Planning Software and

Hardware

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

Agenda
Introduction to Software
System Software: Operating System Selection
 Desktop Operating System
 Workgroup operating system
 Enterprise operating system
 Operating system selection criteria
 Application Software for Information System
 Horizontal application software
 Vertical application software
 Hardware Selection Criteria
 Software and Hardware Upgrade Planning

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Introduction to Software
Software: Group of instructions that control and
direct the functions of computer system. Without
software, computer hardware cannot perform its
tasks

Main functions of software:

Manage computer resources
Act as interface between user and computer hardware
Provide tool for humans to take advantage of computer
resources

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Software Types
There are two major types of Software:
 System Software
Set of programs designed to manage and coordinate the
functions, activities and resources of the computer such as
the central processing unit, communication links and
peripheral devices
Examples: Operating system, computer language
translation
 Application Software
Programs built on system software to help users
perform specific tasks
Examples: word processing, spreadsheets

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 End Users and Hardware

End users first access End Users

the application software
which in turn send Application
Software

request to operating
system that directs the
System
Software

computer hardware to
perform end users Hardware

requests

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

Agenda
Introduction to Software
System Software: Operating System Selection
 Desktop Operating System
 Workgroup operating system
 Enterprise operating system
 Operating system selection criteria
 Application Software for Information System
 Horizontal application software
 Vertical application software
 Hardware Selection Criteria
 Software and Hardware Upgrade Planning

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 System Software: Operating
System Selection
Operating system is system software that
manages and controls the activities of computer
hardware
Managers should carefully select the operating
system because the way the operating system
handles computer’s resources affect how they and
their employees see those resources.
Operating systems differs in their user interface,
their ability to handle multiple tasks and users
and their compatibility with different types of
applications and computers.
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Operating System major
Functions
User Interface: Users communicate with any
operating system through the interface provided
by that operating system. Operating systems are
command driven or graphical user interface
Resource Management: Operating system main
functions is to manage computer resources
among different users or different applications
File Management: The operating system controls
the creation, deletion and update of files. Also, OS
manages the storage of files on secondary storage
and other storage devices
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Operating System major
Functions (2)
Task Management: It controls which task gets
access to the CPU time and for how long.
Multitasking capabilities enable user to run
multiple programs at the same time. While time
sharing function allow more than one user to get
access to computer resources.

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

Agenda
Introduction to Software
System Software: Operating System Selection
 Desktop Operating System
 Workgroup operating system
 Enterprise operating system
 Operating system selection criteria
 Application Software for Information System
 Horizontal application software
 Vertical application software
 Hardware Selection Criteria
 Software and Hardware Upgrade Planning

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Desktop Operating System
It is an operating system installed on personal
computers
Popular operating system:
 Microsoft Operating System: PC-DOS and MS-DOS which
are command driven were first developed. Later Microsoft
developed windows series which are all graphical user
interface
 Apple Computer Operating System: Apple computers
typically use Mac OS. Apple computers are quite popular.
Apple released many version of Mac which provides features
that are not available in Windows.
 Linux: Linux is an open source freely distributable
operating system. It was introduced in 1991 by Linus
Torvalds. Linux actually is just operating system kernel

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

Agenda
Introduction to Software
System Software: Operating System Selection
 Desktop Operating System
 Workgroup operating system
 Enterprise operating system
 Operating system selection criteria
 Application Software for Information System
 Horizontal application software
 Vertical application software
 Hardware Selection Criteria
 Software and Hardware Upgrade Planning

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

Workgroup Operating System
Workgroup OS are also called network OS that
manages collection of computers connected
through network
Popular Workgroup operating system:
 Windows Server: Microsoft has evolved and released
windows server 2000, 2003, 2008, 2012 adding features
enabling users to manage entire network.
 Unix: It is a powerful OS that was originally developed by
AT&T and is now offered by other vendors like Solaris
 Mac OS X Server: The first server OS developed by Apple.
It is easy to install, set up and manage
 Red Hat Linux: Red Hat is a Linux operating system that is
capable of serving up web pages and can manage a cluster of
up to eight servers
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Agenda
Introduction to Software
System Software: Operating System Selection
 Desktop Operating System
 Workgroup operating system
 Enterprise operating system
 Operating system selection criteria
 Application Software for Information System
 Horizontal application software
 Vertical application software
 Hardware Selection Criteria
 Software and Hardware Upgrade Planning

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Enterprise Operating System
Enterprise operating system works on mainframe
computers which are mainly used in governments and
businesses.
Popular Enterprise operating system:
 OS/390: IBM developed OS/390 mainframe operating
system most commonly installed on IBM S/390
mainframes as an evolution of other early operating
system called MVS
 z/OS: z/OS (z stands for zero downtime) is 64 bit
operating system for mainframe computers developed
by IBM. It is the successor of OS/390 with new
capabilities to make it easier and less expensive for
users to run large mainframe computers
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Agenda
Introduction to Software
System Software: Operating System Selection
 Desktop Operating System
 Workgroup operating system
 Enterprise operating system
 Operating system selection criteria
 Application Software for Information System
 Horizontal application software
 Vertical application software
 Hardware Selection Criteria
 Software and Hardware Upgrade Planning

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Operating System Selection
Criteria
Business Use: The operating system selection depends
first on the job that organization needs it to do if it will
work on PCs or use networks or even use mainframes.
Compatibility: Firms should choose the operating system
that is compatible with its hardware devices and software
Stability and Availability: Mission critical applications
need special operating system requirements because
business depends on these applications for operation and
survival
Cost and Support: Think about operating system’s cost
and support after purchase
Security: OS come with different level of security
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Agenda
Introduction to Software
System Software: Operating System Selection
 Desktop Operating System
 Workgroup operating system
 Enterprise operating system
 Operating system selection criteria
 Application Software for Information System
 Horizontal application software
 Vertical application software
 Hardware Selection Criteria
 Software and Hardware Upgrade Planning

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Application Software for IS
Applications software are commonly classified
into two broad categories: horizontal application
software and vertical application software.
Horizontal application software performs generic
tasks common to many types of problems and
applications across and within industries.
Vertical application software is program defined
by requirements for specific industry or market
targeting small number of users with specific
skills and job responsibilities

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

Agenda
Introduction to Software
System Software: Operating System Selection
 Desktop Operating System
 Workgroup operating system
 Enterprise operating system
 Operating system selection criteria
 Application Software for Information System
 Horizontal application software
 Vertical application software
 Hardware Selection Criteria
 Software and Hardware Upgrade Planning

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Horizontal Application Software
Popular horizontal application software:

Word Processing Software: It is software used to handle

electronic editing, formatting, storage and printing of
documents
Spreadsheets: Software displaying data in forms of row
and column with the capability of inserting functions and
making numerical calculations
Data management Software: Software used to store,
organize and retrieve data of any type
Presentation Graphics: Software enabling users with little
graphics skills to present data in a professional looking
slides. Users can add pictures, videos and charts. In
addition, animations may also be used to make the
presentation more interesting.
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Agenda
Introduction to Software
System Software: Operating System Selection
 Desktop Operating System
 Workgroup operating system
 Enterprise operating system
 Operating system selection criteria
 Application Software for Information System
 Horizontal application software
 Vertical application software
 Hardware Selection Criteria
 Software and Hardware Upgrade Planning

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Vertical Application Software
Organizations need specific applications meeting
their requirements and helping accomplishing
their goals.
There are three ways for getting vertical
application software:
(1) purchase off-the-shelf software
(2) customize the software
(3) develop the software from scratch.

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

Vertical Application Software (2)
Off the Shelf Software: it is software that is
purchased from vendor and installed without
modifications
Customized Software: It is more useful to
customize the readymade software to include the
specific business requirements for each business
or industry
Home Grown Software: Some organizations may
prefer to develop their own software from scratch
rather than using or customizing ready software
packages

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

Agenda
Introduction to Software
System Software: Operating System Selection
 Desktop Operating System
 Workgroup operating system
 Enterprise operating system
 Operating system selection criteria
 Application Software for Information System
 Horizontal application software
 Vertical application software
 Hardware Selection Criteria
 Software and Hardware Upgrade Planning

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Hardware Selection Criteria
The factors to consider in the selection of hardware are
Cost: Identify the budget specified for hardware purchase
to avoid cost overrun
Storage and memory capacity: Having main memory with
great capacity means that more applications will be able to
run at the same time. Also size of hard drive depends on
the amount of data you need to store
Speed: Considering the speed of processor and access
speed of hard disk also affect the choice of computer
Brand/Manufacturer: Hardware with known brand name
ensure good quality and good support and maintenance
Compatibility: Hardware should be upgradable and
compatible with the existing software.
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Agenda
Introduction to Software
System Software: Operating System Selection
 Desktop Operating System
 Workgroup operating system
 Enterprise operating system
 Operating system selection criteria
 Application Software for Information System
 Horizontal application software
 Vertical application software
 Hardware Selection Criteria
 Software and Hardware Upgrade Planning

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Software & Hardware Upgrade planning
The plan should include the following factors:
Decision to Upgrade: The time to upgrade is important
factor to consider. Will upgrading now will increase
productivity? Will upgraded system affect positively the
productivity?
Identify Upgraded Items: Managers along with technicians
should identify the items that should be upgraded and prioritize
them for example based on cost/benefit of each item
Consider Item Dependencies: Upgrading some items may
depend on upgrading other items first or upgrading one item
requires the upgrade of others.
Phased Upgrade: Plan to upgrade items in phases not in
parallel in order to avoid general computer failure in case
of problems
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe