Today, information technology is a crucial component of every office. It assists business organizations in lowering the cost of their business operations by giving alternate and less expensive methods of carrying out these procedures. In the company office, information technology is required to make activity management simple. IT may be utilized to easily create databases and deal with personnel difficulties (Benitez-Amado and Walczuch, 2012). Managing an office using Information Technology programs that utilize the internet also provides a firm with a competitive advantage in the industry in which it works.Communication will also be faster and less costly in an office where there is proper information technology program. The departments will be able to share information easily without one staff having to physically walk from one office to the other to pass a message. Whatever they want from mother department can be easily transferred using the information technology platform in an organization (Ghobakhloo, Hong, Sabouri and Zulkifli, 2012).
Information technology in a business office saves time as it speeds up processes of workflow in an office. Things like digital filing save space, printing assets and the cost of printing papers. Correction can be made instantly where there is a need and without having to alter a lot of things in the work like in paper (Tassey, 2012). Also, it makes it easy to retrieve files since they are saved with unique codes and names that can be entered into a search system and get them. This is unlike the manual filing where one will have to go through a pile of files and to look for a particular file when needed. This enhances efficiency.
Information system improves mobility in a business office. It eliminates space and time. Things like video conferencing let staffs that have travelled out of the office for business to easily keep in touch with their project and other staff back at their workplace. Also, recruitment and screening of staffs will be made easy by the use of technology. The business firm can use the internet to spread information about their vacancies and also to assess and recruit their employees(Tassey, 2012). Personality assessment that is done by technology help business firms to establish whether employees are fit for the positions to which they have applied.
Problems to solve using IT at this business office.
Currently, the office has only one printer that is being accessed by laptops through a wireless system and the desktops using cables. This brings a lot of inconveniences to the office and inefficiency. Using one printer means that when certain staff wants to make copies of anything they will have to wait for others to complete making copies (Tassey, 2012). In this office of twenty employees, there should be printers for every four people or in every department.
All the computers both laptops and desktops should use the wireless network system to enhance efficiency. A WI-FI network that works in all the department or the whole building should be fixed into this business office. Another problem to solve in this office would be spacing. Desktops use a lot of space and consume more power than laptops and therefore should be replaced (Tassey, 2012). This will ensure that the office that the business office saves more cost on power and even enhancing its efficiency by creating more space.
Project deliverables
The hardware needed in this projects includes an external hard drive to store most of their information and files and also to act as a backup in case of crash down of their normal system.
Another deliverable for this project is the network server solution(Tassey, 2012). There is a need to set up a network server that will supply it with the needed internet and the storage for their information as well as to act as a site that helps in passing information to their website.
Also, the wireless router is needed to enhance internet network for the business. The current system uses cables and wireless; there is a need to have a complete wireless system of the internet.
LaserJet printer should be added so that the twenty staff does not have to use only one printer. This will ensure efficiency and effectiveness as it will improve workflow in the business.
There needed software for its business office include PDF software that can allow them to send word document instead of having to print most of them(Tassey, 2012). Also, they needed to have a drop box or Google Doc that will help the to save most of their files online so that in the case of any loss of their hard drive or breakdown on computers, the vital document can still be accessed easily.
Also, financial software that will track and keep financial information of the office up to date and also ensure a good accounting practice is necessary for this office. It will make loss or embezzlement of funds difficult. Teleconferencing software is the other significant software that they need to have (Pérez-López and Alegre, 2012). It will help the firm to communicate with their partners and other stakeholders who are far away and cannot be reached easily.
The type of window operating system that will be part of the project deliverables includes
A 32-bit version
Video, as well as printers, support where anyone can print any photo or make a video.
Network sharing features to make the firm employees share internet network effectively
Window help and support should also be among the deliverables to help the organization have the best working processes.
Power should be supplied both from the generator and electricity supply so that in the case of a blackout, the generator will ensure that the office’s work is not interrupted. The firm needs a motherboard that has about four USB ports and is a vPro type for business purposes.
The business office needs a computer with at least eight GB RAM to make them more fit for business purposes which include performing more tasks at the same time. They need CPU for mobile devices. Storage capacity should be big enough for their files and information. This can be at least 320 GB that is about 16GB for every staff in the office (Oh, Teo and Sambamurthy, 2012). The best internet interface is the Ethernet network interface that will have a card build on the computer motherboard. The specifications of the printer should be as follows;
One that has a series of connection and use of wireless and should be able to carry out multiple printing and scan all in one system. The printer and scanner should be in one system not separate to enhance efficiency. The expansion cards that will be needed for the include network card, sound card, video cards and USB cables.
The specification of monitors to use in this business office will include Liquid crystal display and thin film transistor. The monitor should be of TFT and not CRT which is an older version of monitors.
The best laptop for this business office will have the following specification
The processor should be a minimum of core i5 processor. The memory should be at least 4GB RAM to 8 GB RAM to ensure the speed of the processing.
The hard drive should be at least 250 GB to 500 GB on the higher side.
The best client operating system includes the window 95/98 vista or window NT workstation or window 2000 professional. This is the type of the client operating system that this business should use to ensure that its operations are going own well as planned and achieve their business goals.
Project beneficiaries
This project will benefit both the business owners and the employees. It will make work much easier for employees and also help the business owners to cut the cost of their operations thereby making it more profitable. Also, employees work will be not only easy but also efficient and effective(Tassey, 2012). They will have an enhanced processes as compared with what they are currently using. Passing of information from one department to another will be now easy than before. Owners will cut the cost of operations on issues like cost of printing papers, the cost of sending information and also increase the level of revenue as they would have a competitive edge in the market. This project intends to harmonize the systems if this business office so as to conform to the current technology status.
References
Benitez-Amado, J., & Walczuch, R. M. (2012). Information technology, the organizational capability of proactive corporate environmental strategy and firm performance: a resource-based analysis. European Journal of Information Systems, 21(6), 664-679.
Ghobakhloo, M., Hong, T. S., Sabouri, M. S., & Zulkifli, N. (2012). Strategies for successful information technology adoption in small and medium-sized enterprises. Information, 3(1), 36-67.
Oh, L. B., Teo, H. H., & Sambamurthy, V. (2012). The effects of retail channel integration through the use of information technologies on firm performance. Journal of Operations Management, 30(5), 368-381.
Pérez-López, S., & Alegre, J. (2012). Information technology competency, knowledge processes and firm performance. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 112(4), 644-662.
Tassey, G. (2012). Technology infrastructure and competitive position. Springer Science & Business Media.
