London School of Commerce: Digital Skills and Professionalism Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of integrated professional skills within the digital age, focusing on the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on businesses and individuals. It explores the significance of communication and collaboration tools, such as Slack, Zoom, Google Meet, and BlueJeans, in maintaining business operations during challenging times like the global pandemic. The report further examines cloud storage and computing, differentiating between the two and discussing their advantages and disadvantages. Additionally, it addresses the role of online and offline ventures, highlighting their utilities and goods offered by businesses. The report emphasizes how companies have adapted to changing environments by utilizing these tools and technologies to enhance efficiency and productivity. The report also includes the benefits and limitations of cloud computing and storage, and the applications suitable for them. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and the importance of digital skills in the current business environment.

Integrated Professional
Skills in the Digital
Age

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Communication and collaborative tools......................................................................................3
Cloud storage and computing......................................................................................................5
Online and Offline Ventures........................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Information and communication technology or ICT basically is the digital technology that
helps in assisting all kinds of individual or organisation or any kind of business or using
information. This technology covers various kind of products in electronic form that helps in
dealing with the information in a digital way. This technology basically is concerned with storing
of the digital data its retrieval and also its transmission. This technology helps in making
activities of the business more efficient and effective for both the consumers and the company
(Wang, Zhou and Wang, 2021). ICT aids enterprise and its operations in a variety of areas. Some
of the advantages include: lowering business costs, increasing the performance, optimizing the
business decision-making, and it also helps in increasing the industry competition.
The purpose of this report is to address various Social tools, as well as how they have
assisted many companies in surviving the ongoing pandemic, particularly cloud storage and
computing. It further addresses the advantages and disadvantages of utilities and goods offered
both online and offline by various businesses.
MAIN BODY
The global pandemic situation all over the world has negatively impacted the whole world,
businesses and economy. If the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, there has never been a more
urgent need for all companies to reconsider and reconfigure their operations in order to adapt to a
changing environment. To overcome the crises by the companies and keep the work continuous,
companies took help of various communication and collaborative tools.
Communication and collaborative tools
Collaborative technologies are basically the tool that are commonly referred to as
communication and collaboration tool, which make it easier for people to work together in
groups, both in and out of the workplace. These tools have helped the companies in many ways
to face to crisis which was the result of global pandemic by, reducing the costs and also the time
involved with facilitating various group activity of business. From defining different tasks and
duties to all kinds of routing in-house documents to reviewing and authorizing project
components to the employees of the company (Silva, Mathrani and Jayamaha, 2019). They make
problem solving of the business related activities more efficient and organized through a whole

team's workflows, just by using these tools in business. There are various types of tools which
are used by the company. Few of them are discussed below:
 Slack: It is one of the most rapidly expanding startups in the world today. It's the go-to
chat tool for distributed teams. The strong integrations, various bots, and the ecosystem
that is being developed on top of the search results have rapidly turned it into one of the
most versatile collaboration platforms available. Slack is based on the concept of
networks. In order to get work done, an organization should build channels to map and
record interactions around teams and programs. Slack's search functionality means that
you never end up losing a project chat.
 Zoom: In the midst of the global pandemic, Zoom has become one of the few true
success stories. Video conferencing, online presentations, speak, and smartphone sharing
are also included in the cloud-based program. Presently its 2nd most downloaded
application in whole of the world by various businesses (Howarth and Morse-Jones,
2019). Its key advantages include clear, high-quality audio and video, the ability to
archive calls for later analysis, the convenience with which screens can be exchanged,
and the ability to plan meetings, upload them to schedules, and welcome visitors,
ensuring that no one on the team misses a call.
 Google Meet: If any organization intends to make video or voice communications, or
simply chat and send any business email or file formats, Google Meet is the kind of
community coordination platform that enables all forms of contact between employees
quick easy, irrespective of where the members of the team are located or what devices
they're using. They can connect individuals directly from their phone, host video
conferences, and sometimes even broadcast events and activities with Meet. People who
don't even have computer access or a connection to the internet may use a special
meeting phone number to call in. 100 people can attend video sessions, and each person
gets 30GB of cloud storage and standard support. Higher service levels and much more
features are also available.
 BlueJeans: It is a network that allows user to make video communication. This tool
helps participants to access video conferences with the help of a web browser,
applications of the smartphone, or smart phone. All of these features of this tool helps in
increasing meeting productivity with a variety of collaboration capabilities which are

accessible across various different networks. Meetings on this tool can be held in
anywhere or at any place, screens can be shared with the participants, and meetings can
also be recorded. This tool helps in making combining workflows easy. Users who do not
have any access to video or audio feature or facility on their system, may attend meetings
by dialling in.
The above are the only few collaboration and communication tools that are being used by the
business and various other types of organisation, to carry out their business activities effectively
and efficiently (Benjamin and Kline, 2019). These tools not only supported in business activities
but also helped them to sustain the global pandemic. It also helped the companies to work
collaboratively even if the distance between all the employees were huge.
Cloud storage and computing
The words "cloud storage" and "cloud computing" are often being used by the users jointly
and are sometimes also considered synonymous. It's easy to think they make the same statement,
but that's not the case with both of these terms. Despite the fact that cloud computing and cloud
storage have certain similarities and yet are extracted from the very same origin i.e. the cloud,
both constitute separate ideas.
Cloud Storage
Cloud storage is such a device that helps in saving of the data onto the Internet, in the
way which is similar to that of storing data onto the disk. It allows users to upload the data to be
saved to cloud-based servers with the use of Internet. Once a user has encrypted data
successfully in the cloud, they or any other person who has been granted with its access may
have access to it across the Internet from various types of devices. Cloud computing is used by
businesses to preserve the records and exchange them with other people. It aids in the
preservation of sensitive records and it also archives them, while also allowing for closer
collaboration on projects with others individual or co-worker through data sharing. It can also be
used to store multiple media files and emails by the user (Devarajan and SudalaiMuthu, 2019). It
has almost limitless data storage capacity. It's much less expensive than other similar tools and
much safer than conventional storage methods.
Advantages
 Cost: Physical memory can be costly to acquire. Cloud storage is much less
expensive than the optical drives because it does not require any hardware.

 Accessibility: The files can be view by the user from anywhere with the help of an
internet connection if you have stored them in the cloud.
 Security: Cloud computing companies provides with an extra levels of security to
their offerings (Pathare and Chouragade, 2017). As there are numerous kinds of
users who have files in the cloud, these service providers go to great lengths to
ensure that the files aren't accessed by some other person or individual who
shouldn't be accessing it.
Disadvantages
 Internet Connection: Cloud computing is only possible if you have access to the
internet. Users can have trouble accessing storage if their network is weak. Users
would be unable to view files if they are not connected to the internet.
 Cost: Uploading and accessing data from the cloud incurs extra charges. If you
often access a large number of files, this will easily add up.
 Hard Drives: Cloud storage is expected to be able to do away with the need for
hard drives. But, some company cloud storage services, on the other hand, need
external hard drives to hold data if the cloud storage is loaded.
Cloud Computing
To work on and complete specific tasks, cloud computing is used. It must be connected to
cloud storage such that users must first transfer their information to the cloud storage and then
use cloud computing. They will then process the information until it has been transferred to the
cloud. Take into account an example of SaaS, which allows users to enter data into software and
have it converted remotely using a software interface without the use of a monitor (Alsmadi and
Prybutok, 2018). This is an example of cloud computing. In the emerging and enterprise worlds,
cloud computing is growing in popularity. It has various advantages, including improved
teamwork, transparency, and productivity. It also lowers communication gaps and opens up
interaction to a greater audience.
Advantages
 Data centralization: Information that is related to various programs and branch
departments of the company is maintained in a single location that both staff and
employers can access from a remote location.

 Data Recovery: The providers of the Cloud computing allow for the automated
backup of the data stored on the cloud system (Koo and Hur, 2018). If a hard
drive in any of the situation crashes and the data recovery is either impossible or
is very expensive, as well as a waste of precious time.
 Capabilities for sharing: All essential and valuable records of the company and
files or any other important document can be emailed and exchanged if needed.
Disadvantages
 Net Connection: An internet connection is needed for cloud storage in order to
get access to all the important and valuable data of the company.
 Incompatibility: There are occasions when there are issues with device
availability. Since certain programs, equipment, and software are specifically
designed for use on a home computer.
 Minimal Flexibility: The program and resources are hosted on a remote
computer, allowing for limited mobility. As a result, businesses that use cloud
services have no control of its features of the software and hardware. Because of
all the remote program, the programs cannot ever be executed locally.
Applications Suitable for Cloud storage and computing
 For the creation of devices and its testing, the cloud is one of the best option. Cloud can
benefit companies about any size or structure with the faster system development,
growth, and delivery. Many thanks to its zero capital cost and such a low operating cost.
Organizations can rebuild cloud systems until the product life cycle is complete.
 The Disaster Recovery as one of the Service is highly gaining popularity among various
kinds of businesses. Almost all of the IT professionals are currently thinking about
storing their important and most precious data in stable and safe cloud environments.
 Calendars, different types of word processors, types of blogging apps, e-learning, high
technology smartphone and its apps, and other such desktop cloud and various similar
productivity applications are best off in the cloud (Chen and Huang, 2018).
 Cloud environments can also be used by the mobile devices while working upon any
application. Cloud services can handle the real work inside this cloud, and personal users
can benefit from the cloud's elasticity and expandability.

 Online sites for conventions or any kind of meetings, advertising and occasional sites,
and websites that are only accessible at some times of the day are also some of the
examples of the cloud-based applications.
 Batch applications are also very much suitable for the cloud. Many more instances of
visual images can be provided to execute functions in parallel to speed up the operation.
Only the cloud will have this level of IT infrastructure provisioning speed.
Cloud's popularity is growing by the day, thanks to its many advantages. One of the reasons
that allows businesses to offer cloud computing is the opportunity to avoid expensive software
licensing costs. Cloud has very much helped businesses in carrying out various business
activities in the current situation of global pandemic where working and associating with other
individuals is tough. This has helped a lot of companies to carry out business activities efficiently
by having effective communication and collaboration between the employees and all other
individuals who are linked to the company directly or indirectly.
Online and Offline Ventures
A variety of companies have joined the industry in recent years in order to reach out to
customers through different platforms. Any enterprise may use one of two modes of operational
structures: offline or online. The global pandemic has had a negative effect on the environment,
as well as on companies and their operations. As a result, many companies that formerly
provided products and services offline have moved to online business (E-commerce).
Offline Business
An offline enterprise is one that has one or more physical locations. The stores in any of the
shopping centre or on the streets, for example, are known as offline shops or businesses. Many
shoppers do want to buy in shops, in which they can personally inspect products before shopping
them and ask for advice from real people rather than digital shop assistants (Lusthaus, 2018).
Advantages
 Touch & Feel: In offline market, customers have the opportunity to touch and feel
the goods they are buying, as well as check them carefully for any kind of hidden
damages or any defects in the product. Customers will be certain that they will not be
surprised when they purchase product in this manner.

 Instant Purchase: Consumers should not have to wait for several days to receive
their purchases. They will choose appropriate thing, make payment for it, and then
take it to their home.
 Return/replacement: If a customer is unhappy or not satisfied with what they bought
at the shop, they may return it to the shop for a replacement or refund (Díaz, Gómez
and Molina, 2017). They don’t have to wait for days to show as a credit on their next
billing statement. They receive instant payment or a credit note for that product or
service.
Disadvantages
 Exhaustion: a shopper can spend an entire day shopping and still not find what they
are searching for. Buying stuff for long periods of time is enjoyable, but only if
visitors find something worthwhile to take home.
 Expensive: Internet coupons aren't accepted in most physical stores. Customers can
often end up spending more for an object than it is worth on occasion. Commuting
can be an extra expense depending on the item's scale.
 Crowds: Shopping in a busy area that leaves people tired, and they still have to stand
in a long line to have their orders billed.
Online Business
E-Commerce refers to the electronic buying and selling of goods and services, as well as the
distribution of funds or documents, over a network, most often the Internet (Chan, 2020). Over
the past decade, the widespread use of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay has
resulted in significant increases in internet shopping.
Advantages
 Number of Choices - From clothes and food to vehicle parts and research
instruments, you get the ability to select from a variety of choices. There's no reason
to go to several stores for separate orders every time.
 Consumers can shop 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, regardless of the time. Purchases
can be made even though it is very late at night or very early in the morning.
Consumers should not need to prepare to go somewhere. They are free to wear
whatever they want and put orders.

 Secure Payment - It makes no difference whether you have a MasterCard or a VISA.
Online retailers accept a variety of payment options, including credit/debit cards,
digital wallets, and payment plans.
Disadvantages
 Quality Issue: Since customers cannot even touch or experience the product before
making the purchase, it can be challenging for them all to receive a high quality of
the product (Guo, Zhang and Zhang, 2017). One out of every twenty consumers who
buy products online are unhappy with their online order or are not satisfied.
 Size and Fitting: Since buyers cannot put on clothes before purchasing them, sizing
and measuring of the products bought can be difficult. Many online retailers, on the
other hand, encourage consumers to return goods within a certain time frame.
 Waiting Time: The most difficult aspect of online shopping is going to have to wait
for all the shipment to arrive. The customers may choose a shipping pace, but it has
no control over to the distribution process or weather delays.
Both online and offline business ventures have both the benefits and the drawbacks, but one
could not be said to be superior to another one. Customers want both to be enjoyable, and
businesses are beginning to appeal to both types of businesses.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that, global pandemic and lockdown all around the
places in the world have resulted into crisis even in big companies or business organisations. To
overcome all of the losses by the company, it started with carrying out of their business activities
via internet. There are various applications and tools which helps business in carrying out
business activities while maintaining proper collaboration and communication between the
employees and other such individuals that are related to the company. The company have to use
large number of data’s and share information which was easily done by them using cloud storage
and computing applications while working. The lockdowns have caused great loss to business
which have been running offline. Although there are many advantages of offline business but
still the business owners have started with online selling of products and services so that they
remain in the competition and cover losses incurred.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alsmadi, D. and Prybutok, V., 2018. Sharing and storage behavior via cloud computing: Security
and privacy in research and practice. Computers in Human Behavior, 85, pp.218-226.
Benjamin, S. and Kline, C., 2019. How to yes-and: Using improvisational games to improv (e)
communication, listening, and collaboration techniques in tourism and hospitality
education. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 24, pp.130-142.
Chan, G.H., 2020. A comparative analysis of online, offline, and integrated counseling among
hidden youth in Hong Kong. Children and Youth Services Review, 114, p.105042.
Chen, Y.H. and Huang, P.C., 2018, April. Collaborative access control of cloud storage systems.
In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Applied System Invention (ICASI) (pp. 1063-
1064). IEEE.
Devarajan, A.A. and SudalaiMuthu, T., 2019, February. Cloud Storage Monitoring System
analyzing through File Access Pattern. In 2019 International Conference on
Computational Intelligence in Data Science (ICCIDS) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.
Díaz, A., Gómez, M. and Molina, A., 2017. A comparison of online and offline consumer
behaviour: An empirical study on a cinema shopping context. Journal of Retailing and
Consumer services, 38, pp.44-50.
Guo, J., Zhang, C. and Zhang, X., 2017, November. System and method for providing
personalized advertisements to offline retailer users. In 2017 8th IEEE International
Conference on Software Engineering and Service Science (ICSESS) (pp. 718-720). IEEE.
Howarth, C. and Morse-Jones, S., 2019. The importance of communication, collaboration and
co-production. In Resilience to climate change (pp. 65-86). Palgrave Pivot, Cham.
Koo, D. and Hur, J., 2018. Privacy-preserving deduplication of encrypted data with dynamic
ownership management in fog computing. Future Generation Computer Systems, 78,
pp.739-752.
Lusthaus, J., 2018. 6. The Offline Dimension. In Industry of Anonymity (pp. 146-170). Harvard
University Press.
Pathare, K.G. and Chouragade, P.M., 2017, July. Reliable Data Sharing Using Revocable-
Storage Identity-Based Encryption in Cloud Storage. In 2017 International Conference
on Recent Trends in Electrical, Electronics and Computing Technologies
(ICRTEECT) (pp. 173-176). IEEE.
Silva, C.C., Mathrani, S. and Jayamaha, N., 2019. The impact of ICT tools on new product
development performance and collaboration. International Journal of Information
Systems and Management, 2(1), pp.46-70.
Wang, D., Zhou, T. and Wang, M., 2021. Information and communication technology (ICT),
digital divide and urbanization: Evidence from Chinese cities. Technology in Society, 64,
p.101516.