MNG 3204 Flashcards

IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies

Learning Objectives

• What is IT infrastructure and what are its components?
• What are the stages and technology drivers of IT infrastructure evolution?
• What are the current trends in computer hardware platforms?
• What are the current trends in software platforms?
• What are the challenges of managing IT infrastructure and management solutions?

What is IT Infrastructure?

• IT infrastructure includes investment in hardware, software, and services (consulting, education, training) shared across the firm or business units.
• Provides the foundation for serving customers, working with vendors, and managing internal business processes.
• Consists of physical devices and software applications required to operate the enterprise.
• Includes firmwide services budgeted by management and comprising human and technical capabilities.

IT Services

• Computing platforms:
  • Provide computing services connecting employees, customers, and suppliers in a digital environment.
  • Include mainframes, midrange computers, desktop/laptop computers, and mobile handheld devices.
• Telecommunications services:
  • Provide data, voice, and video connectivity to employees, customers, and suppliers.
• Data management services:
  • Store and manage corporate data.
  • Provide capabilities for analyzing the data.
• Application software services:
  • Provide enterprise-wide capabilities such as:
    • Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
    • Customer relationship management (CRM)
    • Supply chain management (SCM)
    • Knowledge management systems
  • These services are shared by all business units.
• Physical facilities management services:
  • Develop and manage physical installations required for computing, telecommunications, and data management services.
• IT standards services:
  • Provide policies determining which IT will be used, when, and how.
• IT education services:
  • Provide training in system use to employees.
  • Offer managers training in how to plan for and manage IT investments.

Evolution of IT Infrastructure

• Today's IT infrastructure is an outgrowth of over 50 years of evolution in computing platforms.
• Five stages of evolution, each representing a different configuration of computing power and infrastructure elements:
  • General-purpose mainframe and minicomputer computing
  • Personal computers
  • Client/server networks
  • Enterprise computing
  • Cloud and mobile computing

Technology Drivers of Infrastructure Evolution

• Moore's Law (1965):
  • Gordon Moore (Fairchild Semiconductor) observed that the number of components on a chip (transistors) doubled each year since 1959.
  • Later revised to doubling every two years.

Infrastructure Components

• Seven major components that must be coordinated.

• Computer Hardware Platforms

  • Client Machines: Desktop PCs, mobile computing devices (netbooks, laptops), excluding devices like iPhones or BlackBerrys).
    • use intel or AMD microprocessors

• Operating Systems Platforms

  • The most important software that runs on a computer.
    • Manages the computer's memory, processes, software, and hardware,
    • Allows communication with the computer without knowing its language.
    • A computer is useless without an operating system.

• Enterprise Software and Applications

  • Enterprise software (EAS) manages various aspects of a business rather than individual tasks.
    • Examples:
      • Accounting, sales, marketing, and human resources
      • Data analysis
      • Payment and project handling
      • Custom application development
    • Enterprise database management software organizes and manages firm data for efficient access and use.
      • Storage area networks (SANs) connect multiple storage devices on a high-speed network dedicated to storage.
      • The SAN creates a large central pool of storage that can be rapidly accessed and shared by multiple servers.

• Internet Platforms

  • Internet platforms overlap with the firm’s networking infrastructure and hardware/software platforms.
    • Expenditure focuses on hardware, software, and management services to support a firm’s Web site.
      • Web hosting services
      • Routers
      • 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 Web sites.

• Consulting and System Integration

  • Firms may not have staff, skills, budget, or experience to deploy and maintain their entire IT infrastructure alone.
  • Implementing a new infrastructure requires:
    • Changes in business processes and procedures
    • Training and education
    • Software integration
  • Software integration means ensuring the new infrastructure works with:
    • Older, legacy systems
    • New elements of the infrastructure work with one another
      • Legacy systems are older transaction processing systems created for mainframe computers.
        • They continue to be used to avoid the high cost of replacing or redesigning them.
        • Replacing these systems is cost prohibitive and generally not necessary if these older systems can be integrated into a contemporary infrastructure.

Contemporary Hardware Trends

• Grid Computing:
  • A network of computers working together to perform tasks difficult for a single machine.
  • Machines work under the same protocol to act as a virtual supercomputer.
  • Tasks include analyzing huge datasets or simulating situations requiring high computing power.
  • Computers contribute processing power and storage capacity to the network.
• Virtualization:
  • The process of presenting computing resources so they can be accessed in ways unrestricted by physical configuration or geographic location.
  • Enables a single physical resource (server or storage device) to appear as multiple logical resources.
• Cloud Computing:
  • Defined by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with essential characteristics:
    • On-demand self-service
    • Ubiquitous network access
    • Location-independent resource pooling
    • Rapid elasticity
    • Measured service
• Green Computing:
  • Practices and technologies for designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated devices to minimize environmental impact.

Contemporary Software Trends

• Open Source Software:
  • Software produced by a community of programmers.
  • Free and modifiable by users (OpenSource.org).
  • Derived works must also be free, and the software can be redistributed without additional licensing.
  • Advantages:
    • Cost
    • Flexibility
    • Collaboration
    • Security
    • Innovation
  • Disadvantages:
    • Limited support
    • Compatibility
    • Limited functionality
    • Lack of professional development
    • Legal issues
• AJAX:
  • Allows a client and server to exchange small pieces of data in the background.
  • An entire Web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user requests a change.
• Web Services:
  • Loosely coupled software components that exchange information using universal Web communication standards and languages.
  • Can exchange information between different systems regardless of operating systems or programming languages.
  • The collection of Web services used to build a firm’s software systems constitutes a service-oriented architecture (SOA).
  • SOA set of self-contained services that communicate with each other to create a working software application.
    • Business tasks are accomplished by executing a series of these services.