Information management
Information managementIntroduction
The relentless advance of IT and telecommunications systems has brought dramatic benefits to individuals, businesses and other organisations. These years, the world has developed into an information economy, and the applying of new technologies is at the centre of the activity. New technologies are being developed at a record pace. Those celebrities such as Bill Gates of Microsoft, Steven Jobs of Apple all emerged to create information technology dynasties for 1980s and 1990s have become the heroes of economic development and contemporary enterprises.
In this essay, I would like to describe how the information technology changes our work and our life in three steps. First I will introduce the history of IT industry briefly and from the trends of information technology we can by now be more familiar with the changing information environment. In order to see the future more clearly, we need to look at where we've been. Second, it is very important to know that we are now live in a digital age. As the saying goes, every business now is an information business, our information technology industry is driving ahead with advances that promise to bring the new medium into the living rooms and onto the desks of millions more. So, in this part, I will discuss the advantage that information technology brings to our work and analyses it in-depth. Last but not least, as technology continues to develop, I also give the opportunities and threats for our businesses in the coming Internet age and how we can achieve information advantage. Most managers acknowledge IT will be one of the main factors that affect the companies' performance and moreover, the stakeholders' wealth.
1. History of IT industry: Whirlwind of change
Nothing epitomises modern life better than the IT does. For better or worse, IT have infiltrated every aspect of our society. Today computers do much more than simply
compute: supermarket scanners calculate our grocery bill while keeping store inventory; computerised telephone switching centres play traffic cop to millions of calls and keep lines of communication untangled; and automatic teller machines (ATM) let us conduct banking transactions from virtually anywhere in the world. But where did all this technology come from and where is it heading? To fully understand and appreciate the impact computers have on our lives and promises they hold for the future, it is important to understand their evolution.
1.1 Four stages of modern Information Technology development
First stage (1945-1956)
In this period, Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), produced by a partnership between the U.S. government and the University of Pennsylvania. Consisting of 18,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors and 5 million soldered joints, the computer was such a massive piece of machinery that it consumed 160 kilowatts of electrical power, enough energy to dim the lights in an entire section of Philadelphia.
First generation computers were characterised by the fact that operating instructions were made-to-order for the specific task for which the computer...
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