Understanding IT Infrastructure

Lecture 9

2

Announcements• Business Case due Thursday

• Business Analysis teams have been formed

• Business Analysis Proposals will be due next week – details to come

Module 2: The Business of IT

IT increasingly embedded in business model Advancing technologies drive new

products, processes, & industriesIT capability critical to business model

executionOperational results affect business

value creationRequires sound IT management

We need to explore how:Changing infrastructure affects businessManagement priorities must shiftTo exploit opportunities and reduce

operational risks

Overview of Module 2 Chapters• Chapter 5

– Introduces elements of modern IT infrastructure and core IT management issues

• Chapter 6– Addresses the robustness of IT capabilities; system availability and

security• Chapter 7

– Explores contemporary IT service models and their management requirements

• Chapter 8– Examines IT project management

CareGroup• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

– Widely known as leader in the use of IT– Three-day network outage

• What can we learn from this case– IT is vital to modern organizations– Network redundancy important– Challenges arise from infrastructure complexity– IT leadership is important

The iPremier Company• Luxury goods retailer

– Under attack from an unknown hacker– Case covers events as they unfold

• What can we learn from this case– IT infrastructure must be secured – Decisions involved, however technical, must be addressed by

business and IT executives

Ford Motor Company / The Power of Virtual Integration

• Century-old U.S. manufacturer– Trying to determine whether to model operations on acclaimed young

company (Dell)– Complex questions regarding how IT supports business operations

• What can we learn from this case– How Dell leverages information technologies to advantage– Potential of an Industrial Economy firm to adopt Network Economy IT

and business designs – How Ford’s legacies (systems, organizations, relationships) influence

the opportunities the company can pursue

Cisco Systems, Inc.: Implementing ERP

• Young, rapidly growing company– Urgent need to replace IT systems supporting core operations– Legacy too difficult to tackle on functional basis

• Implementation of an ERP– Goal: one-shot, minimal customization– Budget of $15million and 9 months– Elements of implementation:

• People and partners, roles and structures, processes and infrastructure

• What can we learn from this case?– The importance of IT in building a operating platform for growth– An implementation approach to high-risk, high-reward IT initiatives

Understanding IT Infrastructure

Key Learning Objectives1. Recognize the core components of modern IT infrastructure and

understand the management issues associated with these components

2. Understand the business opportunities and challenges associated with pervasive internetworked computing power

“75% of all IT dollars to go Infrastructure. Isn’t it time you learned what it is?”

IBM ad campaign

10

Key trends• More reliance on IT infrastructure• New services• Distributed Processing• New business models

11

Challenges• Poor IT decisions lead to

– Products with insufficient support– Relying on outdated protocols/systems

• Technology / management divide– Who makes decisions?

12

Fig. 5.1 Moore’s Law

13

1980’s• PC released• People moved jobs to computers• No longer needed staff for computing/data

processing• LANs allowed people to share files, printers etc.• IT services provided over distributed servers

14

1990’s• Internet boom• TCP/IP provided robust standard for messages

between all computers on web• Network resources available to individuals

15

Fig 5.2 Evolution of Corporate IT Infrastructure

16

Fig 5.3 Metcalfe’s Law“The usefulness of a network increases with the

square of the number of users connected to the network”

17

Fig 5.4 Bandwidth ExplosionGrowth faster than computer chips

18

Components of Internetworking Infrastructure

• Network– Hardware/software that permit exchange of information

between processing units and organizations• Processing Systems

– Hardware/software providing ability to handle business transactions

• Facilities– Physical systems that house and protect devices

• Trend: Increasing freedom to manage resources• See table 5.1

19

Table 5.1: Fundamental components of internetworking infrastructure

20

Networks• Local Area Networks (LANs)• Hubs, switches, wireless access points,

network adapters• Wide Area networks (WANs)• Routers• Firewalls, Security Systems• Caching, Content Acceleration

21

Fig 5.5 LAN

An Example of a WAN

23

Processing Systems• Client Devices and Systems• Server Devices and Systems• Mainframe Devices and Systems• Middleware• Infrastructure Management Systems• Business Applications

24

Fig 5.7 Servers in possible E-commerce configuration

25

Facilities• Buildings, physical space• Network Conduits, connections• Power• Environmental Controls• Security

26

Fig 5.8 Modern Data Center

27

Discussion• How much does a typical manager understand

of computing networks?

• What educational opportunities are there?

28

Operational Characteristics if Internetworking

• Internetworking Technologies are Based on Open Standards

• Internetworking Technologies operate asynchronously

• Internetworking communications have inherent latency

• Internetworking technologies are naturally decentralized

• Internetworking technologies are scalable• See tables 5.2, 5.3

29

Table 5.2: Measuring Network Bandwidth

30

Table 5.3: Communication Technology, Bandwidths and User Groups

31

Business Implications• Quicker communications leads to efficiency• More data leads to better-informed decisions• Progress of processes become transparent• Processes more efficient• Make and sell becomes sense and respond

32

Threats• Automation can lead to chain reaction,

cascading failures• Outside attacks• See table 5.4

33

Table 5.4: Denial of Service Attacks

34

New service models• Physical location of computers less important• Economies of scale for particular services• New capabilities must be integrated into

existing systems– Deal with legacy technology

• Reliability must improve– See next case!

35

Discussion: Outsourcing• What about outsourcing of infrastructure?

36

Case Thursday• iPremier

• Made-up case of IT failure