Business Information Systems PDF

Business Information Systems Technology, Development and Management for the Modern Business 6th edition Chapter 5 Networks, telecommunications and the Internet...

Business Information Systems Technology, Development and Management for the Modern Business 6th edition Chapter 5 Networks, telecommunications and the Internet Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Learning objectives After this lecture, you will be able to: – specify which components of a communications system are necessary to exchange information within and between businesses; – explain the basic components and terminology of networks, including the Internet; – identify the benefits available through the introduction of computer networks; – identify the advantages and disadvantages of the client/server architecture in comparison with traditional approaches; – explain the broad implications of the Internet on the marketplace. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Management issues From a managerial perspective, this lecture addresses the following areas: – What are the business benefits of networks? – What are the basic concepts and terminology associated with the Internet and other networks? – How does the Internet change marketplace structures? – How are network components selected? Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Computer networks defined A computer network can be defined as: ‘a communications system that links two or more computers and peripheral devices and enables transfer of data between the components’. Telecommunications: The method by which data and information are transmitted between different locations. Local-area network (LAN): A computer network that spans a limited geographic area, typically a single office or building. Wide-area network (WAN): Networks covering a large area which connect businesses in different parts of the same city, different parts of a country or different countries. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Figure 5.1 Communications links between different stakeholders in an industry Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Table 5.1 A summary of the key advantages and disadvantages of network technology Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Figure 5.2 Components of a client/server system Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Client/server Client/server: The client/server architecture consists of client computers such as PCs sharing resources such as a database stored on more powerful server computers. Benefits: – Faster execution – Distributed approach – Customisation and flexibility. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Client/server disbenefits Time lost by staff configuration Instability caused by clashes with applications Maintenance Performance Cost – generally higher TCO. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Server benefits Server: A server is a powerful computer used to control the management of a network. It may have a specific function such as storing user files or a database or managing a printer. Maintain security: Access to information in files is restricted according to the user name and password issued to users of the network. Sharing of peripheral devices connected to the network, such as printers and tape drives. These are often attached directly to the server. Sharing of applications such as word processors, which do not then need to be stored on the hard drive of the end-user’s computer. The cost of buying applications can be reduced through buying a ‘site licence.’ Sharing of information: Access to these data are maintained by the NOS and they are stored within the hard drive of a server as files or as part of a database. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Table 5.2 Types of server Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Telecommunications equipment Modem (modulator–demodulator): A modem is a communications device that allows users to access ordinary telephone line. Analogue: Analogue data are continuous in that an infinite number of values between two given points can be represented. As an example, the hands of a clock are able to represent every single possible time of the day. Digital: Digital data can only represent a finite number of discrete values. For example, at the most basic level, a computer recognises only the values 0 (zero) and 1. Any values between 0 and 1, for example 0.15, cannot be represented. Hubs: Hubs are used to connect up to 20 PCs to a network in a convenient way. Bridges and routers: These are used to connect different LANs and transfer data packets from one network to the next. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Data transmission types Broadband: A relatively high-capacity, high-speed transmission medium such as cable. Can provide transfer rates of up to 24 Mbps. ADSL = Asynchronous digital subscriber line – upload and download speeds are different. ISDN (integrated services digital network): Data transfer rates of 64 kbps. An ISDN telephone line provides two separate ‘channels’ allowing simultaneous voice and data transmissions. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Wireless network standards Bluetooth (PAN) – A wireless standard for transmission of data between devices over short ranges (normally less than 10 m). Wi-Fi (LAN) – A high-speed wireless local-area network enabling wireless access to the Internet for mobile, office and home users. WiMax (MAN) – A long distance transmission standard that allows an access range up to 30 miles at speeds up to 75 Mbps. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  The Internet The Internet The Internet refers to the physical network that links computers across the globe. It consists of the infrastructure of network servers and communications links between them that are used to hold and transport information between the client PCs and web servers. Internet service provider (ISP) A provider enabling home or business users a connection to access the Internet. They can also host web-based applications. Backbones High-speed communication links used to enable Internet communications across a country and internationally. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Figure 5.6 Infrastructure components of the Internet Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Business and consumer models of Internet access It is useful to identify e-business opportunities in terms of whether an organization is using the Internet to transact with consumers (business-to-consumer – B2C) or other businesses (business-to- business – B2B). Business-to-consumer (B2C) Commercial transactions are between an organization and consumers. Business-to-business (B2B) Commercial transactions are between an organization and other organizations. Business-to-business transactions predominate over the Internet, in terms of value, if not frequency. Figure 5.7 helps explain why this is the case. It shows that there are many more opportunities for B2B transactions than B2C, both between an organization and its suppliers, together with intermediaries, and through distributors such as agents and wholesalers with customers. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  The role of the Internet in restructuring business relationships The relationship between a company and its suppliers and customers shown in Figure 5.8 can be dramatically altered by the opportunities afforded by the Internet. This occurs because the Internet offers a means of bypassing some of the channel partners. This process is known as disintermediation or ‘cutting out the middleman’. Figure 5.8 illustrates disintermediation in a graphical form for a simplified retail channel. Further intermediaries such as additional distributors may occur in a business-to-business market. Figure 5.8 (a) shows the former position where a company markets and sells it products by ‘pushing’ them through a sales channel. Figures 5.8 (b) and (c) show two different types of disintermediation in which the wholesaler (b) or the wholesaler and retailer (c) are bypassed, allowing the producer to sell and promote direct to the consumer. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Figure 5.8 Disintermediation of a consumer distribution channel Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Internet of Things (IoT) The Internet of Things (IoT) has been defined by the Internet of Things Global Standards Initiative as a global infrastructure for the information society, enabling advanced services by interconnecting (physical and virtual) things based on existing and evolving interoperable information and communication technologies. More specifically the Internet of Things can refer to the use of the Internet as a network to enable the connection and communication between objects with embedded sensors. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Figure 5.9 The Internet of Things in manufacturing Figure 5.9 The Internet of Things in Manufacturing https://www.i-scoop.eu/internet-of-things-in-manufacturing-the-microsoft-view-source-slideshare-presentation-large/ Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Internet of Everything While the IoT is about enabling devices to share data via the Internet, the Internet of Everything (IoE) is much broader. The Internet of Everything is about acting on all the information gathered from four main areas of data, things, processes and people (Figure 5.10). Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Figure 5.10 The Internet of Everything Figure 5.10 The Internet of Everything http://apachebooster.com/kb/?attachment_id=316 Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Intranets and extranets If information is limited to those inside an organization, this is an intranet. If access is extended to some others, but not everyone beyond the organization, this is an extranet. The relationship between these terms is illustrated in Figure 5.11. Extranets can be accessed by authorised people outside the company such as collaborators, suppliers or major customers, but information is not available to everyone with an Internet connection – only those with password access. Note that the term ‘intranet’ is sometimes loosely used to refer to an extranet. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Figure 5.11 The relationship between intranets, extranets and the Internet Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  World Wide Web World Wide Web The most common technique for publishing information on the Internet. It is accessed through web browsers which display web pages of embedded graphics and HTML/XML-encoded text. Web browsers are software used to access the information on the WWW that is stored on web servers. HTTP, the hypertext transfer protocol, is a standard used to allow web browsers and servers to transfer requests for delivery of web pages and their embedded graphics. The technical name for web addresses is uniform or universal resource locators (URLs). Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Other wide-area networks Wide-area network (WAN) Networks covering a large area which connect to businesses in different parts of the same city, different parts of a country of different countries. Value-added networks (VAN) Value-added networks (VANs) give a subscription service enabling companies to transmit data securely across a shared network. Virtual private network (VPN) A data network that makes use of the public telecommunication infrastructure and Internet, but information remains secure by the use of security procedures. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Smaller-scale networks Local-area network (LAN) A computer network that spans a limited geographic area, typically a single office or building. Peer-to-peer network A simple type of LAN which provides sharing of files and peripherals between PCs. Voice over IP (VoIP) Voice data are transferred across the Internet – it enables phone calls to be made over the Internet. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved