The Need for IT in the Business
Commuting from one place to other is made easy with the aid of air transport and there are many transport services that are present in Australia. Qantas is one such airline that is based out of Australia and provides domestic and international air transport services to the customers (Qantas, 2017). There are several IT tools and technologies that may be used in Qantas for better customer services.
Qantas is in airlines business since a very long period of time. It is required that the organization maintains the pace with the latest technologies and makes sure that the services that are provided to the customers in terms of booking facilities, relationships, air services etc. are unmatched in terms of quality. The same can be provided only through the application and upgrade in terms of IT and its use in the business. It will be required for Qantas to include IT components so that market revenue and better customer satisfaction can be achieved (LeMay, 2014).
IT will be important for the survival of Qantas as it will be an element that will integrate the various different units together with each other and will also make sure that quality of service (QoS) is always maintained. There are several IT tools and processes that are present which may be used and applied in Qantas so that the availability of the customer service is not hampered and the business side activities are also maintained and not impacted in any case. IT will not only be important in the enhancement of the information organization and management but will also be important in the management and monitoring of all the business related activities.
IT is a concept that requires a number of other components and elements so that it may be applied and used successfully in an organization (Delimiter, 2016).
- Hardware: It will be necessary to have hardware in terms of computer systems and mobile devices along with the networking devices available so that the IT components may be implemented successfully.
- Software: There will be many software packages that will be required to be implemented in Qantas such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERPs), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and many more. These packages will ensure that the application of IT is done in terms of the automation of the activities that are carried out in business.
- Training: The IT components that will be used and implemented in Qantas will be new for the staff working in the organization. It is because of this reason that trainings will become necessary to be provided.
- Data Storage Requirements: There will be a lot of data such as information of the passengers, details of the flights, details of the partners etc. that will be necessary to be stored and managed (Ghahrai, 2015).
- Testing: The IT tools and packages along with the processes that are implemented will become necessary to be tested so that there are no deviations and flaws present (Softwaretestinghelp, 2016).
There are various mechanisms through which Qantas will be able to make use of IT in its architecture.
- Communication: It will be required for Qantas and all of its associated entities such as customers, suppliers, and employees etc. to interact with one another whenever required. There shall be use of emails along with advanced IT tools such as multimedia applications for tele-conferencing.
- Inventory Management: There is a lot of management around inventories that is required to be done in Qantas and the management shall include the use and application of IT. There shall be IT tools that shall be used for inventory tracking and management and there shall be regular status updates that shall be made.
- Data Management: Data and information are two of the critical assets that are associated with Qantas and with any other organization. IT shall be applied in this area and packages such as Database Management Systems and Enterprise Data Management shall be used so that the information can be managed automatically.
- Management Information System: These are the information systems that shall be used in Qantas so that the management may find it easy to make the decisions related with the organizations. These packages will also enable the organization to make sure that the decisions and strategies that are developed are accurate and there will be a study and research that will be carried out covering all the aspects of the organization.
- Customer Relationship Management: Customer will be the prime focus for Qantas in every task and activity that it will perform. IT shall be used in this area as well to make sure that the relationship between the business and the customer is enhanced. It may be done by the use of automated tools and applications such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
- The major issues that are observed in Qantas are associated with the information structure and the management of information in the organization. These issues will be resolved and overcome by the use of IT in the area of information storage and management.
- There will be benefits in terms of market profits and revenues as well. It will be because of the reason that Qantas will be able to provide better services to the customer with the involvement of IT and therefore the revenues will automatically increase.
- The customers along with other stakeholders such as suppliers and partners will also have a higher satisfaction level after the application of IT. It will be because of the reason that use and application of IT will bring along streamlining of all the tasks and activities.
- There will be higher satisfaction among the employees of Qantas as they will be able to showcase higher efficiency and productivity levels.
There will be several risks that will become possible and probable because of the involvement of IT in the organization. There are several malware that have been developed by the attackers. These malware are created with the aim of destroying the targeted systems and their functions. These may be launched by the attackers on the IT tools and packages that are used in Qantas. Some of these malware which are on rise in the current times include ransomware and spyware (Spychecker, 2016). Networks will be used a lot when there will be involvement of IT. These networks will be used for sharing of information, storage of information, communication purposes etc. They will bring along a set of the risks that are caused due to the loopholes in the network security. These risks may include attacks on the integrity of the information and there may also be many risks and attacks related with the availability of the IT services. The attackers may make use of the denial attacks and other forms and types of flooding attacks as well (Digitalattackmap, 2016). There are attempts that are carried out by the attackers to impact the information privacy by using employees as the threat agents to gain critical information. There are also cases that are carried out in which the attackers use impersonation techniques for breaching the information (Ttu, 2016).
The Importance of IT for Business Survival
Information security attacks are one form of the attacks that may be possible due to the involvement of IT in Qantas. There may be other forms of attacks and risks that may also be possible. Legal risks are one such category in which the organization may go through certain legal obligations because of the impact of the information security attacks. There may also be cases in which the employees and the members of the staff may not stick to the ethical and quality standards and there may be risks of violation of standards and policies that may be seen.
The risks that have been stated and explained above are not the risks that cannot be controlled and prevented. Prevention and control may be done by efficient and adequate monitoring along with the maintenance of the risks.
- There are a number of security risks that may be associated with the involvement of IT in Qantas. These security risks shall be controlled and avoided by the following steps and measures.
- The organization must ensure that the basic security is upgraded and there are better mechanisms used such as improved access control and use of firewalls.
- There are many advanced mechanisms that have been developed so that the security risks may be avoided. These measures shall be used by Qantas such as installation of the automated tracking tools in the internal and external networks that are used so that the activities and any of the deviations are recorded. There shall also be use of anti-denial tools so that the availability is not affected.
- The organization must make sure that the information related with Qantas and all of its IT tools and applications are encrypted.
- The management of Qantas must also make use of IT in its managerial activities and the evaluation processes that it carries out.
- There may also be many of the legal risks that may occur. The legal team involved with Qantas must calculate and analyze all of such policies and must come up with the countermeasures and steps of action in such cases.
- Ethical risks can also occur in Qantas in association with its IT practices. These risks shall be prevented and controlled by the use of trainings along with the sessions so that the employees refrain from attempting any of the deviations.
- Quality risks can also occur in Qantas in association with its IT practices. These risks shall be prevented and controlled by the use of trainings along with the sessions so that the employees refrain from attempting any of the deviations.
Conclusion
Absence of IT from the organizations cannot be thought of in the current era. IT has become necessary for businesses and for their survival. Qantas is an airline that is based out of Australia and provides domestic and international air transport services to the customers. It is required that the organization maintains the pace with the latest technologies and makes sure that the services that are provided to the customers in terms of booking facilities, relationships, air services etc. are unmatched in terms of quality. There are several IT tools and processes that are present which may be used and applied in Qantas so that the availability of the customer service is not hampered and the business side activities are also maintained and not impacted in any case. The requirements such as use of hardware, software, data management etc. will be involved for the application of IT in Qantas. Data and information are two of the critical assets that are associated with Qantas and with any other organization. IT shall be applied in this area and packages such as Database Management Systems and Enterprise Data Management shall be used so that the information can be managed automatically. There will also be other components that will be needed as inventory management, customer relationship management etc. Information security attacks are one form of the attacks that may be possible due to the involvement of IT in Qantas. There may be other forms of attacks and risks that may also be possible such as legal risks, ethical and quality risks. These risks shall be controlled by proper evaluation, monitoring and maintenance. IT will offer many advantages to the organization in terms of better revenues, improved information handling and management, better customer and employee satisfaction.
References
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