manner.
 It can be said that when the data is stored in the cloud it can be easily backup and restored
for the future purpose.
 It also she deuces the cost mainly maintenance costs for the both hardware and software
for the companies and it also provides a huge amount of storing capacity in order to store
the important data for example audio videos documents images and many others at
particular place
Limitations
 One of the main drawbacks of the cloud computing is that the whole system is managed
by the service provider so the cloud users have less control for the execution of services
in that particular infrastructure.
 Another drawback is that a proper Internet is required while storing any image audio or
video and if the Internet is not good then the individual users will not be able to access
their data and there is no other way to access the data from the cloud (Palese and Usai,
2018).
Ecommerce-E commerce refers to an online platform which is used for the purpose of buying and
selling of goods and services. There are types of ecommerce models for example business to
consumer, business to business, consumer to consumer and consumer to business
 E commerce supports in making the buying process faster as nowadays customers don’t
spend much time while shopping, they prefer to shop online for whatever they want they can
browse the items and by the same (Wang, and et.al., 2018)
 The other benefit for the E-commerce is that the customers can get the chance to choose
from the wide range of products and they will get the order delivered at their door so they just
have to search for an item and match the description it will overall enhance the customer
experience as it was not present in traditional buying process.
 Advantage of E commerce is that is that the companies do not have to spend and invest in
promoting or advertising about their products and the ecommerce process is said to be the
affordable process and a quick process to promote their products online for example the
companies can use good quality pictures and videos in order to advertise rather than spending
large amount.
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 This whole system is very flexible for the customers Moreover, they can share their
reviews about particular product so that it can be beneficial for the other buyers that is directly
linked to the enhancing the brand image of a particular company that will help in generating the
revenue without spending much money on the campaigns or advertisements (Zutshi and Grilo,
2019).
Limitations
 The main limitations are that security as the world is changing so the cybercriminals and
hackers can hack the account of customers and the main problem is that the ecommerce company
cannot assure the customers regarding their financial information so the companies are required
to take initiatives to provide the security that can be done by making the password strong so that
their data cannot be misused by the hackers or cyber criminals.
 Another limitation is that some products are not meant to buy online such as such as gold
and silver because one person cannot trust the brand without actually touching and testing them
so the customers get to see them image of the product that can persuade them to buy but it
doesn’t guarantee or assured them.
3.Identification of privacy and security challenges and discussion about the possible
measures which could be taken
In the period of COVID-19 pandemic, majority of the companies resorted to facilitation of
remote working to their employees in order to avoid further risks of virus contraction and abide
by the rules of the government so as to reduce the implication set by the current pandemic
situation. It can be said there are multiple privacy and security concerns encountered by the
business entities and employees working from home. Few of the same has been mentioned
below: -
The utilisation of Public WiFi and unknown networks by the employees can lead to major
privacy challenges for the business organisation to whom they are serving. When staff members
access their corporate accounts through unauthorised network, the possibility of unethical access
to private and confidential information gets heightened. This further leads to a potential threat for
the company as their data is no longer safe and secured. It may also result in malicious spying
and hacking by the unauthorised users for acquiring the private information in regard with
company’s operations (Véliz, 2021). The companies also get prone to cybercriminals which in
turn imposes serious challenges to the firm in order to lead their business practices in a smooth
and secured mannerism. In order to reduce and eliminate the concerned challenge, it is suggested
to the employees that they should only utilise secured network to access their corporate
accounts. They should ensure that they utilise a VPN connection so as to maintain the security
standards and avoid any risk associated with hacking and malware. In addition to this, use of
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antivirus software can also assist the employees to respond to the malware in an optimum
manner.
When employees engage in remote working, there are possibilities that they use their personal
laptops and mobile phones in order to communicate and exchange essential documents with their
colleagues. (He, Zhang and Li, 2021). The respective practice can lead to major trouble for the
company. The reason for the same is that the crucial and private information of the company
stays with the employee even after they leave the organisation which may contribute in some
serious challenging issues for the organisation in the future run. Lack of effective security system
by the end of the employees can also facilitate to the emergence of security loopholes for the
organisation through which they may suffer major loss as well. The issue pertaining to use of
individual systems can be resolved by formulation of mandate policies and code of conduct. The
utilisation of personal mobile and laptop device must be strictly prohibited by the companies in
order to ensure that their data is secured and confidential. The companies must formulate strict
remote working policies and provide company's working devices and systems to the employees
to ensure that they work in accordance with the set regulations and follow to the Work from
home procedures and guidelines optimally. This will aid the organisations to maintain the
privacy standards in a righteous manner (Ferreira and Cruz-Correia, 2021). Multi factor
authentication should be regulated for the employees in order to increase the security level.
Password Manager must be optimised by the members of the firm so as to maintain and save the
password of work-related accounts securely.
The possibility of employees to fall under the trap of email scams and phishing scheme can also
set severe implications for the business entities. One wrong click on an email link and impose
serious threat to the network security of the business institutions. The lack of knowledge and
expertise of the employees in order to identify the phishing schemes and mails may tend to serve
a potential challenge for the company. For instance, facilitation of fraudulent login credentials
mailed in order to enter the accounts of the staff members to steal the confidential data is
relevant example of phishing strategy. Also, unencrypted file sharing by the employees for their
personal interests can also be a serious concern for the organisations. In order to minimise the
impact of phishing, the employees must be trained and facilitated with considerate information in
regards with identification of fraudulent and malicious emails (Kniffin, et.al, 2021). The ability
of the employees to identify the errors within a set email can help them avoid falling under the
trap of phishing schemes. The employees must refresh their inbox frequently and determine the
source before responding to the same as well.
4.Discuss the importance of crypto currency for businesses. What is your opinion on
adopting crypto currency such as Bit coin (₿) for businesses?
In the recent times, the crypto currency is developing in this world as a major currency
and is used by millions of users. Crypto currency is a form of digital currency which is
developed by software developers using computer algorithms and languages (Narayanan, et.al,
2016). In the corporate world also the importance of crypto currency is increasing day by day.
All companies should focus on rising trend of crypto currency for increasing their financial share
in the marketplace. The main importance of crypto currency for business organizations:
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 Helps in development of secure transactions- With the help of crypto currency-based
transactions a business can easily perform safe and secure transactions. Crypto currency is
composed with professionalism by IT experts, so they are helpful in safe transactions. It is
hard to hack or break the system of crypto currency by hackers, so it helps in providing major
and secure deal. In case of crypto currency, a business can directly perform trade practices
with utmost safety.
 Increases profitability of a company- Many legal crypto currencies like LRC (Loop
ring currency), Solana and Dodge coin are rising in marketplace with faster pace. The value
of legal and safe crypto currencies is increasing with the passage of time (Hobart, 2021). This
will help a business to earn more relatively then normal currency. However, there is also a
significant amount of risk attached with these currencies which can be faced by a business
entity.
 Digital storage (Encrypted)- Most of the crypto currencies in international market are
encrypted in a systematic manner. This means it is hard for a hacker to break the algorithms
which are attached with crypto currencies. A business also feels safe by taking into account
storage of digital currency. For example, Elon Musk who is owner of TESLA company has
announced to accept Doge coins as a crypto currency.
Opinion on adopting Bitcoin as digital business currency:
The Bitcoin is one of the most popular crypto currencies all over the world and many
business organizations are accepting bitcoins. A business should consider crypto currency bitcoin
in its financial transactions while considering risk associated with it. The risk factor is one of the
critical factors which is important to be considered by a business in order to perform safe
transactions related to crypto currency. Bitcoin in recent times is facing down fall due to the
presence of different factors and policies. (Grinberg, 2012). A business should also consider laws
related to crypto currency for the development legal and ethical practices in currency exchange.
All major companies in the international market takes helps of professional financial
management to develop policies and plans related to crypto currency. It should be major
responsibility of a business to focus on key areas of financial management to use the application
of crypto currency. In order to adopt bitcoin as a digital currency, it is important for the business
organization to set financial parameters with help and assistance of crypto currency experts.
Moreover, an organization should also try to look at the statistics of Bitcoin when using it in
major business transactions( Rai, Constantinides and Sarker, 2019).
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that COVID-19 led to the emergence and
capitalization of technical advancement which assisted multinational firms to conduct their
business process productively with higher degree of proficiency. It facilitated much needed aid in
providing communication as well as operational efficiency to the business enterprises. Moreover,
cloud computing systems provided a solid support to the business in terms of data sharing and
storage. Beside this, the remote work led to potential threats and complications for the
organizations in terms of data security and privacy policies. However, implementation of
security guidelines and adherence to the same can prove to be an effective help to minimize the
negative consequences relating to breach of security within companies. Lastly, it can be said that
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reach and value of digital currencies is set to elevate within the business industry as investment
in the same can result in increment of revenues in the long run.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Véliz, C., 2021. Privacy and digital ethics after the pandemic. Nature Electronics, 4(1), pp.10-11.
Ferreira, A. and Cruz-Correia, R., 2021. COVID-19 and cybersecurity: finally, an opportunity to
disrupt? Jmirx med, 2(2), p.e21069.
He, W., Zhang, Z.J. and Li, W., 2021. Information technology solutions, challenges, and
suggestions for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. International journal of information
management, 57, p.102287.
Kniffin, et.al, 2021. COVID-19 and the workplace: Implications, issues, and insights for future
research and action. American Psychologist, 76(1), p.63.
Narayanan, et.al, 2016. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency technologies: a comprehensive introduction.
Princeton University Press.
Grinberg, R., 2012. Bitcoin: An innovative alternative digital currency. Hastings Sci. & Tech.
LJ, 4, p.159.
Hobart, M., 2021. Bitcoin Power: The Energy Of A Money. Energy.
Rai, A., Constantinides, P. and Sarker, S., 2019. Next Generation Digital Platforms:: Toward
Human-AI Hybrids. Mis Quarterly, 43(1), pp.iii-ix.
Alexiadis, P. and de Streel, A., 2020. Designing an EU intervention standard for digital
platforms (No. 2020/14). European University Institute.
Zutshi, A. and Grilo, A., 2019. The emergence of digital platforms: A conceptual platform
architecture and impact on industrial engineering. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 136,
pp.546-555.
Wang, M., Ding, Z., Zhao, P., Yu, W. and Jiang, C., 2018. A dynamic data slice approach to the
vulnerability analysis of e-commerce systems. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and
Cybernetics: Systems, 50(10), pp.3598-3612.
Palese, B. and Usai, A., 2018. The relative importance of service quality dimensions in E-
commerce experiences. International Journal of Information Management, 40, pp.132-140.
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