IS-102 Unit-4 (ch05).pdf

Chapter 5 IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies College of Computer Science & Engineering Department of Information Systems  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies...

Chapter 5 IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies College of Computer Science & Engineering Department of Information Systems  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies LEARNING OBJECTIVES Define IT infrastructure and describe its components. Identify and describe the stages and technology drivers of IT infrastructure evolution. Assess contemporary computer hardware platform trends. Assess contemporary software platform trends. Evaluate the challenges of managing IT infrastructure and solutions. 5.2  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies IT Infrastructure IT infrastructure: – Set of physical devices and software required to operate enterprise – Set of firm-wide services including: Computing platforms providing computing services Telecommunications services Data services Application software services Physical facilities services IT management, education, and other services – “Service platform” perspective More accurate view of value of investments 5.3  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies 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 FIGUREthat5-1 can be provided to customers. 5.4  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies IT Infrastructure Evolution of IT infrastructure – General-purpose mainframe and 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) 5.5  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies IT Infrastructure Evolution of IT infrastructure (cont.) – Enterprise computing era: 1992 to present Move toward integrating disparate networks, applications using Internet standards and enterprise applications – Cloud and mobile computing: 2000 to present Cloud computing: computing power and software applications supplied over the Internet or other network – Fastest growing form of computing 5.6  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies A MULTITIERED CLIENT/SERVER NETWORK (N-TIER) FIGURE 5-3 In a multitiered client/server network, client requests for service are handled by different levels of servers. 5.7  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies IT Infrastructure 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 5.8  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies IT Infrastructure Technology drivers of infrastructure evolution (cont.) – 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) 5.9  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies 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 5.10  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Infrastructure Components IT Infrastructure has seven main components 1. Computer hardware platforms 2. Operating system platforms 3. Enterprise software applications 4. Data and storage 5. Networking/telecommunications platforms 6. Internet platforms 7. Consulting system integration services 5.11  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies 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 5-9 5.12  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Infrastructure Components 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 5.13  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Infrastructure Components Operating system platforms – Operating systems Server level: 65% run Unix or Linux; 35% run Windows Client level: – 90% run Microsoft Windows (XP, 2000, CE, etc.) – Mobile/multitouch (Android, iOS) – Cloud computing (Google’s Chrome OS) Enterprise software applications – Enterprise application providers: SAP and Oracle – Middleware providers: BEA Software that acts as a bridge between an operating system or database and applications, especially on a network 5.14  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Infrastructure Components Data 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 5.15  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies 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, Linux, Unix – Network hardware providers: Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, Nortel, Juniper Networks 5.16  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Infrastructure Components Internet platforms – Hardware, software, services to support company Web sites, (including Web-hosting services) intranets, extranets – Internet hardware server market: IBM, Dell, Sun (Oracle), HP – Web development tools/suites: Microsoft (Visual Basic.NET, Visual C#) Oracle-Sun (Java), Adobe, Real Networks 5.17  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies 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 5.18  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Hardware Platform Trends The mobile digital platform – Cell phones, smartphones (iPhone, Android, and Blackberry) Data transmission, Web surfing, e-mail, and Instant Messaging duties – Netbooks: Small lightweight notebooks optimized for wireless communication and core tasks – Tablets (iPad) – Networked e-readers (Kindle and Nook) 5.19  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Hardware Platform Trends BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) – Allowing employees to use personal mobile devices in workplace – But, along with bringing their own devices, employees are bringing a new set of problems to the doorstep of their organization’s IT department Consumerization of IT – New information technology emerges in consumer markets first and spreads to business organizations – Forces businesses and IT departments to rethink how IT equipment and services are acquired and managed 5.20  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies 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 5.21  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Hardware Platform Trends Virtualization (cont.) The benefits businesses enjoy from using virtualization: Increase equipment utilization rates Conserve data center space and energy usage Require fewer computers and servers Combine legacy applications with newer applications Facilitate centralization and consolidation of hardware administration 5.22  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Hardware Platform Trends Cloud computing – On-demand (utility) computing services obtained over network – Cloud computing is defined by five characteristics: On-demand self-service: Users can access computing capabilities whenever and wherever they are. Global network access: No special devices are necessary for accessing data or services. Location independent resource pooling: Users don’t need to be concerned about where the data are stored. Rapid elasticity: Computing resources expand and contract as necessary to serve users. Measured service: Users pay only for the computing capabilities actually used. 5.23  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Hardware Platform Trends Cloud computing (cont.) Almost any type of computing device can access data and applications from these clouds through three types of services: Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): Allows customers to process and store data, and use networking and other resources available from the cloud. Platform as a service (PaaS): The service provider offers infrastructure and programming tools to customers so they can develop and test applications. Software as a service (SaaS): The vendor provides software programs on a subscription fee basis. 5.24  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Hardware Platform Trends Cloud computing (cont.) Three kinds of clouds are available: Public cloud: Owned and operated by external service providers; accessed through the Internet; available to anyone; generally used for non-sensitive data. Private cloud: Proprietary system owned and operated by a specific company; based on virtualization; available only to users inside the company; generally used for sensitive financial and personal data. Hybrid cloud: Generally used by large corporations that store the most essential core activities on their own infrastructure and use the cloud for less-critical systems or additional processing capabilities. Benefits: Allows companies to minimize IT investments Drawbacks: Concerns of security, reliability 5.25  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Hardware Platform Trends Green computing – Practices and technologies for manufacturing, using, disposing of computing and networking hardware – Reduces the impact on the environment High performance, power-saving processors – Multi-core processors 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 5.26  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Software Platform Trends Open-Source software: – Produced by community of programmers – Free and modifiable by user – Examples: Apache web server, Mozilla Firefox browser, OpenOffice Linux – Open-source OS – Used in mobile devices, local area networks, Web servers, high-performance computing 5.27  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Software Platform Trends Software for the Web – Java: Object-oriented programming language Operating system, processor-independent – HTML/HTML5 Web page description language Specifies how text, graphics are placed on Web page HTML5 is latest evolution – Includes animation and video processing functionality previously provided by third party add-ons such as Flash 5.28  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Software Platform Trends 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 5.29  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Software Platform Trends 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’ Web site 5.30  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies HOW DOLLAR RENT A CAR USES WEB SERVICES Dollar Rent A Car uses Web services to provide a standard intermediate layer of software to “talk” to other companies’ information systems. Dollar Rent A Car can use this set of Web services to link to other companies’ information systems 5-11 FIGURE without having to build a separate link to 5.31  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Software Platform Trends Software outsourcing and cloud services – Three external sources for software: Software packages and enterprise software Software outsourcing – Contracting outside firms to develop software Cloud-based software services – Software as a service (SaaS) – Accessed with Web browser over Internet – Service Level Agreements (SLAs): formal agreement with service providers 5.32  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Contemporary Software Platform Trends Software outsourcing and cloud services (cont.) – Mashups Combinations of two or more online applications, such as combining mapping software (Google Maps) with store locator of shopping site – Apps Small pieces of software that run on the Internet, on your computer, or on your cell phone – iPhone, Android Generally delivered over the Internet 5.33  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Issues Dealing with platform and infrastructure change – As firms shrink or grow, IT needs to be flexible and scalable – Scalability: Ability to expand to serve larger number 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 required 5.34  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Issues Management and Governance – Who controls IT infrastructure? – How should IT department be organized? Centralized – Central IT department makes decisions Decentralized – Business unit IT departments make own decisions 5.35  Foundations of Information Systems Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies Issues Making wise infrastructure investments – Amount to spend on IT is complex question Rent vs. buy, cloud computing 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 Use of cloud services, greater centralization and standardization of hardware and software resources 5.36