business applications of computers

Efficient and timely data processing is essential for businesses of all sizes from corner shop to multinational corporation. Business applications can be divided into the broad catego-ries of Administration, Accounting, Office, Production, and Marketing and Sales.

Administrative applications deal with the organization and management of business operations. This includes per-sonnel-related matters (recruiting, maintenance of person-nel records, payroll, pension plans, and the provision of other benefits such as health care). It also includes manage-ment information or decision support systems, communi-cations (from simple e-mail to teleconferencing), and the administration of the data processing systems themselves.

The Accounting category includes databases of accounts receivable (money owed to the firm) and payable (such as bills from vendors). While this software is decidedly unglamorous, in a large corporation small inefficiencies can add up to significant costs or lost revenue. (For example, paying a bill before it is due deprives the firm of the “float” or interest that can be earned on the money, while paying a bill too late can lead to a loss of discounts or the addition of penalties.) A variety of reports must be regularly generated so management can spot such problems and so taxes and regulatory requirements can be met.

The Office category involves the production and track-ing of documents (letters and reports) as required for the day-to-day operation of the business. Word processing, desktop publishing, presentation and other software can be used for this purpose (see application suite, word pro-cessing, spreadsheet, and presentation software).

Production is a catchall term for the actual product or service that the business provides. For a manufacturing business this may require specialized design and manufac-turing programs (see computer-aided design and manu-facturing CAD/CAM) as well as software for tracking and scheduling the completion of tasks. For a business that markets already produced goods the primary applications will be in the areas of transportation (tracking the shipping of goods [see also supply chain management]), inventory and warehousing, and distribution. Service businesses will need to establish accounts for customers and keep track of the services performed (on an hourly basis or otherwise).

Marketing and Sales includes market research, adver-tising, and other programs designed to make the public aware of and favorably disposed to the product or service (see customer relationship management). Once people come to the store to buy something, the actual retail trans-action must be provided for, including the point-of-sale ter-minal (formerly “cash register”) with its interface to the store inventory system and the verification of credit cards or other forms of payment. mainframe dominance), only the largest firms had their own computer facilities. Many medium- to small-sized businesses contracted with agencies called service bureaus to provide computer processing for such functions as pay-roll processing. Service bureaus and in-house data process-ing facilities often developed their own software (typically using the COBOL language).

The development of the minicomputer (and in the 1980s, the desktop microcomputer) allowed more businesses to undertake their own data processing, in the expectation (not always fulfilled) that they would be able both to save money and to create systems better tailored to their needs. Areas such as payroll and accounts payable/receivable gen-erally still relied upon specialized software packages. How-ever, the growing availability of powerful database software (such as dBase and its descendants) as well as spreadsheet programs enabled businesses to maintain and report on a variety of information.

During the 1980s, the daily life of the office began to change in marked ways. The specialized word processing machines gave way to programs such as WordStar, Word-Perfect, and Microsoft Word running on desktop comput-ers. Advanced word processing and desktop publishing software moved more of the control of the appearance of documents into the hands of office personnel. The local area network (LAN) made it possible to share resources (such as the new laser printers and databases on a power-ful file server PC) as well as providing for communication in the form of e-mail.

As the Internet and the World Wide Web came into prominence in the later 1990s, another revolution was soon under way. Every significant organization is now expected to have its own Web site or sites. These Web pages serve a Janus-like function. On the one hand, they present the organization’s face to the world, providing announcements, advertising, catalogs, and the capability for online purchas-ing (e-commerce). On the other hand, many organizations now put their databases and other records on Web sites (in secured private networks) so that employees can readily access and update them. The growth in mobile comput-ing and readily available Internet connections (including wireless services) increasingly enables traveling business-persons to effectively take the office and its resources with them on the road.