Individual IT Report: Analysis of IT in HSBC, Networks and Ethics

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Information Technology (IT) within HSBC. It begins with a literature review exploring the functions of IT, including communication, inventory management, data analytics, product innovation, and marketing, followed by a discussion of ethical and privacy issues such as data breaches, unauthorized access, hacking, and viruses. The report then examines different kinds of networks (LAN, WAN, PAN, MAN) and the importance of social media in business, covering feedback, reach, cost-effectiveness, competitive advantage, target markets, and brand loyalty. The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is also analyzed, detailing the planning, defining, designing, building, testing, deployment, and maintenance phases. The analysis extends to HSBC's specific IT functions, such as internet banking, ATMs, telebanking, and e-cheques, along with the ethical and privacy issues the bank faces, including data breaches, system corruption, security breaches, and software crashes. The report concludes with recommendations based on the findings.

Individual report IT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................2
Literature Review...................................................................................................................2
Functions of Information Technology...............................................................................2
Ethics and privacy issues...................................................................................................2
Kinds of Networks.............................................................................................................3
Importance of Social Media...............................................................................................3
SDLC – Software Development Life Cycle......................................................................4
Analysis..................................................................................................................................5
Functions of IT in HSBC...................................................................................................5
Ethics and privacy issues in HSBC...................................................................................5
Kinds of Networks in HSBC.............................................................................................6
Importance of Social Media in HSBC...............................................................................6
Recommendations..................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Information technology is referred as the grouping of the technological plans which
formulates the system and many other applications which is utilised in the company and by the
single person as well. Business uses the machinery for improved administration and operation in
the firm for even performance in an association (Rajaraman, 2018). Company selected here is the
HSBC, it is one of the foremost international investment banking company based in UK in 1865.
It provides services like credit cards, NRI services, savings, deposit and many more. The
following discussions are made on the functions of information technology in achievement or
breakdown of the corporation, morals and privacy issue, kinds of network, importance of social
media and software development life cycle with literature review, examination and
recommendations in context of HSBC with an appropriate findings and conclusion.
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MAIN BODY
Literature Review
Functions of Information Technology
Information technology has a great role in various areas for an organization such as
communication among network, peoples and organization becomes simple when IT is used
because it has an immense function in executing communication between basics either in the
form of individuals or in terms of technological devices. Networking has a great role in success
of IT in the companies. IT has a good role in administration of inventory in the firms so that
correctness can be maintained in the stock, therefore, it is beneficial for the operations
management as well in total quality management, just in time management, capacity
management, waste management and many more. Data analytics and management is a major part
of IT and it assists in information management, security and access as well. Data is a thing which
is used to analyse the company’s future considerations to interpret the happenings and what is to
be done next, Therefore, data management has a major role in IT in an organization. Information
technology lets an organization to develop or innovate products that are mostly demanded by the
customers and also lets the company to maintain long term relationship with the customers in
order to hold loyalty with them by providing best servicing through the use of technology. IT has
a major role in marketing of an organization by promoting and advertising the company with
good content and best services in order to maintain the stability in the market place. IT provides
the company to get expanded and wider reach across the world (Samimi, A., 2020).
Ethics and privacy issues
Information technology has different ethics and privacy issues such as data breach, it is defined
as the leakage or loss of important and confidential data of the company. It is considered as an
ethical and privacy issue because IT provides security but not guarantees the total safety of the
data and it can harm the company’s goodwill and lead to the great loss and therefore, it is
essential for an organization to ensure the security of the data by developing the habits of
prevention measures to secure the information. Unauthorised access, it is defined as the access of
the people on the technical elements who are unauthorised and whose intention is to destroy or
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spoil the company’s image in the market. Those people needs to stay away from the data which
is important for an organization and that is why there is a concept introduced that is access
control through the authorised people can only get the access for the information or technical
elements in the company. Hacking, it is defined as the unethical conduct done by the technical
people to gain control over the systems in order to fetch data or to destroy the system
intentionally. They are the people who have motive of spoiling the systems in an organization in
order to take revenge or due to some personal issues. Viruses, it is defined as the technical
diseases for the computers which enter into the system through internet, networks and hardware
or software devices in order to corrupt files or destroy the computer normal functioning so that
system cannot work properly. Company must update the system from time to time and install the
applications which provide protection against the viruses (Madon and Krishna, 2018).
Kinds of Networks
There are mainly four types of networks such as LAN, known as the local area network which
has a limited reach of networking and has a high speed of connection. Its ownership is private,
propagation delay is short, it consists less congestion, its design and maintenance is easy and it
has more fault tolerance. WAN, known as the wide area network which has a reach of
networking across the city and its speed is average. Its ownership is public or private,
propagation delay is moderate, it has more congestion than LAN, its design and maintenance is
difficult than LAN and it has less fault tolerance. PAN, known as the personal area network
which has reach of networking among electronic devices of an individual and has a high speed of
connection. Its ownership is private, propagation delay is less than LAN, it has less congestion
than LAN, its design and maintenance is easy and has more fault tolerance. MAN, known as the
metropolitan area network which has a reach of networking across different countries and its
speed is low. Its ownership is public or private, propagation delay is long, it has more congestion
than WAN, its design and maintenance is difficult than LAN and WAN and it has less fault
tolerance (Romashkova, Ponomareva, Vasilyuk and Gaidamaka, 2018).
Importance of Social Media
There is an importance of social media in businesses such as immediate feedback through which
social media marketing helps the company in gaining the instant feedback from the customers
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about their product and services they offer to their customers and make the communication better
between them, thereby building the customer relationship long lasting. Wider reach through
which social media are spread around the world, from any one the person can communicate to
any one across the countries; therefore, by promoting the companies on social media can benefit
them to have a wider reach to many people. Cost effective through which social media as a
marketing tool is highly beneficial for an organization because it saves cost and it is low in
expense as compared to the traditional marketing. Therefore, it saves money and the company
can invest that money in other areas where more revenue can be generated. Competitive
advantage through which organization have an advantage in competition, it has a great role in
fighting against their rivalries if they have an appropriate content management and positioning in
the market of their products and services. Target market through which company can target the
market in a more easy way by promoting and communicating the customers who are specific for
them or whom they know about the specific customers who can purchase their products and
services. Brand loyalty through which organization can gain brand loyalty by handling and
managing the customers so they can create goodwill and maintain stability in the market by
adopting the technology at a very good pace and updating them frequently in order to get
updated about the trends in the market (Rad, Nilashi and Dahlan, 2018).
SDLC – Software Development Life Cycle
There are seven phases in SDLC such as planning, this is the first phase which states that
planning the goals and objectives for developing the software is the very first step in which each
and every step is planned to the core from budgeting to the maintenance. Defining, this is the
second phase which states the requirements and feasibility study is done by the specialist and
who are involved in such project which is an essential part to consider. Designing, this is the
third phase which states that designing is done on pen and paper initially to locate the elements
and analysing the things which are to be structured out in the software with proper framework.
Building, this is the fourth phase which states the development of the software that highly
requires the coding, programming and in depth knowledge of the software application program
to build up. Testing, this is the fifth phase which states that the error detection and rectification is
required before handling the software to the client because debugging is an essential part before
ultimate deployment. Deployment, this is the sixth phase which states that now it is time to hand
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over the software to the client with proper package and functioning of it. Maintenance, this is the
seventh phase which states that update on a regular basis are necessary otherwise it can lose its
security and can become outdated. Therefore, software maintenance is a necessary phase to
cover and secure the software (Markova, Semerikov, Striuk and Tron, 2019).
Analysis
Functions of IT in HSBC
There are various function of information technology which HSBC uses such as internet
banking, this is one of the major role of information technology in the organization that has ease
the banking transactions from anywhere in the world and assists a lot in gaining the suitable
recognition from the customers as well that made them comfortable in mobile banking also.
ATM – Automated teller machine, this is an another major role of information technology in the
company that anyone from anywhere can retrieve cash from the machines which are placed at
different locations across the world for the bank that made the bank as well as customer also
convenient to receive cash from such machines due to technology. Tele banking, this is also a
great role of information technology that bank can approach various customers from anywhere in
the world at different locations using various sources and one of the source is the
telecommunication which has proven an effective approach for the bank in the IT field to assist
customers in any case. E – Cheque, now a day’s electronic cheque is also available with the bank
so that they reach out their customers and perform all the formalities of cheque on a technical
basis itself and thereby supporting the staff and customers as well to transact easily from the
bank (Torten, Reaiche and Boyle, 2018).
Ethics and privacy issues in HSBC
There are different issues which are faced by the firm such as customer’s data breaches, this is an
issue which a bank has faced that they were unsuccessful to maintain the data privacy of the
customers and so the privacy has leaked but then they have controlled before the major loss of
the information. System corruption, this is another issue that the system got corrupted due to
entrance of the viruses or may be misconduct from anyone in the bank, bank has suffered a lot
due to such problem but has recovered later on by adopting the preventive measures for the same
issues. Security breaking, this is also an issue that someone from the staff members has
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misconduct in the bank to access the private information about the customers which was against
the ethics and now that person is fired for such illegal behaviour in the bank. Software crash, this
is a issue due to not performing the frequent updates of the system and that system has not took
over so much load and was crashed, lots of data was lost and now they realised the same and
regularly updating the systems and the applications for the smooth functioning of the
organization (Gelinas, Sutton Jr and Federowicz, 2019).
Kinds of Networks in HSBC
HSBC uses wide area network and metropolitan area network for its organization to work in
the city as well as across the world. It is an international firm which operates globally to provide
the services to their customer aroud the world with its automated teller machine as well and that
is why they have established both the types of netwroks for its working everywhere without any
hinderances. They have not set up the local area network because its range is only for about one
building which is not sufficient for the firm as they have a wider reach of their customers and has
many branches in different countries. This is the reason of setting up the network of WAN and
MAN (Benitez, Ray and Henseler, 2018).
Importance of Social Media in HSBC
HSBC uses several social sites such as Face Book, company uses Face Book to do publicity of
their firm with mostly the people they have targeted for their products and services, promoting
and influencing their customers to view up their banking services and kindly look up to the
purchase from them, they find this platform very useful for advertising their organization.
Twitter, company uses Twitter to post the relevant content and whatever they are up to for the
society and people, in what activities they are engaged currently and about the useful information
of banks current affairs in order to get more likes by the people so that they can get brand
awareness in a very potential manner. Pin interest, company uses Pin interest to share the fun and
entertainment part of banking industry associated with some news or quotes which mostly relates
with their products and services so that people could discover new things on such social site and
create the better image of an organization to support their servicing. YouTube, company uses
YouTube to upload videos of tutorials that how people can open an account, how they can
withdraw cash, how they can view the balance, how to use ATM machine and many more so that
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people can use all such functions in an easy manner and could appreciate the firm for providing
all such facilities for them (Khuntia, Saldanha, Mithas and Sambamurthy, 2018).
Recommendations
It is recommended that the bank can use artificial intelligence to furnish their information
technology in a more enhanced manner to provide the natural intelligence to the people in the
form of displaying the reality artificially in a more amended manner. Organization can use
augmented reality to display and create movement of real time objects as per the customers,
employees and employers’ needs and requirements for better functioning of the bank and its
operations in a more comfortable manner (Ratwani, Reider and Singh, 2019). Organization can
use predictive analysis to estimate and interpret the data and information for better examining the
future considerations and moreover it helps in determining the costing and budgeting analysis for
the company. Organization can use big data concept if they are having huge and large amount of
data which increases day by day, software application assist the firm in systematically manage
the data and information for data processing function in the firm (Zurawski, 2018).
CONCLUSION
It is concluded that information technology is a necessary element for not merely a single
person but for the entire institute as well in performing good in the market place. Therefore, in
command to pertain such concept of information technology in actual time organizations, it is
important to analyse the functions of information technology in accomplishment or breakdown
of the firm, it is essential to examine the morals and confidentiality issues, it is necessary to
determine the kinds of networks, it is significant to study about the importance of social media
and software development life cycle with the recommendations such as artificial intelligence,
augmented reality, predictive analysis and big data. Hence, this report covers all such areas to
better recognize the conception of the information technology in actual instance world.
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REFERENCES
Books and journal
Benitez, J., Ray, G. and Henseler, J., 2018. Impact of Information Technology Infrastructure
Flexibility on Mergers and Acquisitions. MIS quarterly. 42(1).
Gelinas, U.J., Sutton Jr, S.G. and Federowicz, J., 2019. Business processes and information
technology.
Khuntia, J., Saldanha, T.J., Mithas, S. and Sambamurthy, V., 2018. Information technology and
sustainability: Evidence from an emerging economy. Production and Operations
Management. 27(4). pp.756-773.
Madon, S. and Krishna, S. eds., 2018. The digital challenge: Information technology in the
development context. Routledge.
Markova, O., Semerikov, S., Striuk, A. and Tron, V., 2019. Implementation of cloud service
models in training of future information technology specialists.
Rad, M.S., Nilashi, M. and Dahlan, H.M., 2018. Information technology adoption: a review of
the literature and classification. Universal Access in the Information Society. 17(2).
pp.361-390.
Rajaraman, V., 2018. Introduction to information technology. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..
Ratwani, R.M., Reider, J. and Singh, H., 2019. A decade of health information technology
usability challenges and the path forward. Jama. 321(8). pp.743-744.
Romashkova, O.N., Ponomareva, L.A., Vasilyuk, I.P. and Gaidamaka, Y.V., 2018. Application
of information technology for the analysis of the rating of university. In Workshop
proceedings (Vol. 8, pp. 46-53).
Samimi, A., 2020. Risk Management in Information Technology. Progress in Chemical and
Biochemical Research, pp.130-134.
Torten, R., Reaiche, C. and Boyle, S., 2018. The impact of security awarness on information
technology professionals’ behavior. Computers & Security, 79, pp.68-79.
Zurawski, R. ed., 2018. The industrial information technology handbook. CRC press.
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