Information systems are used in virtually every profession. From a small music store to huge transnational companies, businesses of all sizes cannot carry on without information systems to perform accounting, marketing, management, finance and similar operations (Stair and Reynolds 323).
All these functions and others not mentioned in the list point out that, in deed, information systems are slowly becoming an integral part of the contemporary business world. However, one of the biggest problems with keeping information systems running is that they are constantly developing major and minor operations problems. Sometimes, these problems can be fixed by consulting the manuals or simply by kicking the machine.
Another way of remedying these problems is learning to ask for help effectively. The latter solution has been supported by the internet, which offers a widespread community of help and support sites. This essay is a case study of one of the technical support sites in which I asked a posed a question and received an overwhelming number of professional responses.
Various sites offer a range of solutions on information systems. Nevertheless, I chose to pose my question to Protonic due to a number of reasons, as I shall state later. Protonic provides free computer help and computer-linked information online and through e-mail. Protonic is a free service site managed by volunteers all over the globe who assist people solve technology problems.
Its team delights in solving a client’s problem. The team is modern and works comprehensibly. It also maintains high values through its quality guarantee sampling ensuring the original smile on one’s face is restored (Protonic.com).
Protonic homepage offers the client six basic options which include whether he or she wants to ask a question, download free software, read the latest news on information systems, swap links, converse on forums or get help using its site.
In my case, I wanted to ask a tech question on whether or not Backup and Archiving should be separated. I must admit that the responses I got were not only specific to my question but also very elaborative.
In addition, they were varied, hence, provided a rich wide range of perspectives on the issue. For instance, I now know the comparison of the two phenomena, the importance of each, their cost-effectiveness, and reason for their separation. I realized that none of the two is able to replace the other without causing major snarl-ups in document handling (Hayles 17).
Another striking feature I realized with Protonic is their simplicity in creating an account. All I needed was my two names and a valid email address. After I opened the account, they sent me my log in details that I will be using in the future in case I have any other problems related to information systems. Surprisingly enough, Protonic is also available in major social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. This implies that clients can follow the latest development in the site through their social network accounts (Protonic.com).
As seen from the above case study, the internet is, in deed, a problem solver. The knowledge I acquired about Backup and archiving will be handy in handling retrieving and storing documents.
Although many of the current problems are posed by the ever-evolving technologies, the same technologies are offering cloud-based solutions by a simple click of the button at a client’s comfort. The era of globalization is, by all means, here with us. The internet has moved from its misconceived perception of a problem generator to that of a problem solver.
Works Cited
Hayles, Rupert. “Planning and Executing IT Strategy”. IT Professional Magazine. Sep/Oct. 9(5):12-20. Web.
Protonic.com Homepage. “More about Protonic.com.” 2011. Web.
Stair, Ralph, and Reynolds, George. Principles of Information Systems. New York: CengageLearning, 2011. Print.