Classification Of IT Applications

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LIS1311 Fall 2004 Lecture 5a
Classification Of IT Applications
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Outline

• Programs, Systems Applications
• Application Coverage
• Classification Of IT Applications
• By System Architecture
• By Scope or Degree of Integration
• By Functional Or Industry Domain
• By Functional Level
• By Content Type
• By Computational Focus
• Trends

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Programs, Systems Applications

• A program is a sequence of instructions
• which can be executed by a computer to
• accomplish some function.
• An information system is a set of processes,
• information stores and information flows,
• manual or computerized, which are intended
• to perform an integrated function.
• An information technology application (often
• called a software system or automated
• system) is a set of programs, files and/or
• database(s), which are intended to perform an
• integrated function as an information system or
  
• part of a larger information system.

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Application Coverage

• 1. Most companies move and process a lot of
  information
• that is, they are to some extent information
  systems
• in a manufacturing company 30of the staff
• time is devoted to information processing
• in a bank or insurance company 90of the staff
  
• time is devoted to information processing
• 2. To the extent that an information workers
  tasks
• are repetitive, rule-based and algorithmic
  they can
• be captured in software and done by a
  computer.
• Conversely, to the extent that these tasks
  involve
• the recognition of novelty, inter-personal
  negotiation,
• creative problem solving, and decision
  making under
• uncertainty, they cannot be entirely
  delegated to
• software.

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Systems Architecture Generations

• First Generation Early Computing (40s -50s)
  Centralized, Batch Processing Systems
• Networked terminals
• Second Third Generation-Mainframe computing
  (60s-70s)
• transistors (second)
• integrated circuits (third generation)
• Fourth Generation Personal computing, local and
  remote networks.
• LANs extended to constitute the Internet

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Systems Architecture Generations

• Fifth Generation
• The PC is replaced by portable devices and
  information appliances, that have less computing
  power, but that are cheaper and easier to use.
• Servers use Web Services, exchanging operating
  on messages containing either document-oriented
  or procedure-oriented information.
• Note the diagrams shown here are not network
  configurations (e.g. star, token ring), but more
  general architectures. All LANs today are use a
  star configuration, including WIFI LANs.

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5th Generation Web Services?

• Web service is a software system designed to
  support interoperable machine-to-machine
  interaction over a network.
• Uses HTTP to transmit both information and
  commands, encoded in XML
• Disadvantage HTTP is stateless.
• Discussion?

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Web Services, cont

• SOAP basic messaging framework using XML and
  HTTP
• WSDL Web Services Description Language describes
  the public interface of the service
• UDDI Universal Description, Discovery, and
  Integration A platform-independent, XML-based
  registry for businesses worldwide to list
  themselves on the Internet

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Current 3-Tier Web Architecture

• Database Tier relational database - MSAccess,
  MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server located on a SERVER.
• Middle Tier software that makes the database
  securely available on the Web - ODBC Open
  DataBase Connect one of
• php () ASP (active server pages) ZOPE Cold
  Fusion, etc.
• Client Tier Browser
• Data is passed back and forth between these tiers
  or components, basically in the form of search
  requests and results.

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Scope/Degree Of Integration Classification

• Individual Use Systems
• Personal productivity (e.g. Word, Excel, etc.)
• Specialist productivity (e.g. engineering,
  software, etc.)
• Departmental Systems
• Productivity and shared information for a
  department
• Often single applications for one department,
• accessed by other departments (e.g. HR)
• e.g. registration system, library system, course
  management system
• Enterprise Systems
• Productivity and shared information across
• many departments in an entire (perhaps
  world-wide) organization (e.g. order-inventory-pro
  duction-purchasing)
• e.g. integrated Web portal, My U of T

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Sidebar on Integration
In the 1970s it was thought possible for an
organization to design and build fully
integrated information systems around one or
more conceptually integrated databases. The
technology of the time could not support this -
expensive hardware, limited capacity - limited
ability to design and build integrated systems -
limited understanding of how to design for change
Also, organizations arent strictly
hierarchical and dont behave in logically
integrated ways, and they change rapidly.
Therefore, numerous, more or less independent
systems grew up in most organizations dealing
providing separate applications to different
functional areas or process chains. These were
often ill-coordinated, and built with a focus
on software requirements not the overall needs of
the organization.
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Sidebar on Integration

• Hence,
• Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)
• focus on integrating existing information
  systems
• within a business.
• main tasks linking dissimilar software systems
• and providing a seamless electronic end-to-end
• information flow.
• technology involves standard object-oriented
• representations of business processes to serve
  as
• the glue. These objects are tailored to the
  specific
• needs and existing systems of each business.
• APIs Application Program Interface is a set of
  definitions of the ways one piece of computer
  software communicates with another.
• XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is becoming
• an important tool in this effort.

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Scope/Degree Of Integration Classification

• Workflow Systems
• Rule based automated movement of information
• from one department/system to another
• Workgroup/Collaboration systems
• Shared information and scheduling for an ad hoc
  group
• Integrated Enterprise Systems
• Productivity and shared information across
• an entire (perhaps world-wide)
  organization
• Multi-Enterprise Integration
• Productivity and shared information with business
  partners

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Sidebar on Integration

• The Enterprise Information Portal (EIP)
• focus on providing a common access point (from
  the web)
• to all products and services offered by a
  company.
• main tasks enabling business partners,
  potential clients,
• the media, or anybody at all, to access all
  information about
• an organization and to transact business
  through a common,
• always up-to-date, easy-to-use, secure gateway.
• Technology
• front-end web servers, linked to all back-end
  systems.
• Information taxonomy generation and search aids
• Uses everything

Will everything look like a browser? Does this
sound too good to be true?
It was!
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Organizational Level Classification

• Operational (productive)
• Record Keeping, Transaction Processing (TP/OLTP)
• Process Control

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Transaction Processing Systems

• focus on timeliness and speed of response
• main tasks transaction recording, response
• and reporting (inquiry) in real-time
• Technology
• on-line transaction processing (OLTP)
• requires database and telecommunications
• Uses
• Automated Banking Machines (ABMs)
• airline reservations
• library circulation control
• order processing
• shipment tracking systems

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Sidebar on Entity Identification

• The physical entities about which an application
• maintains information must be identified to it
  when
• an interaction concerning them takes place.
• A regular user can be given a logon ID and
  password,
• but casual users and things need other means of
• identification, such as
• Magnetic stripe cards
• Barcodes
• Radio Frequency ID (RFID)

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Organizational Level Classification

• Knowledge Work (connective)
• Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Presentations
• Project Management
• Document Management, Information Retrieval (IR)

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Organizational Level Classification

• Management (responsive)
• Management Information Systems (MIS)
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• Data Mining and Decision Support Systems

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Decision Support Systems (DSS)

• focus on analysis and understanding of process,
• and anticipating change or the results of
  change
• main tasks providing access to historical data
  in
• ad hoc ways and the ability to model situations
  to
• answer what if type questions using real
  data.
• Technology
• On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP)
• requires integrated databases with flexible
  views,
• modeling and simulation tools and fast machines
• Uses
• marketing (target the best customers)
• inventory, pricing and location planning
• stocks and bonds trading

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Organizational Level Classification

• Executive/ Strategic (adaptive)
• Executive Support Systems
• Business Intelligence Systems
• Dynamic Modeling

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Functional/Industry Domain Classification

• Within The Enterprise
• Finance/Accounting
• Production/Supply
• Inventory/Distribution
• Sales/Marketing
• HR
• etc.
• By Industry
• Finance/Banking
• Insurance
• Manufacturing
• Retail
• Library
• Government
• etc

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Content Classification

• Structured Atomic Data, e.g.
• Record Keeping/TP/MIS Systems
• Unstructured Text, e.g.
• Document Management Systems
• Web Content Management Systems
• Information Retrieval Systems
• Multi Media, e.g.
• Photo/Music Library Systems
• Digital Models, e.g.
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• A Model of Things in Space CAD

The open problem is integrating functionality
across content of different types.
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Computational Focus Classification

• Procedural/Rules Driven
• Statistical Analysis
• Dynamic Modeling
• Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence (is this
  different from 1 ?)

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TRENDS

• Applications are becoming
• More distributed
• More mobile
• More interconnected