Social and Economic Implications of the Introduction of IT in business

        Another problem facing businesses in the introduction of I.T. is the money that they have to pay for the new technology and I.T. systems.  Computers and electrical goods are normally very expensive when they first come out and then drop in price over a short period.  The only problem is, the business can’t afford to wait until the systems drop in price because it must stay in competition with other companies who do have the newest information technology.

        There is also the factor of employees being paid whilst training.  Businesses lose out whilst paying employees for training because they are not getting any immediate beneficial work out of them that they can make a profit on.

        More profits would be lost because a technician would have to be employed to maintain the computer systems.

Social

        The first major problem of introduction of I.T. into a business is that the employer or business might have to lay a few people off because computers have replaced their jobs or they are not needed to produce satisfactory profits anymore.  This loss of jobs leads to high unemployment which causes a whole host of other problems.

        Another issue is the protection of stored and shared data.  If data is being stored and shared on the internet then it has to be protected.  There are computer hackers that can obtain this information without the right security and use it to discredit employees or the company.  This data whereas it used to be physically protected under lock and key now has to be digitally protected and is probably more susceptible to invasion.

        The whole issue of people losing their jobs to computers means that economy might be shifted elsewhere, and towns and cities around the area might become poorer.  This issue alone also has a string of economic problems linked with social issues due to lack of economy in families, towns and cities.