MIS CH 3
IT Infrastructure : Set of physical devices and software applications required to
operate the enterprise.
Set of firm-wide services comprising both human and technical capabilities:
• Computing platforms providing computing services
• Telecommunications services
• Data management services
• Application software services
• Physical facilities management services
• IT management, standards, education, research and development
services
"Service platform" perspective is a more accurate view of value of investments
The "service platform" perspective refers to analyzing the actual services
enabled by new technology tools. For example, a new PC might save an
employee one hour per day in wait time for information, dramatically increasing
his or her value to the firm.
IT Infrastructure : Connection between the firm, IT infrastructure and business
capabilities . The services a firm is capable of providing to its customers,
suppliers, and employees are a direct function of its IT infrastructure. Ideally, this
infrastructure should support the firm's business and information Systems
strategy. New information technologies have a powerful impact on business and
IT strategies, as well as the services that can be provided to customers.
Evolution of IT infrastructure
General-purpose mainframe & minicomputer era: 1959 to Present
• 1958 IBM first mainframes introduced
• 1965 Less expensive DEC minicomputers introduced
Personal computer era: 1981 to present
• 1981 Introduction of IBM PC
• Proliferation in 80s, 90s resulted in growth of personal software
Client/server era : 1983 to present
• Desktop clients networked to servers, with processing work split between
clients and servers
• Network may be two-tiered or multitiered (N-tiered)
• Various types of servers (network, application, web)
Stages in IT infrastructure evolution : Illustrated here are typical computing
configurations characterizing the first three eras of IT infrastructure evolution.
Enterprise computing era: 1992 to present : Enterprise computing refers to
business-oriented information technology that is critical to a company's
operations. It is usually seen as a collection of big business software solutions to
common problems such as resource management and streamlining processes.
• Move toward integrating disparate networks, applications using internet
standards and enterprise applications
Cloud Computing era: 2000 to present
• Refers to a model of computing where firms and individuals obtain
computing power and software applications over the internet or other
network
• Fastest growing form of computing
Technology drivers of infrastructure evolution
Moore's law and microprocessing power:
• Computing power doubles every 18 months
• Nanotechnology:
- Shrinks size of transistors to size comparable to size of a virus
• Law of Mass Digital Storage
- The amount of data being stored each year doubles
Technology drivers of infrastructure evolution : processor speeds, or overall
processing power for computers will double every two years.
The cost of storing data declines exponentially 1950-2010
Metcalfe's Law and network economics :
• Value or power of a network grows exponentially as a function of the
number of network members
• As network members increase, more people want to use it (demand for
network access increases)
Declining communication costs and the internet :
• An estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide have internet access
• As communication costs fall toward a very small number and approach 0,
utilization of communication and computing facilities explodes
Standards and network effects
Technology standards:
• Specifications that establish the compatibility of products and the ability
to communicate in a network
• Unleash powerful economies of scale and result in price declines as
manufacturers focus on the products built to a single standard.
Infrastructure Components
IT infrastructure has 7 main components :
1. Computer hardware platforms
2. Operating system platforms
3. Enterprise software applications
4. Data management and storage
5. Networking/telecommunications platforms
6. Internet platforms
7. Consulting system integration services
Platform : A hardware and/or software architecture on which application
programs can run.
Computer hardware platforms
Client machines :
• Desktop PCs, mobile devices - PDAs, laptops
Servers : Blade servers: ultrathin computers stored in racks
Mainframes : IBM mainframe equivalent to thousands of blade servers
Top chip producers : AMD, Intel, IBM
Top firms : IBM, HP, Dell, Sun Microsystems
market for computer hardware, in 2010, U.S. firms spent $109 billion on
computer hardware; worldwide, over 400 million computers were sold.
Operating system platforms
Operating systems :
• Server level : 75% run Windows; 25% run Unix or Linux
• Client level :
- 90% run Microsoft Windows (XP, 2000, CE, etc.)
- Handheld device OS's (Android, iPhone OS)
- Cloud computing OS's (Google's Chrome OS)
Enterprise software applications :
• Enterprise application providers : SAP and Oracle
• Middleware providers : BEA
Data management and storage
Database software : IBM (DB2), Oracle, Microsoft (SQL Server), Sybase (Adaptive
Server Enterprise), MYSQL
Physical data storage : EMC Corp (large-scale systems), Seagate, Maxtor,
Western Digital
Storage area networks (SANS ) : Connect multiple storage devices on dedicated
network
Networking/telecommunications platforms
Telecommunication services :
• Telecommunications, cable, telephone company charges for voice lines
and internet access
• AT&T, Verizon
Network operating systems : Windows Server, Novell, Linux, Unix
Network hardware providers : Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, Nortel, Juniper Networks
Internet platforms : Hardware, software, management services to support
company websites, (including web hosting services) intranets, extranets
Internet hardware server market : Dell, HP/Compaq, IBM
Web development tools/suites : Microsoft (FrontPage, .NET) IBM
(WebSphere) Sun (Java), independent software developers : Adobe, RealMedia
Consulting and system integration services : Even large firms do not have
resources for a full range of support for new, complex infrastructure
Software integration : ensuring new infrastructure works with legacy systems
Legacy systems : older TPS created for mainframes that would be too costly to
replace or redesign Accenture, IBM Global Services, EDS, Infosys, Wipro
The emerging mobile digital platform
Cell phones, smartphones (BlackBerry, iPhone) : Have assumed data
transmission, web surfing, e-mail and IM duties
Netbooks : Small, low-cost lightweight notebooks optimized for wireless
communication and core computing tasks Tablets (iPad) Networked e-readers
(Kindle)
Contemporary Hardware Platform Trends
Grid computing :
• Connects geographically remote computers into a single network to
combine processing power and create virtual supercomputer
• Provides cost savings, speed, agility
Virtualization :
• Allows single physical resource to act as multiple resources (i.e., run
multiple instances of OS)
• Reduces hardware and power expenditures
• Facilitates hardware centralization
Cloud computing :
• On-demand (utility) computing services obtained over network
- Infrastructure as a service
- Platform as a service
- Software as a service
• Cloud can be public or private
• Allows companies to minimize IT investments
• Drawbacks : Concerns of security, reliability
Autonomic computing :
• Industry-wide effort to develop systems that can configure, heal
themselves when broken, and protect themselves from outside intruders
• Similar to self-updating antivirus software; Apple and Microsoft both use
automatic updates
High performance, Power-saving processors : Multi-core processors
Contemporary Software Platform Trends
Linux and open-source software :
• Open-source software : Produced by community of Programmers, free
and modifiable by user
• Linux : Open-source software OS
Software for the web :
• Java :
- Object-oriented programming language
- Operating system, processor-independent
• Ajax:
- Asynchronous JavaScript and XML
- Allows client and server to exchange small pieces of data without
requiring the page to be reloaded
Web services : Firms are collections of thousands of computer program and
systems built over many years. In general, these systems cannot "talk" with one
another ,and sharing information among them is very expensive. One way to get
them to work together is to build software links among them. This is the web
services approach (see the next slide on service oriented architecture). You can
compare it to the web: any computer with a browser can access billions of web
pages and draw down the information, or download PDF files that work on all
computers that have a version of Adobe Acrobat installed.
In a business firm, you want a similar environment : any computer program can
get data from any other computer program. Web services makes this possible.
standards and languages t exchange information using web :
• XML: Extensible Markup Lanquaqe
- More powerful and flexible than HTML
- Tagging allows computers to process data automatically
• SOAP : Simple Object Access Protocol
- Rules for structuring messages enabling applications to pass data and
instructions
• WSDL : Web Services Description Language
- Framework for describing web service and capabilities
• UDDI : Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration
- Directory for locating web services
SOA : Service-oriented architecture
• Set of self-contained services that communicate with each other to
create a working software application
• Software developers reuse these services in other combinations to
assemble other applications as needed
• Example : an "invoice service" to serve whole firm for calculating and
sending printed invoices
• Example : Dollar Rent A Car uses web services to link online booking
system with Southwest Airlines' website
Mashups : Created when individual users and companies mix and match
software components to create their own customized applications and to share
information with others
Widgets : Small software programs that can be added to web pages or placed on
the desktop to provide additional functionality
Apps : Small pieces of software that run on the internet, PCs, or on cell phones.
They are generally delivered over the internet
Software outsourcing and cloud services
Three external sources for software:
1. [Link] packages and enterprise software
2. [Link] outsourcing (domestic or offshore)
Domestic : primarily for middleware, integration services, software support
Offshore : primarily for lower level maintenance, data entry, call centers,
although outsourcing for new-program development is increasing
3. Cloud-based software services
• Software as a service (SaaS)
• Accessed with web browser over internet
• Ranges from free or low-cost services for individuals to business and
enterprise software
• Users pay on subscription or per-transaction, e.g. [Link]
• Service Level Agreements (SLAS) : formal agreement with service
providers
Management Issues
Dealing with platform and infrastructure change
How can IT be flexible and still make long-term investments in hardware and
software?
As firms shrink or grow, IT needs to be flexible and scalable
Scalability is the ability to expand to serve larger numbers of users
For mobile computing and cloud computing :
• New policies and procedures for managing these new platforms
• Contractual agreements with firms running clouds and distributing
software is required.
Management and governance
Who controls IT infrastructure?
How should an IT department be organized?
Centralized : Central IT department makes decisions
Decentralized : Business unit IT departments make own decisions
How are costs allocated between divisions, departments?
Making wise infrastructure investments
Amount to spend on IT is complex question : Consider rent vs. buy, outsourcing
Total cost of ownership (TCO) model :
• Analyzes direct and indirect costs
• Hardware, software account for only about 20% of TCO
• Other costs : Installation, training, support, maintenance, infrastructure,
downtime, space and energy
• TCO can be reduced through use of cloud services, greater centralization
and standardization of hardware and software resources
Competitive forces model for IT infrastructure investment
1. Market demand for firm's services : make inventory of the services the firm
currently provides to customers, suppliers, and employees. Survey each group to
find out if the services the firm currently offers are meeting the needs of each
group.
2. Firm's business strategy : Analyze the firm's five year business strategy and try
to assess what new services and capabilities will be required to achieve strategic
goals.
3. Firm's IT strategy, infrastructure, and cost : Examine the firm's IT plans for the
next five years and assess its alignment with the firm's business plans.
Determine total IT infrastructure cost.
4. Information technology assessment : Is the firm behind the technology curve
or at the bleeding edge of IT? Both situations are to be avoided.
5. Competitor firm services : Try to assess what technology services competitors
offer to customers suppliers and employees. Establish quantitative and
qualitative measures to compare them to those of the firm. If the firm's service
levels fall short, the company is at a competitive disadvantage. Look for ways the
firm can excel at service level.
6. Competitor firm IT infrastructure investments : Benchmark the firm's
expenditures for IT infrastructure against the firm's competitors.
