For every business owner, productivity is key and this is the major role of computer application in business. From the creation of business software to general communication between teams, computers are very important in any business. Plus, with more businesses expanding digitally, working without computer applications is practically impossible.
Primarily, computers are used in a variety of organizations, regardless of their field of expertise. Educational systems, finance, tourism, hospitals, etc., all rely on computer applications for optimal productivity daily.
Scopes Of Computer Applications In Business
To fully grasp the necessity of computer applications in business, it is important for you to be knowledgeable on how broad its uses can be;
Inventory Management
The first area in which computer applications are necessary is in inventory management. As a business owner, record keeping is vital to prevent loss. Hence, applications like Ordoro and Veeqo were created to make this process much easier and faster.
Production Management
Production management entails designing and monitoring the process of production of goods and services. It also, expands towards managing the operations involved in delivering these goods and services to final consumers. There are several types of production management;
- Job Production: This aspect deals with the manufacture of products according to the requirements of a client’s order.
- Batch Production: Unlike Job production, batch production involves the repetitive manufacture of products in batches. This process is usually handled in different operations.
- Mass Production: Also known as flow production, mass production ensures there’s a continuous supply of a specific product.
As a product manager, ensuring all of these processes are accurate and successful is your job. However, with computer applications, the job isn’t as tedious.
Accounting System
In the finance departments, balancing an organization’s books is important to track growth and prevent loss. Having proper accounting software helps in recording and processing transactions easily.
A lot of accounting systems used by most organizations come with functional modules like a general ledger, trial balance, payroll, etc.
Document Processing
The next aspect in which computer applications are necessary is document processing. Document processing involves converting a specific document from one form to another. It could be a handwritten note to a Microsoft Word format or a Microsoft Word Format to a Portable Document File Format (. pdf).
Other formats also exist; Open documents (.odt, .ods, .odx), Portable Network Graphics (.png), Zip (.zip), etc.
Electronic Mail Service
Every organization uses an electronic mail service for communication between staff & clients. Emails involve the exchange of electronic messages between two or more online service provider users.
Email servers can accept, store, deliver, and forward messages via the internet.
Information Storage
Another vital scope of computer application in business is storing and retrieving information. Regardless of if you own a small or large scale business, storing information is so much easier with computer applications.
First off, with computer applications, you can process a lot of data at a faster speed, plus, it can be stored digitally. Hence, it will always be available at the advent of an accident or emergency.
Training Processes
Every staff of business might need to learn a new skill at some point, especially if it’s a progressive company. With computer applications, your staff can access any information about a new course easily.
Also, if you feel the need to train them by yourself, you can do that regardless of your location.
Advantages Of Computer Applications In Business
With such a wide range of uses, computer applications are definitely valuable in different businesses. Here are some advantages of utilizing computer applications in your business;
Better Organization
If there’s one thing every business need, it’s premium organization skills. Keeping your inventory, books and other factors organized is vital for the smooth running of your business.
With computer applications/tools like Trello, Asana, Penzu, etc., you can properly organize your business documents with ease.
Communication
Communication is very essential to the success of every business. This is so, because every department needs to be synchronized for every project to come into fruition. Also, it’s a great way to collaborate with different experts and brands across the world.
So, whether it’s just for conveying important information about a job, or tutoring your staffs on a new skill, applications like Skype are great.
Speed
Computer applications offer one major advantage that doesn’t have an alternative and that’s speed. Prior to the development of different applications, getting every process done manually can slow down an entire production.
With computer applications, you can get different tasks done at once without compromising the timeline for the entire process.
Information Research
Accessing information is a great way to improve your business over time. From studying different markets, competitors, new trends, etc. All of these can build your client base and eventually, improve your business.
With different search engines and other platforms, you can have so much knowledge at your fingertips.
Common Computer Applications Courses Studied By Business Students
Since computer applications are extremely important in the everyday running of a business, it is taught in school. You don’t necessarily have to study computer science to be knowledgeable about applications.
Here are some of the computer application courses studied by business students;
Microsoft Office
In every organization, Microsoft office is essential for carrying out almost every task available. Microsoft Office consists of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Suit, etc.
All of which are important for typing, recording, presentations, etc.
Data Management
Managing data and record-keeping is necessary for carrying out daily activities. Tools like Oracle Data Management Suite is great for data management.
Document Preparation
Documentation can be stressful, however, there are tools that can be used to make the process easier. Markdown Pad, DropBox paper, and GitHub paper are all easy to use & can be utilized internally or via the browser.
Business Telecommunications
As mentioned before, communicating within a firm is essential for success. Tools like private chat rooms; Google Hangouts, private intranet; join.me, etc., are great collaborative tools.
This way, you can communicate regardless of location.
In conclusion, computer applications in business are vital to the growth of every brand today. Asides from the fact that it can help you with organizing and executing different projects, it also, assists you in liaising with different businesses globally.
