INFO 0107

INTRODUCTION TO
MANAGEMENT
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Module 4 – Hardware and Software
Module Objectives
 What is IT Infrastructure and what are its components?
 What are the current trends in computer hardware platform?
 What are the current trends in software platforms?
 What are the challenges of managing IT infrastructure and
management solutions

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IT Infrastructure
 Set of physical devices and software required to operate enterprises
 Set of firmwide services including:
• Computing platforms providing computing services
• Telecommunication services
• Data management services
• Application software services
• IT management, education, and other services

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IT Infrastructure - Cont.

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Evolution of IT Infrastructure

 General-purpose mainframe and minicomputer era: 1959 to

present
 Personal computer era: 1981 to present
 Client/server era: 1983 to present
 Enterprise computing era: 1992 to present
 Cloud and mobile computing: 2000 to present

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Evolution of IT
Infrastructure – Cont.

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 Evolution of IT Infrastructure – Cont.

 Client requests
for services are
handled by
different levels
of servers.
 e.g. client
request view of
Top 10
Salespersons

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Evolution of IT Infrastructure – Cont.

 Some important things to note…

• Computing power doubles every 18 months
• Nanotechnology shrinks size of transistors to very minute
proportions
• The amount of data being stored each year doubles

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 IT Infrastructure Components

1. Computer hardware platforms

2. Operating system platforms
3. Enterprise software applications
4. Data management and storage
5. Networking/telecommunications platforms
6. Internet platforms
7. Consulting system integration services

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IT Infrastructure Components – Cont.

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IT Infrastructure
Components – Cont.
Computer Hardware Platforms
 Client machines
• Desktop PCs, laptops
• Mobile computing: smartphones, tablets
• Desktop chips vs. mobile chips
 Servers
 Mainframes
• IBM mainframe
• Digital workhorse for banking and telecommunications networks
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IT Infrastructure
Components – Cont.
Operating System Platforms
 Corporate servers
• Windows Server
• Unix
• Linux
 Client level
• Microsoft Windows
• Android, iOS, Windows 10 (mobile/multitouch)
• Google’s Chrome OS(cloud computing)
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IT Infrastructure
Components – Cont.
Enterprise Software Applications
 In 2018, firms spend $389 billion on software for enterprise
applications
 Largest providers: SAP and Oracle
 Middleware providers: IBM, Oracle

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IT Infrastructure
Components – Cont.
Data Management and Storage
 Database software providers
• IBM(DB2)
• Oracle
• Microsoft (SQL Server)
• Sybase (Adaptive Server Enterprise),
• My SQL
• Apache Hadoop
 Physical data storage for large-scale systems
• Dell EMC
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (H3C) 14
IT Infrastructure Components – Cont.

Networking / Telecommunications Platforms

 Network operating systems
• Windows Server, Linux, Unix
 Network hardware providers
• Cisco, Juniper Networks
 Telecommunication services
• Telecommunications, cable, telephone company charges for
voice lines and Internet access
• A T&T, Verizon
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IT Infrastructure Components – Cont.
Internet Platforms
 Hardware, software, management services to support company
websites, intranets
• Web-hosting services
• Routers
• Cabling or wireless equipment
 Internet hardware server market
• IBM, Dell, Oracle, HP
 Web development tools/suites
• Microsoft (Visual Studio and .NET), Oracle-Sun (Java), Adobe 16
Consulting and System Integration
Services
 Even large firms do not have resources for full range of support
for new, complex infrastructure
 Leading consulting firms: Accenture, IBM Global Services, HP,
Infosys, Wipro Technologies
 Software integration: ensuring new infrastructure works with
legacy systems
 Legacy systems: older TPS created for mainframes that would
be too costly to replace or redesign

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Current Trends in Computer
Hardware Platforms
 The mobile digital platform
• Smartphones
• Netbooks
• Tablet computers
• Digital e-book readers and apps (Kindle)
• Wearable devices
 Consumerization of IT and BYOD (bring your own device)
• Forces businesses and IT departments to rethink how IT
equipment and services are acquired and managed
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Current Trends in Computer
Hardware Platforms – Cont.
 Quantum computing
• Uses quantum physics to represent and operate on data
• Dramatic increases in computing speed
 Virtualization
• Allows single physical resource to act as multiple resources (i.e.,
run multiple instances of OS)
• Reduces hardware and power expenditures
• Facilitates hardware centralization
• Software-defined storage (SDS) 19
Current Trends in Computer
Hardware Platforms – Cont.

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Current Trends in Computer
Hardware Platforms – Cont.
 Cloud computing
• On-demand computing services obtained over network
o Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
o Software as a service (SaaS)
o Platform as a service (PaaS)
• Cloud can be public or private
• Allows companies to minimize IT investments
• Drawbacks: Concerns of security, reliability
• Hybrid cloud computing model 21
Current Trends in Computer
Hardware Platforms – Cont.

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Current Trends in Computer
Hardware Platforms – Cont.

Cloud Computing
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Characteristics
Current Trends in Computer
Hardware Platforms – Cont.

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Current Trends in Computer
Hardware Platforms – Cont.
 Edge computing
• Servers at the edge of the Internet
• Reducing latency, and network traffic
 Green computing (Green IT )
• Practices and technologies for manufacturing, using, disposing
of computing and networking hardware
• Reducing power consumption, a high priority
• Data centers

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Current Trends in Computer
Hardware Platforms – Cont.

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Current Trends in Computer
Hardware Platforms – Cont.
 High performance, power-saving processors
• Multicore processors
• Power-efficient microprocessors

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Current Trends in Computer
Hardware Platforms – Cont.
 Grid Computing
• Connects geographically remote computers into a single
network to combine processing power and create a virtual
supercomputer by combining the computational power of all
computers on the grid.
• Takes advantage of the fact that most computers use their
central processing units on average only 25% of the time for the
work they have been assigned leaving these idle resources
available for other processing tasks.
• Provides cost savings, speed and agility
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Current Trends in Computer
Hardware Platforms – Cont.

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Current Trends in Computer
Software Platforms
 Linux and open-source software
• Produced by community of programmers
• Examples: Apache web server, Mozilla Firefox browser, OpenOffice
• Linux
 Software for the web: Java, HTML, and HTML5
• Java Virtual Machine
o Java is a platform independent, processor independent, object-oriented
programming language that has become the leading interactive
environment for the web.
o The Java platform has migrated into cell phones, smartphones,
automobiles, music players, game machines. 30
Current Trends in Computer
Software Platforms
 Software for the web: Java, HTML, and HTML5
• Web browsers
• HTML and HTML5
o HTML is a page description language for specifying how text,
graphics, video and sound are placed on the web page.
o HTML was originally designed to create and link static documents
o composed largely of text.
o Today, the Web is much more social and interactive and many web
pages have multimedia elements.
• Ruby and Python 31
Current Trends in Computer
Software Platforms – Cont.
 Web services and service-oriented architecture
• Web services
• XML : Extensible Markup Language
• SOA : service-oriented architecture
o Set of self-contained services that communicate with one another
to create a working software application
o Software developers reuse these services in other combinations to
assemble other applications as needed

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Current Trends in Computer
Software Platforms – Cont.
 Software outsourcing and cloud services
• Software packages and enterprise software
• Software outsourcing
• Cloud-based software services and tools
o Service Level Agreements (SLA s): formal agreement with service
providers
 Mashups and apps

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Dealing with Platform and
Infrastructure Change
 As firms shrink or grow, IT needs to be flexible and scalable
 Scalability
• Ability to expand to serve larger number of users
 For mobile computing and cloud computing
• New policies and procedures for managing these new platforms
• Contractual agreements with firms running clouds and
distributing software required

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Dealing with Platform and
Infrastructure Change – Cont.
 Issues:
• How can a firm remain flexible when most of the Investments in
IT infrastructure are fixed cost purchases and licenses?
• How well does the infrastructure scale?

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Management and Governance
 Governance
 Who controls IT infrastructure?
 How should IT department be organized?
• Centralized
o Central IT department makes decisions
• Decentralized
o Business unit IT departments make own decisions
 How are costs allocated between divisions, departments?
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Making Wise Infrastructure
Investments
 Under-investment and over-investment can hamper firm
performance
 Rent versus buy
 Cloud computing
• Security requirements
• Impact on business processes and workflow
 Outsourcing

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Total Cost of Ownership
(TCO) Model
 Analyzes direct and indirect costs
 Hardware, software account for only about 20% of T C O
 Other costs: Installation, training, support, maintenance,
 infrastructure, downtime, space, and energy
 TCO can be reduced
• Use of cloud services, greater centralization and standardization
of hardware and software resources

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Total Cost of Ownership
(TCO) Model – Cont.

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Competitive Forces Model for IT
Infrastructure Investment
 Market demand for firm’s services
 Firm’s business strategy
 Firm’s IT strategy, infrastructure, and cost
 Information technology assessment
 Competitor firm services
 Competitor firm IT infrastructure investments

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Competitive Forces Model for IT
Infrastructure Investment – Cont.

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Interactive Session
Class discussion
 Wearables have the potential to change the way organizations
and workers conduct business. Discuss the implications of this
statement.
 What management, organization, and technology issues would
have to be addressed if a company was thinking of equipping
its workers with a wearable computing device?
 What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit from
wearable computers? Select a business and describe how a
wearable computing device could help that business improve
operations or decision making. 42
Interactive Session – Cont.
 What business benefits do cloud computing services provide?
 What problems do they solve?
 What are the disadvantages of cloud computing?
 What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit from using
cloud computing?
 Why?

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References
 Laudon & Laudon (2016): Management Information Systems :
Managing the Digital Firm. Chapter 5

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Thank you
Kerry-Ann Xavier
[email protected]