CHAPTER 5:

IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

COM 2KA3:
INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN
MGMT
IT Infrastructure

IT Infrastructure
The shared technology resources that provide the
platform for the firms specific information
system applications.
Consists of the physical devices (i.e. hardware)
and software applications (e.g. SAP) that are
required to operate the entire enterprise.
It is also a set of firm-wide services (e.g.
consulting, education, and training)
IT Infrastructure

IT Infrastructure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFQXNiHSXjg
IT Infrastructure
IT Infrastructure
Defining IT Infrastructure
Services include:
Computing platforms
Connect employees, customers, and suppliers into a coherent digital
environment
Telecommunication services
Provide data, voice, and video connectivity to employees, customers, and
suppliers
Data management services
Store and manage corporate data and provide capabilities for analyzing the
data
Application
Provide enterprise-wide capabilities (e.g. ERP, CRM)

Physical facilities management services

Develop and manage the physical installations
 IT management services
Plan, develop, coordinate, manage expenditure, project
management
IT standards services
Which, when, how, and by whom IT to be used
IT education services
Training for employees and managers
IT search and development services
Research on future IT projects and investments
 Evolution of IT Infrastructure
Mainframe/Minicomputer
(1959-present)

Personal Computer
(1981-present)

Client/Server
(1983-present)
A Multi-tiered Client/Server Network
 Evolution of IT Infrastructure (Cont.)
Client/Server (1983-present)

Enterprise computing era

(1992-present)

Integrate disparate networks and

applications throughout the firm
into an enterprise-wide
infrastructure
 Evolution of IT Infrastructure (Cont.)

Cloud computing: access to a

shared pool of computing
resources over a network, often
the Internet
Fastest growing form of
computing
Resources can be accessed on
an as-need basis from any
connected device and location

Cloud and Mobile computing

(2000-present)
Evolution of IT Infrastructure (Cont.)

What drives
1. Mainframe the
evolution?
2. PC
3. Client/server
4. Enterprise/ Internet
5. Cloud computing
Technology Drivers of Infrastructure Evolution

Moores Law and Microprocessing power

The Law of Mass Digital Storage

Metcalfes Law and network economics

Declining communications costs and the

Internet

Standards and network effects

Evolution of IT Infrastructure (Cont.)
How much would
it have cost to
$1.44 Million
$620.000 for build todays
processor
for 32GB iPhone in 1991?
flash memory

$1.5 Million for

15Mbps mobile
communication

$3.5 Million to build an Swanson (2014), How much would

iPhone in 1991 an iPhone have cost in 1991?,
http://www.techpolicydaily.com/comm
unications/much-iphone-cost-1991/
Infrastructure Components

1. Computer Hardware Platforms

Client machines (e.g. desktops, laptops)

Server machines
Blade servers
Server Farms

Mainframes systems
Infrastructure Components
2. Operating System Platforms
Server machines
35% in mircosoft windows
Capable of providing enterprise wide operating system and network services and appeals to organizations
seeking windows-based it infrastructures
55% Lenx
Unix and Linux are scalable, reliable, and much less expensive than mainframe operating systems, they run
on many different types of processors
Linus: an inexpensive and robust open-source relative to Unix

Client machines
90% of PCs use a form of Microsoft operating system to manage the resources and activities of the computer
Google chrome OS provides a lightweight operating system for cloud computing using netbooks
Android: open-source operating system for mobile devices developed by the open handset alliance led by google
iOS: operating system for Apple products that features multitouch interface

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AjReRMoG3Y
Infrastructure Components

3. Enterprise software applications

Infrastructure Components
4. Data management and storage
Database management software
Enterprise database management software is responsible for
organizing and managing the firms data so that they can be
efficiently accessed and used
Physical data storage
Storage Area Networks (SAN)
Connect multiple storage devices on separate high-speed networks
dedicated to storage
Creates a large central pool of storage that can be shared on multiple
servers
Infrastructure Components

5. Networking/Telecommunications Platforms
Windows Server is often used as a local area
network operating system, followed by Linux and
Unix

Telecommunications platforms are provided by

telecommunications/telephone services companies
Infrastructure Components
6. Internet platforms

Include hardware, software, and management

services to support a firms Web site
E.g. Web hosting services, routers, and cabling or
wireless equipment

A Web hosting service maintains series of Web servers

and provides fee-paying subscribers with space to
maintain their Web sites
Infrastructure Components
7. Consulting and system integration services

Even large firms do not have resources for full range of

support for new, complex infrastructure

Changes in business processes

Training and education

Software integration

Legacy systems (i.e. older transaction processing systems)

Infrastructure Components
8 Hardware Platform Trends
1. Mobile digital platform

2. Consumerization of IT and BYOD (Bring your own device)

1. BYOD is one aspect of the consumerization of IT: IT that first emerges in the consumer
market spread into business organizations
2. CIT forces business to rethink the way they obtain and manage IT equipment and services

3. Grid computing

4. Virtualization
1. Example: when apple runs windows on their computer
2. Better use of technology, allows to do more things on one platform

5. Cloud computing

6. Green computing

7. High-performance/power-saving processors

8. Autonomic computing
Hardware Platform Trends

1. Mobile digital platform

Cell phones, smartphones (e.g. iPhone, Andriod,
BlackBerry) as alternative to PCs and larger
computers
Hardware Platform Trends

2. Consumerization of IT and Bring Your Own

Device (BYOD)
Allowing employees to use their personal mobile devices as well
as business uses of software services originated in the consumer
marketplace (e.g. Gmail, Dropbox)
Rethinking the way businesses obtain and manage IT
equipments and services
New challenges for the IT department: security, software
availability, ownership
Hardware Platform Trends
3. Grid computing
Connects geographically remote computers into a single network
to create a virtual supercomputer by combining the
computational power of all computers on the grid
Relies on high-speed Internet connections
Requires software programs to allocate and control resources on
the grid
As a result:
Cost savings,
Speed of computation, and
Agility
Hardware Platform Trends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esVzoSqQ1Pc
Hardware Platform Trends
4. Virtualization
Accessing computing resources in ways that are not
restricted by physical configuration or geographic
location.
Ability to host multiple systems on a single physical
machine
Allows multiple operating systems to run on one
machine; increases server utilization rates from 10-15 to
70% or higher of capacity; conserves data center space
and energy
Hardware Platform Trends
4. Virtualization (Cont.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuXVJH9lDQo
Hardware Platform Trends
5. Cloud computing
A model of computing in which computer processing,
storage, software, and other services are provided as a
pool of virtualized resources over a network, primarily the
Internet

Firms pay only for the computing power they use, as with
an electrical utility

Data permanently stored in remote servers, accessed and

updated over the Internet by users
Hardware Platform Trends

5. Cloud computing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae_DKNwK_ms
Hardware Platform Trends

Cloud On-demand self-service

computing
characteristics
Ubiquitous network access

Location-independent resource pooling

Rapid elasticity provisions, increase,

or decreased to meet needs

Measured services
Hardware Platform Trends
Cloud computing types
Cloud
Customers use processing, storage, networking
infrastructure as a
resources to run their information systems
service

Cloud platform as Customers use infrastructure and programming

a service tools to develop their own applications

Cloud software as Customers use software hosted on a vendors

a service cloud
Hardware Platform Trends
Hardware Platform Trends
Cloud computing
Public cloud
Owned and maintained by a cloud service provider and made available to the general public or industry groups

Utility computing: purchase their computing services from remote providers and pay only for the amount used

On-demand computing

Private cloud
Open solely for an organization

Hybrid cloud
Large firms use this often

Use their own infrastructure for their most essential core activities and adopt public cloud computing for less-critical systems
or for additional processing capacity during peak periods

Cloud computing concerns include:

Unless users make provisions for storing their data locally, responsibility for storage and control goes to the provider

Security risks

24/7 availability

Users become dependent on the cloud provider

Hardware Platform Trends

6. Green Computing (Green IT)

Practices and technologies for designing, manufacturing,

using, and disposing of computers, servers, and
associated devices to minimize their impact on the
environment.
Hardware Platform Trends
7. High-performance and power-saving processors
Multicore processors: integrated circuit to which 2 or more processor
cores have been attached for enhanced performance, reduced power
consumption, and more efficient simultaneous processing of multiple tasks
Minimizing power consumption is essential for prolonging battery life in
small mobile devices

8. Autonomic computing
Industry-wide effort to develop systems that can configure, optimize, tune
themselves, heal themselves when broken, and protect themselves from
outside intruders
Similar to self-updating antivirus software
Software Platform Trends
Linux and open source software
Open-source software is software produced by a community of a many as several hundred thousand programmers
around the world. Open source software is free and can be modified by users. Most open-sourced software is currently
based on a Linux or Unix operating system
Works derived from the original code must be free, and the software can be redistributed by the user without additional
licensing
Being used on netbooks as inexpensive alternative to Microsoft office
Linus is available in free versions downloadable form from the internet

Software for the web: Java, HTML, and HTML5

Java: an operating system-independent, processor-independent, object-oriented programming language that has
become the leading interactive environment for the Web
Used for complex e-commerce and e-business applications that require communication with an organization's back-end traction processing
systems
Web browser: easy-to-use software tool with graphical user interface for displaying Web pages and for accessing the
Web and other Internet resources
HTML (hypertext markup language): is a page description language for specifying how text, graphics, video, and
sound are placed on a Web page
Originally designed to create and link static documents composed largely of text
HTML 5: embeds images, audio, video, and other elements directly into a document without processor-intensive add-
ons

Web services and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)

Software Platform Trends
1. Linux and open source software
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
Linux(an open-source operating system) is the
most widely used open-source software program.
Software Platform Trends
Linux and open source software

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fch9WjHjAXI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8fHgx9mE5U
Software Platform Trends
2. Software for the Web: Java, HTML, and HTML5
Java
Java fits anywhere (universal and mobile)

Object-oriented programming language (Sun Microsystems)

Operating system-independent, processor-independent (Java Virtual Machine)

Leading programming environment for Web

HTML (hypertext markup language)

describes how text, graphics, video and sound are placed on a web page

HTML5
Images, audio, video can be embedded directly into a document without processor add-ons

Gets rid of plugins

Software Platform Trends
3. Web Services and Service-Oriented Architecture

Web Services:
Software components that exchange information using Web standards and languages

Exchanging information between two different systems regardless of the operating systems
or programming languages on which the systems are based.

The foundation for Web services is XML (Extensible Markup Language)

Can perform presentation, communication, and storage of data

Make possible for computers to manipulate and interpret their data automatically and
perform operations on the data without human intervention
Software Platform Trends
3. Web Services and Service-Oriented Architecture
(Cont.)
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA):
Thecollection of Web services that are used to build a
firms software systems
Set
of self-contained services that communicate
with each other to create a working software
application
Softwaredevelopers reuse these services in other
combinations to assemble other applications as needed
Software Platform Trends
Software Outsourcing and Cloud Services

Software packages and enterprise software

Prewritten, commercially available set of software programs that
eliminates the need for a firm to write its own software programs
Examples: SAP, Oracle-PeopleSoft
Software Outsourcing
Contract custom software development or maintenance of existing legacy
programs to outside firms
Outsourcing may or may not be offshore
Primarily provided lower-level maintenance, data entry, and call center
operations
More sophisticated and experienced offshore firms have been hired for new-
program development
Software Outsourcing and Cloud Services

Cloud-based software services and tools

Hosted on servers in massive data centers and can be accessed with an Internet connection and standard web browser
Software as a service (SaaS): services for delivering and providing access to software remotely as a web-based
service
Service level agreement (SLA) to manage the relationship with service provider; defines specific responsibilities for
the service provider and the level of service expected by the customer

Mashups and Apps

Mashups are combined software applications that depend on high-speed networks, universal
communication standards, and open-source code; greater than the sum of each part
Mix and match software components
Apps are small pieces of software that run on the Internet, on your computer, or on your
cellphone and are generally delivered over the Internet
Most commonly downloaded are games, news and weather, maps/navigation, social
networking, music, and video/movies
Software Platform Trends
Management 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 without breaking
down

Management and Governance

Who controls IT infrastructure
IT governance: Centralized/decentralized
How are costs allocated between divisions, departments?
Making wise infrastructure investments
Rent-versus-buy decision
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of technology assets: used to analyze direct and
indirect costs to aid firms in determining actual cost of technology implementations
Competitive forces model for IT infrastructure investment
Management Issues
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) cost components
Management Issues
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) cost components
Management Issues
Competitive forces model for IT infrastructure investment
Chapter 5 in review

1. ___________ states that the value

or power of a network grows
exponentially as a function of the
number of network members.
Answer: Metcalfes law and Network

economics
Chpater 5 in review

A_______ is owned and maintained by

a cloud service provider, such as
Amazon web service, and made
available to general public or industry
groups
1. Answer: public cloud
Customers use processing, storage,
networking, and other computing
resources from cloud service providers
to run their information systems
describes which types of cloud service?
Answer: cloud infrastructure as a
services
Which of the following is not one of the
main 6 factors to consider when
evaluating how much your firm should
spend on IT infrastructure?
Answer: your firms organizational

culture
Which model can be used to analyze
the direct and indirect costs to help
firms determine the actual cost of
specific technology implementations?
Answer: total cost of ownership
Prewritten, commercially available sets
of software programs that eliminate
the need for a firm to write its own
software programs for certain
functions, are referred to as
Answer: software packages
 Mainframe computing refers to a model
of computing that provides access to a
shared pool of computing resources
(computers, storage, applications, and
services) over a network, often the
internet
Answer: False

Its cloud computing

 Which of the following is not one of
the current software platform trends?
Answer: grid computing its the

hardware platform trend

 All of the following are current
hardware platform trends except
Answer: Unix
 A client computer networked to
server computer, with processing split
between the 2 types of machine, is
called a(n)
Answer: 2-tiered client/server

architecture
 Place the following eras of IT
infrastructure evolution in order, from
earliest to most recent:
1. cloud computing

2. client

Answer: 5,4,2,3,1
 The collection of web services that
are used to build a firms software
systems constitutes what is known as a
service-oriented architecture
Answer: True