Chapter 4. OBJECTIVES Define IT infrastructure and describe the components and levels of IT...

Chapter 4

OBJECTIVES

• Define IT infrastructure and describe the components and levels of IT infrastructure

• Identify and describe the stages of IT infrastructure evolution

• Identify and describe the technology drivers of IT infrastructure evolution

OBJECTIVES (Continued)

• Assess contemporary computer hardware platform trends

• Assess contemporary software platform trends

• Evaluate the challenges of managing IT infrastructure and management solutions

•Challenge: fragmented, high-cost IT infrastructure slowed down market and customer response times

•Solutions: integrated storage area network to enable the flow of information among different types and brands of computer servers

•Reduce number of servers from 107 to 70 • Illustrates the importance of IT

infrastructure for achieving business objectives

Hong Kong’s New World Telecommunications Case

IT INFRASTRUCTURE

Defining IT Infrastructure

• Includes hardware, software, and services

• A set of physical devices and software applications that are required to operate the entire enterprise

• Your firm is largely dependent on its infrastructure for delivering services to customers, employees, and suppliers.

• You can think of infrastructure as digital plumbing, but its much more than that!

IT INFRASTRUCTUREThe Connection between the Firm, IT Infrastructure, and

Business Capabilities

Figure 6-1

IT INFRASTRUCTURE

Levels of IT InfrastructureLevels of IT Infrastructure

Three major levels of infrastructure:

• Public

• Enterprise

• Business unit

IT INFRASTRUCTURELevels of IT Infrastructure

Figure 6-2

IT INFRASTRUCTURE

• Electronic accounting machine era: (1930–1950)

• General-purpose mainframe and minicomputer era: (1959 to present)

• Personal computer era: (1981 to present)

• Client/server era: (1983 to present)

• Enterprise internet computing era: (1992 to present)

Evolution of IT Infrastructure: 1950–2005

IT INFRASTRUCTUREEras in IT Infrastructure Evolution

Figure 6-3

IT INFRASTRUCTURE

A Multitiered Client/Server Network (N-tier)

Figure 6-4

IT INFRASTRUCTURE

• Moore’s law and microprocessing power

• The law of mass digital storage

• Metcalfe’s law and network economics

• Declining communications costs and the Internet

• Standards and network effects

Technology Drivers of Infrastructure Evolution

IT INFRASTRUCTURE

Moore’s Law and Microprocessor Performance

Figure 6-5

IT INFRASTRUCTUREFalling Cost of Chips

Figure 6-6

IT INFRASTRUCTURE

The Capacity of Hard Disk Drives Grows Exponentially, 1980–2004

Figure 6-8Source: Authors.

IT INFRASTRUCTURE

The Cost of Storing Data Declines Exponentially,1950–2004

Figure 6-9Source: “Exponential Growth an Illusion?: Response to Ilkka Tuomi,” by Ray Kurzweil, KurzweilAl.net, September 23, 2003. Used with permission.

IT INFRASTRUCTURE

Exponential Declines in Internet Communications Costs

Figure 6-10Source: Authors.

• Computer Hardware Platforms

• Operating System Platforms

• Enterprise Software Applications

• Data Management and Storage

INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS

Seven Key Infrastructure Components

• Networking/Telecommunications Platforms

• Internet Platforms

• Consulting and System Integration Services


Seven Key Infrastructure Components (Continued)

Computer Hardware Platforms Computer Hardware Platforms

• $110 billion annually spent in the United States

• Dominance of Intel, AMD, and IBM 32-bit processor chips at the client level

• Server market increasingly dominated by inexpensive generic processors from the same manufacturers


• Strong server market growth for 64 bit generic processors from AMD, Intel and IBM

• Blade servers replace box servers

• Mainframes continue as a presence working as very large servers


Computer Hardware Platforms (Continued)

Operating System Platforms

• $100 billion annually spent in the United States

• Continued dominance of Microsoft OS in the client (95%) and handheld market (45%)

• Growing dominance of Linux (UNIX) in the corporate server market (85%)

• Windows 2002 and 2003 Server remains strong in smaller enterprises and workgroup networks


Enterprise Software Applications • $165 billion annually spent in the United States for

basic enterprise software infrastructure

• SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft (now Oracle), and Siebel dominate this market.

• Middleware firms like BEA and JD Edwards serve smaller firms, and work also in the Web services space.


Data Management and Storage

• $70 billion annually spent in the United States.

• Oracle and IBM continue to dominate the database software market.

• Microsoft (SQL Server) and Sybase tend to serve smaller firms.

• Open source Linux MySQL now supported by HP and most consulting firms as an inexpensive, powerful database used mostly in small to mid-size firms.


Networking/Telecommunications Platforms

• $150 billion annually spent on networking and telecommunications hardware

• $700 billion annually spent on telecommunications services, e.g. phone and Internet connectivity

• Local area networking still dominated by Microsoft Server (about 75%) but strong growth of Linux challenges this dominance


Internet Platforms

• $32 billion annually spent on Internet infrastructure in the United States

• Internet hardware server market concentrated in Dell, HP, and IBM

• Prices falling rapidly by up to 50% in a single year for low-power servers


• Open-source Apache remains the dominant Web server software, followed by Microsoft’s IIS server.

• Sun’s Java grows as the most widely used tool for interactive Web applications.

• Microsoft and Sun settle a long-standing law suit and agree to support a common Java.


Internet Platforms (Continued)

Consulting and System Integration Services

• Most firms today, even large firms, cannot develop their systems without significant outside help.

• $130 billion annually spent on computer system design, and related business services like business process redesign in the United States

• About 85% of business consulting in the United States involves IT business consulting.


The Integration of Computing and Telecommunications Platforms

• Increasingly computing takes place over the network.

• Client level: integration of cell phones and PDAs (Example: Palm Treo)

• Television, video, and radio move toward digital production.

CONTEMPORARY HARDWARE PLATFORM TRENDS

The four major themes in contemporary software platform evolution:

• Linux and open-source software

• Java

• Web services and service-oriented architecture

• Software outsourcing

CONTEMPORARY SOFTWARE PLATFORM TRENDS

The Rise of Linux and Open-Source Software

• Open-source software is free and can be modified by users.

• Developed and maintained by a worldwide network of programmers and designers under the management of user communities


• Linux is the most widely used open-source software program. Linux is an operating system derived from Unix.

• Mozilla Firefox browser and Thunderbird mail clients are the most widely used open-source applications. Others include MySQL.

• IBM, HP, Intel, Dell, and Sun have adopted and support Linux. Linux is a major alternative to Windows server and even client operating systems.


The Rise of Linux and Open-Source Software (Continued)

Java: • An operating system—Independent, processor-

independent, object-oriented programming language

• Applications written in Java can run on any hardware for which a Java virtual machine has been defined.

• Java is embedded in PDAs, cell phones, and browsers.

• Java is a leading interactive programming environment for the Web.


Java Is Everywhere

Software for Enterprise Integration:

• One of the most important software trends of the last decade is the growth of “enterprise in a box” or the purchase of enterprise-wide software systems by firms.

• Rather than build all their own software on a custom basis, large firms increasingly purchase enterprise applications prewritten by specialized software firms like SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, and others.


Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) Software Versus Traditional Integration

Figure 6-13


EAI software (a) creates a common platform through which all applications can freely communicate with each other. EAI requires much less programming than traditional point-to-point integration (b).

Web Services and Service-Oriented ArchitectureWeb Services and Service-Oriented Architecture

Web Services: • An alternative to enterprise systems is to use new Web-

based standards to create a communication platform allowing older applications to communicate with newer applications.

• Web services refers to a set of loosely coupled software components that exchange information with each other using Web communication standards and languages.


Service-Oriented Architecture

• SOA refers to the use of Web services in a firm to achieve integration among disparate applications and platforms.

• A firm might have applications (payroll) running on older AS400 IBM machines, IBM mainframes (customer data and inventory) and newer applications running on client/server networks.


Software OutsourcingSoftware Outsourcing• Today large and small firms purchase most of their

software from outside vendors.

Three kinds of outsourcing:

• Purchase of software packages

• Using application service providers

• Custom outsourcing


Application Service Providers:

• A business that delivers and manages applications and computer services from remote computer centers to multiple users using the Internet or a private network

Enterprise software packages: prewritten off-the-shelf software


Purchase of Software Packages and Enterprise Software

Competitive Forces Model for IT Infrastructure

Thank you

MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES, AND SOLUTIONS

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Chapter 4. OBJECTIVES Define IT infrastructure and describe the components and levels of IT...

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