IT Infrastructure and its Evolution

IT Infrastructure

• Includes physical devices and software required to operate an enterprise
• Contains firm-wide services
• Is a service platform

Role of IT infrastructure

• Is related to business strategy

Evolution of Infrastructure

• Mainframe and Minicomputer: 1959 to present
• Personal Computer: 1981 to present
• Client Server: 1983 to present
• Enterprise Computing: 1992 to present
• Cloud and Mobile Computing: 2000 to present

Multitiered Client/Server Network

• Begins with a client, linked to the internet
• Continues to a web server, then an application server
• Ends with sales, production, accounting, HR, and data

Technology drivers of Infrastructure Evolution

• Moore's Law & Microprocessing Power
  • Computing power doubles every 18 months
  • Nanotechnology shrinks transistors to sizes comparable to viruses
• Law of Mass Digital Storage
  • The amount of data stored each year doubles
• Metcalfe's Law & Network Economics
  • The value of a network grows exponentially with the number of members
  • Increased network members equals demand for network access increases

Moore's Law and Microprocessor Performance

• Packing over 2 billion transistors into a tiny microprocessor has exponentially increased processing power
• Processing power has increased to over 500,000 MIPS (millions of instructions per second)
• Packing more transistors into less space has driven down transistor cost dramatically
• Product costs are lower

Cost of Data Storage

• Since 1955, the cost of storing a kilobyte of data has fallen exponentially
• The doubling of digital storage for each dollar expended occurs every 15 months on average.

Declining Communication Costs and the Internet

• Approximately 2.3 billion people worldwide have Internet access
• Use of communication and computing facilities increases rapidly as communication costs decrease

Technology standards

• Specifications establish compatibility
• Economies of scale enable price declines with manufacturer standardization

Infrastructure Components

• Consists of seven main components that must work together:
  • Computer hardware platforms
  • Operating system platforms
  • Enterprise software applications
  • Data management and storage
  • Networking/telecommunications
  • Internet platforms
  • Consulting and system integration services

Computer Hardware Platforms

• Client machines include desktop PCs, mobile devices, PDAs, and laptops
• Blade servers are ultrathin computers stored in racks
• Mainframes from IBM are equivalent to thousands of blade servers
• Top chip producers include AMD, Intel, and IBM
• Top firms include IBM, HP, Dell, and Sun Microsystems

Operating System Platforms

• 65% of servers run Unix or Linux, 35% run Windows
• 90% of clients run Microsoft Windows (XP, 2000, CE, etc.)
• Mobile/multitouch operating systems include Android and iOS

Enterprise Software Applications

• Enterprise application providers include SAP and Oracle

Data Management and Storage

• Database software firms are IBM (DB2), Oracle, and Microsoft (SQL Server), MySQL
• Physical data storage is provided by EMC Corp, Seagate, Maxtor, and Western Digital
• Storage area networks (SANs) connect multiple storage devices on a dedicated network

Networking/Communications Platform

• Telecommunication services include telecommunications, cable, and telephone company charges for voice lines and Internet access, AT &T, Verizon, and Hadara
• Network hardware providers are Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, Nortel, and Juniper Networks

Internet Platforms

• Hardware, software, management services support company Websites, intranets, and extranets
• Internet hardware server market participants include IBM, Dell, Sun (Oracle), and HP
• Web development tools/suites include Microsoft (Expression Studio, .NET), Oracle-Sun (Java), Adobe, and Real Networks

Consulting and System Integration Services

• Consulting and system integration services are necessary because even large firms lack resources for full support of new infrastructure

Software Integration

• Software Integration ensures new infrastructure works with legacy systems
• Legacy systems are older TPS created for mainframes
• Accenture and IBM Global Services provide these services

Contemporary Hardware Platform Trends

• The Mobile Digital Platform -Includes cell phones and smartphones -Used for data transmission and web surfing
• Grid Computing -Connects geographically remote computers into a single network -Combines processing power
• Virtualization -A single physical resource that acts as multiple resources -Reduces hardware and power expenditures
• Green Computing -Involves practices and technologies for environmentally responsible manufacturing, use, and disposal of computing hardware
• Cloud Computing -Obtaining computing services over a network

Green Computing

• Involves practices and technologies for environmentally responsible manufacturing, use, and disposal of computing hardware

High Performance, Power-Saving Processors

• Multi-core processors enhance performance and reduce power consumption

Automatic Computing

• Develops systems that can configure, heal, and protect themselves

Open-Source Software

• Produced by a community of programmers
• Is free and modifiable
• Examples: Apache Web Server & Mozilla Firefox

Linux

• Is an open-source OS used in mobile devices and web servers

Software for the Web

• Java
• HTML
• HTML5

Web Services

• Web services are software components that exchange information using web standards and languages -XML: Extensible Markup Language -SOAP: Simple Object Access Protocol -WSDL: Web Services Description Language -UDDI: Universal Description, Discovery, & Integration

SOA: Service Oriented Architecture

• Set of self-contained services that communicate with each other to create a working software application

Software outsourcing

• Includes middleware and integration services
• Primarily includes lower level maintenance, data entry, and call centers
• Cloud-based software services -Software as a service (SaaS) accessed with a web browser -Users pay a subscription or per-transaction fee -Example: Salesforce.com -Service Level Agreements (SLAs): formal agreement with service providers

Mashups

• Mashups combine two or more online applications, such as combining mapping software (Google Maps) with local content

Apps

• Small pieces of software that run on the Internet, on computers, or on cell phones (iPhone, Android)

Dealing with Platform and Infrastructure Change

• As firms shrink or grow, IT needs to be flexible and scalable
• Scalability is the ability to expand to serve a larger number of users
• Requires new policies, procedures, and contractual agreements

Management and Governance

• Requires a decision on who controls IT infrastructure
• Requires a decision of how an IT department should be organized -Centralized IT department makes decisions -Decentralized business unit IT departments make own decisions
• Requires a decision of how costs are allocated between divisions and departments

Making Wise Infrastructure Investments

• The amount to spend on IT is a complex question
• Need to consider a total cost ownership (TCO) model
• TCO can be reduced

Competitive forces model

• Should be used for IT infrastructure investment:
  • Market demand for firm's services
  • Firm's business strategy
  • Firm's IT strategy, infrastructure, and cost
  • Information technology assessment
  • Competitor firm services
  • Competitor firm IT infrastructure investments