IT Infrastructure And: Emerging Technologies

• IT Infrastructure and
Emerging Technologies
DEFINING IT INFRASTRUCTURE

• Hardware
• Software
• Services
• A few of the services that may not be readily apparent are:
– Telecommunications services: connecting employees, customers, and
suppliers
– Data management services: not just storing, but managing massive
amounts of corporate data and making it available to internal and
external users
– IT education services: training employees on how to properly use the
system
– IT research and development services: researching future IT projects
and investments
INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS
HARDWARE PLATFORM TRENDS AND
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
• THE INTEGRATION OF COMPUTING AND
TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLATFORMS
• We’re no longer content to view data in a plain text format on paper.
We want graphics, video, and audio to enhance our communications.
We don’t want four or five different computing devices to do so, but
everything all rolled into one package.
• GRID COMPUTING
• if you could combine all the idle time of hundreds or thousands of
computers into a continuous, connected computing capacity to
capture, process, manage, store, and retrieve data? You wouldn’t
have to purchase mammoth, super computers to realize this capability
and capacity. You just have to turn to grid computing. It allows
companies to save money on hardware and software, and increase
computing and processing speeds to make the company more agile.
• ON-DEMAND COMPUTING (UTILITY COMPUTING)
• On-demand computing mirrors other utilities that provide
necessary infrastructure from centralized sources. It’s cheaper and
helps companies reduce the total cost of ownership of IT
technology. They can also take advantage of newer technologies
than what they are able to buy and maintain on their own. Utility
computing also gives companies a chance to expand services that
perhaps they wouldn’t be able to provide if they had to buy all the
hardware and software.
• AUTONOMIC COMPUTING AND EDGE COMPUTING
• As companies rely more and more on IT to meet the demands of
employees, customers, suppliers, and business partners, they can’t afford
to have any system downtime at all. Downtime costs money. Autonomic
computing is a step towards creating an IT infrastructure that is able to
diagnose and fix problems with very little human intervention. Although
this type of computing is still rather new, it promises to relieve the burden
many companies experience in trying to maintain massive, complex IT
infrastructures.
• EDGE COMPUTING
• “Getting closer to the customer” takes on a whole new meaning in the
business of edge computing. By storing and processing some data and
applications on edge computers spread around the country or world,
businesses can increase the response time and reduce processing costs
for the main computing platform.
• One way of curbing hardware proliferation and power consumption is to use
virtualization to reduce the number of computers required for processing.
Virtualization is the process of presenting a set of computing resources
(such as computing power or data storage) so that they can all be accessed
in ways that are not restricted by physical configuration or geographic
location. Benefits of server virtualization include:
• Run more than one operating system at the same time on a single machine.
• Increase server utilization rates to 70 percent or higher.
• Reduce hardware expenditures. Higher utilization rates translate into fewer
computers required to process the same amount of work.
• Mask server resources from server users.
• Reduces power expenditures.
• Ability to run legacy applications on older versions of an operating system on
the same server as newer applications.
• Facilitates centralization of hardware administration.
• Multicore Processors

• A multicore processor is an integrated circuit that contains two or more
processors. This technology enables two processing engines with reduced
power requirements and heat dissipation to perform tasks faster than a
resource-hungry chip with a single processing core.
• Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) now make dual-core
microprocessors and are introducing quad-core processors. Sun
Microsystems sells servers using its eight-core UltraSparc T1 processor.
SOFTWARE PLATFORM TRENDS AND
• There are five major themes in contemporary software platform

evolution:
• Linux and open-source software
• Java
• Enterprise software
• Web services and service-oriented architecture
• Software outsourcing
• THE RISE OF LINUX AND OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE
• Contemporary software platform trends include the growing use of Linux,
open-source software, and Java, software for enterprise integration, and
software outsourcing. Open-source software is produced and maintained
by a global community of programmers and is downloadable for free.
Linux is a powerful, resilient open-source operating system that can run
on multiple hardware platforms and is used widely to run Web servers.
• IS IT TIME FOR OPEN-SOURCE?
• This case discusses a number of companies who have switched to the Linux
open-source operating system. Many companies have quickly adopted open-
source software due to its low cost, reliability, and flexibility. However, as the
case indicates the adoption of Linux also brings with it some major challenges.
Before making the switch over to open-source software such as Linux, a
business must do their homework in order to ensure that the software will indeed
meet their business and computing requirements.
Management Information Systems
Chapter 5 IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies
Software Platform Trends and Emerging Technologies
Is It Time for Open-Source?
• Read the Interactive Session: Technology, and then discuss the

following questions:
• What problems do Linux and other open-source software
address? How does open-source software help solve these
problems?
• What issues and challenges do open-source software
present? What can be done to address these issues?
• What are the business as well as the technology issues that
should be addressed when deciding whether to use open-
source software?
• JAVA IS EVERYWHERE
• Java is a new programming language that has come on strong in the
last four or five years. What makes this language so enticing is that it
is operating system-independent and processor-independent. This
means that you don’t need to worry about compatibility between
separate operating systems such as Windows, MacIntosh, or UNIX.
Regardless of the hardware or software you use, this language will fit
them all. Many businesses and individuals have long lamented the
closed systems that caused incompatibility between different
platforms. It’s been nearly impossible to share data between various
hardware and software platforms. Many large mainframes couldn’t
pass information to small PCs without special programs. Data used
in smaller, individual PCs couldn’t pass information to larger
information systems. Java solves these problems.
• Java can be used to create miniature programs called “applets”.
Applets perform very small, specialized, one-at-a-time tasks. When a
user wants to perform the task, the coding is moved from the server
where it’s permanently stored and then executed on the client
computer. When the task is completed, it’s deleted from the client and
reverts to the server computer. In essence, you use an applet once and
then literally throw it away. Using applets reduces storage needs on
client computers and PCs. Again, it doesn’t matter whether the client is
a PC or a terminal attached to a network. In fact, Java applets are
being used on handheld computers, and on many other non-computer
appliances.
• Java also reduces the “bloatware” problem of huge software application
programs with more functions than the average person could ever hope
to use. You don’t need a large application program to do a simple task.
• SOFTWARE FOR ENTERPRISE INTEGRATION
• Middleware: bridges the gap between separate systems and gives
an organization a method of sharing information. Middleware is
cheaper and easier to install than enterprise software.
• Enterprise application integration software (EAI): allows a
company to decide which systems it wants to tie together, how it
wants to do it, and then generate the necessary program code to
completely integrate the pieces into a cohesive unit.
•
• WEB SERVICES AND SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE
• Web services refers to set of loosely coupled software components that
exchange information with each other using standard Web communication
standards and languages. Some of the characteristics of Web services include:
• They can exchange information between two different systems regardless of the
operating systems or programming languages on which the systems are based.
• They can be fused to build open standard Web-based applications linking
systems of two different organizations.
• They can be used to create applications that link disparate systems within a
single company.
• They are not tied to anyone operating system or programming language.
• Different applications can use them to communicate with each other in a
standard way without time-consuming custom coding.
•
•
• As we use the Web for more applications, the computer language is
evolving to keep up with new and innovative uses. HTML has worked well
for displaying text and graphics. Extensible Markup Language (XML) is
designed to control data on a Web page or site and make it more
manageable.
• XML gives us a single, human-readable syntax for serializing just about any
kind of structured data — including relational data — in a way that lets it be
manipulated and displayed using simple, ubiquitous, standardized tools.
The larger implications of a standard, easily processed serial data format
are hard to imagine, but they are obviously going to have a large impact on
electronic commerce. And it seems clear that electronic commerce is
eventually going to become synonymous with commerce in general.
• XML can do for data what Java has done for programs, which is to make
the data both platform-independent and vendor-independent.
• Four software standards and communication protocols provide easy
access to data and information via Web services in the first layer:
•
• XML (eXtensible Markup Language): describes data in Web
pages and databases
• SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol): allows applications to
pass data and applications to one another
• WSDL (Web Services Description Language): describes a Web
service so that other applications can use it
• UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration): lists
Web services in a directory so it can be located
• The second layer of Web service-oriented architecture consists of
utilities that provide methods for:
• security, third-party billing and payment systems
• transporting messages and identifying available services
• The third layer is comprised of Web services applications
themselves such as payment processing services. The distinct
advantage of building Web services is their reusability. That is, you
can build one Web service that can be used by many different
businesses. This kind of functionality promises a whole slew of new
Internet-related development companies to spring up in the next few
years as this idea takes hold.
• Ajax is a method of building interactive applications for the Web that
process user requests immediately. Ajax combines several
programming tools including JavaScript, dynamic HTML (DHTML),
Extensible Markup Language (XML), cascading style sheets (CSS),
the Document Object Model (DOM), and the Microsoft Object. Ajax
allows content on Web pages to update immediately when a user
performs an action, unlike an HTTP request, during which users
must wait for a whole new page to load.
• Mashups is a Web page or application that integrates
complementary elements from two or more sources. Mash-ups are
often created by using a development approach called Ajax.
• Web 2.0 (or Web 2) is the popular term for advanced Internet
technology and applications including blogs, wikis, RSS, and social
bookmarking. The two major components of Web 2.0 are the
technological advances enabled by Ajax and other new applications
such as RSS and Eclipse and the user empowerment that they support.
One of the most significant differences between Web 2.0 and the
traditional World Wide Web (retroactively referred to as Web 1.0) is
greater collaboration among Internet users and other users, content
providers, and enterprises.
• Web-based software and applications — ability to go onto the Web and
do all your writing and calculating online using free software and Web-
based tools. Google Apps for Your Domain is an example of how the
industry is preparing to offer online spreadsheet and word processing,
along with calendar, e-mail and instant messaging capabilities to the
masses.
• SOFTWARE OUTSOURCING
• Three external sources for software outsourcing are:
• software packages from a commercial vendor
• software services from an application service provider
• outsourcing custom application development to an outside software firm
• Changing Sources of Software
• . Firms are increasingly outsourcing their software projects off-shore
where they can capitalize on low-wage regions such as India, China,
Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America.
• Software Packages and Enterprise Software
• Rather than design, write, test, and maintain legacy systems, many
organizations choose to purchase software programs from other
companies that specialize in certain programs
• Application Service Providers (ASPs)
• Midsize companies in need of sophisticated enterprise resource
planning programs can rent only what they need and can afford
through on-line providers. Businesses can outsource their
accounting needs to a Web-based service. Another plus for using
application service providers (ASP) is the fact that their services
are Web-based, thus making the user’s files accessible from
virtually any computer connected to the Internet.
• There is some danger to outsourcing your information resources to
an ASP. Remember, all your data are stored on another company’s
server computers and you have little control of it. What happens if
the ASP goes out of business?
• Software Outsourcing
• Companies are discovering that it’s cheaper and easier to hire third
party vendors for software related tasks such as system
maintenance, data management, and program development. Much
as they’ve outsourced mundane and repetitive tasks to mainly
overseas locations, many companies are outsourcing all kinds of
software related work. The Internet has made this option more
viable than it ever was
• : The four major themes in contemporary software platform
evolution — Linux and open-source software; Java; Web
services and service-oriented architecture; and software
outsourcing; are providing companies new options in IT
infrastructure technologies.

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• IT Infrastructure and

• There are five major themes in contemporary software platform

Software Platform Trends and Emerging Technologies

Is It Time for Open-Source?

• Read the Interactive Session: Technology, and then discuss the

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