Disadvantages of Information Technology

Unemployment - While information technology may have streamlined the business process it has also crated job redundancies, downsizing and outsourcing. This means that a lot of lower and middle level jobs have been done away with causing more people to become unemployed.

Privacy - Though information technology may have made communication quicker, easier and more convenient, it has also bought along privacy issues. From cell phone signal interceptions to email hacking, people are now worried about their once private information becoming public knowledge.

Lack of job security - 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.

Advantages of Information Technology

The advantages of information technology are many. True globalization has come about only via this automated system. The creation of one interdependent system helps us to share information and end linguistic barriers across the continents. The collapse of geographic boundaries has made the world a 'global village'. The technology has not only made communication cheaper, but also possible much quicker and 24x7. The wonders of text messages, email and auto-response, backed by computer security applications, have opened up scope for direct communication.

Computerized, internet business processes have made many businesses turn to the Internet for increased productivity, greater profitability, clutter free working conditions and global clientèle. It is mainly due to the IT industry that people from diverse cultures are able to personally communicate and exchange valuable ideas. This has greatly reduced prejudice and increased sensitivity. Businesses are able to operate 24x7, even from remote locations.

Information technology has rippled on in the form of a Communication Revolution. Specialists in this field like programmers, analyzers and developers are able to further the applications and improve business processes simultaneously. The management infrastructure thus generated defies all boundaries. Among the many advantages of the industry are technical support post-implementation, network and individual desktop management, dedicated business applications and strategic planning for enhanced profitability and effective project management.

IT provides a number of low-cost business options to tap higher productivity with dedicated small business CRM and a special category for the larger operations. Regular upgrades have enabled many businessmen to increase productivity and identify a market niche that would never have been possible without the connectivity. With every subsequent increase in the ROI or Return On Investment, businesses are able to remain buoyant even amidst the economic recession. Not only do people connect faster with the help of information technology, but they are also able to identify like-minded individuals and extend help, while strengthening ties.

This segment revolves around automated processes that require little or no human intervention at all. This in turn has minimized job stress levels at the work place and eliminated repetition of tasks, loss due to human error, risks involved due to negligence of timely upgrades and extensive paper-intensive business applications that result in the accumulation of unnecessary bulk. The sophistication of the modern work stations and general working conditions is possible only due to the development of Information Technology.

Importance of Information Technology

• In businesses, information technology plays a major role in the management and upkeep of huge amounts of information. It helps in creating information as well as aids in information exchange. Due to this, businesses can work with their clients in any part of the world, as though they were in the same building.
• In the field of medicine, information technology plays a major role in various diagnostic procedures such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), scans, and other tools used to diagnose major conditions. These days, there are computer-aided surgeries that are being performed as well.
• In the fields of science and engineering, information technology plays an important role in the collection and exchange of demographic data, weather reports, behavioral sciences and numerous other areas where automation and quick work is needed.
• Information technology has contributed to various security systems for homes as well as businesses, to a large extent. More complex security systems are being used in the cases of government agencies and military bases.
• Public databases and secret identification of people is now maintained with the help of information technology. In fact, a large number of criminals are traced with the aid of modern technology, since the exact location of people can be traced by tracking out the computer that they had used.
• GPS or Global Positioning System is one facet of information technology that is fast catching up with more and more people these days. Using this technology, people can not only track out travel routes, but can also recover stolen items, such as cars, mobile phones, etc.
• Information technology is extremely important to the entertainment sector. Numerous special effects, graphical additions and innovative multimedia applications are being used these days in movies. All this has been made possible because of information technology.
• The World Wide Web (www), more commonly known as internet, is the most important means of linking the world. Without the internet, we could just as well return to the Stone Age. Communication has become much easier, and the world is a much smaller place, thanks to information technology

History of Information Technology

The backstory of information technology precedes the invention of the computer. The abacus, used by Asians, Egyptians, Romans, and the Greek can be termed a source of information technology. Calculators, the first mechanical one built by German polymath   Wilhelm Schickard, or the slide rule, developed in 1622   by William Oughtred, also comes under the heading of information technology. Another example would be punch card machines, expanded upon by IBM in the early to mid 1900's, qualifies the term information technology

.As time progress along with the advances of inventions and applied knowledge, computing took shape and became useful in a variety of ways other than calculations. Computer science became an academic specialty, creating computer science departments and classes. As these classes took shape, separate branches of computer science became distinct areas of study. Today, Information Technology departments use computers, data centers, servers, database management system, specialized software applications and more, managed by system and database administrators, an Information Technology Manager and other department heads, including a Chief Information Officer (CIO). Even though information technology has a long reach into history, only recently has it been associated with the use of computers.

Definition of Information Technology

In the broadest sense, information technology refers to both the hardware and software that are used to store, retrieve, and manipulate information. At the lowest level you have the servers with an operating system. Installed on these servers are things like database and web serving software. The servers are connected to each other and to users via a network infrastructure. And the users accessing these servers have their own hardware, operating system, and software tools.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology