Evolution of Information Technology

Infrastructure

BA 572 - Week 1

Definitions

Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure: physical facilities, services and management that support computing resources Information Technology

HardwareSoftwareDatabaseTelecommunications & Networks

IT personnel

Definitions

Information Systems (IS) Architecture: the “plan” that aligns IT infrastructure with business needs Help people effectively fulfill their information

needs Note that the term “Information Architecture” is

now being used to describe process of designing web sites

Performance Metrics“ROI”

How does IT add value?What is purpose of IT applications?

Automate Facilitate/Informate Enable

Adapted from "Intranets and Middleware", HBR 397-118.

S1

19601980

1990

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2000

PC/LAN

Client/Server db

db

db

Distributed

db

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Web Services

Mainframe

Evolution of Information Technology Infrastructure

Data Processing Era

IT Infrastructure (host-centric processing) Hardware: Mainframe with text-based terminals Software: Independent functional applications

Served one purpose Data Storage: independent “files” for each

functional application Telecommunications: Limited support of

distributed operations IT Personnel: technically oriented

Mainframe

IS Architecture:Transaction Processing System (TPS)

Emerged in the early days of IS Collect, store, and process transactions

Source documents are basis for input Perform routine, repetitive tasks Found in all functions of an organization If they fail, the whole organization may suffer Automate “highly structured” decision processes

Payroll

Mainframe

IS Architecture: Management Information System (MIS)

Convert/use TPS data to support monitoring Alert managers to problems or opportunities Provide periodic and routine reports

e.g., summary reports, exception reports, comparison reports

Provide structured information to support decision makingResulted in “Information overload”

Mainframe

IS Architecture: Centralized Corporate Structure

Executive

Operational

Managerial

InboundLogistics

Purchasing

RawMaterials

Production FinishedGoods

OutboundLogistics

Sales

Functional Transaction Processing System

Management Information System

Mainframe

Micro-Computing Era

IT Infrastructure (PC environment) Hardware: PCs (low cost compared to

mainframe) Software: Individual PC applications Data storage: Individual files linked to apps Telecommunications: low-speed LANs IT Personnel: technically oriented & mainframe

biased

PC/LAN

IS Architecture:Decision Support Systems

Proliferation of desktop applications Why?

TPS/MIS were not providing information needed to support decisions

“End-user” developmentUndocumented spreadsheet models

Proliferation of localized data storage

PC/LAN

db

db

db

db

IS Architecture

Executive

Operational

Managerial

InboundLogistics

Purchasing

RawMaterials

Production FinishedGoods

OutboundLogistics

Sales

Functional Transaction Processing System

Management Information System

Desktop DecisionSupport System

PC/LAN

Client/Server Era IT Infrastructure (distributed computing

environment) Hardware: PCs and Specialized Servers Software: Facilitating Data storage: Distributed Relational database and

centralized warehouse Telecommunications: high-speed LANs Network: Client/Server IT Personnel: technically skilled, business oriented

Information Systems architecture? Share applications and data within and across functional

areas

Client/Server

db

Facilitating Software Systems

Office automation IT for “office” employees

Document tracking, communication, scheduling, etc.

Client/Server

db

Facilitating Software Systems (cont’d)

Decision Support SystemsProvide information to support “semi-structured”

decision makingEffectiveness focus

Expert SystemsKnowledge-base integrated with DSSMost are “rule-based” systems that process facts, not

numbersCredit evaluationCisco/DELL tech support

Client/Server

db

Database Approaches

Centralized All data in one location

Promotes maintenance and securitySubject to single point of failure

Client/Server

db

Database Approaches

Distributed data management Get data closer to applications Replicated

Complete copies in multiple locationsSignificant overhead

PartitionedEach location has portion of database

Data management becomes an issue Complex Concurrency Control

db

db

db

Distributed

db

db

Transactions used to interact with a relational “client-server” database For each transaction, OLTP typically deals with

a small number of rows from the tablesThe transactions are typically highly

structured, repetitive and have predetermined outcomes

E.g., orders, changing customer address, etc.

Online Transaction Processing

db

db

db

Distributed

db

db

Client/Server Systems

Executive

Operational

Managerial

InboundLogistics

Purchasing

RawMaterials

Production FinishedGoods

OutboundLogistics

Sales

Functional Transaction Processing System

Client/Server System

db db db db db

db

Network Era (Distributed Computing)

IT Infrastructure (distributed computing environment) Hardware: PCs and high-end Servers Software: Enabling, enterprise-wide Data storage: Distributed Relational Database Telecommunications: high-speed WAN Network: Middleware IT Personnel: still technical, but business

awareness

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Introduction of Middleware

Software that makes it possible for systems on different platforms to communicate with each other. Allows applications to talk to each other

Consistent Application Program Interface (API)Code application to talk to middleware, not

underlying resourcesUpgrade/modify underlying resources without

needing to modify applications

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Object Request Broker (ORB)

ORB involves synchronous communication and location/platform transparency.

ORB uses object-oriented programming methods.

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

ORB (cont’d)

ORB architecture:

ORB

ClientRemote Service

locate service

activate service

establish connection

communicate

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

File Sharing

Napster:

ORB

RequestStored Files

locate service

activate service

establish connection

communicate

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

Kazaa:

Request

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Advantages of ORB Middleware

Anonymous interaction among applications Integrate new client/server applications with

existing legacy, mission-critical applicationsEasier development environment

Reduce cost Improve time-to-market of applications

Enables distributed data environmentEnables dynamic web applications

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Disadvantages of ORB Middleware

Switching costs are high Upgrade from previous “Middleware” solutions

Requires high technical expertise Tend to outsource Lengthy deployment time

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Unresolved Issues with ORB

SecurityScalability

Related to network capacityRapidly changing technologies

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

DBMS Applications

With advent of high-speed, distributed architectures, expanded our use of database beyond capturing and storing transaction data Knowledge Discovery

Process of extracting useful knowledge from volumes of data

Supported by:Massive data collection (Data Warehouse/Data Marts)Multiprocessor computingOn-line Analytical Processing (OLAP)/Data mining

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Data Warehouse

Collection of data in support of decision making process that is: Subject-oriented: organized by entity, not application Integrated: stored in one place, even though it originated

from a variety of sourcesCrosses functional boundaries of an organization

Time-variant: represents a snapshot at one point in time Nonvolatile: data is read-only Typically very large

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Multidimensional Database

OLTP not good when doing analysis of data – poor performance

OLAP – on-line analytical processing

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

“Slice and Dice” an OLAP Cube

Advantages of OLAP

All hierarchical or aggregated values can be pre-calculated in the cube rather than accessing the Warehouse Major reduction in query time

Each cube makes “business sense” Not normalized data structures

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Multidimensional Database (cont’d)

Data marts Scaled-down version of a data warehouse that

focuses on a specific areae.g., a department, a business process

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Massive Data Analysis

Data mining Provides a means to extract patterns and

relationshipsExample: Analyze sales data to identify products that

may be attractive to a customerAmazon.com buyer suggestions

Two capabilitiesAutomated prediction of trends and behaviorsAutomated discovery of previously unknown patterns

Example: Shopping cart analysis

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

Network Enabling Software

Supplier Customer

Enterprise Wide Systems

Enterprise Wide Systems

Enterprise Wide Systems

Supply ChainManagement

Customer Relationship Management

db dbdbdb

Distributed Computing

Middleware

IT Infrastructure (Web-enabled) Hardware: Low-end PC with Browser, high-end

Servers Software: Web extensions Database: Distributed Relational Network: Use IP-based standards Telecommunications: broadband IT Personnel: Business analysts, technical

specialties

Internet Era

Business use of the Internet:Electronic Commerce

E-business: Subset of e-commerce Transactions between

business partners

Individual EnterpriseSupplier/ CustomerInternet

Intranet

Extranet

B2C: InternetB2B: ExtranetB2E: Intranet

Web-based SolutionsEarly attempts to incorporate WWW into

inter-organizational systemsStatic, state-less web pages

Complicated navigation Not “connected” to underlying data

Page not dynamically updated when data changes

Hurdles for web services

Standards are evolving, not setSecurityWeb services do not 'solve' interoperability

between applications Hence – need ERP

db dbdb

Web Services