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IT Business Partner

​Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data[1] and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT).[2] An information technology system (IT system) is generally an information system, a communications system, or, more specifically speaking, a computer system — including all hardware, software, and peripheral equipment — operated by a limited group of IT users.

Although humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating, and communicating information since the earliest writing systems were developed,[3] the term information technology in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business Review; authors Harold J. Leavitt and Thomas L. Whisler commented that "the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it information technology (IT)."[4] Their definition consists of three categories: techniques for processing, the application of statistical and mathematical methods to decision-making, and the simulation of higher-order thinking through computer programs.[4]

The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several products or services within an economy are associated with information technology, including computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, and e-commerce.[5][a]

Based on the storage and processing technologies employed, it is possible to distinguish four distinct phases of IT development: pre-mechanical (3000 BC — 1450 AD), mechanical (1450—1840), electromechanical (1840—1940), and electronic (1940 to present).[3]

Information technology is also a branch of computer science, which can be defined as the overall study of procedure, structure, and the processing of various types of data. As this field continues to evolve across the world, the overall priority and importance has also grown, which is where we begin to see the introduction of computer science-related courses in K-12 education.

Business partnering is the development of successful, long term, strategic relationships between customers and suppliers, based on achieving best practice and sustainable competitive advantage.[1] In the business partner model, HR professionals work closely with business leaders and line managers to achieve shared organisational objectives.[2] In practice, the business partner model can be broadened to include members of any business function, for example, Finance, IT, HR, Legal, External Relations, who act as a connector, linking their function with business units to ensure that the technical, or functional, expertise they have to offer is placed within the real and current concerns of the business to create value.[3]

​Derby (About this soundlisten) DAR-bee) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, of which it was traditionally the county town. Derby gained city status in 1977, and by the 2011 census its population was 248,700.

Derby was settled by Romans – who established the town of Derventio – Saxons and Vikings, who made Derby one of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw. Initially a market town, Derby grew rapidly in the industrial era. Home to Lombe's Mill, an early British factory, Derby has a claim to be one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. It contains the southern part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. With the arrival of the railways in the 19th century, Derby became a centre of the British rail industry.

Derby is a centre for advanced transport manufacturing, being home to the world's second largest aero-engine manufacturer: Rolls-Royce. Bombardier Transportation are based at the Derby Litchurch Lane Works and were for many years the UK's only train manufacturers. Toyota Manufacturing UK's automobile headquarters is southwest of the city at Burnaston. To the east lies Nottingham, separated by the M1 motorway.