What is Information Technology?

The subject of information management is however distinct from information technology, even though there is a lot of dependence on information technology to manage information.

When the realization dawned on management thinkers that information can also be regarded as a key resource, they were faced with the issue of managing it because information can only be a resource if it lends itself to processing that includes one or more of the following operations,

1. Recording-transaction level data is saved in a proper format for retrieval later.
2. Sorting, merging and sequencing-ordering and sequencing the data in records.
3. Analyzing-analyzing the data using any analysis methodology like summarization, or clustering.
4. Retrieving-cutting out information from huge data repositories.
5. Reproducing-generating information again and again.
6. Visualizing-providing information in a visually stimulating manner.

Moreover, gathering information is another complex task involving the capture and storage of transactions in databases which have to be designed suitably and then accessing this data repository using networks. The visualization aspect or the output of the data is in itself another complex operation involving query optimization, graphics, analysis and modeling of information.

Information technology is a term used to refer to the basket of technologies, like networking, communication, database management, application software, computer hardware and system software, graphical display and internet enabled technologies. The scope of IT in organizations may be termed as:

1. IT platform which is the hardware and software infrastructure of the organization.
2. Information reaches which is the ability of the organization’s IT platform to reach out and capture information both within and outside the organization.
3. Information range which is the diverse type of information and related services that the IT platform allows the managers to access in the organization.