Information Technology of Halifax Bank

Information technology contributes to the process of increasing the efficiency and overall productivity of the organization. Meanwhile, the banking business has a significant dependency and the advancement of information technology compared to other business sectors. Banking organization needs to focus on uninterrupted and most updated information technologies to perform new and innovative services through information technology. There are many types of networking technologies and they have multiple uses. LAN, MAN, WAN are the most widely popular and well-known networking technologies used by different banking organizations. With this technology, Banks can also easily communicate with their different branches and their employees easily and whenever they need to connect with anyone irrespective of country, region, etc. The organization can easily communicate with its employees and clients through email, call, or video call whenever necessary and customers or employees can do that too. The use of intranet and the internet both are playing significant roles and authors are also interested to prepare vast studies in this sector of business. Social and ethical issues are connected with all the new approaches to Information Technology. It is very important to become careful about the social and ethical approaches of the organizations.

Information Technology of Halifax Bank

To become the best among the best in the contemporary business world, it is a necessity of the time to adopt and implement information technology in the organizations. It is very important to ensure the advancements in routine operational activities of the organization and provide all kinds of facilities by using the Internet. Information technology contributes to the process of increasing the efficiency and overall productivity of the organization (Gunawan and Serlyna, 2018). Without the efficient use of IT, we can think of a day now. It has become a mandatory part of our regular life. This assignment is focused on observing and identifying the significance of information technology in banking organizations. It will also emphasize the ethical and social issues related to information technology and find out the use of a variety of networks and their functions in the organization in detail.

Organizational Overview: Halifax Bank

Halifax is a British bank operating wholly-owned subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group. The bank is well known for its performance and services for more than 100years. The bank has started to use information technology for the overall betterment of the organization and trying to focus on the advancement of the system to become a better service provider (Gunawan and Serlyna, 2018). It is known and very popular among the customers for their excellent service and updated website and online support. So here we will discuss the banking service of Halifax through their information technology advancement and their pathway of success. It is impossible to deny that they are providing the best service in UK and developing their technology more strongly to become number one in their business industry.

Literature Review

Information Technology and its role in the banking business

The banking business has shown significant dependency and the advancement of information technology compared to other business sectors. Some researchers believed that, as the banking services are client-centered, they always prefer to bring something new, innovative, and exciting offers to impress their customers through the efficient use of better technologies (Kamel, 2005). So, banks are welcoming the digital era of business with the maximum use of it successfully.

Networking Technologies

Banking organization needs to focus on uninterrupted and most updated information technologies to perform new and innovative services through information technology. For that purpose, each and every organization need to facilitate the easy and secure flow of information from the sender to the receiver and receiver to the sender. So the banks are focusing on developing and improving their networking technologies for the betterment of the service (Kamel, 2005). There are many types of networking technologies are found by the various researchers and they have multiple use and advantages as well. LAN, MAN, WAN are the most widely popular and well-known networking technologies used by different banking organizations.

LAN

LAN is used in small spaces where the workstation and computers are connected within LAN technology by which business organization can share their information. It could be the example of using one printer for the whole office and it is only possible just because of LAN connection. Moreover, small business organizations like super shops, small stores prefer to use LAN technology just because of its convenient design, easy to solve the problem and easy installation. There are different kinds of technologies used by the small organization and they are Ring topology, Star topology, Tree topology, and Bus topology.  (William, S. 2014).

MAN

MAN is the extended update version of LAN and it is significantly used in business since 1980. The main characteristic of this Metropolitan Area Network is that it can cover the connection of the whole city whereas MAN got the extended feature to be connected with so many single LANs with the connection of Fiber Cable. MAN is conveniently used in so many Small private organizations to cover the connection of whole towns. MAN plays the role of a high-speed network by which it is possible to share regional resources.  More specifically, it can cover connections within 50 KM for whole towns.

WAN

The wide area network connection used by the business organization to cover the connection of big states or the whole country. It has so many benefits but it is not so easy to maintain as well as manage a wide area network. WAN con covers the connection large business organizations like a group of companies, multinational organizations. Moreover, WAN is more convenient than MAN and LAN because Wan can deliver uplinks for connection MAN and LAN to the connection of the Internet system. So, for using high-speed internet WAN is the most convenient technology. It is widely used for internet connection. The best feature of WAN is that it can cover the connection of a large number of computers.

Example: WAN is conveniently used for cash management software, data management software, employee portal software, etc by large organizations.

Brings revolutionary changes in communication

Information technology helps bankers to communicate with customers and employees easily without any extra hassle or disruption. Now bankers can communicate with their account holders, new clients, or potential clients by using different ways of information technology and blessings of digitalization (Kemal, 2018). Here clients gets to know about their accounts information, know about new offers and other facilities provided by the banks. They also know about their account balance, transfer balance from one account to another within the quickest period of time, and also deposit in the banks through the online transaction process. It is also helpful for securing their information and maintains privacy with the utmost importance (Kemal, 2018).

Banks can also easily communicate with their different branches and their employees easily and whenever they need to connect with anyone irrespective of country, region, etc. It has made banking functionality easier and hassle-free.

Reduce expenses of banking

Now banks can perform their daily works efficiently with the development of information technology. It helps them save time and energy. Most of the works can be done with the help of information technology and advanced features of it. So, employees need less physical and mental stamina and stress. For example, Most of the Banking organizations in UK are using an online transaction system (Maamari, 2013). By doing this, banks can easily employ one person to one employee to manage many customers with less time period and serve them in a better way. It helps to save a lot of money for the banks and also reduces the customer’s processing time.

Banks can easily communicate with their employees and clients through email, call, or video call whenever necessary and customers or employees can do that too. The banks are also maintaining the E-clients directory to manage the information of each and every client and their history of the transaction through their IT which is reducing their operating expenses significantly (Maamari, 2013).

Social and Ethical Issues of adopting technology

Social and ethical issues are connected with all the new approaches to Information Technology. It is very important to become careful about the social and ethical approaches of the organizations. Every new thing has some pros and some cons associated with it. According to different studies and researchers practices of significant information technology increases the chance of virtual crime and malpractices (Tavares, 2013). Though it solely depends on the usage of different organizations but still any carelessness from the organizations can lead them to severe damage and destruction to the organization and their clients.

The significance of the internet and intranet in the banking sector

In this competitive business era, staying connected is the most important thing. It became the necessity of the people to ensure their work progress and increase efficiency. So the organizations are concentrating on using the internet and intranet for the development of information technology and increase the capacity of their business sphere (Tavares, 2013). It enables them to serve more people within the shortest period of time and also increase the productivity level of the organization. So the use of intranet and the internet both are playing significant roles and authors are also interested to prepare vast studies in this sector of business.

Intranet

There are so many large business organizations using Intranet technology as their private networking system to maintain as well as manage their communication with other branches. In every organization, there is so much information are needed to share with their other branches in that case Intranet proves the support of information stored in its system or sharing the internal organization for those employees of that organization to provide the best service to its clients. Sometimes, information is required for taking a decision in that Intranet is also the option of collecting information from the database management system or collecting information from other branch employees buy using the internal communication system that is called Intranet. The technology of LAN and WAN is used for setting up the system of Intranet within the organization. This technology is introduced in wince 1994. It is a secured system for internal use because it only gives the access of authorized person that is provided by the higher authority

Importance of intranet

• Intranet helps to increase workforce productivity because employees can share their information within this system in the organization;
• Intranet helps to manage internal communication between the branches of that organization.
• It helps to communicate with different departments of those organizations.
• This is a very cheap communication technology;
• Good corporate culture could be maintained by Intranet because every employee are using the same information for customer service;

Internet

The Internet is a public network used in modern business. Organizations are using the internet to sell their products in the sector e-commerce. The organization also use for product branding in their websites, social media marketing, website marketing, etc. The Internet is also used to provide customer service. The Internet helps to communicate with suppliers and manufacturers and customers, by using an email system. To maintain a global connection with other countries, the internet is the most convenient technology in modern business concepts.

Analysis and Discussion

Role of Information Technology in Halifax

The information technology of Halifax helps them to stay connected to the database system from time to time and ensure the safety and security of the information of customers (A. Chiranjeevi and B. Umamheswari, 2012). It is also helpful in introducing customer friendly ways to attract them in different banking services and provide them better customer care service anytime any day.

Online mobile application with all the services of Halifax helped the bank to make transactions, transfer balance, and know their account information within a few minutes. The bank also has a well-structured and designed website to provide them all kinds of guidance about banking (A. Chiranjeevi and B. Umamheswari, 2012). They are also doing digital advertising through online and different kinds of social platforms to ensure the success of the bank and take it one step ahead of betterment day by day.

Types of Networking Technologies of Halifax Bank

There are a number of network technologies used for Halifax bank. Initially, the bank is using LAN in their UK branches. With time they have upgraded their networking technologies too. The organization was always focused on trying something new and innovative. The current networking technology of the organization is WAN for connecting globally. For local communication, they still prefer to use LAN (Beirne and Harvie Ramsay, 1992).

LAN is cost-effective, easy to develop, and set up whereas WAN is expensive to set up and maintain. So overall regionally LAN is preferable by Halifax for their regular communication purpose. There is another type of network is available and that’s called MAN. It provides moderate service to the organization (Beirne and Harvie Ramsay, 1992). So most of the organizations prefer to use WAN or LAN depending on their demands and need for use of networks.

Ethics and Social Issues at Halifax bank

Ethics are some common beliefs and values of a specific group, people, or organization on the basis of right and wrong. The principles are universally applicable but it can vary from person to person. Social issues are the factors that can affect society or the general people in different ways. Such as corruption, poverty, unemployment, discrimination, etc. can be some various serious issues of the society to affect it adversely.

The increased reliance on the technology of Halifax can directly or indirectly contribute to the unemployment of the economy. Most of the jobs are performed Information technology system to reduce wastage of time and increase the efficiency of the work. The use of machinery can be harmful and causes different types of accidents if they are not maintained properly (Frenzel and Frenzel, 2004). Apart from that using online websites, mobile applications, etc. can be a threat for the organization and their clients as well if the privacy is not maintained properly. There is always a risk of being hacked, blackmailed, and manipulated by robbers, hackers, and unauthorized people of the system.

The significance of the Internet and Intranet at Halifax

Intranet: Intranet is an internal network technology connected to a group of computer devices in an organization for its internal communication system. Here the main purpose of developing and using intranet is to providing employees a secure place to connect with one another for solving work-related issues. There are no unauthorized people can interfere or disturb the system. Employee logins are authorized and created by the organizations and notified them of any further changes in time to time with related messages (Frenzel and Frenzel, 2004). The structure is used in Halifax for networking with their head office and branches everywhere only for administrative purposes.

Internet: The emergence of the internet and its usage is increasing day by day. It is the way of networking with people in a broad range with the customers, employees, shareholders, and so on of the Halifax bank. Today all communications among the departments such as marketing, finance, HR are done through internet services like emails, video conferencing, and calls. Mostly the employees of the organization connected through the internet at any time (Beirne and Harvie Ramsay, 1992). It provides the opportunity to explore and know about the competitors, their customers, and shareholders and find out potential opportunities for the Halifax bank in the long run. All the related and necessary information is saved for the banks in an external server to reach by everyone and work for the betterment in the future.

The various stages of the system development life cycle

The system development lifecycle is performed in six steps of the system development process. The development process of the system and its phases are given as follows:

• Planning Phase – In this phase every organization needs to identify their needs and assess their demand for fulfilling the need for information technology systems and the functions of the organization.
• Analysis Phase – The analysis phase is used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a proposed system development model for the bank. It helps to understand the merits and demerits of the system.
• Design Phase – Design phase is the prototype or design of the system which is used for developing and identifying any defects of the system structure and redesigns it if required.
• Development and Implementation Phase – The designed plan needs to start implementing and executing in the actual system and start to use it for the examination purpose (Beirne and Harvie Ramsay, 1992).
• Testing Phase – Before incorporating the system for the whole organization it is important to test it in a small sphere. The usage of such systems will ensure the better management of the entity by testing it on a small scale and ensuring its success.
• Maintenance Phase – Finally in the maintenance phase, after implementing the system, its progress, performance, and development are assessed from time to time (Kamel, 2005). It should be controlled and maintained by the IT specialist to avoid any problems of the system in the long run and also protect it from any unwanted or unauthorized risks.

Conclusion

This paper prepared based on the usage of information technology in the real-life banking sector and it is an overall real-life example of Halifax Bank. It is a very popular and well-known bank for everyone and easy to find information about their information technology. It has seen that Halifax is dependent on technological advancements and increasing the sphere in the organization (Kamel, 2005). So to make the bank successful and improve its level of work it is mandatory to keep the journey of the advancement continuous and long-lasting for the organization.

References

1. Chiranjeevi, A.C., and B. Umamheswari, B.U. (2012). Implementation of Information Technology in Banking Sector. Global Journal For Research Analysis, 3(7), pp.42–44
2. Beirne, M., and Harvie Ramsay (1992). Information technology and workplace democracy. London ; New York: Routledge.
3. Frenzel, C.W., and Frenzel, J.C. (2004). Management of information technology. Australia ; Boston: Thomson Course Technology.
4. Gunawan, H., and Serlyna, S. (2018). IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT TO FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE ON BANKING SECTOR. JOURNAL OF APPLIED MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING, 2(1), pp.41–46.
5. Kamel, S. (2005). The use of information technology to transform the banking sector in developing nations. Information Technology for Development, 11(4), pp.305–312.
6. Kemal, A.A. (2018). Mobile banking in the government-to-person payment sector for financial inclusion in Pakistan. Information Technology for Development, pp.1–28.
7. Maamari, B.E. (2013). The impact of the use of information systems on job satisfaction : the case of the commercial bank sector of Lebanon. Saarbrücken: Lap Lambert Academic Publishing.
8. Tavares, E. (2013). The social construction of information systems in the banking sector. Behaviour & Information Technology, 32(10), pp.998–1013.
9. William, S. (2014), ‘Computer networking with internet protocols and technology’, Pearson education international

   Written by

   Md. Shadequr Rahaman

   Email: circlebiz96@gmail.com