IT Infrastructure Notes PDF

An IT infrastructure consists of a set of physical devices and software applications that are required to operate the entire enterprise IT infrastructure includes a set of firmwide services budgeted by management and composed of both human and technical capabilities: ○ Computing platf...

An IT infrastructure consists of a set of physical devices and software applications that are required to operate the entire enterprise IT infrastructure includes a set of firmwide services budgeted by management and composed of both human and technical capabilities: ○ Computing platforms used to provide computing services that connect employees, customers, and suppliers into a coherent digital environment ○ Telecommunications services that provide data, voice, and video connectivity to employees, customers, and suppliers ○ Data management services that store and manage corporate data and provide capabilities for analyzing the data ○ Application software services, including online software services, provide enterprise-wide capabilities such as ERP, CRM, etc ○ Physical facilities management services that develop and manage the physical installations required for computing, telecommunications, and data management services ○ IT management services that plan and develop the infrastructure, coordinate with the business units for IT services, manage accounting for the IT expenditure, and provide project management services ○ IT standards services that provide the firm and its business units with policies that determine which IT will be used, when, and how ○ IT education services that provide training in system use to employees and offer managers training in how to plan for and manage IT investments ○ IT research and development services that provide the firm with research on potential future IT projects and investments that could help the firm differentiate itself in the marketplace  The introduction of the IBM 1401 and 7090 transistorized machines in 1959 marked the beginning of widespread commercial use of mainframe computers ○ The mainframe era was a period of highly centralized computing under the control of professional programmers and systems operators (usually in a corporate data center), with most elements of infrastructure provided by a single vendor, the manufacturer of the hardware and the software ○ This pattern began to change with the introduction of minicomputers, produced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1965. DEC minicomputers (PDP-11 and later the VAX machines) offered powerful machines at far lower prices than IBM mainframes, making possible decentralized computing, customized to the specific needs of individual departments or business units rather than time sharing on a single huge mainframe The appearance of the IBM PC in 1981 is usually considered the beginning of the PC era because this machine was the first to be widely adopted by businesses. ○ At first using the DOS operating system, a text-based command language, and later the Microsoft Windows operating system, the Wintel PC computer (Windows operating system software on a computer with an Intel microprocessor) became the standard desktop personal computer ○ Proliferation of PCs in the 1980s and early 1990s launched a spate of personal desktop productivity software tools—word processors, spreadsheets, electronic presentation software, and small data management programs ○ Current landscape: Approximately 88% of desktop PCs run Windows, and 8% run MacOS  Wintel dominance is decreasing with increasing Iphone and Android sales In client/server computing, desktop or laptop computers called clients are networked to powerful server computers that provide the client computers with a variety of services and capabilities ○ The client is the user point of entry, whereas the server typically processes and stores shared data, serves up web pages, or manages network activities ○ Servers manage tasks like storing shared data, serving web pages, and running network activities ○ Modern servers use multiple processors in server racks or standalone boxes The simplest client/server network consists of a client computer networked to a server computer, with processing split between the two types of machines. This is called a two-tiered client/server architecture. Whereas simple client/server networks can be found in small businesses, most corporations have more complex, multitiered client/server architectures (often called N-tier client/server architectures) in which the work of the entire network is balanced over several different levels of servers, depending on the kind of service being requested ○ At the first level, a web server will serve a web page to a client in response to a request for service. Web server software is responsible for locating and managing stored web pages. If the client requests access to a corporate system (a product list or price information, for instance), the request is passed along to an application server. ○ Application server software handles all application operations between a user and an organization’s back-end business systems. The application  server may reside on the same computer as the web server or on its own dedicated computer In the early 1990s, firms turned to networking standards and software tools that could integrate disparate networks and applications throughout the firn into an enterprise-wide network(enterprise computing era) ○ As the Internet developed into a trusted communications environment after 1995, business firms began seriously using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) networking standard to tie their disparate networks together ○ Allows seamless information flow within organizations and with external partners In 2000, the cloud and mobile computing era began. Cloud computing refers to a model of computing that provides access to a shared pool of computing resources(computers, storage, applications, and services) over the network ○ Global public cloud spending of 350 billion in 2022 ○ Major providers: Amazon, Google, IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft ○ Allows the offering of Software as a Service(SaaS) applications over the Internet  Moore’s law and microprocessing power: Computing power doubles every 2 years ○ There are at least three variations of Moore’s Law, none of which Moore ever stated: (1) the power of microprocessors doubles every 18 months, (2) computing power doubles every 18 months, and (3) the price of computing falls by half every 18 months. ○ Nanotechnology uses individual atoms and molecules to create computer chips and other devices that are thousands of times smaller than current technologies permit A second technology driver of IT infrastructure change is the Law of Mass Digital Storage. The amount of digital information is roughly doubling every year Metcalfe's Law and Network Economies: The value or power of a network grows exponentially as a function of the number of network members A fourth technology driver transforming IT infrastructure is the rapid decline in the costs of communication and the exponential growth in the size of the Internet Standards and Network Effects: Technology standards are specifications that establish the compatibility of products and the ability to communicate in a network ○ Technology standards unleash powerful economies of scale and result in price declines as manufactures focus on the products built to a single standard  Firms worldwide are expected to spend about $503 billion in 2020 on software for enterprise applications that are treated as components of IT infrastructure Internet platforms include hardware, software, and management services to support a firm’s website, including web hosting services, routers, and cabling or wireless equipment. ○ A web hosting service maintains a large web server, or series of servers, and provides fee-paying subscribers with space to maintain their websites Consulting and System Integration services: ○ Even a large firm does not have the staff, the skills, the budget, or the necessary experience to deploy and maintain its entire IT infrastructure ○ Software integration means ensuring the new infrastructure works with the firm’s older, so-called legacy systems and ensuring the new elements of the infrastructure work with one another  ○ Legacy systems are generally older transaction processing systems created for mainframe computers that continue to be used to avoid the high cost of replacing or redesigning them As firms grow, they often quickly outgrow their infrastructure. As firms shrink. they can get stuck with excessive infrastructure purchased in better times ○ Scalability refers to the ability of a computer, product, or system to expand to serve a large number of users without breaking down ○ Firms often turn to mobile device management(MDM) software, which monitors, manages, and secures mobile devices that are deployed across multiple mobile service providers and multiple mobile operating systems ○ Firms using cloud computing and SaaS will need to fashion new contractual arrangements with remote vendors to make sure that the hardware and software for critical applications are always available when needed and that they meet corporate standards for information security A long-standing issue among information system managers and CEOs has been the question of who will control and manage the firm’s IT infrastructure IT infrastructure is a major investment for the firm. If too much is spent on infrastructure, it lies idle and constitutes a drag on the firm’s financial performance. If too little is spent, important business services cannot be delivered and the firm’s competitors (who spent the right amount) will outperform the underinvesting firm A related question is whether a firm should purchase and maintain its own IT infrastructure components or rent them from external suppliers, including those offering cloud services. ○ The decision either to purchase your own IT as sets or to rent them from external providers is typically called the rent-versus buy decision  Cloud computing is a low-cost way to increase scalability and flexibility, but firms should evaluate this option carefully in light of security requirements and impact on business processes and workflows The total cost of ownership(TCO) model can be used to analyze these direct and indirect costs to help firms determine the actual cost of specific technology implementations ○ Hardware, and 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