Information Technology Trends

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Information Technology Trends

• Dr. Merle P. Martin
• MIS Department
• CSU Sacramento

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Acknowledgements

• Dr. Russell Ching (MIS Dept) Source
  Materiel / Graphics
• Edie Schmidt (UMS) - Graphic Design
• Prentice Hall Publishing (Permissions)
• Martin, Analysis and Design of Business
  Information Systems, 1995

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Agenda

• Information as Power
• The IT System
• IT Trends
• IT Issues
• Chief Information Officer (CIO)

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Information as Power

• Collapse of Communism
• Information and
  Totalitarianism
• Information and
  Organizations
• Power
• Just in case
• Information Overload

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Relevance

• IT is a critical resource
• Requires mgmnt decisions
• IT people have been making these
  decisions by default
• lack of management awareness
• lack of management knowledge
• inpenetrable jargon (binary curtain)

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The IT System
Hardware/Soft-ware Interface

• TECHNOLOGY

MANAGEMENT
COMPUTER
USER
Connectivity
Change Management
IT Operations Management
Decision Support
Database
Application Programming
Systems Development
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Shneidermans 10
Plagues

• of the Information Age
• Who is Ben Shneiderman?
• Univ Maryland (College Park)
• Computer Science
• Human Factors Institute
• System Philosopher

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The Ten Plagues

• Anxiety
• computer shock
• terminal terror
• network neurosis
• Alienation
• less connected to other people
• Whose voice is that, anyway

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Ten Plagues (cont.)

• Information-poor minority
• another way for disadvantaged to
  be more
  disadvantaged
• Impotence of individual
• everyone treated the same
• no special treatment for exceptions

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Ten Plagues (cont.)

• Bewildering complexity
  and speed
• Windows 98?
• Organizational fragility (SciFi)
• Invasion of privacy
• Alaskan jury list

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Ten Plagues

• Unemployment
  and displacement
• clerks / typesetters
• VP - mortgage loan decision replaced by
  Expert System (ES)
• Lack of professional responsibility
• Sorry, the computer wont let me
  ________.

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Ten Plagues

• Deteriorating image
  of people
• smart machines
• intelligent terminals
• expert systems
• Maybe theyll keep us as pets.
• Shneidermans computer with arms and legs.

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Ten Plagues (cont.)

• What are some of
  your experiences?

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IT Trends

• Hardware
• Software
• Data
• Telecommunications
• Systems Development
• End-users

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Hardware Trends

• Batch to on-line
• Batch is delayed processing
• Airport limousine
• Monthly billing application
• On-line is instantaneous processing
• Airport taxi
• Airline Reservation System

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On-line with Delayed Processing
On-line
Batch
Ticket
Credit Card Monthly Statement
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Hardware Trends

• Central to distributed
  processing
• Mainframe to PC
• Individual productivity
• Centralized to decentralized resource
  control
• Departmental purchases

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Software Trends

• Large to small system development
• Reusable code (packages)
• Outsourcing
• Prototyping
• 3GL to 4GL
• concept of the Macro

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Concept of the Macro

• Computer processes
  one instruction at a time
• CAD PAY
• ADD BONUS
• STO NEWPAY
• Macro is one-to-many
• ADD PAY, BONUS, NEWPAY

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Third Vs. Fourth GLs

• COBOL
• OPEN INPUT EMPLOYEE-FILE.
• READ EMPLOYEE-FILE.
• PERFORM WHILE NOT EOF
• IF EMP-ID SEARCH-KEY
• DISPLAY EMP-ID " "
• EMP-FIRST-NAME " "
• EMP-LAST-NAME " "
• EMP-YTD-PAY
• END-IF
• READ EMPLOYEE-FILE
• END-PERFORM.

• SQL
• SELECT EMP-ID,
• EMP-FIRST-NAME,
• EMP-LAST-NAME,
• EMP-YTD-PAY
• FROM EMPLOYEE
• WHERE EMP-ID1234

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Data Trends

• Centralized to
  decentralized
• mainframe to PC
• Keystroke to optical scanning
• voice?
• Multimedia
• voice / animation / video, etc.
• Data to information

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Telecomm Trends

• Link organizations to
• customers
• Amer Hosp Supply (AHS)
• suppliers
• Porter Model
• LAN to WAN
• Internet

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Development Trends

• Information systems are becoming too
  complex to develop by conventional
  means.
• John Podlipnik
• Vice President,
• American Management Systems

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Increasing Complexity

• Program Lines of Code
• 1970s - 10,000
• 1980s - 100,00
• 1990s - 1,000,000
• Type Hardware
• 1970s - Standalone
• 1980s - Networked
• 1990s - Distributed

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Increasing Complexity

• Type of Data
• 1970s - Text
• 1980s - Graph User Intrface (GUI)
• 1990s - Object-oriented User Interface (OOUI)
• Data Organization
• 1970s - Files
• 1980s - Databases
• 1990s - Relational Databases

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Increasing Complexity

• Software Languages
• 1970s - 3GL
• 1980s - 3GL / 4GL
• 1990s - 3GL / 4GL / Objects
• Application of Blaabs Law

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Blaabs Law

• Old technologies persist
  in the face of new technologies.
• Magnetic tape
• Windmill east of Livermore

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Issue

• Our company is committed to providing each
  employee with the latest technology.
• Anonymous
  CEO
• WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS
  POLICY ?

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Increasing Complexity

• Standards
• 1970s - None
• 1980s - Some
• 1990s - Open

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Podlipniks Question

• How do we deal with changing
• business environment ,
• technology landscape AND
• increasingly complex systems?

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Podlipniks Answer

• Advanced user interfaces
• user-centered methodologies
• Client / server solutions
• integration to legacy systems
• Object-oriented techniques
• Open systems
• to address technology evolution

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Legacy Systems

• Client/Server

Object Technology
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End-user Trends

• More knowledgeable users
• More demanding of IT
• More opportunities for
• misuse of IT resources
• mischief
• computer crime
• IT people as communicators

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IT Issues Model
Society

Company
IT Dept
End-user
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End-user IT Issues

• Computer Literacy
• What is it?
• Costs
• How do we deliver?
• Changing content
• Shneiderman plagues
• anxiety and alienation
• information poor minority

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End-user Issues

• User development
• how much?
• power / control / misuse
• Safe IT work environment (Ergonomics)
• IT humanization
• Human Factors
• deteriorating image of people

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IT Department Issues

• Centralize or decentralize
  IT resources
• Interconnectivity
• islands of technology
• Alignment of IT dept. goals
  with organization
• Organizational level
• VP? Report to whom?

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Department Issues

• Technology transfer
• bewildering complexity and
  speed
• scouting the future
• predicting trends
• technology mapping
• prototyping / demonstrations
• technology implementation

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Company IT Issues

• Strategic role of IT
• Computer crime / security
• Reengineering with IT
• Business value of IT (e.g, waste)
• IT Top-down planning

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Company Issues

• Organizational fragility
• Worst case scenarios
• Contingency Management
• Electronic Data Systems (EDS)
  example
• Change Management

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Societal Issues

• Ethics
• professional responsibility
• Individual privacy
• Unemployment / displacement
• Social responsibility

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Chief Information Officer (CIO)

• VP for IT Services
• Understands business
• Technology transfer
• Create IT vision
• sell it !
• Implement IT infrastructure
• chassis for building on

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Issue

• Does your firm have a CIO?
• To whom does the CIO report?
• Has the CIO created an IT vision?
• Does the CIO have a technical or management
  background?
• TELL US YOUR EXPERIENCES!

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Points to Remember

• IT Trends
• IT Issues
• CIO
• Apply to a business organization
• Exercises
• Research paper