A bank must back up files every week in case of a disaster. This is because millions of people around the world will rely on the bank for the access of their money. The backup file should be away from the original system so if there is a disaster both do not get destroyed.
Health and safety
There are health and safety issues regarding information systems. The screens, monitors and the way they are positioned all have strict regulations. Keyboards, mice, chairs and the desk must be positioned in a suitable and comfortable position for employees. It is also important that all employees have regular breaks from looking at the computer.
The IT department in the bank must make sure they follow all the regulations and that staff ensure their equipment is at a position that is suited to them to stop injuries.
Organisational policies
A business that has a strong hierarchy will have policies restricting access to information. IT security may put in place tight policies on who can access or update this data. A distributed organisation with dispersed computing will have to restrict access to information. There may be limited connectivity between the organisation’s different computers. This could prevent staff at one place accessing information held at another.
Employees from banks must not reveal any information outside the company as it could have a very negative impact.
Information ownership
Information that is produced should own every field of data in every record. They should be responsible for making sure that it is entered into the system correctly and consistently.
Members from the bank need to ensure that all the information is in the system correctly as if it’s not it could have a large impact on them and the customer. For example, somebody may need to withdraw out £1000 from the bank but in the system it says they got £100, it would mean the bank would lose money.
Business continuance plan
IT is used throughout an organisation and it can be very temperamental and stop working. This means that a business continuance plan is vital if the computer system fails so that they can keep the system running and still provide a service.
The IT department of the bank should create a continuance plan such as having more than one terminal connected to different networks. Then, if one terminal fails then there will be a backup that can run the system and provide a service to their customers.
Costs
It’s important to always manage costs for an IT project. The benefits of the project should exceed the total costs of the project. Additional resources requires and cost of development as two important area that a business should consider.
Additional resources – having a new system means that there will be costs of new equipment, installation, training and user testing. In an IT department more resources will be needed and there will be ongoing costs to run the system.
Cost of development – a large amount of a budget will got development. Once the system is integrated there will be ongoing costs once it is running for small changes to make sure the system fits the organisation needs.
Costs are essential for a bank. A bank must buy is a computer system, terminal, multiple networks and hardware such as ATM. They must keep the IT department running which means there will be on going costs for a system to keep running. An IT system is very important to keep running as millions of customers use it every day and therefore their needs to be costs to keep it up to date and working.
Impact of increasing sophistication of systems
Today, computers are very sophisticated and are harder to use which means there needs to be more trained staff and more complex software.
More trained personnel – staff will need training in how to use all the new equipment and system. They will need to be trained in basic computing features, processes that a new computer system brings and the transactions, queries and reports that make the system.
More complex software – Modern software hides a lot of complexity from the application builder. Therefore, they can focus on the problems of the organisation.
Banks will need to have staff who know how to use the computer system so they can provide a service. Banks will need to teach their staff how to use the computer systems when they arrive to the company.