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Infrastructure Components: Opening

IT infrastructure today consists of 7 major components: computer hardware, operating systems, enterprise software, data management and storage, networking/telecommunications, internet platforms, and consulting/integration services. These components require significant investments and must be coordinated to provide a consistent infrastructure. Key providers of these components include Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Cisco, EMC and Accenture. Managing an IT infrastructure presents challenges around platform changes, governance, cost allocation, and making wise investments aligned with business needs and competitive forces. Total cost of ownership and competitive benchmarking models can help firms determine optimal investment levels.

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79 views6 pages

Infrastructure Components: Opening

IT infrastructure today consists of 7 major components: computer hardware, operating systems, enterprise software, data management and storage, networking/telecommunications, internet platforms, and consulting/integration services. These components require significant investments and must be coordinated to provide a consistent infrastructure. Key providers of these components include Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Cisco, EMC and Accenture. Managing an IT infrastructure presents challenges around platform changes, governance, cost allocation, and making wise investments aligned with business needs and competitive forces. Total cost of ownership and competitive benchmarking models can help firms determine optimal investment levels.

Uploaded by

Xanius Hall
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Infrastructure Components

Opening:
IT infrastructure today is composed of seven major components and these
components constitute investments that must be synchronized with one another to
provide the firm with a consistent infrastructure.

First slide:

COMPUTER HARDWARE PLATFORMS


OPERATING SYSTEM PLATFORM
ENTERPRISE SYSTEM SOFTWARE
DATA MANAGEMENT AND STORAGE
NETWORKING/TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLATFORMS
INTERNET PLATFORMS
CONSULTING AND SYSTEM INTEGRATION SERVICES

COMPUTER HARDWARE PLATFORMS

Client machine:
1. Desktop PCs, mobile computing devices PDAs, laptops
Server:
1. A server is a running instance of a software capable of accepting requests
from the client and giving responses accordingly.
2. Blade server, ultrathin computers consisting of a circuit board with
processors, memory, and network connections that are stored in racks.
Additionally, they take up less space than traditional box-based servers.
Mainframe:
1. This is used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for
critical applications, bulk data processing.
2. IBM mainframe equivalent to thousands of blade servers.

Top chip producers: AMD, Intel, IBM

Top firms: IBM, HP, Dell, Sun Microsystems


1. IBM stands for International Business Machines Corporation

OPERATING SYSTEM PLATFORM

Microsoft Windows comprises about 75% of the server operating system


market.
25 percent of corporate servers using some form of the UNIX operating
system or Linux (for example google uses Linux).
Googles Chrome OS provides a lightweight operating system for cloud
computing using netbooks.

ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS


Enterprise applications are complex, scalable, distributed, component-based, and
mission-critical.

Enterprise application providers: SAP and Oracle


1. SAP is a software solution company that helps organizations fight the
damaging effects of complexity, generate new opportunities for innovation
and growth, and stay ahead of the competition.
2. Oracle offer the same type of services as SAP

Middleware providers: BEA


1. This was a company specialized in enterprise infrastructure software
products which was wholly acquired by Oracle Corporation on April 29,
2008.

Microsoft is attempting to move into the lower ends of this market by focusing on
small and medium sized businesses that have not yet implemented enterprise
applications.
DATA MANAGEMENT AND STORAGE
Enterprise database management software is responsible for organizing and
managing the firms data so that they can be efficiently accessed and used.

Leading database software providers are: IBM (DB2), Microsoft (SQL Server),
and Sybase (Adaptive Server Enterprise), Oracle (MySQL). show pictures
The physical data storage providers: EMC corp., Seagate, Maxtor, and
Western Digital.
1. EMC is a leading provider of IT storage hardware solutions and offer
backup and recovery, enterprise content management and unified
storage. Show pictures
Storage area network: A robust dedicated network specifically for data
storage. Show diagram

NETWORKING/TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLATFORMS

Telecommunication services
1. Telecommunications, cable, telephone company charges for voice lines
and Internet access.

2. Digicel and LIME, regional providers.


Network operating systems: Windows Server, Novell, Linux, UNIX (used as
local area network).
Network hardware providers: Cisco, Lucent, Nortel, Juniper Networks.

INTERNET PLATFORMS

Hardware, software, management services to support company Web sites,


(including Web hosting services) intranets, extranets.
1. Intranet is a computer network that uses Internet Protocol technology to
share information, operational systems, or computing services within an
organization.
2. extranet is a computer network that allows controlled access from outside
of an organization's intranet
Internet hardware server market: Dell, HP/Compaq, IBM.
Web development tools/suites: Microsoft (Microsoft Expression, .NET) IBM
(WebSphere) Sun (Java), independent software developers:
Macromedia/Adobe, RealMedia (media software).

CONSULTING AND SYSTEM INTEGRATION SERVICES

Nowadays, even a large firm does not have the staff, the skills, the budget, or
the necessary experience to deploy and maintain its entire IT infrastructure.
Leading consulting firms: Accenture, IBM Global Services, HP Enterprise
Services, Infosys, and Wipro Technologies.
Software integration: ensuring new infrastructure works with legacy systems
1. Software integration means ensuring the new infrastructure works with
the firms older, so-called legacy systems and ensuring the new elements
of the infrastructure work with one another.
Legacy systems are generally older transaction processing systems created
for mainframe computers that continue to be used to avoid the high cost of
replacing or redesigning them.

MANAGEMENT ISSUES
Creating and managing a coherent IT infrastructure raises multiple
challenges.

DEALING WITH PLATFORM AND INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGE


As firms shrink or grow, IT needs to be flexible and scalable. Easier said than
done.
Scalability: the ability of a computer, product, or system to expand to serve a
large number of users without breaking down.

MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE

A long-standing issue among information system managers and CEOs has


been the question of who will control and manage the firms IT
infrastructure.
IT governance includes the strategy and policies for using information
technology within an organization.

Who controls IT infrastructure


Centralized/decentralized
How are costs allocated between divisions, departments?

MAKING WISE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS


IT infrastructure is a major investment for the firm. If too much is spent on
infrastructure, it lies idle and constitutes a drag on firm financial performance. If too
little is spent, important business services cannot be delivered and the firms
competitors will outperform the underinvesting firm.

Amount to spend on IT is complex question


Rent vs. buy, outsourcing

Total Cost of Ownership of Technology Assets


The actual cost of owning technology resources includes the original cost of
acquiring and installing hardware and software, as well as ongoing administration
costs for hardware and software upgrades maintenance, technical support, training,
and even utility and real estate costs for running and housing the technology.

TCO model: model can be used to analyze these direct and indirect costs to
help firms determine the actual cost of specific technology implementation.
TCO can be reduced through greater centralization and standardization of
hardware and software resources

Competitive Forces Model for IT Infrastructure Investment


Competitive forces model you can use to address the question of how much your
firm should spend on IT infrastructure.

Market demand for your firms services.


1. Find out if the services you currently offer are meeting the needs of each
group (employee, customer and supplier).
Your firms business strategy:
1. Analyze your firms five-year business strategy and try to assess what new
services and capabilities will be required to achieve strategic goals.
Your firms IT strategy, infrastructure, and cost

2. Examine your firms information technology plans for the next five years
and assess its alignment with the firms business plans.
Information technology assessment.
1. Do not spend money on advanced technology that are still experimental,
often expensive, and most toie unreliable. However, ou do not want to put
off investment in new technologies or allow competitors to develop new
business models and capabilities based on the new technologies.

Competitor firm services.

1. Try to assess what technology services competitors offer to customers,


suppliers, and employees. If your firms service levels fall short, your
company is at a competitive disadvantage. Look for ways your firm can
excel at service levels.
Competitor firm IT infrastructure investments.
1. Benchmark your expenditures for IT infrastructure against your
competitors.

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