Information Technology Assignment: IT management issues faced by Microsoft

Question

Task: Students must write a report on information technology assignmentabout leading IT companies like Microsoft, Apple or Google and discuss the following:

1. Contemporary IT Management issues the organization(s) experiences, their impact and solutions

2. Risk management processes in the organization(s).
3. The value the organization(s) can achieve from aligning IS/IT solutions with business operations and strategy.

Answer

Introduction to the context of information technology assignment
Information technology-oriented approaches to organizations bring various challenges with the advent of modernization (Dittes, et al. 2019). The IT management challenges require modern solutions which can mitigate the underlying risk in the information system. The report will specifically address the IT management issues faced by Microsoft. The experiences will reveal the impact of the problems, and possible solutions will be proposed. Moreover, the risk management process for Microsoft will deliver specific ideas to manage the challenges due to IT implementation. The value proposition for the organizations will help to understand specific solutions for business operations and strategic management.

Contemporary IT management issues in Microsoft, their impact and solutions
Microsoft, the multinational corporation, is currently under various threats due to its IT management inefficiencies. The company operates worldwide, which creates a large customer base. Due to that, information overload issues occur in the system (Vanderburg, 2019). Using the existing software technologies for information management has become challenging. The overloaded information creates storage problems and analytical issues, due to which the company is under the pressure of face loss in the global market. Managing the Microsoft 365 system has become challenging for the employees using the apps and the IT team managing the governance process (Laciano, 2021). The integrated Microsoft 365 generates huge amounts of data each day which creates significant issues. However, security breaching and data loss are significant issues Microsoft faces (Laciano, 2021). Due to the compromised credentials, Microsoft faces security issues responsible for phishing attacks, lax account management, and poor password management (Vanderburg, 2019). However, monitoring the performance of system management has become an issue related to IT as the thousands of data points increase complications in the monitoring process. The IT team faces more time determining the correlations between the data points (Laciano, 2021).

The solution for managing the overload of data is applying big data technology. Big data ensures the storage of large data sets for managing data analysis processes (Li, Jiang, & Zomaya, 2017). Microsoft can manage the overload of data and retain its reputation and customer satisfaction in the market by using analytics for data management. Using the Big data technology information management in Microsoft 365 will also be possible. Emerging technologies contribute towards the security management of IT (Nagaranjan, et al. 2020). Security tool implementation such as anti-phishing or anti-malware will effectively restrict phishing attacks and lax account management. Password management requires a strong, authentic protocol (Prakash, & Kumar, 2018). However, the security of information can be managed by using a specific technology. Blockchain provides entire security to information (Shin, 2019). Implementation of blockchain can help Microsoft to manage information security-breaking issues. Monitoring the performance of the Microsoft 365 requires integration of IT Governance and manager observation which will strengthen the monitoring process.

Risk management processes in Microsoft
The company uses risk identification, analysis or assessment, response taking, monitoring, and reporting process (Microsoft, 2021). The 365 Risk management team continuously ensures the security functions within the IT system. The risk identification process is the initiative to understand the vulnerability in the information system. The intrusion detection system provides effective support in system risk identification and generates awareness through immediate notification (Almseidin et al. 2017).

Risk assessment helps to understand the level of vulnerability. Risk assessment is done through a rating system where Microsoft assesses the risk category and consequences. Risk related to information, system, and network are prevalent and major. The company's risk assessment process undertakes machine learning algorithms that effectively analyse the potential risk. After risk analysis and categorization, the IT members within the company set specific guidelines which provide efficiency in developing a risk response strategy (Microsoft, 2021). The risk response strategies help to understand the risk tolerance, control, and monitoring process. It improvises the risk management process by identifying the at-risk or high-risk component in the IT system.

The severity level of risk helps the Trust team within the company to approve a risk mitigation plan. For information security, technologies such as AI, Blockchain, and IoT services are effective. System and network security management are also essential. In that case, a threat intelligence solution is effective (Zhang et al. 2018). Implementation of security management strategies is ensured through monitoring and reporting processes in Microsoft (Microsoft, 2021). The process helps to assure the proper security management process and make informed decisions for future risk management.

The value proposition for Microsoft
The IS or IT solutions provide information, system, and network security. By aligning with the IT solutions, the company will be able to manage proper information security, which will promote the decision-making process in operations management. Using IT solutions such as big data or machine learning methods, the company will manage the information analysis process, which ensures the customer information management process. This will help the company achieve customer satisfaction. The company will get the scope to implement a proper strategic management process to manage information in the modern analytics process to understand the market requirements. IT solutions such as AI or blockchain technology ensure system and information security (AlShamsi, et al. 2021). It provides transparency in the IT governance process which will help the company to manage the 365 Microsoft operations. Moreover, the IS Governance process ensures network security. Through implementing the IS solutions, the company will be able to manage a safe data transaction process with other parties, which will ensure confidentiality through securing the network. This will improve the operational process of IT management, and the company will retain the trust of its customers.

Conclusion
The report demonstrated the challenges that Microsoft is currently facing in IT management, including security issues, overloading of data, and data governance and observation issues. Due to that, the company's operational efficiencies are decreased, and the IT members and employees are facing difficulties in the management of 365 Microsoft operations. However, security is a major concern for the company. The proposed solutions for each issue will help to maintain the proper IT management process. The risk management processes in the Microsoft corporations are discussed to understand their strategies to improve efficiency in IT management. Moreover, the benefits of IT or IS solutions for the company have been proposed for future implementation.

References
Almseidin, M., Alzubi, M., Kovacs, S., & Alkasassbeh, M. (2017, September). Evaluation of machine learning algorithms for intrusion detection system. In 2017 IEEE 15th International Symposium on Intelligent Systems and Informatics (SISY) (pp. 000277-000282). IEEE.doi: 10.1109/SISY.2017.8080566

AlShamsi, M., Salloum, S. A., Alshurideh, M., & Abdallah, S. (2021). Artificial intelligence and blockchain for transparency in governance. In Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development: Theory, Practice and Future Applications (pp. 219-230). Springer, Cham. DO: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67151-8_4

Dittes, S., Richter, S., Richter, A., & Smolnik, S. (2019). Toward the workplace of the future: How organizations can facilitate digital work. Business Horizons, 62(5), 649-661.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2019.05.004 Laciano, T. (2021). How to Overcome the Top 5 Challenges of Managing Microsoft 365. Retrieved 21 August 2021, from https://www.unifysquare.com/blog/how-to-overcome-top-five-challenges-managing-microsoft-365/

Li, K. C., Jiang, H., & Zomaya, A. Y. (Eds.). (2017). Big data management and processing. CRC Press. Microsoft. (2021). Risk management program - Microsoft Service Assurance. Information technology assignmentRetrieved 21 August 2021, from https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/compliance/assurance/assurance-risk-management-program#:~:text=Risk%20management%20activities%20fall%20into,response%2C%20and%20monitoring%20and%20reporting.

Nagarajan, K., De, A., Ensan, S. S., Ash-Saki, A., Khan, M. N. I., & Ghosh, S. (2020, August). Recent Advances in Emerging Technology-based Security Primitives, Attacks and Mitigation. In 2020 IEEE 63rd International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS) (pp. 1104-1107). IEEE.doi: 10.1109/MWSCAS48704.2020.9184637.

Prakash, A., & Kumar, U. (2018). Authentication protocols and techniques: a survey. Int. J. Comput. Sci. Eng, 6(6), 1014-1020.

Shin, D. D. (2019). Blockchain: The emerging technology of digital trust. Telematics and informatics, 45, 101278.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2019.101278 Vanderburg, E. (2019). 5 threat management challenges and opportunities. Retrieved 21 August 2021, from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business-insights-ideas/resources/5-threat-management-challenges-and-opportunities

Zhang, H., Yi, Y., Wang, J., Cao, N., & Duan, Q. (2018). Network security situation awareness framework based on threat intelligence. CMC: Comput. Mater. Continua, 56(3), 381-399.doi:10.3970/cmc.2018.03787