IS 340

Management Information Systems

Chapter 3 – Notes

Managing the Information Systems Infrastructure and Services

 

Case Study – Managing in the Digital World:  “I Googled You!” – case study on origin and beginnings of Google

 

I.  The Information Systems Infrastructure –the technical structures that enable provision of services:  hardware, software, communication and collaboration networks, databases, facilities, and human resources

          A.  How a Computer Works:  IS Hardware and Software – Input ΰ Processing ΰ Output

                   1.  How a Computer Works

                             a.  Central Processing Unit (CPU) – the ‘brain’, performs all the operations of the computer

                             b.  Digitizing – turning anything into binary code (1s and 0s)

                             c.  Primary Storage/Random Access Memory (RAM) (Volatile) – temporary storage space for data being worked on by the computer; is lost when the power goes off; faster than secondary storage

                             d.  Secondary Storage (disks, hard drives, flash drives) (Non-Volatile) – retains data when power goes off; slower than primary storage

                   2.  Software – programs or instructions that tell the computer what to do

                             a.  Systems Software/Operating System – collections of programs that control basic operations of the computer, and coordinate interactions between hardware device; Windows, Mac OS, UNIX, Linux, MVS, VMS

                             b.  Common Systems Software Functions – getting input from devices (keyboard, mouse etc.), presenting information to the user (monitor or keyboard)

                             c.  Application Software – does a specific job/task for the user; MS Office, games,

                             d.  Open Source Software – software whose source code is open and available to all users for free, and they may modify the code to their own specifications

                   3.  Types of Computers

                             a.  Supercomputer – the most powerful type of computer, scientific calculations & heavy-duty number crunching

                             b.  Mainframe – government and large corporations, heavy-duty transaction processing

                             c.  Server – powerful computer that provides services (data/information and processing) to Clients on a network

                             d.  Workstations (also called Midrange Computers) – engineering and mid-sized business applications

                             e.  Microcomputers (Personal Computers) – personal computing, small businesses, network access; special class of microcomputers is Portable Computers which support mobile computing – Notebooks, Tablets, Handhelds

          B.  Data and Knowledge Infrastructure – data and knowledge are among the most important and valuable assets of an organization; an infrastructure must be in place to support creation, storage, and distribution of data and knowledge

                   1.  Databases – collections of related data/information organized to facilitate data searches

                   2.  Database Management Systems (DBMS) – software applications that store, retrieve, and analyze data in a database

          C.  Communications and Collaboration – one reason information systems have become so important is their ability to interconnect and collaborate

                   1.  Human Communication and Computer Networking

Basic Communication Model (text is NOT complete!!!!!  Use my notes!!!!!)

          Sender   ΰ  Coder  ΰ  Medium  ΰ  Decoder  ΰ  Receiver  (standard terminology)

Source  ΰ  Coder  ΰ  Channel  ΰ  Decoder  ΰ  Destination (proper telecommunications terminology)

One-Way Model – model works from left to right ONLY; NOT a 2-way model!

Message/Signal – the thought or idea being communicated.  Moves from Source to Destination

          Understanding – there MUST be understanding at the Destination or no communication has occurred (if they speak in Russian but you do not understand Russian, they are NOT communicating with you) 

a.  Transmission Media – the physical pathways over which the Message moves

                             b.  Protocols – Rules for communication

Inset – The Ethics of Collecting Public Data – what information are you allowed (or should be allowed?) to collect about people without getting permission?

                   2.  Computer Networks – two basic types:

                             Analog – continuous signal, signal may be any frequency on the network

                             Digital – discrete, only certain values/frequencies are acceptable, e.g., 1, 0

          Bandwidth – the transmission capacity (how much data can be transferred) of a computer or network

                             a.  Servers, Clients, and Peers

          Not in text:  Node – any device connected to a network

                                      1.  Client – uses the services provided by a Server

                                      2.  Server – provides services to Clients

                                       3.  Peer – both requests and provides services (Peer-to-Peer, or P2P)

                             b.  Types of Networks – LAN, WAN, MAN, PBX, PAN, CAN (see Table 3.2)

                   3.  Internet and World Wide Web

                             a.  How Did the Internet Get Started? – 1960’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) created the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) to link universities and research (and military) centers; other networks followed – National Science Foundation (NSFNET)

                             b.  The Internet Uses Packet-Switching Technology – a message is broken up into multiple parts called Packets and is sent down the network;  the packets do NOT all have to go by the same route, but eventually get to the destination where they are reassembled into the original message; each device attached to the network has a unique address and the packets are sent to that address

                             c.  Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) – these are the rules that govern communication on the Internet

                                       1.  IP Datagram – a data packet that conforms to the IP specification

                                       2.  IP Address – a unique address on the Internet

                   4.  World Wide Web (WWW) – a graphical user interface to the Internet; only one part of the Internet, not the whole thing

                   Web Browser – a software application used to locate and display Web pages

                             a.  History of the World Wide Web – created by Tim Berners-Lee at the CERN facility in Switzerland, 1989 (text says 1991 – that’s when it came online); it replaced Gopher, a menu driven interface used on the Internet

                                      Hypertext and Hyperlinks

                                      Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) – markup language for creating Web pages

                                      Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) – rules for data on the WWW

                             b.  Web Domain Names and Addresses

                                       1.  Uniform Resource Locator (URL) – a Web address

                                      2.  Domain Name – occurs right before the top-level domain name in a URL

                                      3.  Top-Level Domain Name – there are six

                                      .com – commercial (for-profit) businesses

                                      .edu – educational institution

                                      .org – non-profit and not-for-profit institutions

                                      .net – organizations that provide network resources

                                      .gov – governmental entities

                                      .mil – military locations

                                      .ru – Russia (there are also over 200 country code top level domains)

                             c.  World Wide Web Architecture – the Web uses Web browsers, Web servers, and TCP/IP protocols to facilitate transmission over the Internet

 

II.  Issues Associated with Managing the IS Infrastructure

          A.  Obsolescence – technology evolves and becomes outdated very quickly

                   1.  Brief History of Computing – before computers, most information was stored in file folders and file cabinets in huge rooms dedicated to this purpose; when an employee left the firm, all their knowledge of these documents left the firm with them

                   2.  Moore’s Law – Gordon Moore (founder of Intel), early 1970’s, stated that the number of transistors on a computer chip will double every 18months, (some say he also stated that the price would halve); recently the reality of this statement has been reduced to 12 months

                   3.  Software Obsolescence – as hardware advances and operating systems are developed to take advantage of new capabilities, application software becomes outdated and must be upgraded; organizations should plan for this

          B.  Storage Needs – How much data is available?  How much data is needed to stay ahead of the competition?  How much will you pay for this storage space?

          C.  Space and Facility Requirements – organizations continually need more storage space as they collect more data, or are required (by the government) to keep more data.

          D.  Energy Consumption – computers use electricity, and running a lot of computers can use a LOT of electricity.  Several years ago General Electric reconfigured all their monitors’ power-saving settings, saving about $6.5M per year.

          E. Demand Fluctuations – organizations have to plan for demand on processing and storage in order to use their information systems efficiently

 

III.  IS Infrastructure Trends 

          A.  Utility Computing – where organizations “rent” resources as needed from an external provider

          B.  Cloud Computing – a metaphor for the Internet; utilizing shared resources (processing, storage, etc.) over the Internet instead of providing all those same resources locally

Inset – When Things Go Wrong – Google Buzz:  A Privacy Fiasco

                   1.  Cloud Characteristics – distinguish the cloud from in-house infrastructure

                             a.  On-Demand Self-Service – utilize Web services over the Cloud when and as needed without human interaction with the provider

                             b.  Rapid Elasticity – scale resources up or down easily and quickly as needed day to day

                             c.  Ubiquitous Network Access – access resources on the Cloud from anywhere at any time

                             d.  Resource Pooling – rather than renting time on a single machine, resources can be dynamically assigned as needed

                             e.  Measured Service – service is metered as it is used and customers pay only for what they use

                   2.  Service Models – various services are provided over the Cloud

                             a.  Software as a Service (SaaS) – using a software application provided by Cloud infrastructure

                             b.  Platform as a Service (PaaS) – customer can run and control their own applications but has not control over the infrastructure provided over the Cloud

                             c.  Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – only the most basic capabilities of processing, storage, and networking are provided over the Cloud, giving the customer more control

                   3.  Types of Clouds

                             a.  Public Cloud – services are available to any interested party on a pay-per-use basis

                             b.  Private Cloud – internal to the organization, not available to outside parties

          C.  Management Issues

                   1.  Strategic Issues

                             a.  Scalability – will the provider be able to meet current and future business needs as transaction increase and more storage is required?

                             b.  Viability – what is the provider’s long-term stability?

                             c.  Diversity of Offerings – will the provider offer services that will be needed in the future?

                             d.  Support Policies – how will problems be solved?

                   2.  Technical Issues

                             a.  Availability/Reliability – what is the promised uptime of the system?  Who makes backups & when?What is the providers track record?

                             b.  Security – how secure is the data?  (BIG PROBLEM TODAY!!!!)

                             c.  Compliance – does everything comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and other required standards?

                             d.  Privacy – what privacy is provided? (relates also to Security)

                             e.  Openness – is the firm locked in to this provider?  How easy is it to move to another provider?

Inset – Coming attractions:  Autonomic Computing – developing systems that are self-configuring, self-protecting, self-servicing, self-managing

          D.  Advanced Cloud Applications – the Cloud offers many ways to solve infrastructure-related issues

                   1.  Grid Computing – combining the computing power of a large number of smaller, independent, networked computers into a cohesive system to solve problems that would normally require a supercomputer

                             a.  Dedicated Grid – a large number of dedicated (not based on underutilization) homogenous computers, cheaper than a supercomputer

                             b.  Berkley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) – allows individuals to donate time on their computers to various research projects

                             c.  SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)

                   2.  Edge Computing – rather than using large mainframes, a series of smaller servers are located physically closer to the users, saving bandwidth and access time (with the increased power of today’s computers, it is not usually economically feasible to use the bandwidth to send all the data over networks to a remote computer)

                   3.  Convergence of Computing and Telecommunications – technology has allowed the convergence of many devices, e.g., cell phone and PDA, to the point that the line between a Computer and a Communication Device has become blurred, as has the line between the Computer and the Information System Infrastructure; today, a Computer is considered a basic Communication Device, and it is assumed to be connected to the Internet (IP Convergence)

                             a.  Voice Over IP (VoIP) – voice quality verbal communication over the Internet

                             b.  Videoconferencing Over IP – as above, but videoconferencing

          E.  Green Computing– a recent trend to use computers more efficiently, doing more with less

                   1.  Virtualization – replacing many small computers with one powerful computer

                   2.  Power Management – using less electricity by turning off computers or changing their power settings; G.E. saved $6.5M annually by reconfiguring their power saving settings on the corporations computers

Inset – Industry Analysis:  Movie Industry