IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies

1
IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies

• Chapter Five (11th ed)

2
Significance of IT Infrastructure

• 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

3
The Connection between the Firm, IT
Infrastructure, and Business Capabilities
4
Definitions of ITI

• ITI consists of a set of physical devices and
  software applications that are required to
  operate an enterprise. But it is also a set of
  firmwide services budgeted by management and
  comprising of both human and technical
  capabilities. These technology resources
  include the hardware and software required to
  operate the enterprise.

5
Types of Services

• Computing platforms that provide computing
  services
• Telecommunication services provide data, voice,
  and video connectivity
• Data management services
• Application software services provide access to
  ERP, SCM, CRM, and KM
• Physical facilities management services

• 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

6
Evolution of IT Infrastructure

• Electronic accounting machine era (19301950)
• General-purpose mainframe and minicomputer era
  (1959 to present)
• Personal computer era (1981 to present)
• Client/server era (1983 to present)
• Enterprise internet computing era (1992 to
  present)
• Cloud computing (2000-present)

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Stages in ITI Evolution
8
Latest Stages in ITI

• Enterprise Internet computing era 1992 to
  present
• Move toward integrating disparate networks,
  applications using Internet standards and
  enterprise applications
• Cloud Computing 2000 to present
• Refers to a model of computing where firms and
  individuals obtain computing power and software
  applications over the Internet
• Fastest growing form of computing

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Technology Drivers of Infrastructure Evolution

• Moores 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
• Metcalfes 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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Moores Law
11
Moores Law Falling Cost of Chips
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The Growth of Mass Digital Storage
13
Cost of Mass Digital Storage
14
Exponential Declines in Internet Communications
Costs
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Seven Key Infrastructure Components

• 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)
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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

• 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

• 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

• 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, ATT, 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

• This area overlaps with networking, hardware, and
  software platforms
• Internet hardware server market
• Dell, HP, and IBM
• Some Web software tools
• Microsofts 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

22
Consulting and System Integration Services

• 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

• 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
• Emerging mobile digital platform
• Grid Computing
• Cloud computing or on-demand (utility) computing
• Autonomic Computing
• Virtualization and multicore processors

24
Emerging Mobile Digital Platform

• Increasingly computing is moving from the desktop
  to mobile computing platforms.
• Communication devices such as cell phones and
  smart phones (Blackberry and iPhone) are now
  performing the functions of handheld computer.
• Data transmission, Web browsing, sending e-mail,
  exchanging data with corporate systems
• Low-cost light subnotebook computer or netbooks
• Equipped for wireless communication, Internet
  access, and word processing

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Grid Computing

• 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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Cloud Computing

• In this computing model
• Hardware and software are provided as a service
  on remote machines on a subscription or usage
  basis
• Data and applications are permanently stored on
  remote servers
• Access is via the Internet with desktops,
  notebooks, or mobile devices
• Attractive to small and medium enterprises
  because it reduces investment and management of
  IT infrastructure
• Example of cloud computing Google Apps

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Cloud Computing and the Computing Utility

• 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

• 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 companys 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 automatically
  download patches and updates.

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Virtualization

• Both of these techniques are designed to reduce
  power consumption
• Many firms use multiple operating systems.
  Dedicating a machine to a single operating system
  is inefficient. Virtualization enables firms to
  run multiple operating systems on a single
  machine thus reducing the total number of
  machines required

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Multicore Processors

• As the clockspeed of cpus increased over the last
  30 years, the amount of heat generated and
  electricity consumed also increased.
• Solution is to use two or more slower processors
  to generate the same computing power but reduce
  heat and power consumption
• For example, my desktop computer at home has four
  processors

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Intel Chip History
32
Software Platform Trends Overview

• Linux and the open-source software movement
• Java and Ajax
• Web services and and service-oriented
  architecture
• Software Mashups and 2.0 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

• 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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AJAX

• 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.
• Ajax is one form of a set of related techniques
  called rich Internet applications (RIA). Adobes
  Flash is another member of RIA.

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Web Services

• 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)

• 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
  firms software constitute what is know as a
  service-oriented architecture (SOA)

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Mashups

• 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/

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Widgets

• Widgets are small programs that can be added to
  web pages or placed on the desktop to provide
  additional functionality into a Web page or
  another Web page.
• Examples
• Google Desktop Gadgets stockmarket, weather, or
  news
• Apple Dashboard or Microsoft Windows Vista
  Sidebar
• Business examples
• Random House has a widget tht enables visitors to
  their Web site to purchase books from its online
  store
• Amazon.com has a toolbar widget that enables
  users to search their Web store while staying on
  a social network like Facebook

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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 Software as a Service (SaaS)

• 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 firms 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

42
Software Outsourcing Custom Software

• 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
44
Management Issues

• ITI management must be guided by the firms 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?
• How do we allocate control and management of III
  (centralize or decentralized control)the issue
  of governance.
• How do we prepare for infrastructure change
  (scalability)?

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Management Solutions

• 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

• 1. What is the market demand for computer-based
  services from customers, employees, and
  suppliers?
• 2. What is your firms business strategy or what
  new services are needed to achieve goals?
• 3. What is the firms 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

• 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/
  8-6/default.asp?ViewJournalx50y7 )