Question

Technology is central to this week’s work. These two questions frame our discussion:

• Which technology is needed to support our organization’s strategic business model?
• Can we afford the technology we need/want?

Benefits and Costs of purchasing the technology:  
How do IT accountants help management make more informed IT decisions such as whether to buy or lease IT? As an example, IT managers must consider the benefits and risks of integrating cloud options and do so using only the most relevant and accurate data specific to the entity’s situation. Information technology savvy accountants must use the best tools available for making the best decisions.

This week’s discussion will help you to become more familiar with Audit Data Analytics (ADAs) and Computer Assisted Audit Techniques (CAATs) for continuous auditing and risk assessments using both financial and non-financial data.

Choose a topic from the following list of options: Could you go with AI if possible?

• Supply chain management,
• Cloud computing specific to your situation,
• CAATs,
• ADAs,
• Tableau platform,
• Splunk platform,
• Artificial Intelligence (AI),
• Data Analytics or other topics of your choice.  

Answer 1

Technology has evolved and changed our lives in many ways. It consists of various tools that makes our lives simpler and easier.Technology has been used in business operations which brings growth and competitive advantage. The technology that is needed to support our strategic business model depends upon the advantage it provides to the business, cost of deploying, whether it brings a competitive advantage and so on.

Artificial intelligence is concerned with building machines capable of performing those tasks which requires human intelligence. It is one of the most advanced phase of technology. Artificial intelligence is used virtually in all businesses. Some of them are:

1. Autonomous vehicles (like drones , self driving cars)

2. Medical diagnosis

3. Creating art (like poetry)

4. Providing mathematical theorems

5. Playing games and predicting outcomes

6. Search engines ( eg: Google search)

7.Online assistants ( like Siri)

Artificial intelligence is beneficial to the business in many ways like :

1. Reduction of error

2. Replace human in repetitive and tedious tasks.

3. High speed and accuracy

4 .Provides digital assistance.

5. Round the clock availability

6.Handling large volume of data.

This provides a view on the application of artificial intelligence and how it makes our lives easier.Technology is also adopted in auditing, data analysis, supply chain management and many more.Using technology in supply chain management has made logistics and supply chain operations effective and efficient. CAAT is the practice of using technology to automate the audit processes.

The benefits of technology is numerous and it has contributed to the development of all sectors. Eventhough some businesses shows reluctance in choosing certain technology. This is due to lack of trained personnels , fear of obsolescence, regulatory compliance,security concerns, cost involved and so on.

So it is essential to consider all the benefits and consequences that the business has to face on adopting a technology.