Networking (computers linked with one another) within a company also plays a big role for communication, although this would only be for within the company and could be used on a global scale. For instance networking allows for quick messages to be sent within office blocks, rather than someone having to walk down to another area they can send a message across on the network and the person will receive the intended message within a matter of seconds.
Video conferencing is a good way of communicating within and with other companies, it allows the viewing of presentations and lets the company hold a discussion with a group of people as if they were in the same room without having to travel halfway across the world to have a meeting.
Security
The use of ICT allows for greater security measures to be put in place. When sending and receiving e-mails security is a vital thing. Without the proper security precautions the e-mails and messages being sent across the companies network are insecure, this allows people to hack into the system and gain information being sent and read important or confidential information. Also without proper security precautions it allows for unauthorised access to the companies network and people are able to gain information and/or upload viruses onto the network to stop the network from functioning properly. Companies usually have software installed to create a barrier like a firewall to protect against these sort of problems occurring.
Viruses also are a big thing companies need to avoid, without the proper protection they can wreak havoc on the companies network and ICT systems. All it takes is for one computer in the network to contract a virus from opening an e-mail and it is able to spread across the network form computer to computer and eventually the entire network will become infected.
Companies have various levels of access to computer systems for people in different departments within the company. For instance someone who is higher up in the company would have a high level of access with a password that allows them to gain access to more information than someone with a much lower level of access. This allows for important and confidential information to be kept safely and reduces the risk of it being leaked from the company.
Running of Machinery
In certain working environments such as factories machinery can be run by specific ICT systems. This allows companies to cut down on the amount of manual labourers they need to employ saving money, but they need to employ a team of workers who have expertise with working with ICT systems etc. It also eliminates the risk of human error when running machinery. There are also down sides to using computers to run important machinery as they can be liable to crash and stop the machinery from working. This may mean that there will be a requirement for a small amount of supervision of the machinery and computer system by an operator.
One of the upsides to having computer systems running machinery is that fault finding is made easier by the computer, as it enables the operator to pin point the problem and rectify it. It is also possible to find times and dates of problems which have occurred with the machinery and this allows the company to produce a better downtime analysis therefore creating a better maintenance programme and more efficient machinery.
Conclusion
In conclusion ICT is very helpful to organisations as it makes many tasks and jobs a lot easier. They can be done using a computer or other forms of ICT as opposed to doing them manually. There are also many downsides to using ICT as well due to an increase in security risks as it makes it easier for information to be leaked or stolen from a computer network. Also viruses become a huge risk for companies, but as long as the proper precautions are taken to ensure that everything will run smoothly it gives the company a very versatile and helpful tool to work with.
