Transcript Chapter 5

IT Infrastructure and Emerging
Technologies
Chapter Five (10th ed)
Significance of IT Infrastructure
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IT infrastructure (ITI) is the foundation for
 Serving customers
 Working with suppliers and
 Managing internal business processes
An example: If you are a bank and you want to
sell banking services (savings, checking, car
loans, home loans, brokerage accounts, etc) to all
of your customers on a global level, your choices
of ITI will make or break you.
ITI is critical component of any business strategy
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The Connection between the Firm, IT
Infrastructure, and Business
Capabilities
Figure 6-1
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Definitions of ITI
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(1) ITI is the shared technology resources that
provide the platform for the firm’s specific
information system applications. These
technology resources include the hardware and
software required to operate the enterprise.
(2) ITI is a set of firm wide services budgeted by
management and comprising both human and
technical capabilities that provide services to
employees, customers, and suppliers.
The latter definition puts more emphasis on the
business value provided by investments in ITI
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Listing of the Services from the Second
Definition of ITI
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Computing platforms
that provide
computing services
Telecommunication
services provide data,
voice, and video
connectivity
Application software
services provide
access to ERP, SCM,
CRM, and KM
Physical facilities
management services
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IT management
services for planning
and managing ITI
IT standards services
for developing policies
IT education services
that provide training
IT research and
development services
for developing future
projects
Data management
services that manage
data and provide
analysis tools
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Evolution of IT Infrastructure
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Electronic accounting machine era: (1930–1950)
General-purpose mainframe and minicomputer
era: (1959 to present)
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Personal computer era: (1981 to present)
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Client/server era: (1983 to present)
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Enterprise internet computing era: (1992 to
present)
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Technology Drivers of Infrastructure
Evolution
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Moore’s law and microprocessing power
 Microprocessor power (MIPS) doubles every 18 months
 Number of transistors on a chip doubles every 18 months
 Cost of computing falls by ½ every 18 months
 Near future will continue, but heat issues and consumer
needs may slow this process
The law of mass digital storage
 The number of kilobytes stored for $1 has doubled every 15
months since 1950
Metcalfe’s law and network economics
 Power of a network grows exponentially as a function of the
number of network members (network economics)
Declining communications costs and the Internet
Standards and network effects
 ASCII, COBOL, UNIX
 TCP/IP, Ethernet, and WWW
 IBM/Microsoft/Intel
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Moore’s Law
Figure 6-5
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Moore’s Law: Falling Cost of Chips
Figure 6-6
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The Growth of Mass Digital Storage
Figure 6-8
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Cost of Mass Digital Storage
Figure 6-9
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Exponential Declines in Internet
Communications Costs
Figure 6-10
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Seven Key Infrastructure Components
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Computer Hardware Platforms
Operating System Platforms
Enterprise Software Applications
Data Management and Storage
Networking/Telecommunications Platforms
Internet Platforms
Consulting and System Integration Services
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Estimated Size of US Infrastructure
Components (2005)
Expenditure (billions)
% of total
Computer hardware
145
9%
Operating system platforms
110
7%
Enterprise and other IT soft apps
297
19%
Database mgmt and storage
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3%
Networking and telecom
769
50%
Internet platforms
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2%
Consulting services
130
9%
Total
1,528
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Computer Hardware Platforms
Client machines
Desktops and mobile computing devices ( PDAs
or laptops )
Server market
Blade servers
Major players
Microprocessors – IBM, Intel, and AMD
Hardware – HP, IBM, Dell, and Sun
Mainframes
Market dominated by IBM
Serve as giant servers (an alternative to blade
servers)
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Computer Software Platforms
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Operating systems
 Client OS dominated by some form of Microsoft
Windows
 Server OS dominated by UNIX and Linux
 Major providers of UNIX are IBM, HP, and Sun
Enterprise applications (e.g., SCM, CRM, ERP)
 Major providers are SAP and Oracle
 Microsoft is trying to capture the low end of
this market
Client applications
 Microsoft is the dominant provider
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Data Management and Storage
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Data management software
 Oracle and IBM dominate the market.
 Microsoft (SQL Server) and Sybase tend to serve
smaller firms.
 Open source Linux MySQL
Data storage hardware
 The hard disk market is consolidating around a few
huge firms like EMC and smaller PC hard disk firms
like Seagate, Maxtor, and Western Digital
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Networking/Telecommunications
Platforms
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Network operating systems
 LANS are dominated by Windows Server other
players include Novell, Linux, and Unix
 Enterprise networking almost entirely Linux or UNIX
Virtually all networks use the TCP/IP protocols
Networking hardware providers
 Cisco, Lucent, Nortel, and Juniper Networks
Telecommunications services market
 MCI, AT&T, and Sprint providing most trunk line
services for both phone and Internet.
Rapid growth of non-telephone Wi-Fi and Wi-Max
services, and Internet telephony
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Internet Platforms
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This area overlaps with networking, hardware,
and software platforms
Internet hardware server market
 Dell, HP, and IBM
Some Web software tools
 Microsoft’s ExpressionWeb and .Net families of
tools
 Adobe software (Dreamweaver and Flash)
 WebSphere from IBM to manage a Web site
 Apache server is an open source software tool
for managing stored Web pages on a server (on
70 percent of all Web servers)
 Java from Sun for interactive applications
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Consulting and System Integration
Services
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Most firms today, even large firms, cannot
develop their systems without significant outside
help.
$130 billion annually spent on computer system
design, and related business services like
business process redesign in the United States
About 85% of business consulting in the United
States involves IT business consulting.
Integration services involves integrating data,
and applications in a firm.
 Connecting new applications and systems to
legacy systems
 IBM has transformed itself into a systems
integration firm with IBM Global Services, the
largest system integration firm.
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Contemporary Hardware Platform
Trends: Overview
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Cost of IT infrastructure is rising
 Cost of computing services and software
 Intensity of computing & communications has increased
requiring more powerful networks and client devices
Other challenges
 Integration of data across platforms
 Infrastructures must withstand huge spikes in demand and
continual assaults from hackers
 High customer expectations
Five trends
 Integration of Computing and Telecommunications Platforms
 Grid Computing
 On-Demand (utility) Computing
 Autonomic Computing and edge computing
 Virtualization and multicore processors
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Integration of Computing and
Telecommunications Platforms
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Increasingly computing takes place over the
network.
Client level: integration of cell phones and PDAs
(Example: Palm Treo)
Television, video, and radio move toward digital
production.
Server level: The integration of voice telephone
and the Internet bring together two historically
separate and distinct global networks.
The network in many respects is the source of
computing power.
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Grid Computing
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Rather than purchase huge mainframes or super
computers, firms can chain together thousands of
smaller desktop clients into a single computing
grid; computers may be geographically remote
It is estimated that from 25% - 50% of the
computing power in the United States is unused.
Grid computing saves infrastructure spending,
increases speed of computing, and increases the
agility of firms.
Examples: Royal Dutch/Shell Group and the
National Digital Mammography Archive
Another example from the University of
Wisconsin (http://www.cs.wisc.edu/condor/)
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On-Demand (Utility) Computing
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Firms off-loading peak demand for computing
power to remote, large-scale data processing
centers
Developed by IBM, SUN, and HP
Firms pay only for the computing power they use,
as with an electrical utility.
Excellent for firms with spiked demand curves
caused by seasonal variations in consumer
demand, e.g. holiday shopping
Saves firms from purchasing excessive levels of
infrastructure
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Autonomic Computing
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Autonomic computing is an industry-wide effort
to develop systems that can:
 Configure, optimize, and tune themselves
 Heal themselves when broken
 Protect themselves from outside intruders and
self-destruction
Why is there a need for this?
 Computer systems (both hardware and
software) have become so complex that the
cost of managing them has risen.
 Thirty to fifty percent of a company’s IT budget
is spent preventing or recovering from system
crashes.
 Operator error is the most common cause of
crashes.
Example: Windows XP and Max X OS
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automatically download patches and updates.
Virtualization and Multicore Processors
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Both of these techniques are designed to reduce
power consumption
Virtualization is the process of presenting a set of
computing resources so that they can be access in
multiple ways without regard to physical
configuration or geographical location
Multicore processors
 As the clockspeed of cpus increased, the
amount of heat generated and electricity
consumed increased.
 Solution is to use two or more slower
processors to generate the same computing
power but reduce heat and power consumption
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Intel Chip History
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Software Platform Trends: Overview
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Linux and the open-source software movement
Java
Software for enterprise integration
 Enterprise wide systems
 Linkage to older systems and applications
 Enterprise application integration
 Middleware
 Web services and service-oriented
architecture
AJAX, Mashups and Web-based software
applications
Software outsourcing
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The Open-Source Software Movement
Open-source software is free and can be modified by users.
Developed and maintained by a worldwide network of
programmers and designers under the management of user
communities (opensource.org).
 The movement has evolved over 30 years and has demonstrated it
can provide high quality software.
 Major examples include Linux, Firefox (browser), and Apache (Web
server software that resides on the server and delivers Web
content to your browser)
• Linux is the most widely used open-source software program.
Linux is an operating system derived from Unix.
 IBM, HP, Intel, Dell, and Sun have adopted and support Linux.
Linux is a major alternative to Windows server and even client
operating systems
 Linux runs on all major hardware platforms – mainframes,
servers, and clients
 Major threat to Microsoft
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Java
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A programming language that is independent of
the operating system and hardware processor.
Applications written in Java can run on any
hardware for which a Java virtual machine has
been defined.
Anytime an object moves or input is required
from a user a Java applet has been employed
Applets are small Java programs that are
downloaded from the server. Users do not need
to have complex software on their machines.
Java is embedded in PDAs, cell phones, music
players, automobiles, set-top cable TV systems,
and browsers.
Java is the leading interactive programming
environment for the Web.
Dispute with Microsoft
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Software For Enterprise Integration
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An important software trend of the last decade is the
usage of enterprise-wide software systems by firms
(SCM, ERP, CRM, and KM).
Rather than build their own software, large firms
increasingly purchase enterprise applications
prewritten by specialized software firms like SAP or
Oracle.
The goal is to achieve an integrated firm-wide
information environment, reduce cost, increase
reliability, and to adopt business best practices which
are captured by the software.
Enterprise software firms achieve economies of scale by
selling the same software to hundreds of firms.
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Software For Enterprise Integration
(continued)
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How do you link new enterprise software with
older legacy applications?
Middleware approach
 Special software that creates an interface
between two different systems
Enterprise application integration approach
 Enterprise application integration software
creates a single software hub where multiple
systems can exchange data through a single
hub rather than building countless interfaces
for each system
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Enterprise Application Integration
(EAI) Software Versus Traditional
Integration
Figure 6-13
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Web Services And Service-Oriented
Architecture
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An alternative to middleware and EAI is to use
new Web-based standards to create a
communication platform allowing older
applications to communicate with newer
applications.
Web services refers to a set of loosely coupled
software components that exchange information
with each other using Web communication
standards and languages
Web services permit computer programs to
communicate with one another and share
information without rewriting applications, or
disturbing older legacy systems.
Web services are based on XML, and standards
like SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI to create this
communication environment.
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Web Services And Service-Oriented
Architecture (continued)
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XML stands for extensible markup language and is a
more powerful version of HTML that enables one to tag
items that provide meaning to data.
Web Services Description Language (WSDL) describes
the tasks performed by the Web service and the
commands and data it will accept so that it can be used
by other applications.
Universal description discovery and integration (UDDI)
enables a Web service to be listed in a directory of Web
services for easy location.
The collection of Web services used to build a firm’s
software constitute what is know as a service-oriented
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architecture (SOA)
AJAX
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Ajax (asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is a
group of inter-related Web development tools for
creating interactive Web applications . Ajax
enables increased responsiveness and
interactivity of Web pages by exchanging small
amounts of data with the server "behind the
scenes" so entire Web pages do not have to be
reloaded each time there is a need to fetch data
from the server. JavaScript is the language in
which AJAX function calls are usually made.[1
Ajax is one form of a set of related techniques
called rich Internet applications (RIA). Adobe’s
Flash is another member of RIA.
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Web-Based Applications
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The Google model
 Google delivers a number of applications including a
word processor, spreadsheet, email, instant messaging,
and a calendar in a suite called Google Apps.
 Users pay a subscription fee that provides unlimited
usage for a specified time.
 All of the apps and data are stored on Google servers.
 Google uses Ajax and other RIA tools to do this.
Enterprise software firms like SAP and Oracle are also
delivering software in this same manner
The Google model is a direct threat to Microsoft’s business
model
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Mashups
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A mashup is a Web application that combines
data and/or functionality from more than one
source. The term is derived from the hip hop
practice of building a new song by combining
parts of other songs.
Example mashups
 Typical mashups combine mapping and
satellite image software with local content (see
http://housingmaps.com or http://zillow.com
). Enables real estate listings to be displayed
on Google maps.
 Celebrities linked to maps and YouTube
http://www.mibazaar.com/top100celebrities/38
Software Outsourcing: Packages
• Prewritten off-the-shelf software built by a
software company
• Eliminates the need for the company to write
their own
• Available for all standard business applications
within and across industries
• Includes all the transaction processing systems
mentioned in earlier chapters
• Also includes the large enterprise applications
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Software Outsourcing: Application
Service Providers
• A business that delivers and manages
applications and computer services from remote
computer centers to multiple users using the
Internet or a private network. Software is not
installed on the firm’s systems.
 Rather than purchase hardware and software,
firms can go onto the Internet and find providers
who offer the same functionality over the
Internet, and charge on a per-user or license
basis.
 Example: Salesforce.com provides customer
relationship management and sales force
management services to firms
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Software Outsourcing: Custom
Software
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A firm contracts custom software development or
maintenance of existing legacy programs to
outside firms, often in low-wage countries.
Example: Dow Chemical hired IBM for $1.1 billion
to create an integrated communication system for
50,000 Dow employees in 63 countries.
Why would Dow not build this system itself?
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Changing Sources of Firm Software
Figure 6-15
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Management Issues
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ITI management must be guided by the firm’s
need to provide computer-based services to
customers, employees, and suppliers. To this
wisely the firm must deal with:
 How do we make wise infrastructure
investments?
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How do we allocate control and management
of III (centralize or decentralized control)
How do we prepare for infrastructure change
(scalability)?
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Management Solutions
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Consider your strategic situation: six questions to
ask (see next slide)
Start out small, with respect to large scale
infrastructure changes (develop one module at a
time)
Consider the total cost of ownership
 Develop benchmarks for the total cost of
ownership
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Six Questions to Ask
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1. What is the market demand for computer-based
services from customers, employees, and suppliers?
2. What is your firm’s business strategy or what new
services are needed to achieve goals?
3. What is the firm’s IT strategy with respect to ITI and
costs?
4. What is the position of your firm with respect to IT
compared to your competition (ahead or behind)?
5. What is the position of your firm with respect to
computer-based services to customers, employees, and
suppliers compared to your competition?
6. How do your expenditures for ITI compare with your
competition?
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Total Cost of Ownership
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When calculating the costs of systems, be sure to
include all the costs:
Hardware acquisition
 Software acquisition
 Installation
 Training
 Support
 Maintenance
 Infrastructure requirements
 Downtime
 Space and energy
The desktop management concept for distributed computer
assets (http://cais.isworld.org/articles/86/default.asp?View=Journal&x=50&y=7 )
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