IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies PDF

Chapter 1-1 IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies 1  IT Infrastructure Defining IT infrastructure: Set of physical devices and software required to operate enterprise Set of firmwide services including: Computing platf...

Chapter 1-1 IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies 1  IT Infrastructure Defining IT infrastructure: Set of physical devices and software required to operate enterprise Set of firmwide services including: 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 more accurate view of value of investments 2  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. Figure 5-1 3  IT Infrastructure Evolution of IT infrastructure General-purpose mainframe and minicomputer era: 1959 to present 1958 IBM first mainframes introduced, eventually used to support thousands of online remote terminals 1965 less expensive DEC minicomputers introduced, allowing decentralized computing 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) 4  IT Infrastructure Eras in IT Infrastructure Evolution Illustrated here are the typical computing configurations characterizing each of the five eras of IT infrastructure evolution. Figure 5-2A 5  IT Infrastructure Evolution of IT infrastructure (cont.) Enterprise Internet computing era: 1992 to present Move toward integrating disparate networks, applications using Internet standards and enterprise applications Cloud Computing: 2000 to present Refers to a model of computing where firms and individuals obtain computing power and software applications over the Internet Fastest growing form of computing 6  IT Infrastructure A Multitiered Client/Server Network (N-Tier) In a multitiered client/server network, client requests for service are handled by different levels of servers. Figure 5-3 7  IT Infrastructure Technology drivers of infrastructure evolution (cont.) 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 8  Infrastructure Components IT Infrastructure has 7 main components Computer hardware platforms Operating system platforms Enterprise software applications Data management and storage Networking/telecommunications platforms Internet platforms Consulting system integration services 9  Infrastructure Components The IT Infrastructure Ecosystem There are seven major components that must be coordinated to provide the firm with a coherent IT infrastructure. Listed here are major technologies and suppliers for each component. Figure 5-10 10  Infrastructure Components Computer hardware platforms Client machines Desktop PCs, mobile computing 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 11  Infrastructure Components Operating system platforms Operating systems Client level: 95% run Microsoft Windows (XP, 2000, CE, etc.) Server level: 85% run Unix or Linux Enterprise software applications Enterprise software applications Enterprise application providers: SAP and Oracle Middleware providers: BEA 12  Infrastructure Components 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: connect multiple storage devices on dedicated network 13  Infrastructure Components 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, Lucent, Nortel, Juniper Networks 14  Infrastructure Components Internet platforms Hardware, software, management services to support company Web sites, (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: Macromedia/Adobe, RealMedia 15  Infrastructure Components Consulting and system integration services Even large firms do not have resources for 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 16  Contemporary Hardware Platform Trends While cost of computing is lower, infrastructure costs have expanded More computing, more sophisticated computing, increased consumer expectations, need for security 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 17  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 Cloud computing (utility computing) Data permanently stored in remote servers, accessed and updated over the Internet by users Organizations using cloud computing need only pay for the computing power they actually use (on-demand or utility computing) 18  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 Java Object-oriented programming language (Sun Microsystems) Operating system, processor-independent (Java Virtual Machine) Leading programming environment for Web Applets, E-commerce applications Ajax Asynchronous JavaScript and XML Allows client and server to exchange small pieces of data without requiring the page to be reloaded 19  Software Platform Trends and Emerging Technologies Web Services Software components that exchange information using Web standards and languages XML: Extensible Markup Language 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 20  Contemporary Software Platform Trends Mashups and widgets Mashups: Combinations of two or more online applications, such as combining mapping software (Google Maps) with local content Widgets: small programs that can be added to Web pages or placed on the desktop to add additional functionality Software outsourcing Three sources: external commercial vendor, online service providers, offshore firms Software packages: prewitten set of software available commercially Software as a service (SaaS): software delivered over the Internet Offshore outsourcing: usually governed by service level agreement 21  Management Issues Management and governance ◦ Who controls IT infrastructure ◦ Centralized/decentralized ◦ How are costs allocated between divisions, departments? 22