Computers In Business Essay, Research Paper
In the business world today, computers and the software applications
that run on them basically control a well organized business. Every major
company is equipped with a computer, or network that connects through
different branches throughout the firm.
Computer Hardware:
To keep up with the fastest technology that dominates the market is to
be a sensible buyer. A system can be outdated in a matter of two years
time. Software applications based on today’s needs require more hard disk
space and speed to run efficiently. The most powerful system would be the
586 machine which was developed in November, 1992. The space required on a
business system depends on the firm. If a company has a network, their
memory would range on the applications required to run the system
productively. A one to three gigabyte hard drive would be most common for
businesses. To keep these applications on the computer, you need a fair
amount of RAM memory as well as hard disk space. An application developed
in 1993, probably will be to powerful and run quite slow on a previous
system that was ‘top of the line’ in 1991. That’s why it is important for
companies to understand that they must think years down the road before
spending thousands of dollars on the technology of today. The best way is
to prepare for the future such as making sure your mainframe is upgradeable
and contains at least 8 expansion slots, which should already be loaded
with enhanced graphics cards, the necessary amount of serial ports etc..
Networks are everywhere in the world of business. A network is a
series of computers throughout the company which rely on one or two
fileservers. Or it can be used in long distance communication through
modem. An example would be that a company located in Calgary can call up
its other branch in Toronto via modem, also able to up and download
valuable files or records. Networks have their disadvantages also.
Computer viruses are always present somewhere in a disk or computer system
ready to strike. If an over powering, destructive virus enters a network
system, all data can be severely damaged or lost completely. That’s why
there is back-up drives to store existing data that is written onto the
disk each day. Anti virus programs are there to alert the user and wipe
the virus off the system before it does any destruction to the data stored
on the network. As far as practicality and mobility is concerned, the
laptop has been around for quite a long time. A laptop computer is a
portable computer, about the size of a brief case. This is a good feature
to save time and money. Laptops allow you to connect to fileservers or
mini systems after you travel around with them. Once you are at your
destination, you can give another system a “unit to unit” data exchange.
This means you connect the laptops serial port to the other system’s port
and transfer data without external data. Diskettes are also capable of
holding small quantities of information that can be used for transferring.
In this day and age every computer has a hard disk which contains the
programs and applications that are used in the business industry.
Programs and Applications Used in Business:
Many computer applications can make a computer do wonderful things for
you. Most of you have heard of programs such as Wordperfect, Lotus,
Freelance, etc.. that are productive in helping the user perform functions
that save time.
In businesses, word processing is always included on a system.
Different programming companies supply many programs that are quite helpful
for the user. Wordperfect is probably the best designed word processor on
the market so far. This program is easy for the user to learn, it contains
a spell and punctuation check, it contains pre designed graphic arts, a
thesaurus, and runs efficiently on a 386 machine that is basically not fast
enough for modern applications today. Another application which is helpful
in business is a data base. This application stores records and inventory
on disk, which can be added and deleted as needed. An example where you
would use a data base could be records of customers you have and would like
to see what they previously purchased. Spreadsheets are a great commodity
in business. a spreadsheet does many different calculations on products or
other prices imputed into the computer. a math co-processor is quite useful
for applications like this since you are using mathematical functions. The
best brand name spreadsheet on the market is Lotus.
Firms prefer user-friendly systems that people can understand how to
use. The user does not want to be stuck in an environment where there is
commands unheard of. Windows was developed for this purpose. Windows is a
solution for MS-DOS which usually runs the system. MS-DOS still runs most
networks today but Windows does all the DOS features except in a user
friendly way. Windows is a pop up menu environment where you can click
your mouse to access the menus and double click it to perform the tasks,
such as to load a program. Many programs are run off of Windows as well as
MS-DOS.
Multi-Tasking has been introduced in the last couple of years to make
it easier to access many programs with them running on the system at the
same time. Instead of logging off one program and reloading another, you
can load several programs at the same time and change to them by pop up
windows. Windows is a multi-tasking program that runs well according to
the RAM memory that is accessible. IBM recently has come out with their
OS/2 program which is the largest multi-tasking unit available. This
program is compatible to any program on a system, and runs much quicker
when you load up several programs. The business world will continuously
advance as years go by, and many businesses will be upgrading more all the
time. This chain will go on all the time as new programs are invented to
suit a company’s needs.
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