The Role of Computers in Business

Information Technology, like language, affects us on many levels and has fast become integral to all of our lives.   In this course we aim to strike a balance in studying both the social and commercial forces of Information Technology, and networking, in particular. 

Let's take a moment here to introduce the commercial forces.

I am quite certain that each and everyone of you has witnessed first hand, even if it wasn't readily obvious, the impact that computers and computer networks have had on business.

In fact, by now the role of computers in business has risen to the point where computer networks, even more than personnel, are synonymous with the corporate entity.  Is this not true?

What do I mean?  Dell Computers ? isn?t a group of people making and selling personal computers as much as it is a collection of loosely affiliated computer systems that, upon receiving an order or customer service request (all online!), come together in a linear process to do a job.  Cisco Systems ? isn?t so much a manufacturer of switches as it is a trusted brand name and expert marketer who happens to use the Internet and a sophisticated ?network of networks? to weave together suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors to form a coordinated, fully branded, fully customized virtual entity that we know as Cisco. When orders slowed in 1999, Cisco?s response involved rationalizing their supply-base ? leaving capital-intensive subcontractors to squeeze already razor thin margins just to participate in the new, leaner, and ever-responsive sales network.  Indeed Cisco?s information systems are their competitive advantage.

Computers and computer networks act as the central nervous system of today?s enterprise.  Today's regular business people aren?t just relying on them...they're directly administering, monitoring, and configuring them.   While IT staff with specialized skills may focus on application development, integration, and support, today?s business professional requires information technology knowledge to navigate and operate IT systems, to design, customize, and test systems for competitive advantage, and to seek out and identify new solutions that can transform their business.

My opinion about this article :

            Information Technology, like language, affects us on many levels and has fast become integral to all of our lives.   In this course we aim to strike a balance in studying both the social and commercial forces of Information Technology, and networking, in particular. In fact, by now the role of computers in business has risen to the point where computer networks, even more than personnel, are synonymous with the corporate entity. 

This article was taken from :

http://exonous.typepad.com/mis/2004/09/the_role_of_com.html