Module 3: Current topics in computer systems

Readings
• Hurbean, L. & Fotache, D. (2013). Mobile technology: Binding social and cloud in
a new enterprise applications platform. Informatica Economica, 17(2), 73-83.
Yang, J. (June, 2015). Shift in SaaS puts squeeze on in-house developers.
Computer World, 1(11), 3-5.
For Your Success & Learning Objectives
Check the Interactive Lecture in Schoology.

1. Enterprise computer and information Systems

Early detection of new technologies is critical to businesses in today’s highly
competitive and dynamic business environments. Technology changes seemingly
occur constantly. The ability to isolate relevant technologies from the veritable
tsunami of innovations, evaluate their ability to create business value, and successfully
integrate them into a firm’s business processes is a challenge firms continue to
struggle with. Thus the necessity for a technology assessment process to
systematically identify and evaluate new technologies for their fitness to address the
firm’s business needs.

Doering and Parayre (2000) developed a four-step model for assessing new
technology leading to a firm’s eventual commitment or noncommitment to pursuing
the new innovation. The four steps are not linear; they are highly interrelated and
executed in an iterative manner. Review the four-step model, which includes scoping,
searching, evaluating, and committing:

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1 - Scoping
Managers establish the area of their technology search. The area under consideration
is driven by factors such as strategic intent or the firm’s competencies with various
technologies. If a technology does not align with a firm’s business strategy or if the
firm lacks the knowledge and skills to implement and support a technology, then
those technologies must be considered out of scope.
2 - Searching
Firms must determine the sources that must be continuously reviewed for signs of
technology changes that are within the scope of the technology assessment. Once a
firm identifies in-scope technologies, it must determine where to look for the new
innovations. Doering and Parayre (2000) list several potential sources. The list,
although not all-inclusive, includes:
• Inside the firm: look internally for potential ideas. Employees can be an excellent
source for ideas on innovative products and services.
• Technical and trade literature: Focus your search efforts on new product
announcements or innovative ideas not yet commercially developed.
• Patents: Search patent databases for new trends.
• Competitors’ actions: How your competitors are behaving is a strong signal that
something new is in the works.
Competitive intelligence: Your search in this area should focus primarily on industry
intelligence concerning trends and new technologies.

3 - Evaluating
Once candidate technologies are identified they must next be evaluated against the
firm’s skills and competencies to determine if current resources can implement and
support the new innovation. While technologies that do not match a firm’s
competencies would be considered out of scope in Step 1, often the new technology
has so much potential a firm might choose to build or acquire the requisite skills as
part of the assessment process. The new technology is also evaluated based on its
value-creation capabilities. The new technology must create business value by either
increasing revenue or decreasing costs.
4 - Committing
The previous three steps help firms decide whether or not to pursue a technology.
This step answers the question of what approach or plan does a firm use to integrate
this new technology. Several approaches firms commonly follow are:
• Wait and see: Firms that are particularly risk-averse may delay adopting the new
technology until the technology matures. Another factor for taking this
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 approach is to let others experiment with the technology and learn from their
mistakes.
• Lead: Firms may jump on the bandwagon as an early adopter of the technology.
Their goal is to use the technology to create sufficient business value to sustain
their overall business strategy, whether that is growth or stability.
React quickly: In this paradigm, firms choose to proactively monitor their business
environment. If the new technology has no issues they jump on board quickly.

Failure to manage emerging technologies comes with a high cost. A rigorous process
for assessing technologies is crucial to help firms avoid those costly failures. A clear
and consistently applied technology assessment process can ensure decision-makers
receive the necessary information to make good decisions about technology
adoption.
With this model in mind, let’s consider some of the emerging and predicted trends in
technology as shown in these videos:

2. Evaluating new software technologies

An important function within the Doering and Parayre (2000) technology assessment
process is evaluating new technologies. Unfortunately, firms often do not spend
enough time testing new technologies in order to determine whether the innovation
is worth committing organizational resources in terms of infrastructure, money, and
people to implement. Often, the firm heeds only the advanced “hype” around the
new technology and does not adequately perform due diligence evaluating the new
product.

In this section we examine some guidelines firms should follow when evaluating
various software products. While these guidelines are critical for firms to consider,
they are not meant to replace solid planning and execution of a mature product
evaluation process. Let us examine these guidelines for evaluating application and
system software including operating systems.

In the scoping and searching functions of the technology assessment process,

emerging technologies are identified that fit a predetermined set of objectives and
requirements. However, the identification tasks within the first two functions will not
all completely test the new technology against the firm’s objectives and requirements.
Therefore, a new technology can be selected which ultimately may not fulfill the firm’s
requirements. Only in the evaluating stage can firms commit sufficient resources to
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comprehensively test the new product against the organization’s requirements.

Operating systems
Without question, implementing a new operating system is one of the riskiest
endeavors a firm can embark on. Since an operating system essentially runs
“everything,” this change permeates all parts of an IT infrastructure. Therefore, testing
the new operating system must be exhaustive.

Typically, a firm adopts a new operating system for several reasons:

• The old operating system is unsupported by the supplier.
• The new operating system is cheaper, faster, more efficient, and/or consumes less
computing resources.
• The new operating system is the only operating system compatible with a new
applications software technology the firm is also considering.
While this list is not all-inclusive, you can surmise that the firm can choose to
implement a new operating system for a variety of reasons.

Review these general guidelines for evaluating operating systems:

Regression and load testing
Test all current applications software and system software that are to be driven by this
operating system. Testing should include both regression testing (ensure current
applications software and system software perform as they used to) and load testing
(ensure current applications and systems software can minimally process the same
amount of transactions and data as with the other operating system). If the new
operating system is touted to improve performance, ensure that objective is met.

Stability and upgrade schedule

Review the supplier’s product roadmap for the operating system. When will the next
version be released? What new functionality will be included in the next releases? As
much as possible, try to determine the volatility of the new technology. How will
changes to the new technology impact your firm?
Financial impact
Review the financial impact of operating system licensing fees and the licensing fees
for applications software and system software. When a firm migrates to a new
operating system, often the application and systems software must be relicensed.

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Applications software
Applications software runs a firm’s business processes. Therefore a change in
applications software must be tested against the firm’s business processes. Review a
few guidelines for applications software:
Regression and load testing
Test all current applications software and system software that need to interface with
this applications software product. Testing should include both regression testing
(ensure current applications software and system software interfaces perform as they
used to) and load testing (ensure current applications software and system software
interfaces can minimally process the same amount of transactions and data as
before.). If the new application is touted to have improved functionality or to improve
performance of a business process, ensure that objective is met.
Stability and upgrade schedule
Review the supplier’s product roadmap for the applications software product. When
will the next version be released? What new functionality will be included in the next
releases? At much as possible, try to determine the volatility of the new technology.
How will changes to the new technology impact your firm?

System software
System software, such as database management systems, business intelligence tools,
Web browsers, and middleware, by their nature as system software, have interfaces
with application, software, operating systems, and other system software products.
Evaluating an emerging system software product warrants no less due diligence by
the organization.
Review a few guidelines for system software:
Regression and load testing
Test all current applications software and system software that need to interface with
this system software product. Testing should include both regression testing (ensure
current applications software and system software interfaces perform as they used to)
and load testing (ensure current applications software and systems software
interfaces can minimally process the same amount of transactions and data as
before.). If the new application is touted to have improved functionality or to improve
performance, ensure that objective is met.
Stability and upgrade schedule
Review the supplier’s product roadmap for the system software product. When will
the next version be released? What new functionality will be included in the next
releases? At much as possible, try to determine the volatility of the new technology.
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How will changes to the new technology impact your firm?
Financial impact
Review the financial impact of system software licensing fees and the licensing fees
for other applications software and system software products. For example, adopting
a new relational database management system means not only incurring the licensing
cost of the database management system but potentially relicensing the applications
software and system software products that would interface with the new database
software.

In summary, the proper evaluation of new software technologies is critical to reducing

the risk of negatively impacting your firm’s business and IT environments. Product
evaluations are expensive but so is the business impact of lost revenue, declining
customer satisfaction, and decreased market share. As you look at new technologies,
reflect on how to properly evaluate the new technology’s ability to create business
value for your firm.

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