Information Technology: Softcat Case Study and Analysis Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the IT sector, using Softcat as a case study. It begins with an executive summary and introduction to information technology, highlighting its crucial role in modern business operations. The literature review explores the role of IT in organizational success and failure, ethical and social issues, different network technologies (LAN, MAN, WAN), the importance of social media, and the stages of the software development life cycle. The report then delves into the role of IT in the success and failure of organizations, ethical and social issues, different network technologies, the importance of social media, and the stages of the software development life cycle. The report concludes with an analysis, discussion, and conclusion, summarizing the key findings and implications for the IT industry. References are provided for further research.

Introduction To
Information Technology

Executive summary
In this report the chosen IT sector organisation is softcat pvt. Ltd which are deal in the
main IT sector information related to stock exchange. In this file a brief Literature Review on the
basis It selection role which are related to their failure and success. Further different identifying
techniques and importance of social media, stages of development life cycle. And analysis and
conclusion which are related to different sectors of IT industry.

Table of Contents
Executive summary..........................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
Identification of role of IT in the success and failure of the any organisation.......................4
Analysis the ethical and social issues which are associated for running the business...........5
Different types of network technologies................................................................................6
Importance of the social media in the context of business organisation................................9
Stages of the software development life cycle.....................................................................10
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION.................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Information technologies is the use of computers to store, transmit and manipulate the
data of the company which contain different type of information. Information technologies is
used in the organisation's operations as it is opposed to personal or entertainment technologies.
After facing the current pandemic information technology play an important role while working
in all walks of life. Information technologies become the more important sector than before as it
increase the productivity, efforts, time and money (Alajaji and Chen, 2018).In this report the
chosen company is Softcat, it is a marlow-based IT sector industry company. This company is
founded by Peter Kelly in 1993 and its headquarter is in UK. This company is listed in London
Stock Exchange, till 2015 Softcat is the limited company but after 2015 it is listed in public
limited company. In this report the included part is role of IT sector, ethical and social issues
which are associated with the different type of business organisation. The importance of social
media and a brief explanation for different stages in development life cycle phase.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Identification of role of IT in the success and failure of the any organisation
Information technologies refers to the utilisation of the computers in the various business
firms to resolve the burden to the human resources. Information technologies have been plaing a
critical role to carry out the various activities which provide the ease in the management, make
all the transaction easier and different software up-gradation. In the context of Softcat technology
the role of IT sector increasingly become the reason for the success like:
Flow of information: It is the important role of the IT sector in the business
organisation. This factor contain the various type of external, internal, subjective and objective
information. Flow of information include the subjective information which show the unknown
factors whereas the objective factors include the known factors (Alyoubi, 2015).
Work group support: Information technology assist the organisation to work under the
various uncertain circumstances. To make the support in the group, making creation of the
information so that employees can interact with the other department of the organisation without
facing any kind of hindrance. This role of IT sector save the time and efficiency of the
employees though mails, text chatting and etc. in Softcat company people communicate with the
others though various use of technologies and innovative tools.

Executive support: EIS is the interactive tool which assist the work of managers for
identification, addressing the problems and most of the time this technique can also help in
finding opportunities. EIS system allow the company's manager to work in the group and view
the various angles and try to make the flexibility for making the creation. This will help the
company to understand the problems as well as opportunities.
Data management: Data management software help the various sector to perform in the
data base application. Which will help the applicability of the data and manage the work pressure
in the ethical way. Data management can be internal or external process. Internal system help the
organisation to centrally organised the information within the company while the external
process work in opposite way (David, Judd and Zambuto, 2020). This role of IT management
show that a company need to work in the domain and name of IP so that they can perform in the
data platform. In the respected organisation the data base management system can be used by the
employee or the support team. The employees of the Softcat provide the support system to the
customer by providing them best technology to succeed.
Communication: Communication is the process which is important in the any IT sector
industry. As it will be provide a genre support to the company by communicate the goals and
objective of the company. In the Softcat company employee can easily communicate though mail
and texting services. It is the tool which help in assisting the business advantage as it help in
improving the decision making skills.
There are various benefits which we discuss in managing the role of IT sectors in the
different company. This sector can lead the success in the company when the management team
make the strong planning and implementation. In the Softcat company, their managers and
leaders are try to make the results which will be affirmative (Howard and Woolley, 2016). But
sometimes when the managers are not able to use the software then it will comes with the
possibilities of failure. The information system of the company can be leak if the management
team will not use the appropriate way.
Analysis the ethical and social issues which are associated for running the business
Ethical Issues: This is issues which are defined on the basis of the reflection on morality.
In the ethical issues, a company provide a brief evaluation about what is right and what is wrong
as per the choices available in the organisation. In the context of IT sectors, success of the

business is depend on the mobility of the goods and services which are provided by the
companies with the speed and accuracy in the products.
 Personal privacy: It is the important aspect in the ethical issues, as IT sector facilitate
the various segments which help the company to operate their own network by their own
software. IT facilitate the company to their own hardware, operating system and software
tools to get the access on the policies and their own personal data.
 Access rights: the second issue in the ethical rights of the IT sector is access right. As
this become the high priority issue for the IT sectors and cyberspace with the great
advancement in the technologies (Kanavos and et.al., 2017). In the e-commerce and
electronic payment system which are working on the basis of the internet and this issue is
mainly occur in the large sector organisation.
 Trade secrets: This is also a significant ethical issues in the information technologies. It
means that trade secret secure something value and useful products. This law actually
protect the private aspect of the ideas which is discover by the company or any
individual.
Social issues: This is defines as the problems which are created by the companies and
that impact affect on the large sector society. As Social issues are refers to society explain below:
 Identity theft: fraud cases take place with r the help of IT sector in the industry. This
can be done by various ways. As any people can play a role of any other people and
make the fraud by the intruder. For example any person can send the text to the customer
of Softcat company and demand for their personal information. This type of issues are
comes under the aspect of social issues.
 Hacking: this is the concept which occur when a third person use the personal detail of
any other person without their own concern. In the Softcat company, as they are IT
sector company they make a security department (Lee, 2016). Their employee's are
responsible for security of their customer and own personal information.
Different types of network technologies
The different type of network technologies are used by the various type of organisation
wither they are large and small. These technologies are used by the special technicians who
know the installation process, configuration, and troubleshooting of the different network
technologies (What is a Network Technology – Types, Advantages & Disadvantages. 2021).

This system include the different type of systems which are associated through each usage of the
networking tools. All these tools and devices are connected though system or wireless physical
conditions. In the Softcat technology, there are various tool and devices which are used by the
company to make a strong communication (Lewis, 2018). These devices are instant messages,
chat rooms etc. which are used by the company furthermore they are use the instant data through
various more network communication channels these are LAN, WAN, MAN which are
discussed below:
LAN: It is the most common and most simple way of networking channel which is used
by the various organisation. It is known as Local area network, which are helpful in connecting
the different devices though which different tools and programmes are transferred and shared
between the various workstations. It is connected various groups and low-voltage devices
Illustration 1: what is network technology, 2021.

together. This are famous for the short distance to share the information and resources. Softcat
use this network for carrying out the basic information within the single premises.
MAN: It is known as metropolitan area network, which are used for covering the large
area of the company. In the LAN the area of the network is connected through a single premise
but MAN is used in all over the city via using cables, coaxial cables, optical fibres (Lin and
Zegart, 2017). In the Softcat technology they used the MAN, to make the interaction within their
different offices which are present within the cities.
WAN: Wide area network, it is used on the large geographical area, its connections are
set by the telephone line, satellites and the different radio waves. This type of network in very
expensive but at the same time they provide the high speed. In the Softcat technology, this type
of network is used to share their resources and information within the particular country and
specified in the area where the company wants to reach.
The main difference in between these network technologies are described as:
Basis LAN MAN WAN
Definition This is the network
which are connected
within the single
premises or building.
This contain large area
of network as compare
to the LAN, it is
connect the
information through
different organisation
present in the same
city
This is the large area
of the network which
cover the large area of
the geographical area
such as a country.
Sharing area It cover the area within
2500 meters or 2 miles
.
This area is limited in
between the 200KM or
100Miles (Magnavita,
2018).
This is the unlimited
area. Normally it is
cover around 1000KM
but it can extent the
range as compare to
the others.
Speed of the
technology
The speed is high as
the small number of
This cover the same
and normal speed as
There are various
number of the system

the system are
connected. It is around
1000, 100 and
10Mbps.
compare to the
100Mbps.
connected through its
channel. So most of
the time its speed is
decline. Usually its
speed is 1.5mpbs.
Technologies used Wireless, twisted pair
are the technologies
which are used in the
LAN area.
Fibre optic cable,
twisted pairs are the
ones which are
connected through
WAN area of the
network
Wireless or cellular
networks, fibre twisted
cables or fibre optic all
are things are used to
make expand this
technologies.
Importance of the social media in the context of business organisation
The importance of the social media is increased day by day in the global context. More
than 3 billion people are using social media across the globe (Mignerat and Rivard, 2015). To
sharpening the business more and more people follow the business social media pages like
Instagram, Facebook and many more. There are various benefits which provide the strength to
the business via social media:
Increase the brand awareness: As most of the people are using social media, so to
increase the brand value in the organisation. With the help of social media platform, people
know about the business and think to use their product and services.
Humanize the brand: In a research said that more than half of the adults do not trust the
brand value until they don't get the real world proof which means to seem the business onto the
social media platform. The ability to connect the real human connection within the business and
their customer. This is the key benefit of the social media platform.
Increase the website traffic: In the social media their advertisement and posts are the
way to make the traffic in your company's website. While sharing the good content with the
social media is the great way to attract the customer (Mill and Gay, 2019). While the other
example is to make the participation in the social chats like twitter will help the respected
company to work smoothly and manage the growth of the company.

Boost the sales volume: No matter what are the product the company sale to their
customer, social media will help you to get the high sales volume. In the sales process, social
media play an important role of the sales funnel. This can help the company to boos up the sales
of their goods and services of the company.
Stages of the software development life cycle
Software development life cycle, refers to methodology which make the clear view for
creating the high quality soft ware (Musti-Rao, 2017). This process is used to minimise the cost
of the company in the shortest time period. It has the well structured platform which has various
phase which are helpful in creating the well structured and tested software which are ready to use
for the company.
Phase 1: Requirements and collection analysis
The requirement is the first stage of the software development life cycle process. This
process is manage and conducted by the senior team of the company (Thompson, Hickey and
Thompson, 2016). While planning is the process which assure the quality requirements and try to
identifying the risk which are involve in the stages.
Phase 2: Feasibility studies
This is the second stage in which the company try to define the documents which are
needed to make the software. This process implemented with the help of software requirement
specification. All the documents are also known as SRS documents.
Phase 3: Design
In this stage, the system design software which are needed as per the requirement of
specification requirement software (Rainer and et.al., 2020). This design phase is the process and
input for the next level of the model. There are two type of the design models which are high
level design and low level design.
Phase 4: Coding
Illustration 2: SDLC Phase, 2021.

Once the design is made, the next step is coding, here the developer start to build the
programme by writing the codes using the chosen programme language.
Phase 5: Testing
Once the software is completed it is transferred in the testing environment. Testing team
of the company start checking all the functions of the software in the all aspects. This is the
process where checklist is completed as the entire application is work as the customer
requirement (SDLC: Phases & Models of Software Development Life Cycle. 2021).
Phase 6: Installation
The final development or installation process is start when the testing is completed by
testing team and no error and bugs are left in software. This installation is based on the feedback
which are given by the project manager (Rajaraman, 2018). In last the final software is released
and checked by the companies for the development and if any issue occur it will be resolve as
soon as possible.
Phase 7: Maintenance
The maintenance process is used when a customer start using the software. Then
company need to update software on the regular basis, fix bugs or errors if occurs and add new
features which are required by customers.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Information technologies are used for development, maintenance and utilisation of
different network which are processing as well as making the distribution of the data.
Information technology is used for stored, processed and manipulated the data and transmitted
over a network. It is helpful for attracting the customer's as they can check the company profile
via online platform. The role of Softcat technology are related to different communication level,
data management and record of different data in their software. While they are following some
ethical and personal issues related to data corruption, hacking and use of personal privacy by
wrong intentions. They further use different social media platform for considering different
aspects and social development stages. and In the Softcat technologies, they make strategies,
manage operations and share them with employee of the organisation (Stern, 2018). Companies
social and ethical issues with the reference to the company has been evaluated. Utilization of the
Information technology will be helpful to carry out the activities in the effective manner. These
strategies will be able to growth of the company and improve the image in the IT sector industry.

CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that, Information technology is an important aspect
for any type of the industry. Which are helpful for storage and usage of the data in the computers
and can be used different type of networks. This could be recommended that softycat
technologies can use different software tools which are related to their privacy tools. They
further can Therapy software which are related to their privacy information and system tools.
With the help of IT sectors most of the information are accurate and carried forward with the
effective environment. Network technologies make interaction which occurs in between the
different organisation while using different networks. Most of the employee of the company
make the interaction with each other through the internet. To make the good software
development phase and this will also help the organisation to use the social media platform. This
will help the company in the different ways like increasing brand image, increase the sales
volume and profit etc. all this things will use for attaining the goals within the specified manner.

REFERENCES
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Online
SDLC: Phases & Models of Software Development Life Cycle. 2021. [Online]. Available
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