CHAPTER-1

BYINTRODUCTION
SHAILENDRA.PATHARE
TO IT SUPPORT
IN MANAGEMENT
 SYNOPSIS

1.1 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONCEPTS

1.2 INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND ITS MAJOR COMPONENTS
1.3 SUCCESS AND FAILURE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
1.4 IT DEVELOPMENT TRENDS
1.5 CONCEPT OF DIGITAL ECONOMY AND DIGITAL ORGANIZATION
1.6 IT RESOURCES
1.1 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONCEPTS

 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEALS WITH DATA AND INFORMATION STORED

IN ELECTRONIC FORM THAT CAN BE CREATED OR ACCESSED BY
APPLICATION PROGRAMS. ALSO, THE SAME DATA OR INFORMATION IS
SHARED OR COMMUNICATED OVER ELECTRONIC MEDIA/NETWORK OR
INTERNET OR VPN WITH OTHER (AUTHORIZED) USERS.
 DATA:
 DATA IS PLURAL OF DATUM, WHICH MEANS A SINGLE PIECE OF INFORMATION.
DATA IS DEFINED AS A KNOWN FACT THAT CAN BE RECORDED AND THAT HAVE
IMPLICIT MEANING. ACTUALLY, DATA ARE RAW OR ISOLATED FACTS FROM
WHICH THE REQUIRED INFORMATION IS PRODUCED. PLEASE NOTE THAT
DATA IS THE MATERIAL ON WHICH COMPUTER PROGRAMS WORK UPON. IT
CAN BE NUMBERS, LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET, WORDS, SPECIAL SYMBOL
ETC. ALSO NOTE THAT BY THEMSELVES THEY HAVE NO MEANING.

 FOR EXAMPLE, THE NUMBER 651974 IS MEANINGLESS BY ITSELF SINCE IT

DOES NOT SIGNIFY ANYTHING. SO IT IS OUR DATA AND NOT INFORMATION.
OTHER EXAMPLE OF DATA CAN BE OBJECTS LIKE DOCUMENTS, IMAGES,
VIDEO ETC.
 INFORMATION:

 IT IS DEFINED AS COLLECTION OF RELATED DATA THAT WHEN PUT

TOGETHER COMMUNICATE MEANINGFUL AND USEFUL MESSAGE TO A
RECIPIENT WHO USES IT, TO MAKE DECISION OR TO INTERPRET THE DATA
TO GET THE MEANING. ACTUALLY IT IS DATA THAT HAS BEEN CONVERTED
INTO A MORE USEFUL OR INTELLIGIBLE FORM. FOR EXAMPLE, MARKS
OBTAINED BY STUDENTS AND THEIR ROLL NUMBERS FORM DATA WHERE
THEIR MARK-SHEET IS THE INFORMATION.
 COMPARISON OF DATA AND INFORMATION
Sr. No. Data Information

Data is raw fact and figures. Data when stored in some form then it becomes
1
E.g. 89 = data. information. E.g. Marks = 89

2 Raw data is not significant to a business. Information is significant to a business.

3 Data does not help indecision-making. Information helps in decision-making.

4 Data is generally in unorganized form. Information is in organized form.

Data is collected from the source directly

Information is dependent on the data that is
5 & hence is not dependent on
gathered.
information.
 APPLICATION PROGRAMS
 THESE ARE THE PROGRAM THROUGH WHICH THE DATA IS CREATED, ACCESSED,
VIEWED, MODIFIED AND/OR DELETED. AN APPLICATION PROGRAM (SOMETIMES
SHORTENED TO APPLICATION) IS ANY PROGRAM DESIGNED TO PERFORM A
SPECIFIC FUNCTION DIRECTLY FOR THE USER OR, IN SOME CASES, FOR ANOTHER
APPLICATION PROGRAM. EXAMPLES OF APPLICATION PROGRAMS INCLUDE
WORD PROCESSORS; DATABASE PROGRAMS; WEB BROWSERS; DEVELOPMENT
TOOLS; DRAWING, PAINT, AND IMAGE EDITING PROGRAMS; AND
COMMUNICATION PROGRAMS. APPLICATION PROGRAMS USE THE SERVICES OF
THE COMPUTER'S OPERATING SYSTEM AND OTHER SUPPORTING PROGRAMS. THE
FORMAL REQUESTS FOR SERVICES AND MEANS OF COMMUNICATING WITH
OTHER PROGRAMS THAT A PROGRAMMER USES IN WRITING AN APPLICATION
PROGRAM IS CALLED THE APPLICATION PROGRAM INTERFACE (API). THESE ARE
THE PROGRAM THROUGH WHICH THE DATA IS CREATED, ACCESSED, VIEWED,
MODIFIED AND/OR DELETED.
 NETWORK
DEFINITION OF NETWORKING:
 “WHEN TO OR MORE ARE JOINED TOGETHER THEN THEY ARE CAPABLE OF EXCHANGING
INFORMATION ESSENTIALLY THROUGH ELECTRONIC MEDIA, THEY CAN FORM A
NETWORK.”
 NETWORKING IS A PROCESS BY WITH DATA COMMUNICATION IS PERFORMED BETWEEN
TWO OR MORE CONNECTED DEVICES. USING NETWORK WE CAN TRANSFER DATA FROM
ONE MACHINE TO ANOTHER MACHINE. A GROUP OF SUCH CONNECTED MACHINES ARE
CALLED AS A NETWORK.
 A COMPUTER NETWORK IS A NETWORK USING WHICH WE CAN CONNECT COMPUTERS
AND OTHER ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, SO THAT THEY CAN COMMUNICATE, EXCHANGE
INFORMATION AND SHARE RESOURCES IN REAL TIME. COMPUTERS NETWORKS ENABLE
MULTIPLE USERS TO ACCESS SHARE DATA AND PROGRAM INSTANTLY. THIS CAPABILITY
FREES INDIVIDUAL USERS FROM KEEPING SEPARATE COPIES OF DATA AND PROGRAMS
ON THEIR OWN COMPUTER. NETWORK PROVIDES TREMENDOUS BENEFITS.
TYPES AND LEVEL OF INFORMATION SYSTEM
 A FOUR LEVEL PYRAMID MODEL OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS BASED ON THE
DIFFERENT LEVELS OF HIERARCHY IN AN ORGANIZATION. THE FIRST LEVEL REPRESENTS
TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEMS FOR WORKERS. THE SECOND LEVEL REPRESENTS
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS. THE THIRD LEVEL REPRESENTS
DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR SENIOR MANAGERS. THE FOURTH LEVEL REPRESENTS EXECUTIVE
INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR EXECUTIVES. "THE "CLASSIC" VIEW OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOUND
IN THE TEXTBOOKS IN THE 1980S WAS OF A PYRAMID OF SYSTEMS THAT REFLECTED THE HIERARCHY
OF THE ORGANIZATION, USUALLY TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEMS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE
PYRAMID, FOLLOWED BY MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS, DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS, AND
ENDING WITH EXECUTIVE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AT THE TOP.
 ALTHOUGH THE PYRAMID MODEL REMAINS USEFUL, SINCE IT WAS FIRST FORMULATED A NUMBER OF
NEW TECHNOLOGIES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED AND NEW CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
HAVE EMERGED, SOME OF WHICH NO LONGER FIT EASILY INTO THE ORIGINAL PYRAMID MODEL.
SOME EXAMPLES OF SUCH SYSTEMS ARE: DATA WAREHOUSES, ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING,
ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS, EXPERT SYSTEMS, SEARCH ENGINES, GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM,
GLOBAL INFORMATION SYSTEM.
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SUPPORT SYSTEM
 INFORMATION SYSTEM IS DIVIDED INTO TWO TYPES:
1. OPERATION SUPPORT SYSTEM.
2. MANAGEMENT SUPPORT SYSTEM.

1. OPERATIONAL SUPPORT SYSTEM: -

 THE ROLE OF OPERATIONAL SUPPORT SYSTEM IS TO EFFICIENTLY PROCESS BUSINESS
TRANSACTION, CONTROL INDUSTRIAL PROCESS SUPPORT ENTERPRISE COMMUNICATION
AND UPDATE CORPORATE DATABASE. - THE INFORMATION SYSTEM GENERALLY DEALS
WITH THE SUPPORT OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS KNOWN AS OPERATION SUPPORT SYSTEM
PRODUCES A VARIETY OF INFORMATION PRODUCT FOR EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL USE,
HOWEVER SUCH PRODUCTS PRODUCED BY OSS NEEDS FURTHER PROCESSING FOR
EFFICIENT USE BY MANAGER. THE VARIOUS OPERATION SUPPORT SYSTEM ARE:
A. TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEM (TPS)
B. PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM (PCS)
C. ENTERPRISE COLLABORATION SYSTEM (ECS)
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SUPPORT SYSTEM
A. TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEM (TPS): IT IS A CATEGORY OF OSS THAT GENERALLY RECORD AND
PROCESS DATA RESULTING FROM BUSINESS TRANSACTION. - IT IS GENERALLY PROCESS SALES, PURCHASE,
INVENTORY AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONAL DATABASE. THESE DATABASE THEN PROVIDE THE DATA
RESOURCES THAT CAN BE PROCESSED AND USED BY DSS AND EIS. - TPS PROCESSED TRANSACTION INTO TWO
WAYS: O BATCH PROCESSING O REAL TIME PROCESSING  BATCH PROCESSING: DATA IS ACCUMULATED
OVER A PERIOD TIME AND PROCESSED PERIODICALLY.  REAL TIME PROCESSING: DATA IS IMMEDIATELY
PROCESSED AFTER A TRANSACTION OCCURS. EX: SALES AND INVENTORY PROCESSING
B. PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM (PCS): IT IS A CATEGORY OF OSS IN WHICH DECISION ABOUT A PHYSICAL
PRODUCTION PROCESS ARE AUTOMATICALLY MADE BY COMPUTER THROUGH ROUTINE DECISIONS THAT
CONTROL OPERATIONAL PROCESS. EX: A PETROLEUM REFINING CENTER USES ELECTRONIC SENSORS
WHICH ARE LINKED TO THE COMPUTERS TO CONTINUOUSLY MONITOR CHEMICAL PROCESSES AND MAKE
INSTANT ADJUSTMENTS THAT CONTROL THE REFINED PROCESS.
C. ENTERPRISE COLLABORATION SYSTEM (ECS): IT IS THE INFORMATION SYSTEM THAT USES A VARIETY OF
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO HELP THE PEOPLE TO WORK TOGETHER. - ECS HELPS TO COLLABORATE
AND COMMUNICATE IDEAS, SHARE RESOURCES AND CO-ORDINATE WORK EFFORT OF AN ORGANIZATION. -
THE AIM OF AN ECS IS TO USE THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE PRODUCTIVITY AND
CREATIVITY OF ORGANIZATION AND WORK GROUP IN AN ORGANIZATION. EX: E-MAIL, CHAT, VIDEO
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SUPPORT SYSTEM
2. MANAGEMENT SUPPORT SYSTEM: -
 THIS IS GENERALLY DEALS WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION AND SUPPORT FOR EFFECTIVE DECISION
MAKING. - IT REFERS TO COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY AND SYSTEM THEORY TO DATA PROCESSING IN AN
ORGANIZATION. - IT HELPS IN DESIGNING SYSTEM FRAMEWORKS FOR ORGANIZING INFORMATION
SYSTEM APPLICATION. - IT HELPS IN MANAGEMENT DECISION MAKING AND PROCESSING OF DATA
GENERATED BY BUSINESS OPERATION. THE VARIOUS MANAGEMENT SUPPORT SYSTEMS:
A. MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)
B. DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM (DSS)
C. EXECUTIVE INFORMATION SYSTEM (EIS)

A. MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS): MIS IS A FORM OF MSS THAT PROVIDES MANAGERIAL
END-USER WITH INFORMATION PRODUCT THAT SUPPORT THEIR DAY TO DAY DECISIONS. - IT PROVIDES
A VARIETY OF INFORMATION IN THE FORM OF REPORT AND DISPLAY TO MANAGEMENT THAT CONTAIN
INFORMATION SPECIFIED IN ADVANCE BY MANAGER. - INFORMATION IS GENERALLY PROVIDED ON
DEMAND OR PERIODICALLY TO THE MANAGERS. EX: SALES MANAGER MAY USE THEIR NETWORK
COMPUTER, NET WEB BROWSER TO GET INSTANT DISPLAY OF THE SALES, RESULT OF THEIR PRODUCT
AND ACCESS THEIR DAILY SALES REPORT.
COMPUTER BASED INFORMATION SYSTEM (CBIS)
A COMPUTER-BASED INFORMATION SYSTEM, OR CBIS, MAKE USE OF COMPUTER TO
GATHER PROCESS, SAVE, EXAMINE AND SHARE OUT INFORMATION FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE, SUCH AS MEETING A BUSINESS GOAL.
THE MAIN COMPONENTS OF A CBIS INCLUDE HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, DATA,
PROCEDURES AND PEOPLE.

1. HARDWARE: THE TERM HARDWARE IS NOTHING BUT MACHINERY PARTS WHICH INCLUDES
CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU), HARD DISK AND INPUT DEVICES SUCH AS KEYBOARD AND OUTPUT
DEVICES SUCH AS COMPUTER SCREEN, STORAGE DEVICES AND COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES.

2. SOFTWARE: THE TERM SOFTWARE IS NOTHING BUT A COMPUTER PROGRAMS AND THE
GUIDEBOOK.

3. DATA: DATA IS USED BY PROGRAM TO GENERATE USEFUL INFORMATION.

4. PROCEDURES: PROCEDURES MEANS THE RULE THAT DEALS WITH THE FUNCTION OF A COMPUTER
SYSTEM.

5. PEOPLE: EVERY COMPUTER BASED INFORMATION SYSTEM (CBIS) WANTS PEOPLE TO OPERATE THE
COMPUTER.
 TYPES OF CBIS-BRIEF DESCRIPTION AND THEIR
INTERRELATIONSHIPS/ HIERARCHIES
TYPES OF CBIS
EXECUTIVE INFORMATION SYSTEM

EXECUTIVE INFORMATION SYSTEM IS A COMPUTER BASED SYSTEM THAT HAND OUT
THE INFORMATION WHICH IS DESIRED BY THYE VARIETY OF TOP ADMINISTRATIVE.

ITS OFFER VERY QUICK ACCESS TO THE WELL-TIMED INFORMATION AND ALSO
RECOMMENDS THE STRAIGHT CONTACT TO THE DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT REPORTS.
EIS IS EASY TO USE FOR USERS. IT IS USED AT AHUGE AMOUNT OF DATA THROUGH THE
GRAPHICS.

THESE KINDS OF THE SYSTEM NORMALLY CONSISTS OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE,
SOFTWARE, DATA, EVENTS AND THE HUMANS.

WITH THE HELP OF ALL THIS, THE HIGH LEVEL MANAGER GET A HUGE SUPPORT IN
DECIDING AND PERFORMING THE VARIETY OF DECISION TAKING THE HELP ALL THE
ENTRIES LISTED ABOVE.

THE EXECUTIVES INFORMATION SYSTEM CAN BE USEFUL IN ACQUIRING THE DATA
FROM THE MANY SOURCES AND THEN IT WILL HELP IN THE COMBINATION AND THE
AGGREGATION OF THIS DATA. DOING THIS THE FINAL OUTPUT IS VERY EASY TO
UNDERSTAND.

EXECUTIVE SUPPORT SYSTEM CAN BE DEFINED AS THE COMPLETE MANAGEMENT
SUPPORT SYSTEM THAT GOES AWAY FROM THE EXECUTIVE INFORMATION SYSTEM
AND CAN CONTAIN INTERACTIONS, WORKPLACE MECHANIZATION, SUPPORT FOR
INVESTIGATION ETC.
SYLLABUS TOPIC : OFFICE AUTOMATION
SYSTEM (OAS)
 AN OFFICE AUTOMATION SYSTEM (OAS) IS A SET OF COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY, WORKSTATION AND PEOPLE TO EXECUTE OFFICIAL
RESPONSIBILITIES.
 IT CAN PERFORM WORKPLACE TRANSACTIONS AND CAN BEAR
OFFICIAL ACTIONS AT ALL MANAGERIAL STAGE. THESE EVENTS CAN BE
SEPARATED IN CLERICAL AND MANAGERIAL ACTIVITIES.
 CLERICAL ACTIVITIES CAN BE DONE WITH THE HELP OF OFFICE
AUTOMATION SYSTEM WHICH CONSIST OF ORGANIZING WRITTEN
COMMUNICATION, TYPESETTING, PRINTING, MAILING, ARRANGING
MEETING, CALENDAR KEEPING ETC.
 UNDER MANAGERIAL ACTIVITIES, OFFICE AUTOMATION SYSTEM
HELPS IN PRESENTING, CREATING INFORMATION AND MESSAGES, AND
CONTROLLING PRESENTATION OF ORGANIZATION.
 OFFICE AUTOMATION SYSTEM CAN INTEGRATE MANY APPLICATIONS
SUCH AS WORD PROCESSING, ELECTRONIC MAIL ETC.
SYLLABUS TOPIC : OFFICE AUTOMATION
SYSTEM (OAS)
WORD PROCESSING
 WORD PROCESSING IS USED FOR THE PREPARATION OF DOCUMENT SUCH AS LETTERS,
REPORTS, MESSAGE, OR ANY TYPE OF PRINTABLE MATERIAL BY ELECTRONIC MEAN.
 THE TEXT IS TAKEN BY KEYBOARD AND PRESENTED O THE COMPUTER’S SCREEN.
TH8IS TEXT CAN BE ALTERED, SAVED, AND REGENERATED USING THE INSTRUCTIONS
PRESENT IN THE WORD PROCESSOR.
 WORK PROCESSOR HAVE FACILITIES FOR SPELL CHECKING, AUTOMATIC PAGE
NUMBERING, GRAMMER CHECKING, COUNTING, HEADER AND FOOTER ETC

EMAIL
 EMAIL OR ELECTRONIC MAIL CAN BE USED FOR THE TRANSFER OF MESSAGES OR
DOCUMENTS.
 THIS HELPS IN QUICK DELIVERY OF MESSAGES AND ALSO DECREASES TIME AND COST
OF TRANSFERRING A PAPER MAIL. E-MAIL CAN ALSO TRANSFER IMAGES, AUDIO,
VIDEO AND MANY OTHER TYPES OF DATA.
SYLLABUS TOPIC : KNOWLEDGE BASED
SYSTEM
 A KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEM (KBS) IS A SYSTEM WHICH CREATES AND MAKES USE
OF KNOWLEDGE FROM MANY RESOURCES.
 THESE SYSTEMS ASSIST IN RESOLVING TRI=OUBLES, PARTICULARLY COMPOSITE
PROBLEMS USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PERCEPTION. THESE SYSTEMS ARE
TYPICALLY USED IN PROBLEM-SOLVING EVENTS, DECISION MAKING AND ACTIONS.
 COMPARING TO CONVENTIONAL COMPUTER-BASED INFORMATION SYSTEMS,
KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEMS CAN HAVE SEVERAL ADVANTAGES.
 THEY CAN MAKE AVAILABLE WELL-ORGANISED DOCUMENTATION AND ALSO
HANDLE HUGE QUANTITY OF UNORDERED DATA IN AN ELEGANT FASHION.
 KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEMS CAN ASSIST IN EXPERT DECISION MAKING AND
PERMIT CUSTOMER TO EFFORT AT A SUPERIOR LEVEL OF CAPABILITY AND
ENCOURAGE PRODUCTIVITY AND UNIFORMITY.
 THESE SYSTEMS ARE EXTREMELY USEFUL WHEN PROFICIENCY IS ENGAGED, OR
WHEN DATA DESIRES TO BE SAVED FOR UPCOMING USAGE OR WANTS TO BE
CLUSTERED WITH MANY EXPERTISE AT A UNIVERSAL PLATFORM, THUS GIVES THAT
LARGE-SCALE MIXING OF KNOWLEDGE. IN CONCLUSION, KNOWLEDGE-BASED
SYSTEMS ARE ABLE TO GENERATE NEW KNOWLEDGE BY USING THE SAVED DATA.
 EXPERT SYSTEM
 THE EXPERT SYSTEM IS A COMPUTER SYSTEM THAT IMITATES THE
DECISION-MAKING CAPABILITY OF A HUMAN BEING EXPERT.
 EXPERT SYSTEMS ARE INTENDED TO RESOLVE COMPOSITE PROBLEMS
BY WAY OF THINKING ABOUT KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTED THROUGH
TRADITIONAL ROUTINE CODE.
 AN EXPERT SYSTEM IS DIVIDED INTO TWO SUBSYSTEMS: THE
INFERENCE ENGINE AND THE KNOWLEDGE BASE. THE KNOWLEDGE
BASE REPRESENTS FACTS AND RULES.
 THE INFERENCE ENGINE APPLIES THE RULES TO THE RECOGNIZE
FACTS TO FIGURE OUT NEW FACTS. INFERENCES ENGINES CAN ALSO
INCLUDE JUSTIFICATION AND DEBUGGING CAPABILITIES.
 AN EXPERT SYSTEM IS A COMPUTER PROGRAM THAT USES ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGIES TO REPRODUCE THE FINDING AND
ACTIVITIES OF A PERSON OR AN ORGANIZATION THAT HAS EXPERT
KNOWLEDGE AND FAMILIARITY IN AN INTENDED FIELD.
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SUPPORT SYSTEM
B. DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM (DSS): DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS ARE COMPUTER
BASED INFORMATION SYSTEMS THAT PROVIDE INTERACTIVE INFORMATION
SUPPORT TO MANAGERS AND BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS DURING THE DECISION
MAKING PROCESS. - IT PROVIDES MANAGERIAL END-USER WITH INFORMATION IN AN
INTERACTIVE MANNER I.E., ANALYTICAL MODELING, DATA RETRIEVAL
INFORMATION PRESENTATION CAPABILITY. EX: PRODUCT PRICING, RISK ANALYSIS
C. EXECUTIVE INFORMATION SYSTEM (EIS): AN INFORMATION SYSTEM THAT
PROVIDES STRATEGIC INFORMATION TAILORED TO THE NEEDS OF EXECUTIVES AND
OTHER DECISION MAKERS (TOP MANAGEMENT). - IT PROVIDES TOP MANAGEMENT
WITH IMMEDIATE AND EASY ACCESS TO SELECT INFORMATION ABOUT KEY FACTORS
THAT ARE CRITICAL TO ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES. EX: THE TOP
LEVEL EXECUTIVES MAY USE THE TOUCH SCREEN TO INSTANTLY VIEW TEXT AND
GRAPHICS THAT DISPLAY THE KEY AREAS OF THE ORGANIZATION.
 MAJOR AREAS OF IT APPLICATION
APPLICATIONS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
 EVERY DAY, PEOPLE USE COMPUTERS IN NEW WAYS. COMPUTERS AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES
ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY AFFORDABLE. THEY CONTINUE TO BE MORE POWERFUL AS
INFORMATION-PROCESSING TOOLS AS WELL AS EASIER TO USE. HUMANS ARE CONTINUALLY
BECOMING DEPENDENT ON IT-ENABLED DEVICES FOR CARRYING OUT SIMPLE TASKS LIKE
REMEMBERING A PHONE NUMBER TO COMPLEX ONES LIKE FLYING A FIGHTER PLANE.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY HAS APPLICATIONS IN ALMOST ALL ASPECTS OF OUR LIFE. SOME OF
THE IMPORTANT ONES ARE:
• SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING:
 SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS IN FIELDS LIKE BIOTECHNOLOGY IS ALMOST ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON THE USE OF
COMPUTERS AND OTHER MICROPROCESSOR-CONTROLLED DEVICES. USING SUPERCOMPUTERS,
METEOROLOGISTS PREDICT FUTURE WEATHER BY USING A COMBINATION OF OBSERVATIONS OF WEATHER
CONDITIONS FROM MANY SOURCES, A MATHEMATICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE BEHAVIOR OF THE
ATMOSPHERE, AND GEOGRAPHIC DATA. COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN (CAD) AND COMPUTER-AIDED
MANUFACTURING (CAM) PROGRAMS HAVE LED TO IMPROVED PRODUCTS IN MANY FIELDS, ESPECIALLY
WHERE DESIGNS TEND TO BE VERY DETAILED. COMPUTER PROGRAMS MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR ENGINEERS
TO ANALYZE DESIGNS OF COMPLEX STRUCTURES SUCH AS POWER PLANTS AND SPACE STATIONS.
 MAJOR AREAS OF IT APPLICATION
• BUSINESS & COMMERCE:
 ONE OF THE FIRST AND LARGEST APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTERS IS KEEPING AND MANAGING BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL
RECORDS. MOST LARGE COMPANIES KEEP THE EMPLOYMENT RECORDS OF ALL THEIR WORKERS IN LARGE DATABASES
THAT ARE MANAGED BY COMPUTER PROGRAMS. SIMILAR PROGRAMS AND DATABASES ARE USED IN BUSINESS
FUNCTIONS LIKE BILLING CUSTOMERS; TRACKING PAYMENTS RECEIVED AND PAYMENTS TO BE MADE; AND TRACKING
SUPPLIES NEEDED AND ITEMS PRODUCED, STORED, SHIPPED, AND SOLD. IN FACT, PRACTICALLY ALL THE INFORMATION
COMPANIES NEED TO DO BUSINESS INVOLVES THE USE OF COMPUTERS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. ALMOST ALL
THE FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS IN THE WORLD ARE DONE ELECTRONICALLY. NEWER TECHNOLOGIES LIKE M-
COMMERCE HAVE ENABLED ALMOST EVERYBODY TO CARRY OUT ROUTINE FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS ON THE MOVE.
 ON A SMALLER SCALE, MANY BUSINESSES HAVE REPLACED CASH REGISTERS WITH POINT-OF-SALE (POS) TERMINALS.
THESE POS TERMINALS NOT ONLY PRINT A SALES RECEIPT FOR THE CUSTOMER BUT ALSO SEND INFORMATION TO A
COMPUTER DATABASE WHEN EACH ITEM IS SOLD TO MAINTAIN AN INVENTORY OF ITEMS ON HAND AND ITEMS TO BE
ORDERED. COMPUTERS HAVE ALSO BECOME VERY IMPORTANT IN MODERN FACTORIES. COMPUTER-CONTROLLED
ROBOTS NOW DO TASKS THAT ARE HOT, HEAVY, OR HAZARDOUS. ROBOTS ARE ALSO USED TO DO ROUTINE, REPETITIVE
TASKS IN WHICH BOREDOM OR FATIGUE CAN LEAD TO POOR QUALITY WORK.
 WITH TODAY'S SOPHISTICATED HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES, IT IS OFTEN
DIFFICULT TO CLASSIFY A SYSTEM AS BELONGING UNIQUELY TO ONE SPECIFIC APPLICATION PROGRAM.
ORGANIZATIONS INCREASINGLY ARE CONSOLIDATING THEIR INFORMATION NEEDS INTO A SINGLE, INTEGRATED
INFORMATION SYSTEM. MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS), WITH THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER (CIO) AT
ITS HEAD, IS A WHOLE, NEW BRANCH OF ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT.
 MAJOR AREAS OF IT APPLICATION
• EDUCATION:
 THE ADVENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED THE MEANING OF THE TERM “LITERATE”,
WITH COMPUTER LITERACY BEING ALMOST AS IMPORTANT AS BASIC LITERACY IN MANY CASES.
COMPUTER EDUCATION IS AN ESSENTIAL COURSE AT THE PRIMARY LEVEL IN MOST SCHOOLS ACROSS THE
WORLD. WITH MORE INFORMATION GETTING DIGITIZED EVERY DAY, AND THE INTERNET MAKING IT
ACCESSIBLE TO ANYONE ACROSS THE WORLD, STUDENTS ARE INCREASINGLY RELYING ON ELECTRONIC
SOURCES OF INFORMATION RATHER THAN PHYSICAL LIBRARIES FOR THEIR NEEDS. INSTRUCTIONAL
METHODOLOGY HAS ALSO UNDERGONE A SEA CHANGE WITH USE OF IMAGES, ANIMATIONS, VIDEOS,
PRESENTATIONS AND E-LEARNING TO COMPLEMENT TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES.

• GOVERNANCE:
 THE CONCEPT OF E-GOVERNANCE IS ONE OF THE MOST NOVEL APPLICATIONS OF INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY WHEREBY IT IS CHANGING THE LIVES OF MILLIONS ACROSS THE GLOBE.
COMPUTERIZATION OF GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES MAKES IT EASIER TO SUPERVISE AND AUDIT, AND MAKES
THE ADMINISTRATION MORE RESPONSIVE TO THE NEEDS OF SOCIETY. IT ALSO BRIDGES THE DIVIDE
BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE. TECHNOLOGIES LIKE TOUCH-SCREEN KIOSKS HELP
DISSEMINATE INFORMATION ON LAND RECORDS, PHOTO IDENTITY CARDS, PENDING BILLS ETC. AND
ENABLE EVEN ILLITERATE PEOPLE TO TAKE MORE INFORMED DECISIONS. INDIA IS LEADING THE WORLD
IN THE EFFECTIVE USE OF IT FOR ELECTIONS.
 MAJOR AREAS OF IT APPLICATION
• MEDICINE:
 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MEDICINE. FOR EXAMPLE, A SCANNER TAKES
A SERIES OF PICTURES OF THE BODY BY MEANS OF COMPUTERIZED AXIAL TOMOGRAPHY (CAT) OR
MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI). A COMPUTER THEN COMBINES THE PICTURES TO PRODUCE
DETAILED THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES OF THE BODY'S ORGANS. IN ADDITION, THE MRI PRODUCES
IMAGES THAT SHOW CHANGES IN BODY CHEMISTRY AND BLOOD FLOW. MOST CRITICAL LIFE SUPPORT
EQUIPMENT ARE PROGRAMMED TO RESPOND TO CHANGES IN THE PATIENT’S STATUS IN SPLIT-SECONDS,
THEREBY REDUCING THE RESPONSE TIME AND RISK OF HUMAN ERROR. NEWER CONCEPTS LIKE ROBOTIC
SURGERY ENABLE SPECIALISTS TO PERFORM SURGERIES FROM REMOTE LOCATIONS. GENOMIC STUDIES
GREATLY DEPEND ON SUPERCOMPUTING POWER TO DEVELOP TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE FUTURE.

• ENTERTAINMENT:
 IT HAS CHANGED THE LIFESTYLE OF MOST PEOPLE. THE CONVERGENCE OF VARIOUS TECHNOLOGIES HAS
CREATED VARIOUS OPTIONS FOR ENTERTAINMENT LIKE GAMES, STREAMING MUSIC AND VIDEO, DIGITAL
TELEVISION BROADCASTS, SATELLITE RADIO, ANIMATED MOVIES ETC. WHICH CAN BE ACCESSED WITH
THE HELP OF MOBILE PHONES, PDAS, NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS OR ON TELEVISION EITHER WITH A CABLE
CONNECTION OR WIRELESSLY USING NEWER-GENERATION WI-FI, CDMA OR GPRS TECHNOLOGIES.
 1.3 SUCCESS AND FAILURE OF
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
 INNOVATION IS THE GREAT WAY TO SUCCESS IN THIS DIGITAL AGE. THE PATH OF INNOVATION IN BUSINESS MEANS DOING
SOMETHING DIFFERENT, SMARTER OR BETTER THAT WILL MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE IN TERMS OF VALUE, QUALITY
OR PRODUCTIVITY BY USING EMERGING OR PROVED TECHNOLOGIES OF THE WORLD. THE TECHNOLOGY WHICH HAS
ALREADY PROVED ITSELF IN LAST TWO DECADES IS OF COURSE THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT). IT HAS
DRAMATICALLY CHANGED THE LIVES OF THE INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANISATIONS. CURRENTLY ONLINE SHOPPING, DIGITAL
MARKETING, SOCIAL NETWORKING, DIGITAL COMMUNICATION AND CLOUD COMPUTING ETC ARE THE BEST EXAMPLES OF
CHANGE WHICH CAME THROUGH THE WAVE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. NOW ACCURATE BUSINESS PLANNING,
EFFECTIVE MARKETING, GLOBAL SALES, SYSTEMATIC MANAGEMENT, REAL TIME MONITORING, INSTANT CUSTOMER
SUPPORT AND LONG TERM BUSINESS GROWTH CANNOT BE ACHIEVED AT THE OPTIMUM LEVEL WITHOUT IT.
 THE SUCCESS OF EVERY BUSINESS DEPENDS ON CERTAIN FACTORS. SOME OF WHICH ARE ACCURATE ANALYSIS, CHOOSING
THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE VISION. RESEARCH FROM THE LAST TWO DECADE HAS PROVED THAT THOSE
ORGANISATIONS THAT DO INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY AND CHOOSE THE PATH OF INNOVATION INCREASE THEIR MARKET
SHARE, FINANCIAL FIGURES AND OVERALL COMPETITIVENESS. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IS THE ONLY TECHNOLOGY
WHICH PROVIDES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO ANALYSE SPECIFIC DATA AND PLAN YOUR BUSINESS JOURNEY ACCORDINGLY.
IT ALSO PROVIDES YOU MANY TOOLS WHICH CAN SOLVE COMPLEX PROBLEMS AND PLAN THE SCALABILITY (FUTURE
GROWTH) OF YOUR BUSINESS. IN THE MODERN AGE, IT IS PROVED THAT DIGITAL MARKETING IS A GREAT TOOL WHICH LET
YOU PROMOTE YOUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES TO THE GLOBAL MARKET WHILE SITTING IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR
REMOTE OFFICE OR HOME. AND THANKS TO THE CLOUD COMPUTING AND MODERN COMMUNICATION WHICH ENABLE YOU
TO FORM A GLOBAL ORGANISATION, MANAGE AND MONITOR ITS VIRTUAL OFFICES ALL OVER THE WORLD. NOW I WILL
BRIEFLY EXPLAIN HOW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN DIFFERENT PHASES OF BUSINESS.
 1.3 SUCCESS AND FAILURE OF
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
DECISION MAKING
 SPEED AND ACCURACY ARE AT THE HEART OF MAKING RIGHT DECISION FOR YOUR BUSINESS. EVERY SUCCESSFUL
ORGANISATION HAS TO GO THROUGH A COMPREHENSIVE MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS WHICH ENABLES MANAGEMENT TO
MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION. MARKET RESEARCH CAN BE DONE IN MANY WAYS THROUGH ONLINE SURVEYS, FORUMS,
BLOGS, GROUP DISCUSSIONS USING WORLD WIDE WEB AND OF COURSE THROUGH IN-PERSON INTERVIEWS AS WELL.
CURRENTLY BIG DATA, GOOGLE ANALYTICS AND MICROSOFT CRM DYNAMICS ARE ALSO GREAT TOOLS TO EXTRACT USEFUL
INFORMATION WHICH CAN IMPACT ON DECISION MAKING. THESE ONLINE TOOLS NOT ONLY PROVIDE REAL TIME RESPONSES
FROM THE POTENTIAL AUDIENCE BUT ALSO ENSURE THE ACCURACY OF DATA BY MINIMISING THE RISK OF HUMAN ERRORS.
MARKETING AND BUSINESS GROWTH
 THE HEART OF THE BUSINESS SUCCESS LIES IN ITS MARKETING WHICH ENABLES THE MANAGEMENT TO IDENTIFY ITS
TARGET AUDIENCE FIRST AND THEN OBSERVE THEIR TRENDS AND NEEDS. THE OVERALL MARKETING COVERS PUBLIC
RELATION, ADVERTISING, PROMOTION AND SALES WHICH SUBSEQUENTLY IMPACT ON BUSINESS GROWTH. MANY TYPES OF
MARKETING CAN HELP YOU REACH YOUR POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS. BUT I WILL BRIEFLY EXPLAIN DIGITAL MARKETING HERE
WHICH WAS THE DREAM IN THE PAST WITHOUT INTERNET TECHNOLOGY. DIGITAL MARKETING IS A MODERN PHENOMENON
WHICH LET YOU PROMOTE YOUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES ALL OVER THE WORLD. IT IS A BROAD TERM WHICH INCLUDES
MANY CONCEPTS LIKE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO), PAY PER CLICK (PPC), BLOGGING, DISCUSSION FORUM, EMAIL
SHOT, SMS, MMS, SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING AND SMARTPHONE APP ADVERTISEMENT ETC. CURRENTLY WEB MARKET IS
BOOMING AT A VERY FAST PACE BECAUSE MOST OF THE ENTREPRENEURS HAVE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE LONG TERM
SUCCESS IN BUSINESS IS NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT DIGITAL PRESENCE ON THE INTERNET. MILLIONS OF NEW WEBSITES ARE
BEING ADDED ON THE INTERNET EVERY YEAR.
 1.3 SUCCESS AND FAILURE OF
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
CUSTOMER SUPPORT AND SATISFACTION
HIGHER LEVEL OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS WHICH CANNOT BE ACHIEVED WITHOUT A REAL TIME
CUSTOMER SUPPORT PROCESS. BUSINESS SUCCESS DEPENDS ON KNOWING ITS CUSTOMERS NEEDS, TRENDS, BEHAVIOURS AND
SATISFACTION LEVEL. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IS THE BEST TOOL TO UNDERSTAND THE CUSTOMER DEMANDS, PROBLEMS
AND THEIR SOLUTIONS. THANKS TO THE INTERNET TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS ENABLED US TO COMMUNICATE WITH MILLIONS
OF POTENTIAL OR EXISTING CUSTOMER IN THE REAL TIME. IT PROVIDES MANY CHANNELS TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE
CUSTOMER WITHOUT GOING OUT IN SNOW OR RAIN. SOME OF THESE CHANNELS ARE EMAIL, WEBINAR, SOCIAL MEDIA,
MEMBER PORTALS, ONLINE NEWSLETTERS AND TEXT OR MULTIMEDIA MESSAGING THROUGH THE SMART PHONE. ENTERPRISE
ORGANISATIONS NORMALLY USE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (CRM) TO HOLD VALUABLE DATA FOR
UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER BEHAVIOURS AND FUTURE NEEDS.
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND GLOBALIZATION
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN BUSINESS SUCCESS. WHEN IT COMES TO MEDIUM OR LARGE
ORGANISATION, IT IS VERY HARD FOR THE TOP MANAGEMENT TO MANAGE ALL THE RESOURCES MANUALLY. THESE
RESOURCES MAY INCLUDE TANGIBLE, FINANCIAL OR HUMAN RESOURCES ETC. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY HAS PLAYED A
VITAL ROLE IN AUTOMATING SUCH COMPLEX PROBLEMS BY INTRODUCING USER FRIENDLY SOLUTIONS. A DECADE AGO, MOST
OF THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS WERE DESKTOP BASED. THANKS TO THE INTERNET AND CLOUD TECHNOLOGY
WHICH ENABLES SOFTWARE ENGINEERS TO INTRODUCE CLOUD BASED ERP (ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING) SOLUTIONS.
NOW, THE MANAGERS CAN MANAGE OR MONITOR THEIR ORGANISATIONAL RESOURCES VIRTUALLY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
BY USING THEIR PERSONAL COMPUTER, LAPTOPS, TABLETS OR SMARTPHONE. THIS CONCEPT HAS INTRODUCED THE IDEA OF
GLOBALISATION. MOST OF MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES (MICROSOFT, GOOGLE, AMAZON, MCDONALDS ETC.) IN THE WORLD
USE THESE CLOUD BASED SOLUTIONS TO MANAGE THEIR VIRTUAL OR PHYSICAL OFFICES AND STAFF WORLDWIDE.
 CASE STUDY OF NIKE’S FAILURE OF ERP
IMPLEMENTATION
BACKGROUND

IN FEBRUARY 2001 NIKE, INC. ANNOUNCED THAT IT WOULD MISS SALES AND PROFIT TARGETS FOR THE
QUARTER DUE TO PROBLEMS WITH SUPPLY CHAIN SOFTWARE IT HAD BEGUN TO IMPLEMENT THE PREVIOUS
YEAR. THE COMPANY SAID THAT IT HAD EXPERIENCED UNFORESEEN COMPLICATIONS WITH THE DEMAND AND
SUPPLY PLANNING SOFTWARE THAT WOULD RESULT IN $100 MILLION IN LOST SALES.
NIKE WAS TRYING TO PUT IN A SYSTEM THAT WOULD CUT ITS RESPONSE TIME TO CHANGING SALES DEMAND.
THESE TYPES OF SYSTEMS RELY ON ALGORITHMS AND MODELS THAT USE HISTORICAL SALES DATA COMBINED
WITH HUMAN INPUT TO GENERATE A SALES FORECAST, WHICH IS THEN CONVERTED TO A MANUFACTURING
PLAN AND ORDERS FOR RAW MATERIALS FROM SUPPLIERS. IT’S NOT EASY TO SET UP AND SUCCESSFULLY RUN
THESE APPLICATIONS TO PRODUCE OPTIMAL RESULTS. THE PROCESS DEMANDS A LOT OF TRIAL AND ERROR,
TESTING, AND RUNNING IN PARALLEL WITH THE OLD SYSTEM TO SHAKE OUT BUGS.
NIKE BEING IN THE APPAREL BUSINESS, WHERE STYLES COME AND GO, AND WHERE ADVERTISING AND
PROMOTIONAL PROGRAMS CAN SPIKE DEMAND, REQUIRING THE SUPPLY CHAIN TO REACT JUST IN TIME,
DELIVERING TO THE MARKET JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF EACH STYLE. AN OVERSUPPLY OF SHOES OR OTHER
APPAREL WOULD LEAD TO DISCOUNTING AND REDUCED PROFITS WHEREAS AN UNDERSUPPLY WOULD LEAD TO
LOST SALES. NIKE RAN INTO BOTH OF THESE SCENARIOS, AND ITS PROFIT DROPPED WHILE SALES DECLINED,
RESULTING IN THE $100 MILLION UNFAVORABLE FINANCIAL IMPACT TO THE COMPANY.
 CASE STUDY OF NIKE’S FAILURE OF ERP
IMPLEMENTATION
 INSIDE THE LOGIC OF THE SOFTWARE NIKE CHOSE THE PARAMETERS AND SETTINGS THAT NEEDED TO BE OPTIMALLY
SET FOR THE MOST EFFICIENT QUANTITIES TO BE PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED TO THE MARKET. IT WAS VERY EASY TO
GET IT WRONG, AND COMPANIES LAUNCHING THIS TYPE OF APPLICATION USUALLY RUN A PILOT FOR SEVERAL MONTHS
BEFORE THEY WERE SATISFIED WITH THE RECOMMENDED PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION PLANS GENERATED BY THE
SOFTWARE.

POSSIBLE REASONS
HERE ARE WHAT THE POSSIBLE MAIN ISSUES IN THE NIKE PROJECT:
(A) COMPLEXITY OF THE APPLICATION WITHOUT COMMENSURATE RESOURCES APPLIED TO MAKING IT WORK: IT’S ALSO
CRITICAL WITH THESE TYPES OF APPLICATIONS TO HAVE THE RIGHT SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS AND THE BEST SYSTEM
USERS IN YOUR COMPANY ON THE TEAM DEDICATED TO MAKING THE SYSTEM WORK THE RIGHT WAY FOR YOUR BUSINESS.
THIS IS WHERE, IF PUBLISHED REPORTS ARE TRUE, IT IS BELIEVED WHERE NIKE MAY HAVE FAILED. IT IS POSSIBLE NIKE
SIMPLY NEEDED MORE IN-HOUSE, USER-DRIVEN EXPERTISE, AND MORE TIME TO MASTER THE INTRICACIES OF THE
DEMAND PLANNING APPLICATION.
(B) A ‘BIG BANG’ APPROACH TO THE LAUNCH WITHOUT SUFFICIENT TESTING: DESPITE PREVAILING WISDOM AND
SUGGESTIONS BY VETERANS THAT NIKE NEEDED TO USE THE PHASED APPROACH WHILE IMPLEMENTING THE NEW
APPLICATION. HOWEVER, NIKE CHOSE TO IMPLEMENT IT ALL AT ONCE. THIS IMMEDIATELY PUT AT RISK A LARGE PORTION
OF THE NIKE BUSINESS. A PHASED APPROACH WOULD HAVE LIMITED THE POTENTIAL DAMAGE IF THINGS WENT WRONG.
 CASE STUDY OF AT & T’S FAILURE OF
NETWORK IMPLEMENTATION
 A YEAR 2009 IS THE YEAR AT&T WOULD LIKE TO FORGET.
 THE NETWORK’S NOTORIOUS NATURE CREATED WIDESPREAD COMPLAINTS, AN AD WAR WITH ITS BIGGEST RIVAL AND A
CONSUMER PROTEST. AT&T LIKE EVERY CELLULAR NETWORK HAS ITS PROBLEMS WITH VOICE QUALITY, OCCASIONAL
DROPPED CALLS AND IMPERFECT DATA COVERAGE. AND AT&T HAS SOME THINGS OTHER NETWORKS DON’T: IT HAS EVEN
BEEN RANKED THE FASTEST 3G NETWORK IN SOME WIRELESS SURVEYS, SUCH AS THE MULTI-CITY BANDWIDTH TEST
RECENTLY PERFORMED BY GIZMODO. THE COMPANY IS ALSO CLEARLY RESPONDING TO THE PROBLEMS, RIGOROUSLY
PUMPING OUT UPGRADES FOR NETWORKS IN MAJOR CITIES ALL OVER THE NATION, ACCORDING TO ITS 2009 PRESS
ARCHIVE.
 YET AT&T HAS TAKEN SOME SERIOUS HEAT. A CONSUMER REPORTS SURVEY, WHICH POLLED SOME 50,000 READERS
SPANNING ACROSS 26 CITIES, RANKED AT&T AS THE WORST CELLPHONE SERVICE IN THE UNITED STATES. MEANWHILE,
ANOTHER SURVEY SHOWED A STEADY DECLINE IN AT&T’S BRAND PERCEPTION.
 AT&T HAD A PERCEPTION PROBLEM, TO SAY THE LEAST, AND MOST OF THAT COULD HAVE BEEN TIED TO ITS
PERFORMANCE AS THE SOLE CARRIER OF THE MOST POPULAR PHONE IN THE NATION, APPLE’S IPHONE.
 MICHAEL GARTENBERG, AN INTERPRET ANALYST SAID, “THEY HAD SOME INTERESTING PARTS THIS PAST YEAR. YOU’RE
APPLE’S PARTNER WITH SHARING THE IPHONE, AND YOU’RE GETTING BOOED LOUDER THAN MICROSOFT. THAT MEANS
YOU’RE NOT HITTING IT THE WAY YOU SHOULD.”
 SURELY, AT&T MADE A NUMBER OF MISTAKES IN 2009 AND MANY OF THEM WERE INDEED RELATED TO THE IPHONE. FROM
MIXED MESSAGES TO BROKEN PROMISES AND MANY MORE. HERE WE DOCUMENT THE COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY’S
COMMUNICATION FAILURES OF 2009.
 CASE STUDY OF AT & T’S FAILURE OF
NETWORK IMPLEMENTATION
MIXED MESSAGES
 BOOS ECHOED THROUGHOUT THE AUDIENCE AT APPLE’S WORLDWIDE
DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE IN MID-2009, WHEN APPLE VICE PRESIDENT OF
MARKETING PHIL SCHILLER DELIVERED THE BAD NEWS: TETHERING FOR
THE IPHONE WOULD BE PROVIDED BY 22 CARRIERS AROUND THE WORLD, BUT
NOT AT&T. THE SECOND PIECE OF DISAPPOINTING NEWS: MULTIMEDIA
MESSAGING, THE ABILITY TO SEND IMAGES AND VIDEOS THROUGH A TEXT
MESSAGE, WOULD BE IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR 29 CARRIERS AROUND
THE WORLD, BUT NOT FOR AT&T CUSTOMERS UNTIL “LATE SUMMER.” MORE
BOOS GREETED THE ANNOUNCEMENT.
 IN STATEMENTS SENT TO THE PRESS, AT&T WAS QUICK TO DEFEND ITS
NETWORK WHEN CUSTOMERS COMPLAINED ABOUT THE LACK OF IMMEDIATE
MMS AND TETHERING SUPPORT FOR THE IPHONE.
 1.4 IT DEVELOPMENT TRENDS
 IN 2016, WE HEARD THE SLOW AND STEADY DRUMBEAT OF SMART TOOLS, INCLUDING CHATBOTS AND
OTHER AI-INFUSED SOLUTIONS, PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS AND CLOUD OFFERINGS. IN 2017, THEY WILL
BE FULLY ENTRENCHED IN COMPANIES ACROSS A WIDE RANGE OF INDUSTRIES. THESE SOLUTIONS
ALL ARE GEARED TOWARD HELPING COMPANIES BETTER CONNECT WITH THEIR USERS AT A MORE
PERSONAL LEVEL AND IMPROVE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, WHETHER THAT CUSTOMER IS IN THE
OFFICE, THE STORE OR THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE. THESE SMART SOLUTIONS, WHICH WILL BECOME
STANDARD TOOLS EVERYWHERE, WILL BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN HUMANS AND COMPUTERS, MORE
CLOSELY MIMICKING THE ROLE OF HUMANS, AND IN SOME CASES REPLACING THEM.
 SO HERE’S MY TAKE ON THE TOP TRENDS THAT WILL DRIVE THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
INDUSTRY IN THE COMING YEAR:
SMART APPS RULE
 TODAY’S COMPANIES ARE FACED WITH AN INORDINATE AMOUNT OF DATA THANKS TO THE IOT
(INTERNET OF THINGS) AND OTHER TECHNOLOGIES, YET THEY OFTEN DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO
WITH IT. SMARTS APPS GIVE THEM A WAY TO GET ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS FROM THIS DATA, WHICH
THEN BECOMES OPERATIONALIZED TO STREAMLINE CORE PROCESSES AND BETTER SERVE
CUSTOMERS.
 1.4 IT DEVELOPMENT TRENDS
 A KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO THE GROWTH OF SMART APPS IS THE INCREASING
POPULARITY OF CHATBOTS. THESE CUSTOMER-FACING, INTELLIGENT BOTS
ARE PROVIDING A NEW LEVEL OF COMMUNICATION AS PEOPLE CONTINUE TO
SPEND MORE TIME IN MESSAGING APPS THAN ON SOCIAL MEDIA. AS THESE
COGNITIVE TOOLS AND BOTS READ FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, UNDERSTAND
HUMAN EMOTION AND LEARN NEW SKILLS, THEY ARE BEGINNING TO BLUR
THE LINE BETWEEN HUMAN AND COMPUTER OPERATORS.
 THE CHALLENGE FOR DEVELOPERS IN 2017 WILL BE TO INTEGRATE AND
MANAGE THE PLETHORA OF DIFFERENT IOT TECHNOLOGIES, DATA,
ENDPOINTS, PLATFORMS AND BACK-END SYSTEMS, AT A SPEED THAT KEEPS UP
WITH THE RAPID PACE OF INNOVATION. IT WILL ALSO REQUIRE THE
SPECIALIZED EXPERTISE OF DATA SPECIALISTS WHOSE AVAILABILITY CAN BE
FEW AND FAR BETWEEN IN TODAY’S MARKETPLACE.
 1.4 IT DEVELOPMENT TRENDS
DATA SCIENTISTS BECOME THE NEW CORPORATE HEROES
 THE POWER OF DATA (AND WHAT TO DO WITH IT) IS NOW A GIVEN IN ALL TYPES OF INDUSTRIES AND IT WILL
ONLY GROW IN SIGNIFICANCE IN 2017. ADVANCED PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS TOOLS ARE ENABLING
COMPANIES TO NOT ONLY MEASURE THE PAST, BUT ALSO, AS THEY LEARN FROM PREVIOUS INTERACTIONS,
THEY CAN EFFECTIVELY CREATE A ROAD MAP FOR FUTURE DECISIONS. SINCE THESE SOLUTIONS ARE ONLY
AS GOOD AS THE DATA THEY ACCUMULATE, THE ROLE OF DATA ANALYSTS AND DATA SCIENTISTS WILL
BECOME AS CRITICAL AS AN HR MANAGER, MARKETING HEAD OR CIO IN THE NEW YEAR.
PAAS BECOMES THE NEXT BIG CLOUD THING
 THE CONCERNS ABOUT SECURITY AND LOSS OF CONTROL IN THE CLOUD WILL BE A THING OF THE PAST IN
2017. FOR A REMOTE AND HIGHLY MOBILE WORKFORCE, THE CLOUD, WHICH ONLY REQUIRES AN INTERNET
CONNECTION TO BE ACCESSED, HAS BECOME AN ATTRACTIVE DELIVERY MODEL. YET, IN THE COMING
YEAR, PAAS SOLUTIONS WILL BECOME THE KEY ACCELERATORS OF A NEW LEVEL OF CLOUD GROWTH
SINCE THEY PROVIDE A PLATFORM FOR CUSTOMERS TO RUN AND MANAGE THEIR APPLICATIONS IN THE
CLOUD WITHOUT THE COMPLEXITY OF BUILDING THE ASSOCIATED INFRASTRUCTURE OR ALGORITHMS.
 AS AI-BASED PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS AND OTHER COMPLEX SOLUTIONS CONTINUE TO TAKE HOLD,
COMPANIES WILL REALIZE THE COMPLEXITY OF DEVELOPING THESE IN HOUSE AND INSTEAD WILL
INCREASINGLY RELY ON PAAS-BASED SOLUTIONS.
 1.4 IT DEVELOPMENT TRENDS
THE YEAR OF THE BUSINESS USER
 A CONSUMER-LED, DIGITAL-FOCUSED MARKET HAS MADE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE A PRE-REQUISITE FOR
BUSINESS USERS IN 2017. THEY WILL EXPECT THE SAME TYPE OF EXPERIENCE THEY HAVE WITH DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGY IN THE CONSUMER WORLD, IN THEIR BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT. BECAUSE OF THIS, THE NEW
YEAR WILL FOCUS ON NEW SOLUTIONS THAT IMPROVE THE BUSINESS USER EXPERIENCE, INCLUDING
INTELLIGENT APPS WHICH MAKE IT EASIER TO PERFORM EVERY-DAY TASKS IN THE OFFICE. TECHNOLOGIES,
SUCH AS VIRTUAL PERSONAL ASSISTANTS, SECURITY SOLUTIONS AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS, WILL
DELIVER THIS NEW LEVEL OF BUSINESS USER FUNCTIONALITY BY INCORPORATING COGNITIVE LEARNING
AND ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION. MOST OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST COMPANIES WILL USE INTELLIGENT
SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE EXPERIENCE OF THE BUSINESS USER IN THE COMING YEAR.
 SO, NEXT YEAR WILL TRULY BE THE YEAR OF THE CUSTOMER — WITH COMPANIES OFFERING SMART
TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO DELIGHT BUSINESS USERS AND CONSUMERS ALIKE. THE GROWTH OF PAAS AND
PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS IS ENABLING THIS NEW SMART GENERATION OF APPLICATIONS AND USHERING IN AN
ERA OF EXCITING NEW SOLUTIONS.
 THIS BRINGS ME BACK TO THE IDEA OF RESOLUTIONS. THERE’S CERTAINLY ONE THAT WILL BE
WORTHWHILE FOR COMPANIES TO KEEP IN THE NEW YEAR: MAKING SURE THEY TAKE THEIR SMART
TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES TO NEW HEIGHTS TO EXCEED THE EXPECTATIONS OF THEIR CUSTOMERS.
 1.5 CONCEPT OF DIGITAL ECONOMY AND
DIGITAL ORGANIZATION
DIGITAL ECONOMY
DIGITAL ECONOMY REFERS TO AN ECONOMY THAT IS BASED ON DIGITAL COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES. THE DIGITAL
ECONOMY IS ALSO CALLED THE INTERNET ECONOMY, THE NEW ECONOMY, OR WEB ECONOMY. INCREASINGLY, THE
"DIGITAL ECONOMY" IS INTERTWINED WITH THE TRADITIONAL ECONOMY MAKING A CLEAR DELINEATION HARDER.
DIGITAL ORGANIZATION
A DIGITAL ENTERPRISE IS AN ORGANIZATION THAT USES TECHNOLOGY AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN ITS
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL OPERATIONS. AS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) HAS RESHAPED THE INFRASTRUCTURE
AND OPERATIONS OF ENTERPRISES, DIGITAL ENTERPRISE HAS TAKEN ON DIFFERENT MEANINGS.
HOW ORGANIZATIONS CAN THRIVE IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY
WE LIVE IN A DIGITAL ECONOMY; A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT THAT HAS CHANGED THE RULES OF DOING BUSINESS AND
MADE DISRUPTION THE NORM. IT HAS PUT CUSTOMERS, NOT COMPANIES, IN CHARGE. AND IT HAS TRANSFORMED
WORKFORCE DYNAMICS AS THE “BORN DIGITAL” MILLENNIALS COME TO PROMINENCE IN THE WORKPLACE. THIS AGE
IS RIPE WITH OPPORTUNITY. ORGANIZATIONS CAN NOW ENGAGE WITH CUSTOMERS AND EMPLOYEES LIKE NEVER
BEFORE, AND THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT HOLDS THE POTENTIAL TO DRIVE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES, SAVE TIME
AND MONEY, AND OPEN THE EXPLORATION OF NEW COMMERCIAL AVENUES. WHEN IT’S FAR CHEAPER TO BUILD AN APP
THAN A MANUFACTURING PLANT, THERE ARE GREATER RETURNS TO BE GAINED FOR SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER
INVESTMENT.
THIS REVEALED FIVE ESSENTIAL LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITIES: DISCIPLINE AND FOCUS, AGILITY,
CONNECTIVITY, OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY, AND EMPOWERMENT AND ALIGNMENT.
 1.5 CONCEPT OF DIGITAL ECONOMY AND
DIGITAL ORGANIZATION
DISCIPLINE AND FOCUS
 ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUCCESSFULLY TRANSFORM WITH THE DIGITAL WORLD HAVE A CLEAR VISION OF WHAT DIGITAL MEANS TO
THEM. THEY DEFINE THEIR DESIRED OUTCOMES, AND THEY FOCUS RELENTLESSLY ON ACHIEVING THEM. SUCH ORGANIZATIONS
DO SO BY PRIORITIZING THE THINGS THAT DRIVE THE MOST VALUE—CUSTOMERS AND TALENT, DATA, AND PRODUCTS—AND THEN
THEY ARE DISCIPLINED IN THEIR EXECUTION. THEY DECIDE QUICKLY WHAT TO INVEST IN, AND THEN DRAW ON THEIR STRENGTHS
TO MAKE THESE INVESTMENTS EFFICIENTLY, EFFECTIVELY, REPEATEDLY, AND AT SCALE.
AGILITY
 DIGITALLY SUSTAINABLE ORGANIZATIONS ARE AGILE: THEY THINK FAST, DECIDE FAST, EXECUTE FAST, FAIL FAST, LEARN FAST, AND
SCALE FAST. AGILE BUSINESSES RUN PLANNING AND EXECUTION IN PARALLEL, INVESTING IN SCENARIO PLANNING SO THEY CAN
ACT PROMPTLY WHEN OPPORTUNITIES ARISE. THEY ARE ALSO PREPARED TO TAKE RISKS. THEY CREATE SOLUTIONS BASED ON
WHAT THEY ALREADY KNOW AND EVOLVE THEM AS CUSTOMER FEEDBACK COMES IN. THIS MEANS STREAMLINING REPORTING
LINES, ENGAGING A WIDER GROUP OF STAKEHOLDERS FROM THE OUTSET, SHARING IDEAS AND PLANS BEFORE THEY’RE FULLY
FORMULATED, AND SEEKING INPUT ALONG THE WAY. THEY LAUNCH SEVERAL PROJECTS AT ONCE TO SEE WHAT WORKS AND WHAT
DOESN’T, AND THEN MAKE RAPID DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT TO INVEST IN AND WHAT TO STOP INVESTING IN.
CONNECTIVITY
 AGILE ORGANIZATIONS ARE CONNECTED ORGANIZATIONS. CONNECTED BUSINESSES CREATE ECOSYSTEMS MADE UP OF
NETWORKS OF PEOPLE, FROM BOTH WITHIN AND OUTSIDE OF THE ORGANIZATION, WHO CAN DRIVE CHANGE. THESE
ORGANIZATIONS ARE NO LONGER CONCERNED ABOUT DEFINED ROLES, INSTEAD FOCUSING ON SHARED OBJECTIVES AND METRICS
TO DELIVER ON SPECIFIC PROJECTS. IDEAS AND INPUT COME FROM ALL SIDES AND SEGMENTS AND ACROSS ALL STAKEHOLDER
GROUPS. EVERYONE INVOLVED ACTIVELY COLLABORATES WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD, CO-DEVELOPING SOLUTIONS WITH
CLIENTS, PARTNERS, AND SOMETIMES EVEN COMPETITORS.
 1.5 CONCEPT OF DIGITAL ECONOMY AND
DIGITAL ORGANIZATION
OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY
 PEOPLE MUST COLLABORATE, SOLVE PROBLEMS, AND THINK CREATIVELY TO MEET CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS
IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY. THIS MEANS EVERYBODY HAS A VOICE. OPEN BUSINESSES UNDERSTAND THAT
BRANDS ARE NOW PUBLIC PROPERTY. CUSTOMERS AND EMPLOYEES CAN FIND OUT ANYTHING THEY WANT
ABOUT ANY BUSINESS—AND PASS JUDGMENT ON IT—AT THE CLICK OF A MOUSE OR THE TOUCH OF A SCREEN.
OPEN ORGANIZATIONS THRIVE IN THIS CLIMATE BY BEING DELIBERATELY TRANSPARENT ABOUT THEIR ETHICS,
RESPONSIBILITIES, DECISIONS, AND PRACTICES. THEY LEVERAGE THEIR OWN IP WHENEVER POSSIBLE BUT ARE
ALSO HAPPY FINDING AND APPLYING IP FROM OUTSIDE SOURCES WHEN NEEDED OR WHEN MORE COST-
EFFECTIVE.
EMPOWERMENT AND ALIGNMENT
 IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY, VALUE IS FOUND IN THREE ASSETS: PEOPLE (BOTH CUSTOMERS AND EMPLOYEES),
DATA, AND PRODUCTS. SUCCESSFUL ORGANIZATIONS PUT POWER INTO THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE CLOSEST TO
THESE ASSETS: MARKETING, HR, AND CUSTOMER OPERATIONS HAVE POWER OVER CUSTOMERS AND TALENT; IT
HAS POWER OVER DATA; AND R&D HAS POWER OVER PRODUCTS. ORGANIZATIONS CAN EMPOWER ALL
EMPLOYEES, FROM THE BOARD TO THE FRONT LINE, BY ALIGNING THEM TO THE SAME THREE THINGS: WHAT
THE BUSINESS STANDS FOR, WHAT IT’S TRYING TO ACHIEVE, AND HOW GOALS ARE BEING IMPLEMENTED. THIS
ENABLES PEOPLE TO MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS IN THE MOMENT, WITHOUT THE NEED FOR CONTINUOUS
GUIDANCE.
 1.6 IT RESOURCES
OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
 THE TERM "OPEN SOURCE" REFERS TO SOMETHING PEOPLE CAN MODIFY
AND SHARE BECAUSE ITS DESIGN IS PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE.
 THE TERM ORIGINATED IN THE CONTEXT OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TO
DESIGNATE A SPECIFIC APPROACH TO CREATING COMPUTER PROGRAMS.
TODAY, HOWEVER, "OPEN SOURCE" DESIGNATES A BROADER SET OF VALUES—
WHAT WE CALL "THE OPEN SOURCE WAY." OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS,
PRODUCTS, OR INITIATIVES EMBRACE AND CELEBRATE PRINCIPLES OF OPEN
EXCHANGE, COLLABORATIVE PARTICIPATION, RAPID PROTOTYPING,
TRANSPARENCY, MERITOCRACY, AND COMMUNITY-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT.
 1.6 IT RESOURCES
WHAT IS OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE?
 OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE IS SOFTWARE WITH SOURCE CODE THAT ANYONE CAN INSPECT, MODIFY, AND ENHANCE.
 "SOURCE CODE" IS THE PART OF SOFTWARE THAT MOST COMPUTER USERS DON'T EVER SEE; IT'S THE CODE COMPUTER
PROGRAMMERS CAN MANIPULATE TO CHANGE HOW A PIECE OF SOFTWARE—A "PROGRAM" OR "APPLICATION"—WORKS.
PROGRAMMERS WHO HAVE ACCESS TO A COMPUTER PROGRAM'S SOURCE CODE CAN IMPROVE THAT PROGRAM BY
ADDING FEATURES TO IT OR FIXING PARTS THAT DON'T ALWAYS WORK CORRECTLY.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE AND OTHER TYPES OF SOFTWARE?
 SOME SOFTWARE HAS SOURCE CODE THAT ONLY THE PERSON, TEAM, OR ORGANIZATION WHO CREATED IT—AND
MAINTAINS EXCLUSIVE CONTROL OVER IT—CAN MODIFY. PEOPLE CALL THIS KIND OF SOFTWARE "PROPRIETARY" OR
"CLOSED SOURCE" SOFTWARE.
 ONLY THE ORIGINAL AUTHORS OF PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE CAN LEGALLY COPY, INSPECT, AND ALTER THAT SOFTWARE.
AND IN ORDER TO USE PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE, COMPUTER USERS MUST AGREE (USUALLY BY SIGNING A LICENSE
DISPLAYED THE FIRST TIME THEY RUN THIS SOFTWARE) THAT THEY WILL NOT DO ANYTHING WITH THE SOFTWARE THAT
THE SOFTWARE'S AUTHORS HAVE NOT EXPRESSLY PERMITTED. MICROSOFT OFFICE AND ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ARE
EXAMPLES OF PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE.
 OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE IS DIFFERENT. ITS AUTHORS MAKE ITS SOURCE CODE AVAILABLE TO OTHERS WHO WOULD LIKE
TO VIEW THAT CODE, COPY IT, LEARN FROM IT, ALTER IT, OR SHARE IT. LIBREOFFICE AND THE GNU IMAGE
MANIPULATION PROGRAM ARE EXAMPLES OF OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE.
 1.6 IT RESOURCES
 AS THEY DO WITH PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE, USERS MUST ACCEPT THE TERMS OF A LICENSE WHEN
THEY USE OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE—BUT THE LEGAL TERMS OF OPEN SOURCE LICENSES DIFFER
DRAMATICALLY FROM THOSE OF PROPRIETARY LICENSES.
 OPEN SOURCE LICENSES AFFECT THE WAY PEOPLE CAN USE, STUDY, MODIFY, AND DISTRIBUTE
SOFTWARE. IN GENERAL, OPEN SOURCE LICENSES GRANT COMPUTER USERS PERMISSION TO USE
OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE FOR ANY PURPOSE THEY WISH. SOME OPEN SOURCE LICENSES—WHAT
SOME PEOPLE CALL "COPY LEFT" LICENSES—STIPULATE THAT ANYONE WHO RELEASES A
MODIFIED OPEN SOURCE PROGRAM MUST ALSO RELEASE THE SOURCE CODE FOR THAT PROGRAM
ALONGSIDE IT. MOREOVER, SOME OPEN SOURCE LICENSES STIPULATE THAT ANYONE WHO ALTERS
AND SHARES A PROGRAM WITH OTHERS MUST ALSO SHARE THAT PROGRAM'S SOURCE CODE
WITHOUT CHARGING A LICENSING FEE FOR IT.
 BY DESIGN, OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE LICENSES PROMOTE COLLABORATION AND SHARING
BECAUSE THEY PERMIT OTHER PEOPLE TO MAKE MODIFICATIONS TO SOURCE CODE AND
INCORPORATE THOSE CHANGES INTO THEIR OWN PROJECTS. THEY ENCOURAGE COMPUTER
PROGRAMMERS TO ACCESS, VIEW, AND MODIFY OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE WHENEVER THEY LIKE,
AS LONG AS THEY LET OTHERS DO THE SAME WHEN THEY SHARE THEIR WORK.
 1.6 IT RESOURCES
IS OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE ONLY IMPORTANT TO COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS?
 NO. OPEN SOURCE TECHNOLOGY AND OPEN SOURCE THINKING BOTH BENEFIT
PROGRAMMERS AND NON-PROGRAMMERS.
 BECAUSE EARLY INVENTORS BUILT MUCH OF THE INTERNET ITSELF ON OPEN SOURCE
TECHNOLOGIES—LIKE THE LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM AND THE APACHE WEB SERVER
APPLICATION—ANYONE USING THE INTERNET TODAY BENEFITS FROM OPEN SOURCE
SOFTWARE.
 EVERY TIME COMPUTER USERS VIEW WEB PAGES, CHECK EMAIL, CHAT WITH FRIENDS,
STREAM MUSIC ONLINE, OR PLAY MULTIPLAYER VIDEO GAMES, THEIR COMPUTERS,
MOBILE PHONES, OR GAMING CONSOLES CONNECT TO A GLOBAL NETWORK OF
COMPUTERS USING OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE TO ROUTE AND TRANSMIT THEIR DATA TO
THE "LOCAL" DEVICES THEY HAVE IN FRONT OF THEM. THE COMPUTERS THAT DO ALL THIS
IMPORTANT WORK ARE TYPICALLY LOCATED IN FARAWAY PLACES THAT USERS DON'T
ACTUALLY SEE OR CAN'T PHYSICALLY ACCESS—WHICH IS WHY SOME PEOPLE CALL THESE
COMPUTERS "REMOTE COMPUTERS."
 1.6 IT RESOURCES
 MORE AND MORE, PEOPLE RELY ON REMOTE COMPUTERS WHEN PERFORMING TASKS THEY MIGHT
OTHERWISE PERFORM ON THEIR LOCAL DEVICES. FOR EXAMPLE, THEY MAY USE ONLINE WORD
PROCESSING, EMAIL MANAGEMENT, AND IMAGE EDITING SOFTWARE THAT THEY DON'T INSTALL AND RUN
ON THEIR PERSONAL COMPUTERS. INSTEAD, THEY SIMPLY ACCESS THESE PROGRAMS ON REMOTE
COMPUTERS BY USING A WEB BROWSER OR MOBILE PHONE APPLICATION. WHEN THEY DO THIS, THEY'RE
ENGAGED IN "REMOTE COMPUTING."
 SOME PEOPLE CALL REMOTE COMPUTING "CLOUD COMPUTING," BECAUSE IT INVOLVES ACTIVITIES (LIKE
STORING FILES, SHARING PHOTOS, OR WATCHING VIDEOS) THAT INCORPORATE NOT ONLY LOCAL DEVICES
BUT ALSO A GLOBAL NETWORK OF REMOTE COMPUTERS THAT FORM AN "ATMOSPHERE" AROUND THEM.
 CLOUD COMPUTING IS AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT ASPECT OF EVERYDAY LIFE WITH INTERNET-
CONNECTED DEVICES. SOME CLOUD COMPUTING APPLICATIONS, LIKE GOOGLE APPS, ARE PROPRIETARY.
OTHERS, LIKE OWN CLOUD AND NEXT CLOUD, ARE OPEN SOURCE.
 CLOUD COMPUTING APPLICATIONS RUN "ON TOP" OF ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE THAT HELPS THEM OPERATE
SMOOTHLY AND EFFICIENTLY, SO PEOPLE WILL OFTEN SAY THAT SOFTWARE RUNNING "UNDERNEATH"
CLOUD COMPUTING APPLICATIONS ACTS AS A "PLATFORM" FOR THOSE APPLICATIONS. CLOUD COMPUTING
PLATFORMS CAN BE OPEN SOURCE OR CLOSED SOURCE. OPEN STACK IS AN EXAMPLE OF AN OPEN SOURCE
CLOUD COMPUTING PLATFORM.
 1.6 IT RESOURCES
 GRAPHICAL SERVER: THIS IS THE SUB-SYSTEM THAT DISPLAYS THE GRAPHICS ON YOUR
MONITOR. IT IS COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE X SERVER OR JUST “X”.
 DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT: THIS IS THE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE THAT THE USERS ACTUALLY
INTERACT WITH. THERE ARE MANY DESKTOP ENVIRONMENTS TO CHOOSE FROM (UNITY,
GNOME, CINNAMON, ENLIGHTENMENT, KDE, XFCE, ETC). EACH DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT
INCLUDES BUILT-IN APPLICATIONS (SUCH AS FILE MANAGERS, CONFIGURATION TOOLS,
WEB BROWSERS, GAMES, ETC).
 APPLICATIONS: DESKTOP ENVIRONMENTS DO NOT OFFER THE FULL ARRAY OF APPS. JUST
LIKE WINDOWS AND MAC, LINUX OFFERS THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF HIGH-
QUALITY SOFTWARE TITLES THAT CAN BE EASILY FOUND AND INSTALLED. MOST MODERN
LINUX DISTRIBUTIONS (MORE ON THIS IN A MOMENT) INCLUDE APP STORE-LIKE TOOLS
THAT CENTRALIZE AND SIMPLIFY APPLICATION INSTALLATION. FOR EXAMPLE: UBUNTU
LINUX HAS THE UBUNTU SOFTWARE CENTER WHICH ALLOWS YOU TO QUICKLY SEARCH
AMONG THE THOUSANDS OF APPS AND INSTALL THEM FROM ONE CENTRALIZED
LOCATION.
 STUDY OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS
(WINDOW/LINUX/DOS)

LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM

 LINUX IS ONE OF POPULAR VERSION OF UNIX OPERATING SYSTEM. IT
IS OPEN SOURCE AS ITS SOURCE CODE IS AVAILABLE EASILY TO
MODIFY. LINUX WAS DESIGNED TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE UNIX
COMPATIBILITY. ITS FUNCTIONALITY IS PRETTY PARALLEL TO THAT
OF UNIX.
STUDY OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS (WINDOW/LINUX/DOS)
1.1 COMPONENTS OF LINUX SYSTEM


LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM HAS MAINLY THREE COMPONENTS
1. KERNEL: KERNEL IS HEART OF LINUX. IT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL KEY ACTIVITIES OF
THIS OPERATING SYSTEM. IT CAN CONTAIN A VARIETY OF MODULES AND IT IS INTERRELATE
WITH THE ESSENTIAL HARDWARE.
2. SYSTEM LIBRARY: SYSTEM LIBRARIES DON’T NEED ANY PERMISSION TO ACCESS A CODE
FROM KERNEL AND ALSO THEY CAN EXECUTE MUCH FUNCTIONALITY PROVIDED BY THE
OPERATING SYSTEM.
3. SYSTEM UTILITY: FOR DOING DEDICATED AND PARTICULAR TASKS THE SYSTEM UTILITY IS
USED.

OTHER COMPONENTS OF LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM

USERS PROCESS: THE PROCESS WHICH IS CREATED BY USERS SUCH AS OPENING A FILE.
COMPILER: IT IS USED TO COMPILE THE USER’S CODE.
USER UTILITY: IT IS A SET OF USER ACTIVITIES.
LINUX IS PERMITTED TO RUN ON ANY HARDWARE. ALSO, LINUX IS CONSTANT, CONSISTENT
AND PROTECTED. THIS MAKES IT AN ENORMOUS SOURCE FOR SERVERS THAT REQUIRES
CONSTANTLY RUN WITHOUT ANY INTERRUPT.
 LINUX
 JUST LIKE WINDOWS XP, WINDOWS 7, WINDOWS 8, AND MAC OS X, LINUX IS AN
OPERATING SYSTEM. AN OPERATING SYSTEM IS SOFTWARE THAT MANAGES ALL OF
THE HARDWARE RESOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR DESKTOP OR LAPTOP. TO PUT IT
SIMPLY – THE OPERATING SYSTEM MANAGES THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN YOUR
SOFTWARE AND YOUR HARDWARE. WITHOUT THE OPERATING SYSTEM (OFTEN
REFERRED TO AS THE “OS”), THE SOFTWARE WOULDN’T FUNCTION.
THE OS IS COMPRISED OF A NUMBER OF PIECES:
 THE BOOTLOADER: THE SOFTWARE THAT MANAGES THE BOOT PROCESS OF YOUR
COMPUTER. FOR MOST USERS, THIS WILL SIMPLY BE A SPLASH SCREEN THAT POPS UP
AND EVENTUALLY GOES AWAY TO BOOT INTO THE OPERATING SYSTEM.
 THE KERNEL: THIS IS THE ONE PIECE OF THE WHOLE THAT IS ACTUALLY CALLED
“LINUX”. THE KERNEL IS THE CORE OF THE SYSTEM AND MANAGES THE CPU, MEMORY,
AND PERIPHERAL DEVICES. THE KERNEL IS THE “LOWEST” LEVEL OF THE OS.
Daemons: These are background services (printing, sound, scheduling, etc) that either start up
during boot, or after you log into the desktop.

The Shell: You’ve probably heard mention of the Linux command line. This is the shell – a
command process that allows you to control the computer via commands typed into a text
interface. This is what, at one time, scared people away from Linux the most (assuming they
had to learn a seemingly archaic command line structure to make Linux work). This is no
longer the case. With modern desktop Linux, there is no need to ever touch the command line.
 WINDOWS

MICROSOFT WINDOWS, OR SIMPLY WINDOWS, IS A META FAMILY OF GRAPHICAL OPERATING SYSTEMS DEVELOPED,
MARKETED, AND SOLD BY MICROSOFT. IT CONSISTS OF SEVERAL FAMILIES OF OPERATING SYSTEMS, EACH OF WHICH
CATER TO A CERTAIN SECTOR OF THE COMPUTING INDUSTRY WITH THE OS TYPICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH IBM PC
COMPATIBLE ARCHITECTURE. ACTIVE WINDOWS FAMILIES INCLUDE WINDOWS NT AND WINDOWS EMBEDDED; THESE MAY
ENCOMPASS SUBFAMILIES, E.G. WINDOWS EMBEDDED COMPACT (WINDOWS CE) OR WINDOWS SERVER. DEFUNCT WINDOWS
FAMILIES INCLUDE WINDOWS 9X, WINDOWS MOBILE AND WINDOWS PHONE.
MICROSOFT INTRODUCED AN OPERATING ENVIRONMENT NAMED WINDOWS ON NOVEMBER 20, 1985, AS A GRAPHICAL
OPERATING SYSTEM SHELL FOR MS-DOS IN RESPONSE TO THE GROWING INTEREST IN GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACES (GUIS).
MICROSOFT WINDOWS CAME TO DOMINATE THE WORLD'S PERSONAL COMPUTER (PC) MARKET WITH OVER 90% MARKET
SHARE, OVERTAKING MAC OS, WHICH HAD BEEN INTRODUCED IN 1984. APPLE CAME TO SEE WINDOWS AS AN UNFAIR
ENCROACHMENT ON THEIR INNOVATION IN GUI DEVELOPMENT AS IMPLEMENTED ON PRODUCTS SUCH AS THE LISA AND
MACINTOSH (EVENTUALLY SETTLED IN COURT IN MICROSOFT'S FAVOR IN 1993). ON PCS, WINDOWS IS STILL THE MOST
POPULAR OPERATING SYSTEM. HOWEVER, IN 2014, MICROSOFT ADMITTED LOSING THE MAJORITY OF THE OVERALL
OPERATING SYSTEM MARKET TO ANDROID, BECAUSE OF THE MASSIVE GROWTH IN SALES OF ANDROID SMARTPHONES. IN
2014, THE NUMBER OF WINDOWS DEVICES SOLD WAS LESS THAN 25% THAT OF ANDROID DEVICES SOLD. THIS COMPARISON
HOWEVER MAY NOT BE FULLY RELEVANT, AS THE TWO OPERATING SYSTEMS TRADITIONALLY TARGET DIFFERENT
PLATFORMS.
AS OF SEPTEMBER 2016, THE MOST RECENT VERSION OF WINDOWS FOR PCS, TABLETS, SMARTPHONES AND EMBEDDED
DEVICES IS WINDOWS 10. THE MOST RECENT VERSIONS FOR SERVER COMPUTERS IS WINDOWS SERVER 2016. A SPECIALIZED
VERSION OF WINDOWS RUNS ON THE XBOX ONE GAME CONSOLE.
SYLLABUS TOPIC : STUDY OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS
(WINDOW/LINUX/DOS)
1. WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM

THE WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM IS DEVELOPED BY MICROSOFT FOR THE FIRST IBM PERSONAL.

GOALS OF WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM

1. EXTENSIBILITY: CODE HAS TO BE ABLE TO GROW UP AND CHANGE WHENEVER REQUIREMENTS ARE CHANGED.

2. PORTABILITY: THE SYSTEM CAN BE RUN ON ANY HARDWARE AND ON ANY PLATFORM.

3. RELIABILITY AND ROBUSTNESS: PROTECTION IN CASE OF INTERNAL BREAKDOWN AND EXTERNAL HACKERS.
APPLICATIONS SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DAMAGE THE OPERATING SYSTEM OR OTHER RUNNING APPLICATION.

4. COMPATIBILITY: SYSTEM SHOULD BE COMPATIBLE WITH OTHER SYSTEM.

5. PERFORMANCE: SYSTEM SHOULD BE AS FAST AND QUICK TO RESPOND AS PROMISING ON EACH HARDWARE
PLATFORM.
STUDY OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS (WINDOW/LINUX/DOS)
FUNCTIONS OF WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM

1. TASK MANAGER

 WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM USES TASK MANAGER TO EXAMINE APPLICATION

AND TASKS WHICH ARE ONGOING ON WINDOWS AND INFORMING TO USERS OR
ADMINISTRATOR ABOUT ALL APPLICATION AND PROCESSES WHICH ARE
CURRENTLY ONGOING ON OPERATIG SYSTEM.

 WHEN YOU OPEN ANY APPLICATION SUCH AS PAINT, THEN STATUS OF PAINT IS
DISPLAYED IN THE APPLICATION TAB OF THE TASK MANAGER.

 YOU CAN PERFORM OTHER FUNCTIONS SUCH AS END A RUNNING TASK, SWITCH
TO ANOTHER TASK AND OPEN NEW TASK.

2. CPU USAGE

 IT IS USED TO CHECK CPU USAGE CONSUMED BY INDIVIDUAL PROCESS AND ALSO

TO CHECK MEMORY USAGE. CPU USAGE IS NOTHING BUT HOW MUCH CPU TIME
3. Performance
It will give you the graphical representation of usage of CPU and memory. It displays the physical
memory usage, that total available physical memory, cached memory and memory present for
usage.
We can also able to see the total kernel memory available, total paged memory and the non paged
memory.
4. Services
It will display the services which has performed their operations or the services that are
performing operations. Services can be of two types: system services and local services.

5. Networking
It is a graphical representation on the network resources usage by the Computer. It shows LAN
usage WAN usage.
It can gives information such as adapter Name, Network Utilization, Link and the status of the
network whether connected or disconnected.
Users : This is will give the information about users like who are active and who are inactive in the
system.
 DOS
 AN OPERATING SYSTEM (OS) IS THE SOFTWARE THAT CONTROLS A COMPUTER'S HARDWARE AND
PERIPHERAL DEVICES AND ALLOWS OTHER PROGRAMS TO FUNCTION. EARLY COMPUTERS DID NOT
HAVE DISK DRIVES BUT WERE HARD-WIRED TO CARRY OUT SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONS. LATER,
COMPUTERS WERE ABLE TO STORE INSTRUCTIONS LOADED INTO THE COMPUTER'S MEMORY USING
PUNCH CARDS AND LATER MAGNETIC TAPES. COMPUTER MEMORY SPACE WAS LIMITED AND WHEN
THE INSTRUCTIONS TO CONTROL A COMPUTER WERE MOVED ONTO A DISK DRIVE, SUCH AS A
FLOPPY DISK OR INTERNAL HARD DRIVE, IT WAS CONSIDERED CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY. TODAY,
ANY MODERN OPERATING SYSTEM WOULD BE CONSIDERED A DISK OPERATING SYSTEM.
 DISK OPERATING SYSTEM IS ALSO USED TO DESCRIBE SEVERAL VERY SIMILAR COMMAND LINE DISK
OPERATING SYSTEMS. PC-DOS (PERSONAL COMPUTER DISK OPERATING SYSTEM) WAS THE FIRST
WIDELY-INSTALLED DISK OPERATING SYSTEM USED IN PERSONAL COMPUTERS RUNNING ON INTEL
8086 16-BIT PROCESSORS. IT WAS DEVELOPED FOR IBM BY MICROSOFT CORPORATION, WHICH ALSO
PRODUCED ITS OWN ALMOST IDENTICAL VERSION CALLED MS-DOS. OTHER COMPUTERS AT THE
TIME, SUCH AS THE COMMODORE 64, ATARI 800, AND APPLE II, ALL FEATURED A DISK OPERATING
SYSTEM, CBM DOS, ATARI DOS, AND APPLE DOS, RESPECTIVELY. (DOS/360 WAS AN OPERATING SYSTEM
FOR IBM MAINFRAMES WHICH FIRST APPEARED IN 1966, BUT IS UNRELATED TO THE 8086-BASED DOS
OF THE 1980S.
STUDY OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS:
(WINDOW/LINUX/DOS)
DISK OPERATING SYSTEM (DOS)

DISK OPERATING SYSTEM IS OLD AND SINGLE USER OPERATING SYSTEM. AS IT IS USED
BY SINGLE USER SO IT CANNOT BE TAKEN INTO MULTIUSER ENVIRONMENT.

DISK OPERATING SYSTEM IS MOSTLY PREFERRED TO STUDY HOW FILE IS CREATED, HOW
IT CAN BE MAINTAINED AND HOW IT IS STORED.

WHEN WE START THE COMPUTER THEN DISK OPERATING SYSTEM MAKES WORK IN THE
INTERNAL PARTS OF COMPUTER SUCH AS READ ONLY MEMORY, RANDOM ACCESS
MEMORY AND PERIPHERAL DEVICES.

THEN IT CAN CHECK THAT OPERATING SYSTEM IS LOADED CORRECTLY OR NOT. DISK
OPERATING SYSTEM IS MAINLY USED TO CO-ORDINATE WITH ALL PARTS OF THE
SYSTEM.

DISK OPERATING SYSTEM CAN OPERATE WITH MANY DISCS SUCH AS HDD, FLOPPY DISC,
MAGNETIC DISC ETC. BECAUSE OF THIS IT IS NAMED AS DISK OPERATING SYSTEM.
Features of Disk Operating System
1. It can be helpful for file management.
2. It is single user operating system.
3. It can accept characters.

Functions of Disk Operating System

1. It can accept instruction from input devices and interpret them.
2. It will helps for finding file location easily.
3. It can have the facility of hiding files & directories so unauthorized users can not access it.
4. DOS having facility of listing out all files, performing operations such as deleting and renaming of
files.