Business and Management1

Integrated Professional Skills In Digital Age

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Abstract

Businesses of all sizes may benefit from using digital technology in order to better

connect with their consumers, conduct research, find things to sell and promote online, and

increase customer satisfaction. When it comes to the adoption and use of digital technologies,

nothing is more important than the customer’s impression of the company’s offerings. Online

advertising and purchasing are only two examples of how the internet has altered business

practices. Technologies exist for businesses to utilize in their quest to attract new customers

and expand their current user base. All of this is realizable because of technological

advancements. With today’s available tools, startups may gauge interest in their goods among

existing consumers before committing to mass production and distribution. Through

technological advancements, data analysis and new product creation are now more easily

available. Among these tasks is the detection of unmet needs in the market and the

development of novel answers. In addition, digital technology has the potential to raise levels

of consumer contentment, increase the company’s market share, and cement its bonds with its

clients. The purpose of this research is to assess several digital elements that might improve

the organization as a whole. When companies use such technology, they may endanger their

customers’ right to privacy and the security of their sensitive data. Covid 19’s important

contribution to this issue is the emphasis it placed on the need for data privacy.

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1.0 Introduction

When used as a noun, “integrated professional abilities” describes the skills that allow

a user or company to maintain their position of leadership in a dynamic and competitive

market by making the most of the many digital resources at their disposal. Professionals now

need the ability to use the wide variety of digital resources at their disposal to keep up with

the demands of a dynamic and competitive marketplace. With the rise of digital technologies,

it is essential for businesses today to strengthen both their online and offline presence. One of

the most important factors in this is the development of communication and informational

technologies (ICT). The term “information and communications technology” (ICT) is used to

refer to any system that facilitates the transmission of information or messages. Many

companies have had to deal with a wide range of limitations and take on significant financial

losses as a result of the ongoing worldwide epidemic caused by the COVID-19 virus. The

current global pandemic is the direct result of a virus.

2.0 Literature Review

2.1. Interactive tools

Thanks to developments in collaboration technology, modern workplace efficiency is no

longer reliant on a single worker’s location at a single desk. Meetings may be conducted from

the convenience of one’s personal home, or tasks can be done, all thanks to a unified suite of

real-time collaboration tools the whole team uses. Anywhere you have access to the internet

may serve as your workplace. By using these resources, today’s workers are better able to

communicate, share ideas, and work together than ever before. In spite of the fact that at first

glance it seems to be nothing more than a straightforward mix of hardware and software, in

reality it is a community of cooperative technological solutions that are always evolving and

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adopting new forms (Anon, 2021). The following is a list of the most important advantages of

working together:

 The organization’s agility improves as a result.

 The increased morale is one benefit of teamwork.

 The best and brightest are attracted to it.

 It is a win-win for everyone involved.

Productivity in the workplace rises as a consequence (Anon, 2021). There is hope that

firms may create stronger and more resilient teams via more cooperation at work. Teams that

work well together look at the big picture and want to improve the organization and the

world. A company’s survival depends on its ability to swiftly and effectively adjust to new

conditions. Businesses that can quickly adopt and implement emerging trends have a

significant advantage. Working together improves a company’s adaptability because it makes

teams more agile and open to new challenges.

The internet is great for getting people together in one virtual space, whether via email

or a social networking site. This is the result of the use of collaborative technologies. A single

dashboard displays all electronic files, interactions, and updates related to a project( Nandi et

al.,2020). Over a hundred approved users may view in real-time who took what action and

when and why in the area. They no longer have to go between several programs to access

data relating to a single project. Freelancers and independent contractors would like this since

it makes them feel like they are part of the team without asking them to give up any pay.

Content shared inside a group can only be seen by its participants (Blau et al., 2020).

Free collaborative tools exist, but paid ones (like Podio). As the development and

maintenance of collaborative software are expensive, most require a monthly subscription fee

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after a free trial period. When expenses rise, Slack has been known to charge registered group

members to access past chat history (Blau et al., 2020). Obstacles like this will prevent

occasional donations. Since costs tend to rise in tandem with the size of a team, a permanent

license may not be the best choice for a one-off or short-term project.

2.2. Cloud Storage

Individuals and businesses can save private data on the cloud, which authorized users may

then access. Using cloud storage, one may save data on the cloud and access it from

anywhere with an internet connection. Online cloud storage and processing services like

Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box are freely accessible to anybody with an internet

connection. These businesses’ subscription bundles have more cloud storage and cloud

services than their competitors.

When compared to traditional methods, using cloud storage has several benefits.

 Data repair

The danger of data loss or corruption is much reduced when using cloud storage since

the data is kept on an external device. Cloud computing eliminates the need to spend a small

sum on disaster recovery thanks to its automatic data backups. Doing this will save a lot of

hassle and wasted time. In most cases, individuals should not worry about completing the

activity without assistance. This strategy also keeps sensitive corporate data private as a

bonus to the time and money savings (Ren et al. 2021).

 Accessibility

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Therefore, the company’s ability to access this data from any point on Earth is critically

dependent on its use of remote data storage. As a result, workers may stay abreast of

company happenings while away from their desks, facilitating more collaboration.

Employees of a restaurant may check the menu at any time, regardless of whether or not they

are already in the establishment. In the case of mobile devices, this is particularly true. This

breakthrough allows people from all over the globe to collaborate and share information in

real-time, independent of their physical proximity. Cloud storage has many

disadvantages(Google Cloud, 2022).

 Deficiency of command

When information is kept remotely, no one has direct access or control over how it is

saved or set. This might be a significant difficulty for big organizations with intricate data

storage infrastructures. Most cloud storage services do not provide users much room to make

customizations, which might lead to dissatisfaction on the part of the service’s target

audience.

 Confidentiality and safety

Many people are anxious about the possibility of a third party gaining access to their data

while it is stored in the cloud. The investigation is required to determine whether or not the

firm can be trusted, and this must be done as soon as possible. There is also the potential that

the data was lost due to a problem with the system itself. Although this situation is very

unlikely, it is not impossible (Hussain & Aleem,, 2022).

2.3. Cloud Computing

The storage, processing, and transportation of data are all aided by extraterrestrial

technology, which is used in cloud computing. These cloud-based solutions are not stored on

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your computer or any other local storage devices; they are hosted on the internet.

Enhancements in areas like data storage, software programs, personal communications,  and

machine processing power are all potential areas of development. The term “cloud” is often

used while talking about the internet. To put it another way, computing is the foundation and

mechanism that enables a computer to function, create, disseminate, or interact with data.

This may be thought of as the “how” of computing. In contrast to a hard disk or a physical

computer, a virtual or online server communicates with your device through a safe network

connection (Khan et al., 2020).

Advantages

• Cost-Effectiveness

Cloud computing has benefits and drawbacks when it comes to saving money. The high

cost of initial deployment is the most glaring disadvantage of moving to cloud services.

Companies and organizations may get long-term rewards from their cloud computing

investments. According to Gartner, spending on cloud services worldwide will rise to $331.2

billion in 2022.

• Reliability

Nearly all providers of cloud services boast round-the-clock customer care. Any issues

with cloud services are taken care of by the service provider. The data may be moved to other

sites even if the main server fails due to a natural disaster. Providers follow Service Level

Agreements (SLAs) to provide extra timely support for business needs in 2025. (Emani,

2017).

Disadvantages

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• Constraints on management and flexibility.

Since cloud infrastructure is owned, managed, and monitored by cloud service providers,

most businesses lack control over their data. Service providers may use a selection of SLAs

and management strategies. The most typical reason is that clients do not have sufficient

permissions to access the server’s resources. The client can be cut off from fundamental

clerical support. Therefore, in the worst-case situation, client installations would be severely

constrained.

• Security

Various perspectives on cloud security must be taken into account. Using the cloud has

several benefits and downsides for storing company data archives. First off, cloud storage

may be easily hacked. By 2025, Gartner predicts that human mistakes will account for 99

percent of all data breaches and attacks (Emani, 2017).

2.4. Security and Privacy

Establish early on who inside a given organization must have access to certain pieces

of information. Data breaches may be avoided if access permissions are defined and strictly

enforced. Administrators and workers alike should have restricted access to sensitive data.

Your organization’s management team should conduct needs assessments for each employee

and division. Only with properly managed credentials can you stop the unauthorized use of

privileged accounts. The potential for hacking and unauthorized use of data is reduced when

access is permanently limited. Every company needs a system to identify and protect its most

sensitive data. The most recent information, or “crown jewel,” accounts for 5-10% of a

company’s overall worth and would inflict the greatest damage if exposed.The strongest

protection against data breaches and hackers is preparation. More people will stick to the

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company’s strategy if they hear it this way. To meet the data management requirements of the

future, a strategy must be adaptable. Keeping abreast of technological and industrial

developments is crucial (ICO, 2019).

Database users and administrators should choose more complex passwords.

Encourage your kids to use a password with a mix of upper and lower case letters, digits, and

special characters to increase its security. Passwords should be at least 12 characters long and

should not include any popular phrases or terms, such as “green apple” Increase the

complexity of your passwords to make it more difficult for machines to crack. Important

company data should be backed up regularly. Every company needs a plan to restore data in

case of a data breach or other disaster (ICO, 2019). Multiple methods exist for either

manually or automatically backing up data. A data backup schedule of once a day or once a

month is recommended. A firewall may protect your company’s network from outside

threats. It is up to individual users to determine what kind of firewall protection they need.

Using advanced database and firewall software is essential, but so is keeping your system up

to date. Developers used to often update and patch their software for security reasons. A data

protection program is useless if it is not updated with the newest security updates. The

effectiveness of any program meant to protect data on the internet or a computer is directly

proportional to how up-to-date it is. Users should always ensure they have the most current

version of their program installed by checking for updates as soon as feasible ( Abouelmehdi,

2018).

3.0 Analysis and Discussion

3.1. Collaboration tools

Use of Zoom

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For an extra $15 per month, Zoom’s enterprise version provides organizations with

further features and support. Customers with ten or more workers have increased by 354%

year over year at Zoom. The corporation reportedly signed up more than 100,000 elementary

and secondary institutions in response to the closure. Zoom claims that since December when

it had 10 million users, that number has increased to 300 million in April. A user is likely a

meeting participant if they have many meetings every day. Many Zoom customers may have

left for other video chat services when the company’s rapid expansion became too much for

its staff to handle. Some people were concerned about the phenomenon of “zoombombing,”

or the introduction of irrelevant material into a discussion. Most of April’s new Zoom clients

were unable to successfully implement the software due to a shortage of available IT

resources (Nandi et al.,2020). Therefore, he conceded that the organization might have done a

better job onboarding new customers, and the business has since made the necessary

adjustments. Despite not being advertised as a data-sharing feature, Zoom’s iOS app shared

user information with Facebook. Zoom is no longer involved in this kind of work.

Additionally, false information was spread about call encryption. Those individuals that pay

for the service will be the ones who obtain it (Digital Trends, 2020).

Microsoft Teams Utilisation

Microsoft Teams has 145 million active users. As a result of the pandemic, Microsoft

Teams had a 26 percent increase in monthly active users, from 87 million in October 2017 to

115 million in January 2018. Slack and Zoom are just some of the popular tools businesses

have used to communicate and collaborate in recent years. At the pandemic's beginning,

Microsoft Teams had about 32 million DAUs. In the short time since the epidemic started,

this number has more than doubled, reaching 75 million. This growth stands out given

Microsoft’s emphasis on cloud computing and the Team Foundation Service (TFS). For

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many years, Microsoft Teams was the go-to for companies seeking to communicate with

their remote workers. According to Microsoft’s most recent earnings report, the number of

people using Microsoft’s Teams product has increased to 20 million from 12 million in the

summer of 2015. The number of users climbed to 38 million from March when the global

economy started to decline. In only one week, 44 million people have used Microsoft Teams.

A total of 4.1 billion minutes have been spent using Microsoft Teams this month, as reported

by Nadella (2022). Four times as many firms have integrated their business systems with

Microsoft Teams in the previous two months (Warren, 2021).

3.2. Security and Privacy in the course of the pandemic

As a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, governments throughout the globe have

passed new regulations on biosurveillance, censorship, as well as propaganda to stop the

illness from spreading further. All this is being done to prevent the illness from spreading

further. These innovative methods may seriously compromise the constitutionally guaranteed

right to privacy and the security of one’s own information. Recent years have seen the

passage of laws authorizing the tracking of people’s movements, monitoring their

conversations, and inspecting their medical information. This is a huge shift from when such

actions were outright forbidden. Telecommunications, camera recordings, transit bookings,

financial data, social networking, face recognition, and temperature checks are all being

employed as a direct consequence of this legislation (IEEE Innovation at Work, 2020).

Several regimes have used AI to facilitate mass surveillance1 and social control, generally

without adequate monitoring, legislation, or checks & balances. The Chinese government is

using AI for espionage purposes, for instance.

The responsibility for building these networks rests with the individual national

governments, while supplying the necessary hardware rests with the private sector. In this

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hypothetical situation, corporations and government agencies might work together to violate

the human and political rights of the populace. In the absence of government oversight,

private corporations are free to violate their customers' civil and political rights. Therefore,

enterprises must seriously consider the responsibilities imposed on them by international

human rights law. Institutional investors are worried about the market because the COVID

epidemic has exacerbated businesses' difficulties in protecting their customers’ privacy and

data. This presentation aims to provide investors with some guidelines that will aid them in

learning about risks and the possible impacts such risks may have on the firms they own

(IEEE Innovation at Work, 2020).

3.3. Cryptocurrency Crash

Despite a recent decrease in price, Bitcoin’s value has not recovered. In a matter of

minutes, billions of dollars in trading funds vanished from the market. Although traders have

known for years that bitcoin’s value fluctuates daily, they have persisted in the market. The

dogecoin-millionaire program is a great method to conduct business and take advantage of

the many benefits of trading crypto assets. If the price of Bitcoin suddenly drops while a hoax

is being perpetrated, investors may begin to suspect that they, too, are the dishonest ones.

A trader's choices might reveal whether or not they are a novice or a seasoned veteran.

Do not blindly follow the herd while investing on social media or the stock market. Instead,

they need to be founded on the careful study before implementation. Even if the deal is

merely an idea, you should not put up more cash than you can afford to lose. According to a

digital currency industry specialist, this still holds. The company’s main website and

financial investment statements may now be seen in one convenient location.

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Experts warn that businesses should not invest all of their money into cryptocurrency.

It is best to prioritize short-term investment objectives at the outset. There is a possibility that

in the long run, social discovery including online brokerage for blockchain-based currency,

cryptocurrency, as well as crypto assets may outpace these mutual funds. This, as predicted

by Flippy, will occur. Users should put their real-world savings, interest rates on loans, and

long-term investments ahead of their virtual currency.

It has been estimated that daily fluctuations in virtual currency exchange rates might

reach 16 percent. The highest price ever paid for a single Bitcoin was $68,000 in 2021, while

the current value is just $27,500. The cost has dropped significantly since 2021. Businesses

need to be aware that price swings in the bitcoin market are nothing new. Despite a recent

trend of weak demands, the stock market has reached new highs. Even if they know the

hazards, cryptocurrency investors should stick to these tried-and-true methods. Self-directed

Bitcoin traders need to be astute and resourceful if they want to be successful. It is necessary

to fortify the basics to minimize financial losses during a crisis (Monaghesh, and Hajizadeh,

2020).

4.0 Conclusion

The succeeding study briefly discussed using the most popular collaboration

technology during the pandemic. According to the report, these tools saw extensive usage

throughout the epidemic. Data storage in the cloud and cloud computing were subjected to

separate analyses throughout the investigation. There was also advice on how to safeguard

others from the growing threats presented by the internet and tips on how to ensure one’s own

safety online. Due to the information provided, survey participants were able to grasp the

fundamentals of the bitcoin sector.

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5.0 References

Abouelmehdi, K., Beni-Hessane, A., & Khaloufi, H. (2018). Big healthcare data: preserving security

and privacy. Journal of big data, 5(1), 1-18.

Anon, (2021). What Are The Advantages Of Collaboration? | OptimistMinds. [online]

Available at: https://optimistminds.com/what-are-the-advantages-of-collaboration/

(Accessed 21 July 2022).

Blau, I., Shamir-Inbal, T. and Avdiel, O., 2020. How does the pedagogical design of a

technology-enhanced collaborative academic course promote digital literacies, self-

regulation, and perceived learning of students? The internet and higher education, 45,

p.100722.

Digital Trends. (2020). Look at What the Coronavirus Pandemic Did to Zoom’s Revenue.

[online] Available at: https://www.digitaltrends.com/news/zoom-revenue-during-

coronavirus-pandemic/. (Accessed 21 July 2022).

Emani, K.K. (2017). Implementing Cloud Computing For Your Company - Weighing Out

The Advantages And The Disadvantages. [online] simplilearn.com. Available at:

https://www.simplilearn.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-cloud-computing-

article. (Accessed 21 July 2022).

Hussain, A., & Aleem, M. (2018). GoCJ: Google cloud jobs dataset for distributed and cloud

computing infrastructures. Data, 3(4), 38.

ICO (2019). Security. [online] Ico.org.uk. Available at:

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-todata-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-

protection-regulation-gdpr/security/.(Accessed 20 July 2022).

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IEEE Innovation at Work. (2020). How the COVID-19 Pandemic is Impacting Cyber

Security

Khan, A.S., Chen, G., Rahulamathavan, Y., Zheng, G., Assadhan, B. and Lambotharan, S.,

2020. Trusted UAV network coverage using blockchain, machine learning, and

auction mechanisms. IEEE Access, 8, pp.118219-118234.

Monaghesh, E. and Hajizadeh, A., 2020. The role of telehealth during COVID-19 outbreak: a

systematic review based on current evidence. BMC public health, 20(1), pp.1-9.

Nandi, S., Sarkis, J., Hervani, A. and Helms, M., 2020. Do blockchain and circular economy practices

improve post COVID-19 supply chains? A resource-based and resource dependence

perspective. Industrial Management & Data Systems.

Ren, Y., Leng, Y., Qi, J., Sharma, P.K., Wang, J., Almakhadmeh, Z. and Tolba, A., 2021.

Multiple cloud storage mechanism based on blockchain in smart homes. Future

Generation Computer Systems, 115, pp.304-313.

Warren, T. (2021). Microsoft Teams usage jumps to 145 million daily active users. [online]

The Verge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/27/22406472/microsoft-

teams-145-million-dailyactive-users-stats. (Accessed 20 July 2022).

Yang, P., Xiong, N. and Ren, J., 2020. Data security and privacy protection for cloud storage:

A survey. IEEE Access, 8, pp.131723-131740.

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