ICT Report: Business Collaboration, Cloud, Security & Cryptocurrency

This report delves into the crucial role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in modern business, particularly focusing on collaboration tools, cloud computing, security challenges, and the emergence of cryptocurrency. It highlights the significance of collaboration tools like Flowdock and WebEx in maintaining productivity and communication during the pandemic, illustrating their usage with examples from companies like Marks and Spencer and Tesco. The report further discusses the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing, including self-service provisioning, elasticity, downtime, and security concerns, while also outlining its applications in art, business, data storage, and management. Addressing the security risks associated with ICT, the report examines challenges such as accidental data exposure, phishing attacks, and data loss in the cloud, proposing measures like data masking to mitigate these threats. Finally, the report touches upon the growing importance of cryptocurrency in business and offers an opinion on its adoption, acknowledging both the opportunities and potential risks involved. This document is available on Desklib, a platform offering a wide range of study resources for students.

Information and
Communication
Technology
1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Collaboration tools and their importance in businesses during pandemic time.....................3
Advantages, disadvantages, suitability and applications of cloud storage and computing in
terms of improving digitalisation...........................................................................................4
Privacy and security challenges and ways to overcome them................................................6
Importance of Crypto currency on business and opinion on adoption of Crypto currency. . .8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
2

INTRODUCTION
Information and Communication technology (ICTs) refers to the broader term for a word
called Information technology. This communication technology includes several media
application and services that is internet, cell phones, software, middleware, wireless technology
and social networking. This is an extensional term for IT that is focused on the role which is
unified communications and further does the integration of computers and telecommunication.
ICT has proven to be one of the most effective tool in recent times however these tools also
comes with several set of challenges (Al-Rahmi and et. al.,2020). This report covers the
collaboration tools and their importance in workplace during the current pandemic. It also covers
advantages, disadvantages, suitability and application of computing and cloud storage in terms of
improving digitalisation. Further it also discusses the importance of crypto currency for
businesses and adoption of cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin in business model.
MAIN BODY
Collaboration tools and their importance in businesses during pandemic time
Collaboration tools refers to tools that helps people in terms of collaboration, the sole
purpose of these tools is to support group of two or more individual in the workplace in order to
accomplish certain goals and objectives. Collaboration tools can also be of non-technological
nature such as flipcharts, papers, notes etc. However, this report covers the technological
collaboration tools through which the employees at workplace can interact and communicate.
There are several types of technological tools in market, two types of collaboration tools used in
the workplaces are further discussed below: Flowdock- This is a collaborative communication tool that is used in teams, this tool
helps the organisation in terms of getting visibility in the work so that the things can be
done in the workplace by using a single and shared dashboard. Usage of this application
will help in terms of responding with group inbox and team chat on a secure
infrastructure which connects with the application that is used (Anders, 2021). Through
this the team members and employees can connect easily in the workplace on business
terms. For e.g., Flowdock is used by Marks and Spencer in pandemic time, as all the
offices around the world were forced to close as it was pushing towards the spread of
corona virus. Due to this situation, the employees were required to work remotely and the
3

businesses were required to manage the workforce and work in an effective manner.
Managing work from home was quite a task until the communication tool were
implemented in the working of the business. Collaboration tools play a major role in
securing the data of the company as they are certified tools and they follow highest
measures to keep the data of the company safe. If the data is not stored in a proper place
then it may lead to several term, such as theft and cybercrime. WebEx- This is an online meeting tool that is used in workplace in order to virtually meet
with other employees and people that are there in the company. Through this, the
employees of the company can meet virtually with the help of computer and access of
internet (Basu, Saha and Maity, 2018). This was one of the most used tool in the
pandemic situation as there were several meetings conducted on this platform. For e.g.,
Recently Tesco used this collaboration tool in their organisation to boost the morale,
productivity and efficiency of employees. If the work is managed in a systematic manner
and there is no chaos regarding the clarity of role and responsibilities, then it
automatically boosts the productivity and efficiency of the employees working in the
organisation. Usage of communication tools has enhanced and simplified the regular
tasks of the employee to next level, tools such as WebEx helps in interacting virtually and
communicating with video interaction. Work from remote places creates several type of
challenges but collaboration tools play a major role in overcoming most of these
challenges.
Advantages, disadvantages, suitability and applications of cloud storage and computing in terms
of improving digitalisation
Cloud computing refers to the general term that involves delivering of hosted services over
the internet. This is also referred as one of the utility computing or on-demand computing, the
name was derived from the cloud symbol which is sometimes used to represent internet in
diagrams and flowcharts. This technology uses in terms of storing and managing data on
different remote servers which can be accessed data over the internet. Cloud computing has
several set of advantages, disadvantages, applications and suitability in improving digitalisation.
Advantages of Cloud computing- Self-service provisioning- The end users can spin up the resources of computer for any
type of workload on demand. End user can further provision the computing capabilities
4

which are server time and network storage through which traditional need are eliminated
for the IT admins to manage and provision computer resources. Elasticity- Companies can use cloud computing according to the needs and demands, the
organisation can freely scale up the usage according to the requirement. With the help of
this advantage, massive investment in local infrastructure can be ignored and minimized. Pay per use- Cloud computing has one of the major advantage through which the users
have only pay for the services that they are using in their business.
Disadvantages of Cloud computing- Downtime- This is one of the biggest disadvantage that is there in cloud computing, these
systems often face issues in terms of connectivity due to which there are several problems
in the company (Demestichas and Daskalakis, 2020). Due to this the company faces
several issues while performing their tasks using the cloud computing. Security and privacy- The data is uploaded on internet and therefore it is exposed to
issues such as privacy and security. Cloud computing stores every bit of data on internet
through his services. There is high dependence of work and data on the remote cloud
based services. Limited control and flexibility- The cloud infrastructure is totally owned, monitored and
managed by the service provider and therefore the company and customer has less control
and flexibility over the services of cloud computing that they are currently using.
Application of cloud storage in improving digitalisation- Art application- Cloud computing is one of the tool that offers applications of various art
which helps in designing attractive cards, images and booklets. There are several cloud
arts based applications that work on the designing and printing options which helps in
various activities of business. Business application- There are several providers of cloud services that directly helps in
different sets of business applications. There are several platforms that deal in designing,
sending and saving of templates in business. Through this business application the
salesforce also gets a platform through which they can perform their day to day tasks. Data storage and backup applications- Cloud computing helps and allows the company
in terms of storing information on the cloud that is on the internet connection. Through
5

this the company can use various options such as recovery and retrieving of important
data that exist in the database of the company. Management applications- Management is another application that is gained through the
cloud storage, several services and tasks of management are accomplished with the help
of management profile (Ejemeyovwi and et. al., 2019). These tools do functions such as
administrative control, data integration, resource deployment and disaster recovery.
Suitability of cloud computing Cloud is one of the major component that is used in terms of testing and development,
these tasks are done with low operational and capital cost. Through this the organisation
can deploy and develop their current size and type (Hia and et. al., 2020). Cloud computing offers endless services of options for small businesses, it can be used by
different sector companies in several areas. IT model bring several advantages through
which the company gets affordability, scalability, flexibility and reliability.
Privacy and security challenges and ways to overcome them
There are several security risks and challenges that are faced by organisations worldwide,
few of them are discussed below-
 Accidental exposure - this is one of the most common challenge that is by organisations
in securing their IT and data. A high percentages of data breaches are common in the data
of the company. This challenge is generally faced by the company because there are
several malicious attacks by the outsiders. This also happens sometimes due to negligent
behaviour in which sensitive data of the company is exposed. Saving data on Internet that
is it services is beneficial but sometimes it leads to exposure of critical and valuable data
in public. A recent data breach happened in Domino’s, where the data of customers were
leaked in public on a public website. Due to this the company faced trust issues from the
customers as their personal data was leaked public (Howell van Beers and Doorn, 2018).
This problem and challenge can be overcome by improved IT Services along with
training of employees to use these system in best possible manner. The organisation
should build an ecosystem that is well protected from hacks and can work smoothly with
the technical problems.
 Phishing and other social engineering attacks- These attacks are also common and are a
primary vector that is used by attackers in order to gain access to sensitive data of the
6

company. The process of phishing includes manipulation and tricking individuals and
getting private credentials and information. This attack is generally performed through
making of malicious link where the victim accidentally opens that particular link and give
several access to the other end user (Zubir and et. al., 2020). Facebook and Google are
the biggest company best example as they were caught in this attacked and was scammed
out of more 100 million dollar. This challenge can be overcome by training employees so
that they comply with all the necessary methods. Further the organisation can ban those
particular unknown websites so that the common form of Phishing doesn’t happen.
 Data loss in the cloud - Cloud has proven to be one of the most efficient and effective
data storage system. However, there are several challenges that the company faces due to
this system. Many organisations have claimed that they lost very important and crucial
data on the cloud storage system due to which they have suffered millions of losses. The
process in which the data moves to cloud includes several difficulties in terms of
prevention and controlling of data loss (Kristiawan and Muhaimin, 2019). Data on cloud
can also be accessed from any device by the users and employees due to which the
organizations data are sometimes accessed by unauthorized users. The organisation can
deal with this issue by classifying data in an effective manner so that only authorized
users can access it. Further it will also help in terms of data loss problems.
Possible measures that can be taken by organisation in order to deal with security challenges
 Data masking- This refers to creation of a synthetic version of the organisation data. This
data is a synthetic version which helps in keeping the original data intact and safe. This
synthetic version of data can be used for several purposes which don’t require the original
data such as training and software testing. This technique is helpful for organisation in
dealing with the security challenges. This technique provides the company with a
functional alternative. The process of data masking retains the data type but however
changes the value. Data masking uses several ways to modify the data such as encryption,
character substitution and character shuffling. This process is security proof as the value
changes in a way so that the outside user cannot reverse engineer it.
 Identity access management- This is a business strategy, technical framework and
process which helps organization in managing the digital identities. This is one of the
most effective technique that can help IT admin of the company in controlling access to
7

the critical and sensitive information of the company. This system includes several
features which help the company in dealing with the security challenges. The different
features are two factor authentication, privileged access management and multi factor
authentication. These set of technologies are advanced enough in ensuring identity and
profile data security.
 Data encryption- This measure includes conversion of data from a readable format into
an unreadable encoded format. Through this technique the company can store the
essential and private information so that no outside user will be able to understand it. The
encrypted data can only be read and decrypted by using that decryption key which will
further help in processing of data (Lee, 2019). While sharing the data the company can
set a particular decryption key which is available at the senders and receivers end. This is
considered as one of the most secure form of data transfer and storage. This technique
helps in preventing hackers from accessing the private and sensitive information of the
company.
Importance of Crypto currency on business and opinion on adoption of Crypto currency
Crypto currency refers to the encrypted data string which further denotes a unit of
currency. This system is based, monitored and organized with the help of a peer to peer network
which is known as block chain. Block chain serves the purpose of recording the transactions in a
secure ledger, the transactions are of different natures such as selling, buying and transferring.
These transactions are of irreversible nature and it can’t be erased once it recorded in the chain of
blocks. This technology can be heavily used in the businesses in order to improve efficiency and
productivity. There are several types of crypto currency and technology available in the market
such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Solana etc. The importance of crypto currency for
businesses are further discussed below: Revolutionising business transaction- Crypto currency have emerged as one of the most
effective financial instrument that can help in changing the tradition ways in which the
business transactions used to be executed. Using crypto currency the large amount of
business transactions can happen with just one click over the internet website (Shobande
and Ogbeifun, 2022). With this the company can change the structure in which they used
to receive payment from their customers and the ways in which they used to pay the
suppliers and vendors.
8

 Simplifying cross border transactions- Using crypto currencies such as Bitcoin, the
organisation can sell products and services anywhere in the world. The company can
easily receive the payment in one click irrespective of the geographical location of the
customer. With the help of this several types of transactional barriers can be broken in the
business world and the company can easily trade and deal in international borders. Protect customer privacy- By using crypto currency in the business transactions, the
businesses can reduce the factor of cyber security to a great extent. There are several
cases in which businesses have lost great amount of money in the business transactions
but major crypto currency projects has proven to be safe and secure over the years. Curb chargeback fraud- Chargeback is one of the significant problem that online
businesses have faced as often times the customers uses the product and cancel the
payment from their end. Due to lack to recording of business transactions over the
internet, the business faces losses (Yang Barnard-Brak and Siwatu, 2019). Crypto
currency is one of the most effective solution for the above problem as these currencies
work on a technology that is known as blockchain. A block chain is a technology that
records every type of transactions that happened in the network and the recorded
transactions are stored in a public journal which is encrypted but can be accesses any
time. The major advantage of this technology is that the transactions recorded on this
chain are of irreversible nature due to which the customers are required to contact the
business directly in case they want refund.
Opinion on adoption of Crypto currency for businesses
Crypto currency has proven to be one of most effective and promising technology which
has a bundle of several uses cases that can help businesses to solve problems. Adopting crypto
currency in the businesses can help the company grow in terms of operations and finances. This
technology can be applied in the business model through which the business can operate
worldwide without worrying about the money inflow and outflow transactions. This technology
will lower the fess and increase the speed of the transactions which will directly contribute the
profitability of business (Yasir and et. al., 2021). Business can heavily benefit from this
technology as this can remove problems such as security, delay and cost from the model. By
9

removing intermediaries and increasing the store of value, crypto currency holds the power of
revolutionising the finances of business through its advance set of technology.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that ICT has proven to be one of the essential
thing during the pandemic time. ICT is currently being used in almost every company and
industry worldwide. The companies in UK and across the world are using collaboration tools
which helps them in well managing and communicating the information in workforce. These
collaboration tools has played a major role in maintaining operations of the company even in
tough times like pandemic. Further the companies also uses Cloud storage and computing
technology in the operations. However these technologies comes with their own set of
advantages, suitability, disadvantages and application in the business. Along with this there are
several large companies that faced challenge in maintaining the security and privacy of data that
they have uploaded on internet and their cloud storage systems. Crypto currency and block chain
has proven to be one of most effective technology that can revolutionise the way in which
business operates and function. There are several importance of crypto currency which
eliminates the current problems of businesses.
10

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Al-Rahmi, W.M., and et. al.,2020. Digital communication: Information and communication
technology (ICT) usage for education sustainability. Sustainability, 12(12), p.5052.
Anders, S.B., 2021. Cryptocurrency Accounting Resources. The CPA Journal, 91(6/7), pp.76-77.
Basu, S., Saha, T.R. and Maity, S.K., 2018. Implications of cryptocurrency: a new business
proposition of today’s entrepreneurial horizon. International Journal on Recent Trends
in Business and Tourism (IJRTBT), 2(3), pp.64-70.
Demestichas, K. and Daskalakis, E., 2020. Information and communication technology solutions
for the circular economy. Sustainability, 12(18), p.7272.
Ejemeyovwi, J.O., and et. al., 2019. December. Information and communication technology
adoption and innovation for sustainable entrepreneurship. In Journal of Physics:
Conference Series (Vol. 1378, No. 2, p. 022085). IOP Publishing.
Hia, E.P.D., and et. al., 2020, November. The Use of Information and Communication
Technology Through Website and Social Media as Public Relations Information Media.
In 2nd Early Childhood and Primary Childhood Education (ECPE 2020) (pp. 269-274).
Atlantis Press.
Howell, R., van Beers, C. and Doorn, N., 2018. Value capture and value creation: The role of
information technology in business models for frugal innovations in
Africa. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 131, pp.227-239.
Kristiawan, M. and Muhaimin, M., 2019. Teachers’ obstacles in utilizing information and
communication technology. International Journal of Educational Review, 1(2), pp.56-
61.
Lee, J.Y., 2019. A decentralized token economy: How blockchain and cryptocurrency can
revolutionize business. Business Horizons, 62(6), pp.773-784.
Shobande, O.A. and Ogbeifun, L., 2022. Has information and communication technology
improved environmental quality in the OECD?—a dynamic panel analysis. International
Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 29(1), pp.39-49.
Vasista, T.G. and Abone, A., 2018. Benefits, barriers and applications of information
communication technology in construction industry: A contemporary study. Int. J. Eng.
Technol, 7, pp.492-499.
Yang, Z., Barnard-Brak, L. and Siwatu, K., 2019. How does the availability of information and
communication technology (ICT) resources mediate the relationship between
socioeconomic status and achievement?. Journal of Technology in Behavioral
Science, 4(3), pp.262-266.
Yasir, M., and et. al., 2021. Deep-learning-assisted business intelligence model for
cryptocurrency forecasting using social media sentiment. Journal of Enterprise
Information Management.
Zubir, A.S., and et. al., 2020. Doing business using cryptocurrency in Malaysia. International
Journal of Management and Humanities, 4(9), pp.148-157.
11

12