IT Infrastructure and

Emerging Technologies
Cost-effective, Efficient, Energy-saving
Computing
• Singapore’s regulatory system for Construction
• Building IT infrastructure to streamline construction per
mits processes
– CORENET
• COnstruction and Real Estate NETwork
– Construction process
• Design, tender documentation and selection, constructi
on, and handover and maintenance
– Building plan submission and obtaining approvals
and permits
• 16 government authorities across eight ministries
– Traditional process
• Voluminous paper documents
• Manual processing
• Storage space needed
• Disorganized exchange of project information
– CORENET
• e-submission system
– One-stop 24/7 counter for submission
– Online enquiry of submission status
– Quicker processing and turnaround
– Elimination of printing hardcopies
» No need to travel to multiple sites for multiple submission
s
– Benefits
• Cost savings
– Printing
– Traveling
• Better quality
– Streamlined process
• 5.1 IT Infrastructure
• 5.2 Infrastructure Components
• 5.3 Contemporary Hardware Platform Trends
• 5.4 Contemporary Software Platform Trends
• 5.5 Management Issues
 5.1 IT Infrastructure
• The shared technology resources
– Provide the platform for the firm’s specific informa
tion system applications
• Microsoft Operating Systems – Infrastructure
• Services or products built on MS operation systems
– Word, Powerpoints, Excel, ….
– Internet Explorer
– .Net
• IT infrastructure
– A set of
• Physical devices
• Software applications
– Required to operate the entire enterprise
• IT infrastructure
– Set of firmwide services including:
• Computing platforms providing computing services
• Telecommunications services
• Data management services
• Application software services
• Physical facilities management services
• IT management, standards, education, research and development
services
• IT infrastructure
– “Service platform” perspective is more accurate vi
ew of the value of IT investments
• Evolution of IT infrastructure
– Five stages
– Different configuration of computing power and in
frastructure elements.
1. General-Purpose Mainframe and Minicomputer
ERA: (1959 – Present)
• IBM 360
– Online remote terminals
– Centralized mainframe
– Proprietary communication protocol

Figure 5.2 eras in IT infrastructure evolution

• Minicomputer
– Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) 1965
» PDP 11, VAX machine
» Powerful machines at far low prices
» Decentralized computing
2. Personal Computer Era: (1981 to present)
• Xerox Alto, Apple I and II (1970s)
• Wintel PC
– Windows operating software
– Intel microprocessor
– Productivity software tools
» Word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software

Figure 5.2 eras in IT infrastructure evolution

3. Client/Server Era (1983 to Present)
• Clients: Laptop and desktop
• Server: Powerful server computers
– Stores shared data
– Serves Web pages
– Managing network activities

Figure 5.2 eras in IT infrastructure evolution

• Network may be two-tiered or multitiered (N-tiered)
• Various types of servers (network, application, Web)

Figure 5.3 a multitiered client/server network

4. Enterprise Computing Era (1992 to present)
– TCP/IP (1995)
• Transmission Control Protoco
l/ Internet Protocol
– Integrate disparate network a
nd applications
• Link different types of compu
ter hardware
Figure 5.2 eras in IT infrastructure evolution
5. Cloud and Mobile Computing Era
(2000 to present)
• Growing bandwidth power of the Internet
• Client/server model
– Cloud Computing
• Access to a shared pool of computing resources
– Computers, storage, applications, services
• Accessed on an as-needed basis
• IBM, HP, Dell, Amazon
– Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
• Software as a Service
– Google, Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, Salesforce.com
Figure 5.2 eras in IT infrastructure evolution
• Technology driver of infrastructure evolution
– Moore’s law and Microprocessing power
1. The power of microprocessors doubles every 18 mont
hs
2. Computing power doubles every 18 months
3. The price of computing falls by half every 18 months
Figure 5.4 moore’s law and microprocessor performance
Figure 5.5 falling cost of chips
• The Law of Mass Digital Storage
– The amount of digital information is roughly doubl
ing every year
Figure 5.7 the amount of storage per dollar rise
Exponentially, 1950-2012
• Metcalfe’s law and network Economics
– The value or power of a network
Grows exponentially as a function of the number of
networked members

– cp. 邊際效益遞減
• Declining Communications costs and the Inter
net
– Utilization of communication and computing facili
ties explodes

Figure 5.8 exponential decline in internet

communication costs
• Standards and Network Effects
– Proprietary and expensive infrastructure
– Technology standards
• Ethernet
– enabled PCs to connect together in small LAN
• TCP/IP
– enabled LAN to be connected to Internet
– Economies of scale
• Decline of computing cost
• 5.1 IT Infrastructure
• 5.2 Infrastructure Components
• 5.3 Contemporary Hardware Platform Trend
• 5.4 Contemporary Software Platform Trend
• 5.5 Management Issue
 5.2 Infrastructure Components
• IT Infrastructure has 7 main components
1. Computer hardware platforms
2. Operating system platforms
3. Enterprise software applications
4. Data management and storage
5. Networking/telecommunications platforms
6. Internet platforms
7. Consulting system integration services
1. Computer Hardware Platform
– Client machines
• Intel, AMD microprocessors
– Server market
• Intel, AMD blade server in rack
• Sun SPARC
• IBM POWER chips
– Top hardware manufacturer
• IBM, HP, Dell, Sun Microsystems
– Top chip producers
• Intel, AMD, IBM
– Mainframe
• IBM
• Giant server for massive enterprise network and corpor
ate Web sites
• Equivalent to thousands of small blade servers
2. Operating System Platform
– Server operating systems
• Microsoft: 75%
• Unix/Linux: 25%
– Client operating systems
• Microsoft Windows operating systems
• Google Chrome OS: lightweight operating system for cl
oud comp
• Android
• IOS
3. Enterprise Software Applications
– SAP
– Oracle
– Middleware: BEA
• Linking existing systems to Enterprise Applications
– Microsoft
4. Data Management and Storage
– Leading database software
• IBM DB2
• Oracle
• Microsoft SQL Server
• Sybase
• MySQL
– Physical data storage
• EMC
• Storage area networks (SAN)
– Connect multiple storage devices on a separate high-speed net
work
5. Networking/Telecommunications Platform
– Local area network operating systems
• Windows
• Linux and Unix
• Unix: large wide area networks
• TCP/IP: wide area network
– Leading hardware
• Cisco
• Alcatel-Lucent
• Nortel
• Juniper Network
• 華為
6. Internet Platform
– Internet hardware server
• IBM, Dell, HP/Compaq
– Web software applications development tools
• Microsoft
– MS Expression Web, SharePoint Designer, .NET
• Oracle-Sun
– Java
• Adobe
7. Consulting and System Integration Service
• Even a large firm
– Does not have the staff, the skills, the budget, and the necessa
ry experience
– To deploy and maintain its entire IT infrastructure
– Leading consulting firm
• Accenture, IBM Global Service, HP Enterprise Service, I
nfosys, Wipro Technology
– Software Integration
• Ensuring legacy systems works with new Infrastructure
• 5.1 IT Infrastructure
• 5.2 Infrastructure Components
• 5.3 Contemporary Hardware Platform Trend
• 5.4 Contemporary Software Platform Trend
• 5.5 Management Issue
5.3 Contemporary Hardware Trend
1. Mobile digital platform
2. Consumerization of IT & BYOD
3. Grid computing
4. Virtualization
5. Cloud computing
6. Green computing
7. High performance/power-saving processors
8. Autonomic computing
1. The Mobile digital platform
– Smartphones
• Have assumed data transmission, Web surfing,
e-mail and IM duties
– Netbooks:
• Small, low-cost lightweight notebooks optimize
d for wireless communication and core computi
ng tasks
– Tablets (iPad)
– Networked e-readers (Kindle)
2. Consumerization of IT & BYOD
– first emerges in the consumer market
– spread into business organization
(bring your own device)
– IT department lose control of hardware & softwar
e
• Network security
• Right to access
3. Grid computing
– Connects geographically remote computers into a singl
e network to combine processing power and create virt
ual supercomputer
– Provides cost savings, speed, agility
4. Virtualization
– Allows single physical resource to act as multiple resour
ces (i.e., run multiple instances of OS)
– Reduces hardware and power expenditures
– Facilitates hardware centralization
5. Cloud computing
– On-demand (utility) computing services obtained
over network
• Infrastructure as a service
• Platform as a service
• Software as a service
– Cloud can be public or private
– Allows companies to minimize IT investments
– Drawbacks: Concerns of security, reliability
6. Green computing
– Practices and technologies for manufacturing, using, dispo
sing of computing and networking hardware
– Reducing computer power consumption
7. Autonomic computing
– Industry-wide effort to develop systems
• that can configure, heal themselves
• when broken, and protect themselves from outside intruders
– self-updating antivirus software;
• Apple and Microsoft both use automatic updates
8. High performance, power-saving processors
– Multi-core processors
• Simultaneous processing of multiple tasks
• Reduced power consumption
– Highly power-efficient microprocessor
• ARM (Advanced RISC Machine)
• Apple’s A4
• Intel’s Atom
• 5.1 IT Infrastructure
• 5.2 Infrastructure Components
• 5.3 Contemporary Hardware Platform Trend
• 5.4 Contemporary Software Platform Trend
• 5.5 Management Issue
 5.4 Contemporary Software Trend
• Linux and open-source software
– Open-source software: Produced by community of pr
ogrammers, free and modifiable by user
– Linux: Open-source software OS
• Software for the Web
– Java:
• Object-oriented programming language
• Operating system, processor-independent
– Ajax
• Asynchronous JavaScript and XML
• Allows client and server to exchange small pieces of data w
ithout requiring the page to be reloaded
• HTML & HTML5
– Hypertext Markup Language
• Specify how text, graphics, … are placed
• Create dynamic links
– Require third party plug-in for rich media
• Apple drop support for Flash
– HTML5
• Embed rich media directly into the webpages
• Web services & Service-oriented architecture
– Web Services
• Software components that exchange information using Web stand
ards and languages
• XML: Extensible Markup Language
– More powerful and flexible than HTML
– Tagging allows computers to process data automatically

Table 5.2 example of XML

– SOA: Service-oriented architecture
• Set of self-contained services that communicate with e
ach other to create a working software application
• Software developers reuse these services in other com
binations to assemble other applications as needed
– Example: an “invoice service” to serve whole firm for calculati
ng and sending printed invoices
• Dollar Rent A Car
– Uses Web services to link online booking system with Southw
est Airlines’ Web site
Figure 5.11 how dollar rent a car use web service
• Software outsourcing and cloud services
– Three external sources for software:
1. Software packages and enterprise software
2. Software outsourcing (domestic or offshore)
– Domestic:
» Primarily for middleware, integration services, software s
upport
– Offshore:
» Primarily for lower level maintenance, data entry, call cen
ters, although outsourcing for new-program development
is increasing
• Three external sources for software (cont.)
3. Cloud-based software services
• Software as a service (SaaS)
• Accessed with Web browser over Internet
• Ranges from free or low-cost services for individuals to
business and enterprise software
• Users pay on subscription or per-transaction
– e.g. Salesforce.com
• Service Level Agreements (SLAs): formal agreement wit
h service providers
Figure 5.12 changing sources of firm software
• Software outsourcing and cloud services (cont.)
– Mashups
• Combinations of two or more online applications, such a
s combining mapping software (Google Maps) with local
content
– Apps
• Small pieces of software that run on the Internet, on you
r computer, or on your cell phone
– iPhone, BlackBerry, Android
• Generally delivered over the Internet
• 5.1 IT Infrastructure
• 5.2 Infrastructure Components
• 5.3 Contemporary Hardware Platform Trend
• 5.4 Contemporary Software Platform Trend
• 5.5 Management Issue
• Dealing with platform and infrastructure chan
ge
• As firms shrink or grow, IT needs to be flexible and scalable
– Scalability:
• Ability to expand to serve larger numbers of users
– Flexibility
• Mobile computing and cloud computing
– New policies and procedures for managing these new platfor
ms
– Contractual agreements with firms running clouds and distrib
uting software required
• Management and governance
– Who controls IT infrastructure?
– How should IT department be organized?
• Centralized
– Central IT department makes decisions
• Decentralized
– Business unit IT departments make own decisions
– How are costs allocated between divisions, de
partments?
• Making wise infrastructure investments
– Amount to spend on IT is complex question
• Rent vs. buy, outsourcing
– Total cost of ownership (TCO) model
• Analyzes direct and indirect costs
• Hardware, software account for only about 20% of TCO
• Other costs:
– Installation, training, support, maintenance, infrastructure, downtime, s
pace and energy
• TCO can be reduced
– through use of cloud services, greater centralization and standardizatio
n of hardware and software resources
• Competitive forces model for IT infrastructure
investment
1. Market demand for firm’s services
2. Firm’s business strategy
3. Firm’s IT strategy, infrastructure, and cost
4. Information technology assessment
5. Competitor firm services
6. Competitor firm IT infrastructure investments