1、I. IntroductionIngam, Crompton and Travis Building Society, known as ICT, were established in 1919. The company has a network of 30 branches that are based throughout the central belt of Scotland from Glasgow to Edinburgh. ICT has offered a range of products in the financial market. The company offe

2、rs a range of current accounts, savings accounts and mortgage products. The company has recently appointed Mr. Douglas Fisher as its Managing Director. Mr. Fisher is aware that the way that ICT works is inefficient, particularly in regard to its information and communication technology systems. He w

3、ishes to introduce a number of changes over the next five years in his strategic business plan. Information and communications technology take an important role in business. This report is written to introduce how information and communication technology help to solve the problem in the company of t

4、he case.II. Main bodyThis section is written to introduce the specific information and communication technology. The introduction includes the identification of the some of the technology and the benefit to ICT and its managers.1. The comparing of the three data communication systems.1) Local area n

5、etwork（LANs）a. A local area network is a network that connects computer within a limited geographical area, usually within a single office or building.1b. The technical features of LANs are in the follows: LANs link computers within a single building or on one site. And LANs can be linked to other L

6、ANs, but LANs cannot span large distances. One of the most popular LAN systems used is the Ethernet system developed by Xerox Corporation. Finally LANs are under the control of a single authority.2) Wide Area Network (WANs)a. WANs cover large geographical areas; computers connect each other through

7、telephone lines or cables.2b. The technical features of WANs are used to communicate across wide distance (anywhere in the world), uses the telephone lines to communicate through a modern and connection is normally through the services of service provider.3) The Interneta. An Internet is a global ne

8、twork made up of a number of smaller systems as LANs and WANs.3b. The Internet can be used for any number of activities such as: business transactions, market research, teaching, advertising, group communication, research, teleconferencing (video, audio) and Email.2. Identify the benefit of the thre

9、e data communication systems.1) How the three data communication systems would benefit ICTa. The benefit of LANs is the followings: it enables to share the hardware such as network printer and scanners; It enables to share useful files and information such as stock value; It can offer simple and qui

10、ck communication between staffs.b. The benefit of WANs are the followings: it can offer long-distance communication to solve the issues, especially for ICT because the company has a network of 30 branches that are based throughout the central belt of Scotland from Glasgow to Edinburgh; ICT can impro

11、ve the effectiveness of work through video conference offered by WANs; ICT could manage and control their staff by the remote management offered by WANs.c.The benefit of Internet are the followings: it can provide a wide range of information searching, ICT wish to do a marketing survey project and t

12、he Internet could help to find out their customers and get research result quickly; ICT could release information through the Internet to let customer quickly update their information of products and services; ICT could carry out team exchange through the Interne for example the voice conference.2)

13、How the three systems would relate to the needs of ICTs managers.a. LANs: It could save Office space and storage space; Managers could easily dealing with information controlling through LANs and improve the security information system in ICT; The speed of communication between managers and staff is

14、 faster and managers could improve management efficiency through LANs.b. WANs: It could improve the efficiency of information transmission between 30 branches in ICT; internal video conferencing could bring benefit to the managers when having decision making for ICT; It could remain the classificati

15、on of staff positions and make the guarantee for information security.C.The Internet: It could search useful information for making strategic plan; it could help managers do the marketing researching and find out what the customers need, especially for ICTs planning of marketing survey project; It c

16、ould help to develop a kind of new marketing modelonline sale.3. New ICT innovations1) Identify and evaluate two of the new ICT innovationsa. Wi-Fi: It equals to Wireless Fidelity, based on IEEE 802.11b standardized wireless LAN, and uses a 2.4GHz band to transmit data.4 Users of Wi-Fi and enjoy Int

17、ernet connectivity up to 50 times faster than dial-up connections. Its also easy and cheap to install. b. Virtual Character Technologies: It is 3D images of people that can interact online with computer users or customers. These images can be created and decisions made on every detail of the animate

18、d characters appearance, for example hairstyle and clothing. You can even give the image your own face or your own voice.5 It is used on websites, Internet, intranet, CD Rooms and E-learning DVDs.2) How they fit the needs of ICT and its managersa. Wi-Fi: For ICT, it can connect to servers to downloa

19、d presentation, send emails or even search the Internet from remote locations to help the company dealing with daily transaction; Also it can surf the Internet at broadband speed to help the company improve the working efficiency. For managers, they can send and receive information and make effectiv

20、e management to staff through Wi-Fi at anytime in anywhere; Managers could search the information and have decision-making in time.b. Virtual Character Technologies: For ICT, it provides the personal touch helping to establish a corporate image; it saves costs for company in supporting staff in call centers. For managers, knowledge is stored in a datab