Information technology (IT)- [IT skills and certifications ,the role of it in business]

 What is information technology?

Information technology (IT) is the use of computer systems or devices to access information. Information technology is responsible for such a large portion of our workforce, business operations and personal access to information that it comprises much of our daily activities.

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Information technology (IT) is the use of any computers, storage, networking and other physical devices, infrastructure and processes to create, process, store, secure and exchange all forms of electronic data. Typically, IT is used in the context of business operations, as opposed to technology used for personal or entertainment purposes. The commercial use of IT encompasses both computer technology and telecommunications.

What does information technology encompass?

The IT department ensures that the organization's systems, networks, data and applications all connect and function properly. The IT team handles three major areas:

1.deploys and maintains business applications, services and infrastructure (servers, networks, storage).

2.monitors, optimizes and troubleshoots the performance of applications, services and infrastructure.

3.oversees the security and governance of applications, services and infrastructure.

Most IT staff have different responsibilities within the team that break into several key areas including:

Administration. Administrators handle the day-to-day deployment, operation and monitoring of an IT environment, including systems, networks and applications. Admins often perform a range of other duties such as software upgrades, user training, software license management, procurement, security, data management and observing adherence to business process and compliance requirements.

Support. Help desk staff specialize in answering questions, gathering information and directing troubleshooting efforts for hardware and software. IT support often includes IT asset and change management, helping admins with procurement, handling backup and recovery of data and applications, monitoring and analyzing logs and other performance monitoring tools and following established support workflows and processes.

Applications. Businesses rely on software to perform work. Some applications are procured and deployed from third parties, such as email server applications. But many organizations retain a staff of skilled developers that create the applications and interfaces  such as APIs needed to deliver critical business capabilities and services. Applications might be coded in a wide array of popular languages and integrated with other applications to create smooth and seamless interactions between different applications. Developers might also be tasked with creating interactive business websites and building mobile applications. The trend toward agile or continuous development paradigms require developers to be increasingly involved with IT operations, such as deploying and monitoring applications.

Compliance. Businesses are obligated to observe varied government- and industry-driven regulatory requirements. IT staff play a major role in securing and monitoring access to business data and applications to ensure that such resources are used according to established business governance policy that meets regulatory requirements. Such staff are deeply involved with security tasks and routinely interact with legal and business teams to prevent, detect, investigate and report possible breaches.

Why is information technology important?

It's been said that data is what powers industries worldwide. That may be hyperbole, but few businesses such as large or small  can remain competitive without the ability to collect data and turn it into useful information. IT provides the means to develop, process, analyze, exchange, store and secure information.

Examples of information technology

So how is IT actually involved in day-to-day business? Consider five common examples of IT and teams at work:

Server upgrade. One or more data center servers near the end of their operational and maintenance lifecycle. IT staff will select and procure replacement servers, configure and deploy the new servers, backup applications and data on existing servers, transfer that data and applications to the new servers, validate that the new servers are working properly and then repurpose or decommission and dispose of the old servers.

Security monitoring. Businesses routinely employ tools to monitor and log activity in applications, networks and system IT staff receive alerts of potential threats or noncompliant behavior  such as a user attempting to access a restricted file check logs and other reporting tools to investigate and determine the root cause of the alert and take prompt action to address and remediate the threat, often driving changes and improvements to security posture that can prevent similar events in the future.

New software. The business determines a need for a new mobile application that can allow customers to log in and access account information or conduct other transactions from smartphones and tablets. Developers work to create and refine a suitable application according to a planned roadmap. Operations staff posts each iteration of the new mobile application for download and deploy the back-end components of the app to the organization's infrastructure.

Business improvement. A business requires more availability from a critical application to help with revenue or business continuance strategies. The IT staff might be called upon to architect a high-availability cluster to provide greater performance and resilience for the application to ensure that the application can continue to function in the face of single outages. This can be paired with enhancements to data storage protection and recovery.

User support. Developers are building a major upgrade for a vital business application. Developers and admins will collaborate to create new documentation for the upgrade. IT staff might deploy the upgrade for limited beta testing -- allowing a select group of users to try the new version  while also developing and delivering comprehensive training that prepares all users for the new version's eventual release.

IT skills and certifications

A successful IT career will involve developing several technical skills. For the current IT job market, these 10 skills are among those most in demand:

1.cybersecurity

2.cloud computing

3.edge computing and IoT

4.IT automation

5.software development

6.big data management and data analytics

7.DevOps

8.AI

9.ML

10.mobile application development

Careers in information technology

A team of administrators and other technical staffers deploy and manage a company's IT infrastructure and assets. IT teams depend on a range of specialized information and technology skills and knowledge to support equipment, applications and activities. Third-party contractors and IT vendor support personnel augment the IT team.

The information technology profession is extremely diverse. IT workers can specialize in fields such as software development; application management; hardware components; server, storage or network administration; network architecture; and more. Many businesses seek IT professionals with mixed or overlapping skill sets.

There is a wide array of IT careers, each with varying technological and managerial requisites. Among the most common IT job titles are the following:

Chief information officer (CIO). This person is responsible for IT and computer systems that support the goals of the business.

Chief technology officer (CTO). This person sets the technology goals and policies within an organization.

IT director. This person is responsible for the function of the business's technology tools and processes. This role may also be called IT manager or IT leader.

System administrator (sys admin). This person configures, manages, supports and troubleshoots a multiuser computing environment. Within a business, this role can be divided up by technology, requiring an administrator or team dedicated to server, desktop, network administration, virtualization, or other components and technologies.

Application manager. This person's role centers on the provisioning and management of a high-value business application, such as Exchange.

Developer or software engineer. This person or team writes, updates and tests code for computer programs to meet internal or customer-facing business objectives.

Chief IT architect or IT architect. This person examines and changes IT functions to best support the business.

What is the role of IT in business?

Information technology is able to analyses specific data and help to plan the business journey accordingly using the trends and information presented in data. IT can also efficiently equip businesses with plentiful tools which can solve challenging business obstacles and help to plan the future growth of the company.

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