Standards+&+Protocols

(By Daniel McFeely)
 * Standards & Protocols **

**Given Definition:** Standards and Protocols are technical rules and conventions that enable compatibility and therefore facilitate communication or interoperability of different IT systems and their components. They might govern the design and use of hardware, software and information. For example, the communication protocols used on the internet, the ASCII representations for characters, or the design of the printer port on a personal computer are all governed by standards.

**Continued Work:** Standards and Protocols are written rules that companies follow, so that they do not do something incorrectly and so that the highest level of outcome is achieved. For example, a phone company anywhere in the world would have to follow the same Standards and Protocols so that when making a phone, it would be able to work anywhere in the world and work smoothly with any Network, such as Etisalat in the UAE, or Vodaphone in UK. Moreover, another example would be any computer in the world, such as an average Desktop in, let’s say London, and another, let’s say New York. If the owners of these computer wanted to communicate with one another, they would simply use email, however, if these computer manufactures did not follow the same Standards and Protocols, the email software's would not be able to interact smoothly with each other and therefore, communication would not be possible.

** BSI: ** A perfect example of Standards and Protocols is BSI British Standards. British Standards are the Standards the manufactures all over the world have to follow when making an everyday product, so that if it was made in Australia, it would work in England, and vice versa. Such as power-points all over the world, even though there are not worldwide Standards for these power-points and that England and Australia would have different styles, there have overcome this problem with power-point adapters which much follow a worldwide standard. For instant, if a power-point adapted did not meet 99.9999% according to the standards, and was sold, when it was to be used, the plug would not fit into it, and therefore be a faulty product.

** Facts about BSI: ** · BSI British Standards has 27,000 current standards; this equals one for every 59 businesses in the UK. · BSI standards cover everything from accounting to zoom lenses. · There are approximately 6,000 standards in development at any one time. · The most popular standard in the world (ISO 9001 Quality management systems. Requirements) is used by over 670,000 organizations in 154 countries. · Both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 began as British standards, as did some of the other top global standards (e.g. health & safety and IT). · The second most popular global standard (ISO 14001 Environmental Management System) is used in over 90,000 organizations in 127 countries. [|www.bsigroup.com/en/Standards-and-Publications/About-BSI-British-Standards/]

To put it very simply, if you were to make tens of thousands of a product in China, to be sold in the UK, and they did not follow the British Standards, the product would not be able to be sold as it would not cooperate correctly with the other products it would need to work with and therefore the company would lose a lot of money.

An example when Standards are not used in IT and problems are occurred is with Apple Mac and PC computers, because both use different software’s, as both manufactures have difference Standards and Protocols. An example of a problem is, if you had a PC Desktop in your home, as well as an apple laptop. Your PC Desktop is most likely hooked up onto a printer, whereas the Apple laptop is not. However, if you did a piece of work on the laptop and wanted it to be printed, you would need to send it to the PC, but because the file from the laptop would not be compatible with the PC, you would not be able to open it and therefore, you would not be able to print of your work.

An example of Standards and Protocols in the news is the story of every phone having a universal charger…. []