Evolution of Information Technology

Infrastructure

Definitions

Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure: physical facilities, services and management that support computing resources Information Technology

Hardware/Systems SoftwareDatabaseTelecommunications & Networks

IT personnel

Definitions

Information Systems (IS) Architecture: the “plan” that aligns IT infrastructure with business needs Help people effectively fulfill their information

needs What is the focus of the IT applications?

Adapted from "Intranets and Middleware", HBR 397-118.

S1

19601980

1990

Ab

ilit

y t

o f

ill in

form

ati

on

need

s

2000

PC/LAN

Client/Server db

db

db

Distributed

db

dbdb dbdb

Web Services

Mainframe

Evolution of Information Technology Infrastructure

Data Processing Era

IT Infrastructure (host-centric processing) Hardware: Mainframe with text-based terminals Systems Software: Batch systems Data Storage: independent “files” for each

functional application Telecommunications: Limited support of

distributed operations IT Personnel: technically oriented

Mainframe

IS Architecture:Transaction Processing System (TPS)

Emerged in the early days of IS Collect, store, and process transactions

Source documents are basis for input Perform routine, repetitive tasks Independent functional applications Found in all functions of an organization If they fail, the whole organization may suffer

Efficiency Focus Automate “highly structured” decision processes

Mainframe

IS Architecture: Management Information System (MIS)

Convert/use TPS data to support monitoring Alert managers to problems or opportunities Provide periodic and routine reports

e.g., summary reports, exception reports, comparison reports

Starting toward an effectiveness focusProvide structured information to support decision

makingResulted in “Information overload”

Mainframe

IS Architecture: Centralized Corporate Structure

Executive

Operational

Managerial

InboundLogistics

Purchasing

RawMaterials

Production FinishedGoods

OutboundLogistics

Sales

Functional Transaction Processing System

Management Information System

Mainframe

Micro-Computing Era

IT Infrastructure (PC environment) Hardware: PCs (low cost compared to

mainframe) Systems Software: DOS Data storage: Individual files linked to apps Telecommunications: low-speed LANs IT Personnel: technically oriented & mainframe

biased

PC/LAN

IS Architecture:Desktop Support Systems

Proliferation of desktop applications Why?

TPS/MIS were not providing information needed to support decisions

Needed an effectiveness focus “End-user” development

Undocumented spreadsheet models Proliferation of localized data storage

PC/LAN

db

db

db

db

IS Architecture

Executive

Operational

Managerial

InboundLogistics

Purchasing

RawMaterials

Production FinishedGoods

OutboundLogistics

Sales

Functional Transaction Processing System

Management Information System

Desktop DecisionSupport System

PC/LAN

Client/Server Era IT Infrastructure (distributed computing

environment) Hardware: PCs and Specialized Servers Systems Software: Network Operating Systems, 2-Tier Data storage: Distributed Relational database and

centralized warehouse Telecommunications: high-speed LANs Network: Client/Server, Distributed Middleware IT Personnel: technically skilled, business oriented

Information Systems architecture? Share applications and data within and across functional

areas

Client/Server

db

Facilitating Software Systems

Office automation IT for “office” employees

Document tracking, communication, scheduling, etc.

Client/Server

db

Facilitating Software Systems (cont’d)

Decision Support SystemsProvide information to support “semi-structured”

decision makingSimon’s model: Intelligence, Design, ChoiceAt least one of those stages is unstructured, and at least one

is structuredEffectiveness focus

Expert SystemsKnowledge-base integrated with DSSMost are “rule-based” systems that process facts, not

numbersCredit evaluationCisco tech support

Client/Server

db

Database Approaches

Centralized All data in one location

Promotes maintenance and securitySubject to single point of failure

As size of database grew, performance sufferedBroadband still emerging, very expensive

Client/Server

db

Database Approaches

Distributed data management Get data closer to applications Replicated

Complete copies in multiple locationsSignificant overhead

PartitionedEach location has portion of database

Data management becomes an issue

db

db

db

Distributed

db

db

Transactions used to interact with a relational “client-server” database For each transaction, OLTP typically deals with

a small number of rows from the tablesThe transactions are typically highly

structured, repetitive and have predetermined outcomes

E.g., orders, changing customer address, etc.

Online Transaction Processing

db

db

db

Distributed

db

db

Client/Server Systems

Executive

Operational

Managerial

InboundLogistics

Purchasing

RawMaterials

Production FinishedGoods

OutboundLogistics

Sales

Functional Transaction Processing System

Client/Server System

db db db db db

db

Network Era (Distributed Computing)

IT Infrastructure (distributed computing environment) Hardware: PCs and high-end Servers Systems Software: Middleware – 3 tiered Data storage: Distributed Relational Database Telecommunications: high-speed WAN Network: Middleware IT Personnel: still technical, but business

awareness

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Introduction of Middleware

Software that makes it possible for systems on different platforms to communicate with each other. Allows applications to talk to each other

Consistent Application Program Interface (API)Code application to talk to middleware, not

underlying resourcesUpgrade/modify underlying resources without

needing to modify applications

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Middleware Technologies

Basic types of middleware Transaction Processing Monitor (TP) Object Request Broker (ORB)

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Transaction Processing Monitor

(TP)

TP system:

Clients TP Monitor Data

Transaction request

Transaction Processing

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

TP Monitor (cont’d)

TP is used to build on-line transaction processing (OLTP) systems by coordinating and monitoring the efforts of separate applications.

TP can provide the following: Control transaction applications Provide business logic/rules Database updates

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Object Request Broker (ORB)

ORB involves synchronous communication and location/platform transparency.

ORB uses object-oriented programming methods. Two standards

Distributed Component Object Model (COM) COM was the Microsoft approach to allow integration of applications

on the desktopCommon Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA)

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

ORB (cont’d)

ORB architecture:

ORB

ClientRemote Service

(object)

locate service

activate service

establish connection

communicate

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

File Sharing

Napster:

ORB

RequestStored Files

locate service

activate service

establish connection

communicate

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

Kazaa:

Request

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Advantages of ORB Middleware

Anonymous interaction among applications Integrate new client/server applications with

existing legacy, mission-critical applicationsEasier development environment

Reduce cost Improve time-to-market of applications

Enables distributed data environmentEnables dynamic web applications

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Disadvantages of ORB Middleware

Switching costs are high Upgrade from previous “Middleware” solutions

Requires high technical expertise Tend to outsource Lengthy deployment time

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Unresolved Issues with ORB

SecurityScalability

Related to network capacityRapidly changing technologies

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

DBMS Applications

With advent of high-speed, distributed architectures, expanded our use of database beyond capturing and storing transaction data Knowledge Discovery

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Knowledge Discovery

What is it: Process of extracting useful knowledge from

volumes of dataSupported by three technologies

Massive data collection Multiprocessor computing Data mining

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Massive Data Collection

Business problem: Difficult for larger organizations to analyze

organizational data from multiple sourcesEven with enterprise-wide applications, tend to have

distributed databases Solution Data warehouse

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Data Warehouse

Collection of data in support of decision making process that is: Subject-oriented: organized by entity, not application Integrated: stored in one place, even though it originated

from a variety of sourcesCrosses functional boundaries of an organization

Time-variant: represents a snapshot at one point in time Nonvolatile: data is read-only Typically very large

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Multidimensional Database

OLTP not good when doing analysis of data – poor performance

OLAP – on-line analytical processing

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

“Slice and Dice” an OLAP Cube

Multidimensional Database

OLAP – on-line analytical processing Data stored in arrays – similar to tables Dimensions are the edges of the cube

Represent views of business dataSales Example: product, geography, time

Intersection represents sales of specific product, to customers in specific market, on certain date

Look for relationships among business elements in database – form basis for the “cubes”

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Advantages of OLAP

All hierarchical or aggregated values can be pre-calculated in the cube rather than accessing the Warehouse Major reduction in query time

Each cube makes “business sense” Not normalized data structures

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Multidimensional Database (cont’d)

Data marts Scaled-down version of a data warehouse that

focuses on a specific areae.g., a department, a business process

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Massive Data Analysis

Data mining Provides a means to extract patterns and

relationshipsExample: Analyze sales data to identify products that

may be attractive to a customerAmazon.com buyer suggestions

Two capabilitiesAutomated prediction of trends and behaviorsAutomated discovery of previously unknown patterns

Example: Shopping cart analysis

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Massive Data Analysis

Characteristics of Data Mining Relevant data in large database Typically has client/server architecture Tools integrated with spreadsheets to support

analysisData Mining Tools

Neural computing Intelligent agents Association Analysis

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Network Enabling Software

Supplier Customer

Enterprise Wide Systems

Enterprise Wide Systems

Enterprise Wide Systems

Supply ChainManagement

Customer Relationship Management

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

IT Infrastructure (Web-enabled) Hardware: Low-end PC with Browser, high-end

Servers Systems Software: XML, AJAX, .NET Database: Distributed Relational Network: Use IP-based standards Telecommunications: broadband IT Personnel: Business analysts, technical

specialties

Internet Era

What is the Internet? Global network of LANs How did Internet evolve?

Originated in 1969, restricted to government, research and education (Arpanet)

WWW released in 1992 In 1993:

Ban on commercial use liftedMosaic released

Growth (different data depending on source)3 million in 9440 million in 97100 million in 98

What are the underlying technologies?

Packet Switching .X25 standard uses packets of 128 bytes Each packet travels independently through

networkProtocols: TCP/IP

Internet Protocol – destination addressEach computer has its own IP addressDomain name system (DNS)

Transmission Control Protocol – breaks information into data packets

What is WWW? Application that uses the internet

Set a standards for storing, retrieving, formatting and displaying information via client/server architecture

HTML – standard language Connection

Uniform Resource Locator (URL) Hypertext transport protocol (http) – communication

protocol to transfer pages ftp: File Transfer Protocol

Business use of the Internet:Electronic Commerce

E-business: Subset of e-commerce Transactions between

business partners

Individual EnterpriseSupplier/ Customer

Internet

Intranet

Extranet

B2C: InternetB2B: ExtranetB2E: Intranet

Web-based SolutionsEarly attempts to incorporate WWW into

inter-organizational systemsStatic, state-less web pages

Complicated navigation Not “connected” to underlying data

Page not dynamically updated when data changes

IT Infrastructure (Application Service Providers) Hardware: Web-based Servers, Browsers Software: Object-Oriented Database: Distributed Relational, XML Wrappers Network: Use IP-based standards Telecommunications: wireless IT Personnel: Business Partners, technical

specialties

Web Servicesdb dbdb

Web Services

Web Service Components

WS Directory

WS ClientWS Provider

XML/SOAP/HTTP

UDDIUDDI/W

SDL

db dbdb

Web Services

Dictionary: definewhat it is and how

it worksDirectory

Protocols for exchanging information

SOAP

Simple Object Access Protocol Protocol for exchanging XML-based messages

using HTTP Uses Remote Procedure Call Works well with network firewalls

XML

Extensible Markup Language Way of describing data Provides a text-based means to describe and apply

a tree-based structure to information

XML Example from wikipedia

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <recipe name="bread" prep_time="5 mins" cook_time="3 hours">

<title>Basic bread</title> <ingredient amount="3" unit="cups">Flour</ingredient><ingredient amount="0.25" unit="ounce">Yeast</ingredient><ingredient amount="1.5" unit="cups“ state="warm">Water</ingredient><ingredient amount="1" unit="teaspoon">Salt</ingredient>

<instructions> <step>Mix all ingredients together, and knead thoroughly.</step><step>Cover with a cloth, and leave for one hour in warm room.</step> <step>Knead again, place in a tin, and then bake in the oven.</step>

</instructions>

</recipe>

Web Service Components

WS Registry (UDDI, WSDL)

.Net

EnterpriseApplication

Enterprise Integration Server

(SOAP processor)

Secure TCP/IPConnections

SOAP/HTTP

Service Requests

J2EE

SOAP/H

TTP

SOAP/H

TTP

JDBC

ODBC

Web Services

ApplicationServer

db dbdb

Web Services

J2EE

J2EE 1.4 Standards IBM, Sun and Oracle have compliant offerings Still not the complete solution to build and

integrate enterprise applicationsBut neither is .NetDo not define:

Clustering, reliability, security, application integration, etc.

db dbdb

Web Services

Impact of Web Services on CRM

Siebel Systems added support for Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Web Services Description Language, and Java Connectivity Architecture

Oracle supports Java, SOAP, UDDI, and XML. Epiphany supports SOAP and XML and is planning

additional SOAP interfaces to improve integration with third-party applications.

PeopleSoft exposes all application functions to XML

db dbdb

Web Services

Hurdles for web services

Standards are evolving, not setSecurityWeb services do not 'solve' interoperability

between applications Hence – need ERP before you add CRM

db dbdb

Web Services