Technology Management

IT-504
 Environmental scanning
• External IT fundamental changes
– High computing power
– Network-oriented processing
– Wireless-oriented accessing
• Organizational behavior/structure adaptation
for searching fitness
– The computer-literate & network-centric
knowledge worker
 Five eras of IT evolution

• First era: pioneers, penetration, and disorder (1954-1963)

(the proud age of transistor)
• Second era: gaining control-centralization and a technical
monopoly (1964-1976) (after the IC breakthrough against the
tyranny of numbers)
• Third era: letting loose-distribution and decentralization
(1977-1984) (the dominant age of IBM)
• Fourth era: distribution-a free market with issues of
architecture and management (1985-1996) (the frog-leap of
Wintel )
• Fifth era: the worldwide web and anytime/anyplace
computing (1997 into the 21st century) (the Internet era)
 First era
• The first commercial computer was installed in a
General Electric Plant in 1954
• Univac I machine was once a leader in the market
place.
• Scientific applications were dominant in the age of
Cold War.
• FORTRAN and COBOL did not emerge as the popular
programming languages until the late of this era.
 First era (Cont.)
• Computing: isolated machines
• Applications: Scientific and engineering; machine-
specific programs
• Management: in-house training of technical staff
• Organization: unplanned, disordered
• Key issues: few concerns; computing is a mystery,
scattered and hidden from top management view
 Second era

• Technological advances:
– IBM system 360 series—a modularized design ignited the
dramatic growth of computer industry and brought
consolidation of organizational computing resources
– direct-access storage devices (DASD), telecommunication,
Multiple access computing
– Beyond the function of accounting: included several
efficiency-enhanced transaction processing systems, e.g.,
inventory control, banking, airline, taxing, healthcare, etc.
 Second era (Cont.)
• Computing: Distributed access to mainframes;
compatible product lines
• Applications: accounting, inventory, and business
transactions
• Management: standardized programming languages,
early database technology
• Organization: consolidation of control within the data
processing function
• Key issues: rising cost, unmet user expectations
 Third era

• Minicomputer emerges: DEC VAX series, Wang, and

equipments of Japan’s electronic firms
• Increasing demands of IT processing services
• Focusing on the effective & efficient IS development
methods—SDLC & User involvement
• Externally-developed software packages were
available (the spill-over effect of IBM)
• IT organization and management in a advisory,
service-oriented role
• IT as a source of competitive advantage in the
marketplace (focus on efficiency)
 Third era (Cont.)
• Computing: midrange computers, easy-to-use interfaces
• Applications: commercial and user-developed applications
complement internal systems development efforts
• Management: systems development life cycle procedures;
distributed IT development
• Organization: greater business unit control of IT
• Key issues: coordination of centralized and business-unit IT
efforts
 Fourth era
• PC innovation and widely uses of software packages
• The Wintel standard move the computing
infrastructure forward
• Network technologies connected the legacy systems
and the current PCs
• Emerging inter-organizational data exchange
applications
 Fourth era (Cont.)

• Computing: personal computers, LANs, Internet and

extranets
• Applications: user-friendly applications, desktop systems
followed by groupware and workflow system
• Management: user-driven systems management;
everyone is an IT manager; project control techniques
• Organization: federated or free market approach to IT,
including centralized, decentralized, and outsourced IT
operations
 Fifth era
• This is a dotcom era contributed greatly after
Netscape
• The business model of client and server
integration
• The new economics of information
 Fifth era (Cont.)
• Computing: PDA, mobile technology, Internet as
primary platform
• Applications: electronic commerce systems
• Management: professionalism and team skills are
paramount; flexibility is added to project control
• Organization: downsizing of corporate IT, integration
of business and IT operations
• Key issues: embracing both old and new models of IT
management
 IT advantage transformation

• From transaction processing to business

relationship exploration
• From IS scalability to IS mobility & agility
• From the alignment with business strategy to
the reach beyond the traditional business
scopes
 IT management transformation
• Centralization & decentralization
• A total business approach around IT
• In-sourcing & outsourcing
• Top management engagement—active
participation
 Project management transformation
• Project management team may change along with
shifts in business needs
• Rapid everything and virtual many things (the object-
oriented programming project)
• Trust & innovation rather than control
• Action and risk assessment more than system
analysis (standard betting & selection)
• Up-to-the-minute clarity of information