Information Technology Impact on CBA: Business Analysis Essay

This essay examines the significant impact of Information Technology (IT) on the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). It highlights the essential need for IT in modern banking, particularly for online services, transaction management, and customer engagement. The essay details the requirements for an IT department, including planning, investment, and security considerations. It explores the advantages of IT, such as global accessibility and faster transactions, and the disadvantages, including privacy breaches and software malfunctions. The risks associated with IT, such as hacking and data loss, are also discussed. The essay emphasizes the importance of IT governance, including constant updates in internet security, encryption of confidential information, upgrading software, and timely maintenance. The conclusion underscores the transformative potential of IT in making lives better, while cautioning about the potential threats if not handled properly. The essay references several sources to support its analysis.

Impact of IT on Business
Introduction
Information Technology has become an integral part of any business in today's world. This essay
discusses the impact of Information Technology on a particular chosen business which is the
Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Need and Importance of IT
Information Technology is the essence of business in the modern world. The banking department
is no different. To be able to provide their customers with the vast variety of banking options
online, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, does in fact need a dedicated team of IT.
An extremely large portion of population these days is well equipped with smart phones. The
ability to shop online, transfer money, send payments and receive balance in a jiffy, without
actually having to go to the bank is what lures customers to bank online. This causes a need for
the bank to have an IT department with the help of which, the bank is able to keep track of and
manage the exceedingly large number of banking transactions that take place in a day.
Requirement for an IT Department
There are a number of things that are required to apply IT into the banking business. First and
foremost is planning on how to go about it. Whether the customers can download an app, what
features can the customer use, the privacy and security of the customer's confidential information
is of major concern. Having an IT department does also require a considerable amount of
investment by the bank.
Use of IT
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia uses IT to keep a track of its customer base, the
transactions they make on a daily basis as well as to deal with other banks.
Merits and Demerits
Below are discussed the pros and cons of IT in banking business.

Advantages
- The biggest advantage of IT is that it enables people to make monetary transactions from any
part of the world at any time of the day. One does not have to go to the bank and stand in a queue
to wait for his or her turn.
- Another advantage is that IT enables faster transactions.
-Additional benefits include the ability of the bank to keep record of all the transactions in a
single place as well as easy access to information.
Disadvantages
-Disadvantages include concerns of privacy and security breaches that may result in loss or
misuse of confidential information.
-Problems such as bugs in softwares can also be frustrating and lead to malfunctioning of
machines and cause loss of money.
Risks Involved
As mentioned above, IT in banking business can have serious implications if not handled
properly. Machines tend to malfunction and softwares need to be updated. Anything connected
to the internet is prone to getting bugged and they risk losing that data to hackers or viruses
(Ramey, 2012).
Maintenance and Monitoring
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia needs to choose the right strategy for implementing good
and clear IT governance (Yudatama, 2017) to provide relief to the financial institutions and bank
customers (Opeyem, 2017). For this, constant updates in internet security should remain top
priority. Encryption of confidential information, upgrading softwares and timely maintenance of
computer equipment and machines must be done.
Conclusion
Technology improves daily lives (Ismail, 2017). While IT can help in making the lives of
humans far better and much easier, it does have some loopholes and concerns that if not taken
care of can pose serious threats.

REFERENCES
Ismail, N. (2017). Modern technology: advantages and disadvantages. Retrieved september 21, 2017,
from http://www.information-age.com/modern-technology-advantages-disadvantages-
123465637/
Opeyem, O. G. (2017). Information Technology Journal. Development of an Online Bank Verification
Number System Using Linear Congruential Algorithm , 16 (2), 62-70.
Ramey, K. (2012). ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. Retrieved
september 20, 2017, from https://www.useoftechnology.com/advantages-disadvantages-
information-technology/
Yudatama, U. (2017). Strategic Decisions in the Implementation of Information Technology Governance
to Achieve Business and Information Technology Alignment Using Analytical Hierarchy Process.
Information Technology Journal , 16 (2), 51-61.