Fast and accurate decision making has become very important in today’s business world. It can make the difference between a successful enterprise and one that is heading toward failure. And here technology gives great help to the business industry. In order to be fast and accurate in today’s world there is need of the machines to do the work, especially calculations. To gain this understanding, in order to have a head start in front of the competition, companies need to collect and examine a huge quantity of data. The secret is turning this “mountains of data” into real competitive advantage. Seeing that humans are “too slow” in processing this data these companies are turning more and more to technology. No doubt that today’s machines are way faster in processing information than any human being. This helps cut the labor costs and increases the speed of collection and procession of the data. Due to these necessities there are several areas of study that are designed to help businesses in their decision making process. On one hand there is the development of specific hardware capacities designed “for business use”. On the other hand, there is much effort in creating the necessary software to help business fulfill its needs. Another part where both hardware, and especially, software technology is expanding in relation to business is the security necessities that business has. In today’s market businesses do not sell only in the real “physical” market place, but even in a virtual, on-line, one. Here is where security is needed and in protecting the “mountings of data” archives.
The simple question to ask is why was born this relation between business and information technology? This maybe the extreme case, but the latest financial crisis demonstrated that in time decision making can make the “life to death” difference for a business. Nowadays, business decisions are taken on unprecedented scales in history. In today’s market multi-million business decisions are common. So, making faster decisions can give a head start and enables you to gain greater shares of the market.
I will give now some practical examples how the hardware and the software section are developing in relation to the business world. Let’s start by the hardware sector first. In order to run the businesses today companies turn to the help of powerful computers, mostly workstations and servers. These machines need to have powerful processors and storage drives in order to archive the data and process them when necessary. Businesses need ever faster processors. Last week one of the leading corporation in hardware technology declared it is going to release a new chipset that is very powerful. The Wall Street Journal announced that:
“Intel Corp. on Monday is rolling out one of its most important products in several years, the latest sign that development cycles run counter to business cycles at high-tech companies.” (“Intel Rolls Out Core i7 Chip”, par. 1)
This is a chipset designed to provide very fast and complex calculations, and as the Wall Street Journal suggests, it is not for the home user. Its main market targets are the businesses, especially small and medium enterprises. For this reason the engineers at Intel Corporation designed a processor that fits the needs of business. The Wall Street Journal continues:
“One of its novel features is a technology that can completely switch off as many as three of its four calculating engines while allowing the fourth to operate at an unusually high clock speed — saving power at the time it accelerates some computing jobs.” (“Intel Rolls Out Core i7 Chip”, par. 5).
This is something that fits perfectly today’s business needs. But businessman’s are often on the move. So they need devices to store their information and take it with them. Of course they need small and light devices but reliable and with as much as possible storage capabilities. Here is news from Intel Co. and Hitachi Co.:
“Intel Corp. and a unit of Hitachi Ltd. on Tuesday are announcing an alliance to develop high-end data-storage devices based on chips known as flash memory.” (“Intel to Ally With Hitachi Unit on Flash Data-Storage Devices”, par. 1).
The next paragraph of the Wall Street Journal shows why these companies are developing these products:
“Hitachi will supply other technology and integrate the components into systems that can be used with servers, workstations and other high-performance hardware.” ((“Intel to Ally With Hitachi Unit on Flash Data-Storage Devices”, par. 2).
I think business will be very interested in these products. Let now pass at the software section of the information technology development in order to help business compute its tasks. It is clear that these powerful hardware that are mentioned above needs software to operate. But purchasing hardware and software raises the cost for a business. Don’t worry, IBM has thought how to cut businesses cost:
“International Business Machines Corp. is hoping to convince corporate customers that they no longer need Microsoft Corp. IBM says it has created a “Microsoft-free” virtual desktop — a complete suite of applications that run on a backroom server and don’t require Microsoft software or costly desktop hardware.” (“IBM Creates ‘Microsoft-Free’ Desktop”, par. 1).
This kind of software helps companies cut costs of hardware and software purchases and it has all the functionality needed by companies.
Finally, a couple of words for the security software especially needed by companies and corporations to ensure their privacy. Here is an article by the Wall Street Journal showing a software product that helps businesses in:
“SIEM software helps companies swiftly spot someone from outside a business trying to tap into its network or an unauthorized insider attempting to access sensitive files.” (“Looking for Trouble”, par. 3).
By this short essay I hope to have demonstrated that business and technology have a strong correlation. And this relation is getting more complex and interdependent.
References
- Clark, Don. Intel Rolls Out Core i7 Chip. 2008. The Wall Street Journal.
- Totty, Michael. Looking for Trouble. 2008. The Wall Street Journal. Web.
- Bulkeley, William M. IBM Creates ‘Microsoft-Free’ Desktop. 2008. The Wall Street Journal. Web.
- Clark, Don. Intel to Ally With Hitachi Unit on Flash Data-Storage Devices. 2008. The Wall Street Journal. Web.