Issues, Trends and Strategies for Computer Systems Management

1
Issues, Trends and Strategies for Computer
Systems Management
Chapter 2. IT Foundations

• UMUC Graduate School of
• Management and Technology

2
Agenda

• Hardware Trends
• Software Trends
• Knowledge Management
• Technology Assessment
• What Should You Know about Technology?
• Conclusions

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Hype Cycle of Technologies
Source Gartner
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Hardware Trends
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Microprocessor

• Doubling in performance every 18 months
• Breakthroughs in chip technology
• Nanotechnology

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Input and Output Devices

• Digital Pen
• Smartcards
• Biometrics
• Others

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Storage Devices

• Hard disks - smaller, higher capacity
• Removable media
• High-density floppy drives
• CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RW
• PC cards/Flash memory/USB-based
• Storage at Web Sites
• www.swapdrive.com

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Portable Devices

• Personal Digital Assistants
• E-mail devices
• Cellular/Smartphones
• (Electronic books)
• Tablet PCs

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Wireless Technologies

• 802.11 (e.g., Wi-Fi)
• Bluetooth
• Power line networking

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Wireless Technologies

• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tags
• Use of radio waves to automatically identify
  individual items
• No need of line-of-sight or contact
• Department of Defense and Wal-Mart mandates
• Applications
• Access control
• Toll booths
• Livestock tracking
• House pet identification
• Automobile security
• Anti-counterfeiting
• Tracking of illicit monetary flows
• Personal identification

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RFID Components
Item Shirt Color Blue Brand GAP Size
32 Price 45
Antenna
Computer
Reader
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RFID Advantages and Disadvantages

• Advantages
• Convenient
• Fast response time
• (lt 0.5 seconds)
• Many possible applications
• Resistant to harsh environment

• Disadvantages
• Costly
• Security Issues
• Privacy Issues
• No Opt-out option
• Hidden Tags

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Software Trends
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Operating Systems and Business Applications

• Linux
• Windows XP
• Macintosh
• Microsoft Office XP
• Corel WordPerfect Office
• IBM/Lotus SmartSuite
• StarOffice/MyOffice

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E-Mail

• Customer-facing e-mail
• Filtering e-mail - spam
• Protecting against malicious code (e.g, e-mail
  viruses and worms)
• Phishing

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Programming Trends

• Extreme programming agile development approach
  characterized by incremental development,
  pair-wise computing, testing well

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Knowledge Management
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Knowledge Management

• Collecting and sharing intellectual capital in
  order to make the organization more efficient,
  effective and successful
• Drivers
• Close knowledge gaps
• Knowledge is a corporate asset
• Massive volume of data

Gartner Group
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Data Warehouses / Data Marts
Data Marts
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Data Mining

• Process of discovering new correlations,
  patterns, anomalies and trends by sifting through
  large amounts of data
• Pattern recognition technologies and statistical
  and mathematical techniques
• Bottom-up discovery data analysis, also known as
  "knowledge discovery
• Applications
• Credit Scoring
• Fraud Detection
• Churn Analysis
• Marketing
• Sales

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Enterprise Portals
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Extensible Markup Language (XML)
Source IBM
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Web Services

• Software components that can interact with one
  another dynamically via standard Internet
  technologies, making it possible for enterprises
  to build bridges between IT systems that
  otherwise would require extensive development
  efforts. (Gartner)
• Protocols
• XML (Extensible Markup Language)
• SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)
• UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery And
  Integration)
• WSDL (Web Services Description Language)

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Technology Assessment
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Technology Assessment Exercise

• Consider what should be the selection criteria
  for technology
• From a MANAGERIAL perspective?
• From a TECHNICAL perspective?

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Selection Criteria Management Perspective

• Alignment with the goals and objectives of the
  organization
• Enhances performance
• Provides a strong return on IT investment
• Improves quality, promotes innovation and
  addresses risk management
• Integrates and standardizes business processes

IT Governance Management Guideline, CobiT, IT
Governance Institute
27
Selection Criteria Management Perspective

• Addresses security and privacy considerations
• Reaches new and satisfies existing customers
• Supported with existing infrastructure. If not,
  feasible to expand the infrastructure?
• Adherences to laws, regulations, standards
• Creates new delivery channels
• Others?

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Selection Criteria Technical Perspective

• Effectiveness
• Efficiency
• Confidentiality
• Integrity
• Availability
• Compliance
• Reliability
• Others?

IT Governance Management Guideline, CobiT, IT
Governance Institute
29
What Should You Know About Technology?
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Issues

• Setting enterprise wide standards need for an
  enterprise architecture
• Employee misuse
• Security and privacy
• Bandwidth to the desktop
• Untethered office
• Others?

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Strategies for Success

• Recognize that business, not technology, is the
  driver
• Establish an enterprise architecture
• Focus on people and not only process
• Identify and manage risks
• Know how to measure technology success
• Practice effective change management

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Strategies for Success

• Manage expectations
• Investigate an outsourcing strategy
• Nurture your external and internal customer
  relationships
• Identify the best practices and lessons learned
• Establish a business case and consider Total
  cost of ownership (TCO)
• Understand and leverage market forces

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Conclusion

• Challenges
• Provide leadership
• Provide the necessary infrastructure
• Advocate new technology where it fits