IT Application in Business

IT Application in Business

Dr. B Muniraja Sekhar,

Associate Professor,

K.M.M. Institute of Technology & Science, Department of Management Studies, Tirupati-517502,

Dr. K.V.S.N. Jawahar Babu,

Head of the Department,

Department of Tourism Management, Vikrama Simhapuri University, Nellore,

S. Ismail Basha,

Assistant Professor,

K.M.M. Institute of Technology & Science, Department of Computer Applications, Tirupati-517502,

AbstractIn a world where consumers expect information instantly, wherever they are, business success requires that enterprises apply information technology to meet new needs and reach new customers. But just when IT organizations should step forward with new solutions, they find themselves encumbered by inflexible applications, maintenance and support of old systems.

Business applications can range from large line-of-business systems to specialized tools. Consider all the applications that run on either client computers or servers, including commercial off-the-shelf products, customized third-party systems, and internally developed systems. ITS Business Applications supports, develops and integrates enterprise-wide administrative, academic and financial systems that are used by UCSF academic and administrative departments and central offices. Functional teams work with business users to define requirements, analyze functional processes, define designs and test to ensure that the product meets the users' needs. The technical teams conduct technical analysis, design, code and provide unit testing.

Keywords: Introduction, Applications of ICT – Planning & Controlling Operations,

1. INTRODUCTION

   Information technology is an essential partner in management of your business, regardless of the kind of enterprise you operate. Whether you need computers for torage, transfer, retrieval or transmission of information, you can manage your business with greater accuracy and efficiency with the assistance of information technology and computer applications. The U.S. Small Business Administration suggests its time to get connected.

   Storage

   You may already use a computer for data storage for your business. Inventory, sales, receivables and payables stored in Excel, Open Office or a similar program keeps these figures at your fingertips. Accounting software stores your payroll information, tax records and specialized data for

   your business. Once youre acquainted with a program, you wont know how you functioned without it. You can eliminate much of the physical storage at the office by using information technology to scan and store old personnel and payroll files, tax files or client files. You may need less square footage with information technology.

   Marketing

   Large and small businesses are on a level playing field on the Internet. You can have a Web presence, take orders, buy merchandise, sell excess or even operate some businesses entirely online. A marketing tool that uses information technology is the Quick Response or QR Code that looks like a bar code but is square. A scan advertises your website address and includes any text you choose. You can use your business management skills to direct employees or contractors to do your Internet marketing, or you can choose to learn a new set of skills in information technology.

   Information

   Whether you learned business management by the book or by practical experience, youll need updates all of your life. The Internet is a wealth of information to keep you current with trends, techniques, software and human resources. You can draw on online databases and websites to locate potential employees, compare insurance proposals, tackle employee issues or check out the competition. Managing your business with information gleaned from the Internet keeps you knowledgeable and on the cutting edge.

   Communication

   Communication by email is faster and costs less than sending a paper letter in the mail. You can transform your business to the 21st century with the use of email for communication with clients or customers. Information technology allows you to organize email file folders by client or by type of communication, such as orders or billing. You can drag and drop your email files to closed folders as your company completes projects. Your

   communication files become closed files, placed in storage on CD or on a hard drive with a duplicate copy or backup automated by a program or service.

2. APPLICATION OF ICT PLANNING & CONTROLLING OPERATIONS

   Stock control

   Students will be familiar with the principles of stock management from the AS level studies. Increasingly, businesses use real time data from EPOS, on-line stores and electronic sales ledgers to drive their re-order processes.

   EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) facilitates exchange of orders between different businesses and allows Just In Time stock ordering. Other businesses place orders electronically once production schedules have been set for the next period.

   With computerised stock control, businesses should be able to check stock levels almost on a real-time basis. Stock checks are still required to reconcile stock levels that may be incorrect due to faults in scanning or because of pilferage or other wastage.

   CAD/CAM – Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided ManufactureComputer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacture are two systems that tend to work together.

   Computer Aided Design helps design products on computers, rather than having to create endless drawings. The system can create realistic 3D images of the finished product.

   CAD also allows virtual testing of the product before it is actually made, dramatically reducing lead times and minimising waste in new product development.

   As CAD acts together with CAM, its outputs are designed to optimise designs for efficient manufacture with CAM systems.

   CAM uses computers to control tooling such as CNC and other robotised machinery. Benefits would be expected to include; improved quality, reduced wastage, faster production and less reliance on labour, in other words, it is more capital intensive. In many cases, CAM facilitates the manufacture of designs that would have been impossible without this technology.

3. PROJECT MANAGEMENT

   The key Project Management tool that appears in A-level Business Studies is Critical Path Analysis (CPA), also known as Network Analysis see separate Tutor2U revision note for details of CPA.

   Project Planning software, such as Microsoft Project, allows project managers to enter tasks, lead times, dependencies and staff skills and availability, even allowing for holiday, and the system will produce an optimised work schedule. Any student who has attempted to produce even a simple CPA will appreciate how helpful such a software package would be!

4. CONCLUSION

Business software or business application is any software or set of computer programs that are used by business users to perform various business functions. These business applications are used to increase productivity, to measure productivity and to perform business functions accurately.

Some business applications are interactive, i.e., they have

a graphical user interface or user interface and users can query/modify/input data and view results instantaneously. They can also run reports instantaneously. Some business applications run in batch mode i.e. they are set up to run based on a predetermined event/time and business user does not need to initiate them or monitor them.

Some busiess applications are built in-house and some are

bought from vendors (off the shelf software products). These business applications either are installed on desktops or on big servers.

REFERENCES

1. James O'Brien and George Marakas, Management Information Systems, 7th ed. McGraw-Hill

2. Dictionary of Marketing Terms, 3rd Edition

3. Recent Document management software products.