IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND EMERCING TECHNOLOGIES
Defining IT Infrastructure
Refers to the composite hardware, software, network resources and services required for the existence, operation and management of an enterprise IT environment. It allows an organization to deliver IT solutions and services to its employees, partners and/or customers and is usually internal to an organization and deployed within owned facilities.
Fig. Connection Between The Firm, IT Infrastructure, and Business Capabilities
Evolution of IT Infrastructure
The IT infrastructure in organizations today is an outgrowth of over 50 years of evolution in computing platforms. There have been five stages in this evolution, each representing a different configuration of computing power and infrastructure elements. The five eras are general-purpose mainframe and minicomputer computing, and cloud and mobile computing.
General-Purpose Mainframe and Minicomputer Era: (1959 to Present)
The introduction of the IBM 1401 and 7090 transistorized machines in 1959 marked the beginning of widespread commercial use of mainframe computer. The mainframe era was a period of highly centralized computing under the control of professional programmers and systems operators (usually in a corporate data center), with most elements of infrastructure provided by a single vendor, the manufacturer of the hardware and the software. This pattern began to change with the introduction of minicomputers produced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1965. In recent years, the minicomputer has evolved into a midrange computer or midrange server and is part of a network.
Personal Computer Era: (1981 to Present)
The appearance of the IBM PC in 1981 is usually considered the beginning of the PC era because this machine was the first to be widely adopted by American businesses. The Wintel PC computer (Windows operating system software on a computer with an Intel microprocessor) became the standard desktop personal computer. Today, 95 percent of the world’s estimated 1.5 billion computers use the Wintel standard.
Client/Server Era: (1982 to Present)
In client/server computing, desktop or laptop computers called clients are networked by powerful server computers that provide the client computers with a variety of services and capabilities. Simple client/server networks can be found in small businesses, most corporations have more complex, multitiered (often called N-tier) client/server architectures in which the work of the entire network is balanced over several different levels of servers, depending on the kind of service being requested.
At first level, a Web server will serve a Web page to a client in response to a request for service. Application server software handles all application operations between a user and an organization’s back-end business systems. Novell NetWare was the leading technology for client/server networking at the beginning of the client/server era. Today, Microsoft is the market leader with its Windows operating systems.
Enterprise Computing Era: (1992 to Present)
In the early 1990s, firms turned to networking standards and software tools that could integrate disparate networks and applications throughout the firm into an enterprise-wide infrastructure. The enterprise infrastructure also requires software to link disparate applications and enable data to flow freely among different parts of the business, such as enterprise applications.
Cloud and Mobile Computing Era: (2000 to Present)
The growing bandwidth power of the Internet has pushed the client/server model one step further, towards what is called the “Cloud Computing Model,” refers to a model of computing that provides access to a shared pool of computing resources over a network, often the Internet.
Fig. stages in IT Infrastructure evolution
Technology Drivers of Infrastructure Evolution
Moore’s Law and Microprocessing Power
The first microprocessor chip was introduced in 1959, the number of components on a chip with the smallest manufacturing costs per component (generally transistors) had doubled each year. This assertion became the foundation of Moore’s Law. This law would later be interpreted in multiple ways. There are at least three variations of Moore’s Law, none of which Moore ever stated: (1) the power of microprocessors doubles every 18 months (2) computing power doubles every 18 months; and (3) the price of computing falls by half every 18 months.
Fig. Moore's Law and Microprocessor Performance
Nanotechnology
Uses individual atoms and molecules to create computer chips and other devices that are thousands of times smaller than current technologies permit. Nanotubes are tiny tubes about 10 000 times thinner than a human hair. They consist of rolled-up sheets of carbon hexagons and have potential uses as minuscule wires or in ultrasmall electronic devices and are very powerful conductor of electrical current.
Fig. Examples of Nanotubes
The Law of Mass Digital Storage
A second technology driver of IT Infrastructure change is the Law of Mass Digital Storage. The amount of digital information is roughly doubling every year ( Gantz and Reinsel,2011 ; Lyman and Varian,2003 ). Fortunately, the cost of storing digital information is falling at an exponential rate of 100 percent a year.
Fig. Falling Cost of Chips
Operating System Platforms
At the client level, 90 percent of PCs use some form of Microsoft Windows operating system to manage the resources and activities of the computer. Google’s Chrome OS provides a lightweight operating system for cloud computing using netbooks. Android is a mobile operating system developed by Android, Inc. and later the Open Handset Alliance as a flexible, upgradeable mobile device platform. Multitouch interface, where users use their fingers to manipulate objects on the screen.
Enterprise Software Applications
The largest providers of enterprise application software are SAP and Oracle (which acquired PeopleSoft). 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 firm’s data so that they can be efficiently accessed and used. The leading database software providers are IBM (DB2), Oracle, Microsoft (SQL server), and Sybase (Adaptive Server Enterprise), which supply more than 90 percent of the U.S. database software marketplace. Storage area networks (SANS) connect multiple storage devices on a separate high-speed network dedicated to storage.
Fig. connect multiple storage.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is which firms and individuals obtain computer processing, storage, software, and other services as a pool of virtualized resources over a network, primarily the Internet. These resources are made available to users, based on their needs, irrespective of their physical location or the location of the users themselves. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines cloud computing as having the following essential characteristics
On-demand self-service – individual can obtain computing capabilities such as server time or network storage on their own.
Ubiquitous network access – individuals can use standard network and Internet devices, including mobile platforms, to access cloud resources.
Location independent resource pooling – Computing resources are pooled to serve multiple users, with different virtual resources dynamically assigned according to user demand. The user generally does not know where the computing resources are located.
Rapid elasticity – computing resources can be rapidly provisioned, increased, or decreased to meet changing user demand.
Measured service – charges for cloud resources are based on amount of resources actually used.
Fig. how cloud computing work.
Competitive Forces Model for IT Infrastructure Investment
Market demand for your firm’s services – make an inventory of the services you currently provide to customers, suppliers, and employees.
Your firm’s business strategy – analyze your firm’s five-year business strategy and try to assess what new services and capabilities will be required to achieve strategic goals.
Your firm’s IT strategy, infrastructure, and cost – Examine your firm’s information technology plans for the next five years and assess its alignment with the firm’s business plans.
Information technology assessment – is your firm behind the technology curve or at the bleeding edge of information technology? Both situations are to be avoided.
Competitor firm services – try to assess what technology services competitors’ offer to customers, suppliers, and employees.
Competitor firm IT infrastructure investments – benchmark your expenditures for IT infrastructure against your competitors. Many companies are quite public about their innovative expenditures on IT.
Fig. " How much should our firm spend on IT Infrastructure ?"
