Essential Software for a New Business
Businesses are dynamic in nature, therefore; susceptible to changes. For instance, many businesses depend on computer systems presently. Nonetheless, existing businesses are incorporating new technologies in Information Technology (IT) to enhance smooth running of day-to-day business operations (Al-Mamary, Shamsuddin and Hamid 2014). This has resulted in new trends in networking field such as Internet of Things (IoT), Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and cloud computing (Al-Mamary, Shamsuddin and Hamid 2014). My neighbor has started a new business, and consequently, like to hire me for setting up his computers. Regarding my neighbor’s new business, internet will be used for communicating with clients. Besides, internet will also be used to access accounting software, which is cloud-based. Also, there will be two computers in the office that are networked, and subsequently, sharing a printer alongside internet connection. Moreover, my neighbor has preferred to implement security mechanisms prior to other solutions, therefore; safeguarding his computers against attacks. The main purpose of this report is to describe software that will be used in the office and for business meetings. Besides, the report has described security programs, browsers that will be used to access internet facilities and ways on which information will be stored for easy access from anywhere rather that confined to a specific place. Furthermore, the report has also described computer systems that will be used for updating information, therefore; enhancing automation.
My neighbor should install Microsoft office software for basic works, for example, creation of different types of files such as pdf and documents (Shaffer et al. 2017). For instance, Microsoft word can be used for creating as well as editing documents. On the other hand, Microsoft excel can be used for performing calculations. Also, data analysis can be done using excel. Furthermore, product and services offered by new business can be presented by using PowerPoint (Shaffer et al. 2017). Moreover, publisher can be used for publications as it can enable choosing of best designs, therefore; improving appearance of documents. There are many benefits associated with publisher such as less costly, therefore; enabling a company to create logos without incurring high costs (Shaffer et al. 2017). Other than Microsoft office, Java application can also be used to send email since it is one of the activities in a new business. Moreover, data backups are equally vital because data that has been stored in the cloud can be corrupted, therefore; multiple files of same copies should be stored in internal and external drives. In addition to data backups, software that can be used for recovering data such as EaseUS can also be installed for easy retrieval of data incase it has been deleted accidentally or damaged (Chang 2015).
Currently, there exist some software that can be used to support online communication between a group of people from their respective places rather than travelling to a specific place, for instance, the following are some of them; Fuze, Cisco WebEx, join.me, iMeet and ezTalks meetings (Willis et al. 2017). Regarding new business, fuze software will be vital as it is less costly as compared to other software, therefore; it can be easily affordable. Apart from cost effective, it is also very convenient especially for small businesses. Besides, there is no limit of meetings, thus facilitating as many meetings as possible when the need arises. Moreover, this software supports video conferencing, therefore; it will make meetings lively than audio conferencing (Gottfried et al. 2015). Hence, competing effectively with its competitors as video conferencing is one of the emerging trends in networking field. Furthermore, it has a recording and editing feature, therefore; meetings can be recorded and shared to other members as well as files such as pdf can be edited (Gottfried et al. 2015). More so, it also incorporates android applications, therefore; members can join meetings by using their tablets. In addition, it is a cloud-based software, thus can be accessed from any place. However, it supports a maximum of 25 people. The following are some of the roles that fuze software will play; facilitating communication between different people within the business, therefore; enhancing co-ordination and fostering relationships among its users (Gottfried et al. 2015).
Online Communication and Meetings
Presently, information security is one of the major challenges that has been encountered with companies operating online, therefore; deploying security mechanisms is not an option rather a necessity for starting e-businesses (Hannis et al. 2015). Regarding new business, there are two networked computers, therefore; computers and network must be protected against both internal and external attacks. There are several ways on which computers can be protected, for instance, installing antivirus such as Avast can be helpful, and afterwards, updating it regularly as well as scanning computers at least twice every month (Hannis et al. 2015). Apart from antivirus installation, updating windows is equally important as operating systems are vulnerable to attacks as new ways for bypassing security features are discovered with intruders. Besides, access to computers can be controlled by setting up of username and password, therefore; preventing outsiders from accessing sensitive information about the business. Also, unauthorized access of information can be prevented by defining policies and type of information that will be accessed with different employees depending on managerial roles. Other than protecting computers, safeguarding a network is also vital (Zhou et al. 2015). There are several ways of protecting wi-fi networks, for instance, setting up of unique SSID name is essential as it can prevent hackers from identifying a specific network that is used in a new business as well as enabling employees to connect to the correct network. Moreover, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is the most effective way on which a network can be protected. Therefore, making it difficult for hackers to decrypt data in a new business (Zhou et al. 2015).
To enhance automatic system update is essential as customers can access latest information about products or services that are offered by a company (Xu 2017). Apart from access to product information by customers, it can also enable management to access easily required information when the need arises, thus enhancing smooth running of business processes. Therefore; my neighbor should integrate Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in a new business. This system enhances automation, hence enhancing availability of information (Xu 2017). Apart from automation, operations that are performed in a business ranging from planning to marketing can be integrated, therefore; reducing time that could have been used to combine different types of information. The following are some of the trends in ERP; mobile and cloud ERP. However, SAP should be considered for ERP implementation, though there are other top vendors, for example, NetSuite and Oracle (Seethamraju 2015).
A browser is defined as a software application, which can be used by people to access information on the web. A URL is used to identify a given web page as there are many, therefore; my neighbor should create his own URL that can enhance access to information about his new business (Shahzad et al. 2016). It plays a vital role as it can facilitate retrieval of information by browsers, and afterwards, displayed on device of a specific user. The following are browsers that can be used in my neighbor’s new business for accessing information:
- Google Chrome
- Opera
- Mozilla Firefox
- Safari
- Internet Explorer
- UC Browser
- Microsoft Edge
Protecting Computers and Networks Against Security Threats
Easy access to information is one of the essential requirements for enhancing smooth running of business operations. There are different techniques that can be used to store information, for example, internal and external hard drives, flash drive and cloud storage. However, most companies prefer cloud storage as it can enhance easy access to information (Hashem et al. 2015, p. 47). Therefore, I recommend for adoption of cloud storage in the new business because it can enable employees to access data from their respective places and devices rather than specific devices. Regarding cloud storage, remote servers are used to store data, and afterwards, employees can access it easily if there is an internet connection (Botta et al. 2016). However, choosing a best vendor for implementing cloud solutions is one of the challenges that has been encountered with most companies. There exist several vendors, for example, Microsoft Azure, google and oracle cloud. However, my neighbor should consider IBM for implementing cloud storage solutions (Botta et al. 2016). There are many benefits of cloud storage, for example, less costs are required for implementation as there is no need of purchasing any infrastructure, enhances easy access to information from any place, improved data security as most vendors deploy latest security mechanisms such as data encryption and easy to use, therefore; doesn’t require highly skilled personnel (Botta et al. 2016).
Conclusion:
To conclude, this report has described software that will be used in the office and for business meetings. For instance, Microsoft office can be used for basic works such as creating documents. On the other side, Fuze software can be installed for facilitating business meetings. Besides, the report has described security programs that should be deployed for protecting computers and network against attacks such as installing antivirus and WPA respectively. Moreover, the following are browsers that can be used in my neighbor’s new business for accessing information; Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, UC Browser and Microsoft Edge. Furthermore, the report has also described computer systems that will be used for updating information, for example, integration of ERP systems, therefore; enhancing automation. However, information should be stored in the cloud so that employees can have access from anywhere.
References:
Al-Mamary, Y.H., Shamsuddin, A. and Hamid, N.A. (2014) The role of different types of information systems in business organizations: a review. International Journal of Research (IJR), 1(7).
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Chang, V. (2015) Towards a Big Data system disaster recovery in a Private Cloud. Ad Hoc Networks, 35, pp.65-82.
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Hannis, G., Nadeau, D. and Guerrra, F., UNCOVER INVESTIGATION SERVICES LLC and Front Porch Communications Inc. (2015) System and method for computer security. U.S. Patent Application 13/961,244.
Hashem, I.A.T., Yaqoob, I., Anuar, N.B., Mokhtar, S., Gani, A. and Khan, S.U. (2015) The rise of “big data” on cloud computing: Review and open research issues. Information Systems, 47, pp.98-115.
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Shahzad, F., Sheltami, T.R., Shakshuki, E.M. and Shaikh, O. (2016) A Review of Latest Web Tools and Libraries for State-of-the-art Visualization. Procedia Computer Science, 98, pp.100-106.
Willis, B., Maxwell, D., Beecher, T., Hegg, T., Natraj, S., Parmar, S. and Chang, S.H., Saba Software Inc. (2017) Method and system for managing a virtual meeting. U.S. Patent 9,817,912.
Xu, H. (2017) What SMEs need to focus on in order to obtain benefits of ERP systems?
Zhou, H., Wu, C., Jiang, M., Zhou, B., Gao, W., Pan, T. and Huang, M. (2015) Evolving defense mechanism for future network security. IEEE Communications Magazine, 53(4), pp.45-51.