*IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS COMMUNI*CATION
We are in the midst of a third major revolution in human civilization. First there was the
Agricultural Revolution, then the Industrial Revolution, and now we are in the Information
Revolution. Information and communication technology and a world wide system of
information exchange has been building growth for over a hundred years and physical
technology and industry is not slowing down in growth – rather it is accelerating.
Information technology (IT) is playing a crucial role in contemporary society. It has
transformed the whole world into a global village with a global economy, which is
increasingly dependant on the creative management and distribution of information.
Globalization of world economies has greatly enhanced the values of information to
business organizations and has offered new business opportunities.
Today, IT provides the communication and analytical power that organizations need for
conducting trade and managing business at global level with much ease. To coordinate
their worldwide network of suppliers, distributors and consumers, organizations have
developed global information systems that can track orders, deliveries, and payments
round the clock. This has been possible because of the development of IT in its present
form.
In the broadest sense, information technology refers to both the hardware and software that
are used to store, retrieve, and manipulate information. At the lowest level you have the
servers each with an operating system. Installed on these servers are things like database
and web serving software. The servers are connected to each other and to users via a
network infrastructure. And the users accessing these servers have their own hardware,
operating systems, and software tools.
Also known as information and communication technology (ICT), IT is defined as the
technology required for information processing. In particular, the use of computer and
computer software to convert, store, process, transmit, and retrieve information. In
Information technology we primarily concentrate on the following technologies:
Computer Hardware Technologies
Computer Software Technologies
Telecommunication and Network Technologies
Data Resource Management Technologies
Organisations can now build and maintain sophisticated databases which enable them to
segment the market more effectively. This means that they should be able to dovetail
perceived customer needs with potential solutions.
Development of modern communication devices. With IT revolution, new communication
services have emerged. In the last decade of the 20th century, there was phenomenal
increase in number of computers and its application. Now the laptops, PDA and palmtops
are supplementing computers. These devices perform the dame functions as a computer
performs like storing and processing information and internet connectivity. Besides this,
