The Importance Of Information Technology

The purpose of this article is to illuminate the need for any organization to have its IT strategy and business strategy properly aligned. While many organizations view IT and business alignment as an event – it is actually an on-going process, or continuous journey. Therefore, the main problem is that many organizations of today still hold these two principles (business mission & IT strategy) as two separate entities. However, in the Information Age – collaboration is key to capturing and retaining market penetration. To not have alignment with the IT and business strategy together is not a matter of want it is a matter of survival. This report will expand upon the need for business and IT strategic alignment as well as examine what happens in lack of a comprehensive plan. This will be done by examining the Vermont Teddy Bear company prior to and after the arrival of Bob Stetzel, the Vice President of Information Technology. This document will view it findings and make recommendations on the immediate and future operations of the company.

As we have learned throughout this course, the value of information technology has been one of the most influential aspects of conducting business. Information technology is used on a daily basis at all organizations, and it has grown exponentially throughout the course of history. Organizations purchase and implement information technology to gain a competitive edge over their competitors. This dates all the way back to the invention of the steam engine, in the mid-1800s, which allowed finished products to be mass transported by the railroad system. The companies and corporations that used the rail system gained a competitive advantage over smaller companies that used other modes for transporting their

Foundation of IT in a place is very crucial for most business. Organizations can use IT resource to create innovative and strategic process that helps business to reach beyond the status quo. Organization without new technologies resources can lose momentum and fall behind in competition. On the other hand, organizations with effective and updated technologies remain competent and superior; get competitive advantage thus acquire and maintain their big market share.

Any business or company that uses Information Technology (IT) for its operation and is leveraging it for gaining competitive advantage also needs to think about other aspects of the technology. Technical advancement and innovations alone are not sufficient to make any business attractive. IT definitely plays a huge role in the highly competitive business world now than before because of the advancement in the area and various ways it can influence the rise or fall of the business.

The mini-case starts with “IT is a pain in the neck,” which is a wrong notion that most of the business managers have in an organization. The history of IT-business relationships in most of the organizations shows that there is a huge gap between both sides which is getting better over a period of time. Today, managers know the fact that it is the people, technology and information that realizes the value of a company and everytime IT cannot be blamed for everything. The days have gone when IT was looked at as the sole responsibility for a company’s growth or downfall. IT processes along with the

(Sivaprasad & JangaJe, 2012): With the introduction of Information Technology in the business, every organization that comprises IT has started to take benefits of this technology. This is done by attaining the advantage over other competitors in the market, by providing new features to the customers after incorporating technology at the operational side specially, increasing the operational speed and reducing the probability for any error in operations. (Wen, 2012): IT also assists higher management in the process of decision making.

Business–information technology alignment is the tight integration of the IT function with the organization’s strategy, mission, and goals. That is, the IT function directly supports the business objectives of the organization. Such an alignment enables firms to adhere to business objectives, and to maximize the value from investments. An excellent alignment will reduce costs, standardize processes, enhance productivity, improve workflow and communications, sustain repeatable service levels, improve Risk control mechanisms, implement new business strategies, facilitate growth, facilitate competitive advantage by exploiting new technology, enable IT driven projects to meet time and budget requirements, help to optimize the IT budget utilization. As more and more new business opportunities are created, IT plays an

Information Technology (IT) is a foundation for conducting business today. It plays a critical role in increasing productivity of firms and entire nation. It is proven that firms who invested in IT have experienced continued growth in productivity and efficiency. Many companies' survival and even existence without use of IT is unimaginable. IT has become the largest component of capital investment for companies in the United States and many other countries.

Alignment of an enterprise’s goals with its IT1 and IS1 systems has been a challenge ever since IT became a business enabler. Proposing an IT alignment requires a thorough understanding of the business goals of the enterprise and the knowledge that alignment is an iterative process which requires constant measurement and honing (Chan, 2002). Enterprises often face the problem of balance of priorities between IT and Business objectives. This report deals with one such case that faced alignment and prioritization hardships resulting in an unclear approach to achieve a corporate strategy.

Information Technology (IT): The hardware and software technologies a firm needs to achieve its business objectives (Kenneth C Laudon and Jane P Laudon., 2010).

It is evident that there is a new generation of students known as members of the "digital and network generation," who are surrounded by information and communication technologies that include Internet, smartphones, and mass media. Course Facebook groups are used to facilitate communications among students, to foster a positive social climate in the classroom, to create dialogue and to engage students, and to serve as a learning tool. The paper examines the level of achievements of students and their satisfaction as part of an educational Facebook group.

One of the most technological advancements that facilitated the globalization  of the world is IT(Information Technology). The innovation and the advancement of Information Technology facilitated the move to a more globalized globe that we have today. Information Technology plays a major role in different sectors around the world. Since the innovation of Information Technology from its infancy stage, it has been dynamically increasing, changing, and  innovating  bringing new idea and advancements that plays a crucial role in different  sectors across the globe such as in healthcare, education system, journalism and media, government, and many other sectors. Treverton, G., Wollman, M., Wilke, E., & Lai, explains, "The rapid pace of technological advancement, coupled with more than a century of intense globalization, has led to a highly interconnected world, characterized by the unprecedented movement of goods, services, people, finances, and ideas both across and within borders”(Treverton, G., Wollman, M., Wilke, E., & Lai, D, 2001, p. 89).

Strategic alignment occurs when the Information Technology (IT) and business strategies are in dynamic symmetry with the structures that support strategy execution, which include; organization framework and Information systems (Lapiedra, Alegre, and Chiva, 2006). Therefore, when this alignment exists IT can predict what the business future requirements are and set up a trajectory to meet those upcoming needs (Hu and Huang, 2007). Luftman (2003) noted that for over two decades IT to business alignment has been classified among the top management concerns in organizations. Although IT-business alignment has been identified as a promoter for IT investment to enhance organizational performance, fear prevails among management teams that the return of investment in IT will not be achieved. The main reason of failure to generate return from IT investment is the practice’s challenge faced by many implementers due to external forces, like transformation of IT (Luftman and Kempaiah, 2008), cost, and lack of understanding on alignment framework and models to use at different strategic planning levels (Oana, 2010).

With the understanding how the direction the organization is going and how IT can begin to improve its own internal processes to meet customer demands, The alignment of IT and business nowadays plays a key ingredient that lead ITIL to success

Since the inception of Information Technology (IT), the business world has been transformed. In many aspects of business, IT contributes remarkably in increasing effective usage of time, efforts and financial costs. This article is going to outline some examples of IT efforts that run, grow, or transform the businesses it serves, thorough increasingly important layers of business operation and management. Those layers are finance, communication and systems.