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 The Role of Information
Technology in Business
Brief History of Information Technology
Data vs. Information
Data processing (DP): The name for business
technology in the 1970s. Its primary purpose was to
improve the flow of financial information.
Information systems: The name for business technology in
the 1980s. Its role changed from supporting the business to
doing business (ex: ATMs and voice mail).
Information technology (IT): The name for business
technology in the 1990s. Its role became the way of doing
business, rather than just using technology to help with business
functions.
 Time and Place with IT
Whenever, wherever
IT and Independence of Location
Virtualization: Accessibility through technology that
allows business to be conducted independent of
location.
Instant messaging (IM): Allows businesses to
communicate in real time, for free, via computer.

e-business: Any electronic business data exchange

using any electronic device.
e-commerce: Selling products or services online
through e-business.
 Managing Information
Infoglut: The phenomenon of information
overload in business.
Usefulness
Quality (ex: retail store sale).
Completeness (to make a right decision).
Timeliness (managers need to get
Information at the best time).
Relevance (managers need to learn to ask
the right questions To get the relevant data
they need).
 Data warehouse: An electronic
storage place for data on a specific
subject (such as sales) over a period of
time.
Data mining: Looking for hidden
patterns in the data in a data
warehouse and discovering
relationships among the data.
 The Backbone of
Knowledge: Hardware
and Software
Hardware
All-in-One devices (ex: iPhone)
SMASH (simple, many and self-healing)
Wireless information Appliances
Wireless networking: The ability of a device
to transport signals through the air.
Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi): The technology
used to obtain an internet connection
without having to connect to cable line.
 Intranet: A companywide network, closed to
public access, that uses internet-type technology.
Firewall: Can consist of hardware or software;
prevents outsiders from accessing information
the user does not want others to see.
An extranet is a semiprivate network that
uses Internet technology and allows more than
one company to access the same information, or
allows people on different servers to collaborate.
Hardware
Hackers: People who unlawfully break
into computer systems.
To increase the probability of total
privacy companies have to use dedicated
lines.
Two problems: Expensive and Limited use
VPN (virtual private network ): is a
private data network that creates secure
connections, or tunnels over regular
Internet lines by signing into a portal.
Portal: An entry point into a Web Site.
Software: The product that tells
your computer what to do.
Software suite: Software today is often
bundled together so that it can perform
many functions in one kind of program.

Shareware: software that is copyrighted

but distributed to potential customers free
of charge.

Public domain software (freeware): is

Information Technology Challenges
Identity theft(more than 9 million people
experienced identity theft in 2006)
Control concern
Privacy
Glitches in business can cost millions of dollars
Hackers and Viruses
A virus is a piece of programming code inserted into other
programming to cause some unexpected, and for the victim,
usually undesirable, event.
Computer security is more complicated today
than ever before.
Accidental downloads
 Government Security
Cyber-terrorism
Critical Infrastructure Information Act
(2002)
Privacy
E-mails are not private
An encryption is a secret code given
to information when it is passing
through the internet.
An Unencrypted piece of data means
anyone can see it and it is less secure
 Access to personal data
Cookies: Pieces of information, such
as registration data or user preferences,
sent by a Web Site over the internet to
your web browser that the browser is
expected to save and send back to the
server when the user returns to the
Web Site.
Stability
Instability causes delays
Never-ending challenge

Reliability of Data
When evaluating data on the Internet, consider:
Accuracy: How reliable and free from error is the
information?
Authority: What is the authority or expertise of
the individual or group that created this site?
Objectivity: Is the information presented with
minimum of bias?
Current: Is the content of the work up-to-date?
Coverage: Are the topics explored in depth?
 VIDEO 10:
Digital Domain: Reality on Request