What is Information Technology (IT) ?

Information technology (IT) is the use of any computers, storage, networking and other physical devices, infrastructure and processes to create, process, store, secure and exchange all forms of electronic data.

The term information technology was coined by the Harvard Business Review, in order to make a distinction between purpose-built machines designed to perform a limited scope of functions and general-purpose computing machines that could be programmed for various tasks.

IT includes several layers of physical equipment (hardware), virtualization and management or automation tools, operating systems and applications (software) used to perform essential functions. User devices, peripherals and software, such as laptops, smartphones or even recording equipment, can be included in the IT domain. IT can also refer to the architectures, methodologies and regulations governing the use and storage of data.

Advantages of Information Technology (IT)

The advantages of Information Technology (IT) are as follows :-

• Communication – With help of information technologies the instant messaging, emails, voice and video calls becomes quicker, cheaper and much efficient.

• Globalization and cultural gap – By implementing information systems we can bring down the linguistic, geographical and some cultural boundaries. Sharing the information, knowledge, communication and relationships between different countries, languages and cultures becomes much easier.

• Availability – Information systems has made it possible for businesses to be open 24×7 all over the globe. This means that a business can be open anytime anywhere, making purchases from different countries easier and more convenient. It also means that you can have your goods delivered right to your doorstep with having to move a single muscle.

• Creation of new types of jobs – One of the best advantages of information systems is the creation of new and interesting jobs. Computer programmers, Systems analyzers, Hardware and Software developers and Web designers are just some of the many new employment opportunities created with the help of IT.

• Cost effectiveness and productivity – The IT application promotes more efficient operation of the company and also improves the supply of information to decision-makers; applying such systems can also play an important role in helping companies to put greater emphasis on information technology in order to gain a competitive advantage. IS has a positive impact on productivity, however there are some frustrations can be faced by systems users which are directly linked to lack of training and poor systems performance because of system spread.

Disadvantages of Information Technology (IT)

The disadvantages of Information Technology (IT) are as follows :-

• Unemployment and lack of job security – Implementing the information systems can save a great deal of time during the completion of tasks and some labor mechanic works. Most paperwork’s can be processed immediately, financial transactions are automatically calculated, etc. As technology improves, tasks that were formerly performed by human employees are now carried out by computer systems. For example, automated telephone answering systems have replaced live receptionists in many organizations or online and personal assistants can be good example also. Industry experts believe that the internet has made job security a big issue as since technology keeps on changing with each day. This means that one has to be in a constant learning mode, if he or she wishes for their job to be secure.

• Dominant culture – While information technology may have made the world a global village, it has also contributed to one culture dominating another weaker one. For example it is now argued that US influences how most young teenagers all over the world now act, dress and behave. Languages too have become overshadowed, with English becoming the primary mode of communication for business and everything else.

• Security issues – Thieves and hackers get access to identities and corporate saboteurs target sensitive company data. Such data can include vendor information, bank records, intellectual property and personal data on company management. The hackers distribute the information over the Internet, sell it to rival companies or use it to damage the company’s image. For example, several retail chains were targeted recently by hackers who stole customer information from their information systems and distributed Social Security numbers and credit card data over the Internet.

• Implementation expenses – To integrate the information system it require pretty good amount of cost in a case of software, hardware and people. Software, hardware and some other services should be rented, bought and supported. Employees need to be trained with unfamiliar information technology and software.

Emerging Trends In Information Technology (IT)

Information Technology is a field which keeps expanding very rapidly, with new technology coming every day.

Some of the emerging trends in Information Technology are as follows :-

1. Cloud Computing
The practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data. Cloud computing offers 3 types of broad services mainly Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS)
Some of the advantages of Cloud computing are it reduces IT infrastructure cost of the company, promotes the concept of visualization,which enables server and storage device to be utilized across organization. Cloud computing makes maintenance of software and hardware easier as installation is not required on each end user’s computer. Cloud is the new style of elastically scalable, self-service computing, and both internal applications and external applications will be built on this new style.
Cloud computing is becoming the hub for operational infrastructure. Big data, generated through IoT, is an important driver for organizations to move to the cloud.The reason behind the movement to cloud-based operations are numerous, from IT agility to IT innovation and employee collaboration. Technologies such as software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions visualization (NFV) are being looked into to give greater agility to cloud investments.

2. The Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of things (IoT) is the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances, and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and connectivity which enables these things to connect, collect and exchange data
IoT involves extending Internet connectivity beyond standard devices, such as desktops, laptops, smartphones and tablets, to any range of traditionally dumb or non-internet-enabled physical devices and everyday objects. Embedded with technology, these devices can communicate and interact over the Internet, and they can be remotely monitored and controlled. With the arrival of driver less vehicles, a branch of IoT, i.e. the Internet of Vehicles starts to gain more attention.

3. Big data
Big data as a concept is ever evolving as the capacity to mine structured, semi structured and unstructured data increases. In 2014, organizations were making more informed business decisions and becoming more intelligent as they interact with their customers. More sophisticated ‘recommendation engines’ anticipating users’ interests more accurately for services such as Netflix, Amazon and Google. Further, credit reference agencies have been using big data to inform on lending decisions by developing the algorithms used to generate credit ratings. Retail, logistics and budget planning have all seen significant advancement last year due to greater business intelligence.

4.Cyber security
IT security is an obvious priority in an environment infested by spam, bugs, bots, browser holes, exploits, spyware, adware, denial of service (DoS) attacks, viruses and phishing. IT security breaches are serious business problems that can often result in significant financial loss and collateral damage. Organizations need to be proactive in protecSecurity weaknesses have been marked down to a number of key areas such as mis-configuration issues, third party providers, lack of network diversity and most worrying of all, lack of qualified security talent.
The cyber security skills gap is perhaps the underlying issues having a knock-on effect on industry and the economy. Cyber security skills are a global priority but, with a lack of consistency in accepted career definitions, organizations are experiencing difficulties in attracting new talent and progressing existing professionals. To offset the skills deficit, talent from the ‘gaming’ industry are being brought into the security sphere and their skills adapted for this arena.

5. Increased automation.
There is no escape that people costs continue to be a big part of total IT costs. The use of cloud services will continue to reduce this (with cloud service providers achieving lower costs through both economies of scale and the use of automation) but there is still a need to reduce human touch points, and the associated costs, within corporate data centers and operational environments – with speedier delivery and fewer human errors secondary benefits. 2015 will see even greater automation adoption by corporate IT organizations under pressure to reduce costs and better demonstrate business value.

6. Continued mobile pervasiveness
Continued improvements in anytime, anywhere, any device access to data and services will continue to drive the need for better mobile apps and experiences, and the use of personal devices for work purposes. Not only will this dictate the need for better service and app design and delivery, and more intelligent approaches to BYOD, but also the need to consider the security implications of mobility such as data segregation issues – with personal and business data and applications isolated from each other on the same device.

7. Context-Rich Systems
Ubiquitous embedded intelligence combined with pervasive analytics will drive the development of systems that are alert to their surroundings and able to respond appropriately. Context-aware security is an early application of this new capability, but others will emerge. By understanding the context of a user request, applications can not only adjust their security response but also adjust how information is delivered to the user, greatly simplifying an increasingly complex computing world.

8. Web-Scale IT

Web-scale IT is a pattern of global-class computing that delivers the capabilities of large cloud service providers within an enterprise IT setting. More organizations will begin thinking, acting and building applications and infrastructure like Web giants such as Amazon, Google and Facebook. Web-scale IT does not happen immediately, but will evolve over time as commercial hardware platforms embrace the new models and cloud-optimized and software-defined approaches reach mainstream. The first step toward the Web-scale IT future for many organizations should be DevOps — bringing development and operations together in a coordinated way to drive rapid, continuous incremental development of applications and services.

9. 3D Printing
Worldwide shipments of 3D printers are expected to grow 98 percent in 2015, followed by a doubling of unit shipments in 2016. 3D printing will reach a tipping point over the next three years as the market for relatively low-cost 3D printing devices continues to grow rapidly and industrial use expands significantly. New industrial, biomedical and consumer applications will continue to demonstrate that 3D printing is a real, viable and cost-effective means to reduce costs through improved designs, streamlined prototyping and short-run manufacturing.

Future of Information Technology (IT)

As the world develops, new emerging information technologies will pop-up on the market and for businesses to gain competitive advantage; they will have to learn how to use information technology to their advantage. Employees must become literate about the latest information technology so that they can cope with demanding challenges at work.

Information technology as a subject will not change, it’s the tools of information technology that will change, more technologies will be developed to simplify the way we use IT at work, at home, and everywhere in our lives.

Information technology tools like computers will still be useful in the future and these computers will change their functionality with a main goal of improving the way we do business or transfer information. Institutions like Banks, Schools, Shopping Malls, Government agencies will all have to use new information technology tools to serve their users basing on the needs and expectations of their users.

Future information technology will change the face of business. Already we have seen how current information Technology has shaped the e-commerce world. Now with services likeGoogle Walletand Squareup, buyers can easily turn their mobile phones as payment gateways, the introduction of these new e-commerce payment gateways have shaped our e-commerce world and more technologies will merge as consumer demands increase with time.

As information technology continues to become cheaper, every object that can conceivably provide valuable information will eventually be equipped with information technology.

The massive amounts of data produced by these objects will not be processed by traditional software written and tested by humans. Instead, other information technology (what we call AI today) will analyze it and look for patterns.

IT will continue to be a good career choice for people with an aptitude and interest for it, but the percentage of the workforce employed in IT will not grow, as more and more systems will be self-learning instead of programmed by humans.