Role of Information Technology in the Organization

Role of Information Technology in the Organization

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Table of Contents

Abstract 3

Introduction. 4

Scope of the Paper 5

How the company uses IT. 5

How IT helps to address challenges now.. 10

Future of IT in the Organization. 12

Conclusion. 12

 

 

Abstract

This paper discusses the role played by information technology in eth organization. Companies are increasingly adopting IT as the preferred solution for their existing and emerging challenges. This is because IT offers a wide range of solutions including flexibility, adaptability, and interconnectivity. Software developers have taken advantage of these and other benefits of IT to create applications that ease business activities, reduce redundancy, and generate reports of analyzed data. The paper will focus on the strategies and systems adopted by Google Inc.

 

Role of Information Technology in the Organization

Introduction

The magnitude of corporate information technology (IT) infrastructure has augmented significantly over the last ten years. With numerous firms, it has relocated from buildings containing several servers to advanced data centers harboring tens of thousands of super computers. In the early 90s, networked storage was unheard of but which currently accounts for the biggest expenses in major IT organizations. This massive infrastructural and conceptual change is largely motivated by several appeals. Infrastructure administers the applications that deal with transactions, processes the consumer data that generate market forecasts, and supports the logical applications that assist executives arrive at and convey the decisions controlling complex organizations. Largely, infrastructure has facilitated a greater part of the corporate rise and mounting productivity in the last decade. However, the omnipresent nature of these networking, backup, and computing technologies gives off the impression that IT infrastructure is a necessary product and service (Glaser, & Salzberg, 2011). This is an oversight.

It is true that components such as backup servers and storage as well as support processes have been stripped of value and commodified extensively. Despite that, a functional infrastructure operation fosters value by making sensible choices concerning which technologies to adopt and the best way of integration. Technology solutions acquired from a vendor may be highly commodified. Conversely, the competence to combine hardware, applications, and support to create the optimum arrangement of expenditure, durability, and features for new applications cannot be distributed arbitrarily (Taylor, 2004). Particularly in the current age, where every cost and financial item is subjected to detailed inspection, infrastructure figureheads must collaborate with business leaders and software developers to produce potential points of value, reach a consensus on priorities, and gauge not only the expenditure but also the effect of infrastructure.

Scope of the Paper

This paper is prepared to discuss the technical and functional aspects of information technology implemented at Google Inc. In particular, the paper will analyze the way in which Google has used its IT infrastructure to support business strategy and achieve competitive advantages. Apart from this, the paper will propose the various ways through which information technology can assist in tackling challenges faced by Google Inc.

How the company uses IT

Google Inc. has been one of the top internet-based product and service provider that has implemented various aspects of information technology in its business activities that has resulted in more advantages for the company compared to its competitors. Initially, when Google was starting up, nearly every aspect of business was carried out manually including calculations, inventory, distribution, and manufacturing. In this context, Google operated for several years between 1995 and 1999 in a small capacity. Most of the work was done by a single employee who administered all the company’s needs from a garage office. Storage and access to internet resources was a significant challenge. Since Google was started while the founders were still in college, they had launched it on the college’s servers. However, with increased popularity that generated an increased user volume, Google eventually overwhelmed the Stanford bandwidth. This created backup and service provision problems. The increased demand for online search engine services prompted the relocation of the company to bigger premises as well as the recruitment of seven more employees. In 2000, Google made sweeping decisions in favor of dedicated applications that would enhance the quality of services offered to Google clients.

Google’s approach towards management in the 1990s was focused on the conventional approach that involved a hierarchy of project managers who supervised over engineers who were considered their subordinates. This company structure was not in line with one of the founders, Larry Page. Page proposed that adoption of sweeping radical changes in the way supervision and the development of products and services were to be done. These new changes in the working environment encouraged innovation, creativity, and independence among the engineers. By 1998, the effects of management change were evident (Bouwman, 2005). During this period, Google’s engineers developed the Google Toolbar as well as Chrome browser and much later, the Android (Chan, Cheung &Liu, 2008).

Most of Larry’s strategies revolved around increasing efficiency within the workplace, maximizing on the existing resources, and encouraging creativity in all activities including science. A significant number of his approaches towards management and production have been maintained until today. In 1999, the approach taken by most large internet and IT firms such as Amazon, Yahoo, and eBay acquired bigger server space in anticipation of increased consumer traffic (Glaser, & Salzberg, 2011). The trend was to acquire complete servers and stored them in physical cages in massive warehouses controlled by third-party vendors (Chan et al., 2008). Theses warehouse companies were responsible for maintaining the power bills, air conditioning, and security. Google’s minimalist approach involved reducing unnecessary expenses and improving profit margins using all techniques. Therefore, its company engineers set to maximize the number of servers in the warehouses by stripping them down and assembling new ones. This marked the start of independent engineering initiatives by Google that contributed towards independence and market differentiation (Chan et al., 2008).

Google has also adopted information technology solutions to assist in addressing the human resource challenges that affected employee’s productivity and communication. Conventionally in business, Google Inc.’s policies and processes were formulated and conveyed by human beings employed in the human resources department, an approach that eliminated any participation of line employees. Google perceived its employees as the genuine subject matter experts. Consequently, the company maximized on its shared document technology to exclude all elements of the top-down approach in decision-making. Within the company, most, if not all, of the problems at a certain layer of management or operations are solved by the individuals at that level (Bouwman, 2005). These groups of engineers or designers leverage different software suites that facilitate people to generate spreadsheets and documents in real time. Furthermore, these groups of employees enjoy teleconferencing facilities that enhance collaboration with other peers in the United States, India, and Ireland. The collaborative features allow for bigger groups of information gathering, opinions, and reviews as well as the development of an idea until its perfection or completion. In this way, the information technology adopted by Google benefits the company in two ways (Hunter & Tan, 2007). First, it fosters increased collaboration and cooperation between and among the colleagues. Two, this type of cooperation supersedes the conventional types since it transcends the obstacles created by distance. It also rises above the challenges of creativity normally experienced in organizations with a smaller number of employees (Chan et al., 2008).

Still on communication, Google Inc. has managed to infuse information technology and communication in the operations within the firm as well as external contact between the organization and consumers. Nearly all the meetings held among Google members employ their own communication applications that include Google Hangouts, GMail, You Tube, and Google Plus to accommodate absent or distant employees, as well as those posted in other stations. Regardless of their location, people attending a meeting have the alternative of using cameras on their multiple devices and communicate face-to-face with whomever they want (Bouwman, 2005). However, it is interesting to note that even with all the technology and gadgets available at their disposal, Google employees still find time to have ordinary communication session without the aid of devices. Once every week, the top executives meet in town halls to compare notes and ideas (Salazar, & Sawyer, 2007).

Google has also implemented information technology in the manufacturing and distribution functions within their ranks. The company has embraced a similar approach to that adopted by Dell in refining and familiarizing their operations and departments for dominantly digital systems that are integrated with the internet. Rather than the conventional distribution chains and assembly plants, Google’s supply networks comprise of storage devices, servers, switches, data centers, and fiber networks. From this viewpoint, Google’s business model is very similar to that of Dell’s (Bouwman, 2005). Google’s main objective is to offer search results as well as information in the fastest and cheapest way possible. To that extent, Google’s business model has been enriched through the inclusion of information technology that improved the accuracy of results, the speed of retrieving a results web page, and the cost of conducting searches (Salazar, & Sawyer, 2007).

Google still has a long way to go in terms of offering optimal results for their search engine. However, they are satisfactory when compared to their competitors. The company currently occupies 64 percent of the global search market. Frequently, a typical Google query can be a fruitless act but most users overlook this flaw since the results are quick. Most results are wrong but users just start the process again. The concept behind Google’s search engine is fast results in the browsers are enough motivation to deter users from switching to a competitor’s search engine (Bouwman, 2005). This strategy supersedes the element of effective software methodology. The quicker and more resourceful its infrastructure, the easier Google can keep attract and benefit from the ad-based niche. In other words, Google’s main objective is to ensure that the search engine is always fast in generating results. A random query on Google takes between 0.15 to 0.07 seconds. This is a fast performance compared to industrial standards.

Clearly, the search engine is Google’s main source of income. The search engine model is enhanced using an information technology strategy called indexing on the Internet. The advanced indexing strategies used by Google enable them to deliver search results at fast speeds, and this demands infrastructure (Bouwman, 2005). In particular, it requires a massive amount of bandwidth as well as dedicated hardware that are designed to handle internet traffic. Against this environment, it is prudent for Google to assemble their own servers, internet switches, storage systems and possibly acquire their own optical transport facilities in the future. The typical IT infrastructure for Google contains interconnected hosts including server systems and storage facilities at high speeds of 10 GB/s that are linked in a way that permitted any-to-any associations. The amount of stands, cables, routers, and related devices in between is astonishing. If the Google system were assembled using equipment from industrial hardware manufacturers, it would be virtually impossible for the personnel to make it work (Bouwman, 2005). In other words, the utter expense to maintain such an assembly online would consume significant resources from the infrastructure. An enhanced alternative is to acquire equipment that is modified for the specific organizational processes. In particular, these should be processes that the company has a greater operational advantage. Many of the firms in the telecommunications sector have been rendered bankrupt by overwhelming operational costs. Apart from optical systems, Google has developed or acquired most of their equipment. Google has been cited as a customer of dark fiber to link its data centers. This investment cost the company approximately $3.8 billion to acquire. Economists and computer experts have argued that assembling adapted equipment is an expensive approach. However, a company of Google’s magnitude, expending funds on security and efficiency is hardly an issue. This is because developing a process-optimized system ensures that the company maintains the costs of providing search engine services down. To conclude everything, Google’s massive infrastructure is a significant barrier to entry for other competitors, and the company spends billions of corporate funds to maintain this gap. However, the company should also learn something else from Dell, the company from which they borrowed their model.

How IT Helps to Address Challenges Now

Information technology is one of the tools that firms employ to tackle management, personnel, and industry-specific problems. The whole procedure of problem solving entails collecting and analyzing data, and then presenting alternatives that solve a challenge in the business. Decision-making requires technological instruments that assist management and other departments in their decisions. There is a close relationship between decision making and information technology within the organization. One of the ways through which information technology addresses organizational challenges is through management of resources through enterprise resource planning software (ERP). This application used for business management purposes collects and analyzes business activities such as marketing, inventory, and product planning. Most of the developers of ERPs are progressively altering this application to serve the specific demands of organizations. Multinational corporations including Google already exploit ERP to offer solutions to efficiency challenges across different departments as well as productivity issues among personnel. Where an obstacle emerges in the business procedures, management uses ERP software to generate the most appropriate solutions that could solve the issue. At the customer level, ERP software can greatly improve the consolidation of marketing and sales data by collecting the information from different sales points and processing it to generate chats, graphs and other processed data. Some of the common ERP software used in the industry includes Adaxa Suite, LedgerSMB, and Tryton.

Information technology also has the capability to ease the process of collecting business data and processes for further analysis. Large firms have the luxury of recruiting employees and running a whole department dedicated to business analytics. This implies that with access to updated and accurate data, an organization can use IT solutions and experienced employees to analyze the business as a whole. Smaller companies immensely enjoy the benefits of such software since the owner takes up many other roles including that of the analyst. The software has the added advantage of reducing costs related to employing extra employees such as consultants. These smaller companies can process a massive amount of data that can guide future decisions. For instance, the software can collect the annual, monthly, and weekly sales figures, process these numbers and make future projections concerning the company’s performance. The results of such software can also guide the stakeholders on the best area to increase their efforts and salvage their business (Laudon, & Brabston, 2015).

One of the most advanced uses of information technology in the organization is the use of decision support systems. These information systems offer decision-making solutions for activities by combining computer intelligence and human skills and compiling the results in a format that can be understood by management executives. The concept of DSS has been in existence for long but with the development of the internet and increased dependence on computerized systems, the role played by these equipment and software in assisting executives make relevant decisions has increased drastically. DSS systems can also work to collect raw data and synthesize it in a way that can predict business problems that cannot be processed by the human brain. The DSS also has artificial intelligence that is useful in fields that require creativity since it can generate applicable solutions (Wallace, 2013).

Future of IT in the Organization

In the future, it is predicted that the significance of information technology in the organization is bound to increase drastically. Currently, specialized software that carry out unique tasks for the major processes are being used by managers and employees. This trend is set to increase as more software developers emerge (Laudon, & Brabston, 2015). Within organizations that deal predominantly with internet and digital content such as Google, Yahoo, and Amazon, the future is filled with massive opportunities. This is because they already possess advanced software and hardware infrastructure that can only be improved with research and development. One of the aspects that will definitely be embraced is cloud computing (Glaser, & Salzberg, 2011). Google has already started the process of transferring their storage system from traditional servers into cloud storage. Cloud systems have infinite facilities including offering virtual devices and interconnectivity (Wallace, 2013). The future of IT will also have aspects of increased collaboration among firms dealing with the same products and services.

Conclusion

The increasing role of information technology in the 21^st century has contributed greatly towards expanding the presence of corporate entities, realization of organizational objectives, and the creation of new niches within the existing ones. Google Inc. represents one of the modern companies that have embraced information technology in their business activities as well as other operations. Google has adopted IT in their communication networks among employees and customers. Within their workplace, performance is enhanced using applications such as Hangouts and GMail for information sharing and collaboration. The firm has also invested in sophisticated hardware partially or fully developed by internal engineers (Wallace, 2013). This approach is initially expensive but Google balances off the costs by maximizing on their fast access to query results on their search engines. The future of organization sis definitely determined by the pace at which managers can adopt emerging IT products and services. Cloud computing is one of the few popular innovations that will be exploited to increase server storage and backup capacity (Laudon, & Brabston, 2015). Lastly, Google’s decision to adopt a fully computerized system also acts as an appropriate competitive strategy. The vast assembly of information technology infrastructure acts as a barrier to entry for smaller firms.

 

References

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Bouwman, H. (2005). Information and communication technology in organizations: Adoption, implementation, use, and effects. London: SAGE.

Chan, M.-C., Cheung, R., Liu, J. N. K., & International Conference of Information Management. (2008). Challenges in information technology management. Singapore: World Scientific.

Glaser, J. P., & Salzberg, C. (2011). The strategic application of information technology in health care organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Hunter, M. G., & Tan, F. B. (2007). Strategic use of information technology for global organizations. Hershey, PA: IGI Pub.

Laudon, K. C., & Brabston, M. E. (2015). Management information systems: Managing the digital firm. Toronto: Pearson.

Salazar, A., & Sawyer, S. (2007). Handbook of information technology in organizations and electronic markets. New Jersey: World Scientific.

Taylor, J. (2004). Managing information technology projects: Applying project management strategies to software, hardware, and integration initiatives. New York: American Management Association.

Wallace, P. M. (2013). Information systems in organizations: People, technology, and processes. Boston: Pearson.

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