Evolution of Information Technology Infrastructure

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Evolution of Information Technology
Infrastructure
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Definitions

• Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure
  physical facilities, services and management that
  support computing resources
• Information Technology
• Hardware/Systems Software
• Database
• Telecommunications Networks
• IT personnel

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Definitions

• Information Systems (IS) Architecture the
  plan that aligns IT infrastructure with
  business needs
• Help people effectively fulfill their information
  needs
• What is the focus of the IT applications?

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Adapted from "Intranets and Middleware", HBR
397-118.
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Evolution of Information Technology
Infrastructure
Distributed
db
PC/LAN
Mainframe
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Data Processing Era

• IT Infrastructure (host-centric processing)
• Hardware Mainframe with text-based terminals
• Systems Software Batch systems
• Data Storage independent files for each
  functional application
• Telecommunications Limited support of
  distributed operations
• IT Personnel technically oriented

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IS ArchitectureTransaction 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
• Independent functional applications
• Found in all functions of an organization
• If they fail, the whole organization may suffer
• Efficiency Focus
• Automate highly structured decision processes

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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
• Starting toward an effectiveness focus
• Provide structured information to support
  decision making
• Resulted in Information overload

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IS Architecture Centralized Corporate Structure
Functional Transaction Processing System
Executive
Management Information System
Managerial
Purchasing
Sales
InboundLogistics
RawMaterials
Production
FinishedGoods
OutboundLogistics
Operational
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Micro-Computing Era

• IT Infrastructure (PC environment)
• Hardware PCs (low cost compared to mainframe)
• Systems Software DOS
• Data storage Individual files linked to apps
• Telecommunications low-speed LANs
• IT Personnel technically oriented mainframe
  biased

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IS ArchitectureDesktop Support Systems
db
db
db
db

• Proliferation of desktop applications
• Why?
• TPS/MIS were not providing information needed to
  support decisions
• Needed an effectiveness focus
• End-user development
• Undocumented spreadsheet models
• Proliferation of localized data storage

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IS Architecture
Functional Transaction Processing System
Executive
Management Information System
Desktop DecisionSupport System
Managerial
Sales
Purchasing
InboundLogistics
RawMaterials
Production
FinishedGoods
OutboundLogistics
Operational
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Client/Server Era

• IT Infrastructure (distributed computing
  environment)
• Hardware PCs and Specialized Servers
• Systems Software Network Operating Systems,
  2-Tier
• Data storage Distributed Relational database and
  centralized warehouse
• Telecommunications high-speed LANs
• Network Client/Server, Distributed Middleware
• IT Personnel technically skilled, business
  oriented
• Information Systems architecture?
• Share applications and data within and across
  functional areas

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Facilitating Software Systems

• Office automation
• IT for office employees
• Document tracking, communication, scheduling,
  etc.

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Facilitating Software Systems (contd)

• Decision Support Systems
• Provide information to support semi-structured
  decision making
• Simons model Intelligence, Design, Choice
• At least one of those stages is unstructured, and
  at least one is structured
• Effectiveness focus
• Expert Systems
• Knowledge-base integrated with DSS
• Most are rule-based systems that process facts,
  not numbers
• Credit evaluation
• Cisco tech support

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Database Approaches

• Centralized
• All data in one location
• Promotes maintenance and security
• Subject to single point of failure
• As size of database grew, performance suffered
• Broadband still emerging, very expensive

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Database Approaches

• Distributed data management
• Get data closer to applications
• Replicated
• Complete copies in multiple locations
• Significant overhead
• Partitioned
• Each location has portion of database
• Data management becomes an issue

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Online Transaction Processing

• Transactions used to interact with a relational
  client-server database
• For each transaction, OLTP typically deals with a
  small number of rows from the tables
• The transactions are typically highly structured,
  repetitive and have predetermined outcomes
• E.g., orders, changing customer address, etc.

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Client/Server Systems
Functional Transaction Processing System
Executive
Client/Server System
Managerial
Purchasing
Sales
InboundLogistics
RawMaterials
Production
FinishedGoods
OutboundLogistics
Operational
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Network Era (Distributed Computing)

• IT Infrastructure (distributed computing
  environment)
• Hardware PCs and high-end Servers
• Systems Software Middleware 3 tiered
• Data storage Distributed Relational Database
• Telecommunications high-speed WAN
• Network Middleware
• IT Personnel still technical, but business
  awareness

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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 resources
• Upgrade/modify underlying resources without
  needing to modify applications

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Middleware Technologies

• Basic types of middleware
• Transaction Processing Monitor (TP)
• Object Request Broker (ORB)

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Transaction Processing Monitor (TP)

• TP system

Transaction request
Clients
TP Monitor
Data
Transaction Processing
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TP Monitor (contd)

• TP is used to build on-line transaction
  processing (OLTP) systems by coordinating and
  monitoring the efforts of separate applications.
• TP can provide the following
• Control transaction applications
• Provide business logic/rules
• Database updates

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Object Request Broker (ORB)

• ORB involves synchronous communication and
  location/platform transparency.
• ORB uses object-oriented programming methods.
• Two standards
• Distributed Component Object Model (COM)
• COM was the Microsoft approach to allow
  integration of applications on the desktop
• Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA)
  

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ORB (contd)

• ORB architecture

ORB
activate service
locate service
establish connection
Remote Service (object)
Client
communicate
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File Sharing

• Napster

ORB
activate service
locate service
establish connection
Stored Files
Request
communicate
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Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
Member

• Kazaa

Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
Request
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
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Advantages of ORB Middleware

• Anonymous interaction among applications
• Integrate new client/server applications with
  existing legacy, mission-critical applications
• Easier development environment
• Reduce cost
• Improve time-to-market of applications
• Enables distributed data environment
• Enables dynamic web applications

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Disadvantages of ORB Middleware

• Switching costs are high
• Upgrade from previous Middleware solutions
• Requires high technical expertise
• Tend to outsource
• Lengthy deployment time

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Unresolved Issues with ORB

• Security
• Scalability
• Related to network capacity
• Rapidly changing technologies

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DBMS Applications

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

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Knowledge Discovery

• What is it
• Process of extracting useful knowledge from
  volumes of data
• Supported by three technologies
• Massive data collection
• Multiprocessor computing
• Data mining

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Massive Data Collection

• Business problem
• Difficult for larger organizations to analyze
  organizational data from multiple sources
• Even with enterprise-wide applications, tend to
  have distributed databases
• Solution ? Data warehouse

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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 sources
• Crosses functional boundaries of an organization
• Time-variant represents a snapshot at one point
  in time
• Nonvolatile data is read-only
• Typically very large

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Multidimensional Database

• OLTP not good when doing analysis of data poor
  performance
• OLAP on-line analytical processing

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Slice and Dice an OLAP Cube
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Multidimensional Database

• OLAP on-line analytical processing
• Data stored in arrays similar to tables
• Dimensions are the edges of the cube
• Represent views of business data
• Sales Example product, geography, time
• Intersection represents sales of specific
  product, to customers in specific market, on
  certain date
• Look for relationships among business elements in
  database form basis for the cubes

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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

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Multidimensional Database (contd)

• Data marts
• Scaled-down version of a data warehouse that
  focuses on a specific area
• e.g., a department, a business process

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Massive Data Analysis

• Data mining
• Provides a means to extract patterns and
  relationships
• Example Analyze sales data to identify products
  that may be attractive to a customer
• Amazon.com buyer suggestions
• Two capabilities
• Automated prediction of trends and behaviors
• Automated discovery of previously unknown
  patterns
• Example Shopping cart analysis

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Massive Data Analysis

• Characteristics of Data Mining
• Relevant data in large database
• Typically has client/server architecture
• Tools integrated with spreadsheets to support
  analysis
• Data Mining Tools
• Neural computing
• Intelligent agents
• Association Analysis

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Network Enabling Software
Supply ChainManagement
Customer Relationship Management
Enterprise Wide Systems
Enterprise Wide Systems
Enterprise Wide Systems
Supplier
Customer
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Internet Era

• IT Infrastructure (Web-enabled)
• Hardware Low-end PC with Browser, high-end
  Servers
• Systems Software XML, AJAX, .NET
• Database Distributed Relational
• Network Use IP-based standards
• Telecommunications broadband
• IT Personnel Business analysts, technical
  specialties

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What is the Internet?

• Global network of LANs
• How did Internet evolve?
• Originated in 1969, restricted to government,
  research and education (Arpanet)
• WWW released in 1992
• In 1993
• Ban on commercial use lifted
• Mosaic released
• Growth (different data depending on source)
• 3 million in 94
• 40 million in 97
• 100 million in 98

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What are the underlying technologies?

• Packet Switching
• .X25 standard uses packets of 128 bytes
• Each packet travels independently through network
• Protocols TCP/IP
• Internet Protocol destination address
• Each computer has its own IP address
• Domain name system (DNS)
• Transmission Control Protocol breaks
  information into data packets

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What is WWW?

• Application that uses the internet
• Set a standards for storing, retrieving,
  formatting and displaying information via
  client/server architecture
• HTML standard language
• Connection
• Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
• Hypertext transport protocol (http)
  communication protocol to transfer pages
• ftp File Transfer Protocol

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Business use of the InternetElectronic Commerce

• E-business
• Subset of e-commerce
• Transactions between business partners

• B2C Internet
• B2B Extranet
• B2E Intranet

Individual
Enterprise
Supplier/ Customer
Internet
Extranet
Intranet
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Web-based Solutions

• Early attempts to incorporate WWW into
  inter-organizational systems
• Static, state-less web pages
• Complicated navigation
• Not connected to underlying data
• Page not dynamically updated when data changes

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Web Services

• IT Infrastructure (Application Service Providers)
• Hardware Web-based Servers, Browsers
• Software Object-Oriented
• Database Distributed Relational, XML Wrappers
• Network Use IP-based standards
• Telecommunications wireless
• IT Personnel Business Partners, technical
  specialties

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Web Service Components
Dictionary definewhat it is and howit works
WS Directory
Directory
UDDI
UDDI/WSDL
XML/SOAP/HTTP
WS Client
Protocols for exchanging information
WS Provider
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SOAP

• Simple Object Access Protocol
• Protocol for exchanging XML-based messages using
  HTTP
• Uses Remote Procedure Call
• Works well with network firewalls

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XML

• Extensible Markup Language
• Way of describing data
• Provides a text-based means to describe and apply
  a tree-based structure to information

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XML

• Example from wikipedia
• lt?xml version"1.0" encoding"UTF-8"?gt
• ltrecipe name"bread" prep_time"5 mins"
  cook_time"3 hours"gt
• lttitlegtBasic breadlt/titlegt
• ltingredient amount"3" unit"cups"gtFlourlt/ingredie
  ntgt
• ltingredient amount"0.25" unit"ounce"gtYeastlt/ingr
  edientgt
• ltingredient amount"1.5" unit"cups
  state"warm"gtWaterlt/ingredientgt
• ltingredient amount"1" unit"teaspoon"gtSaltlt/ingre
  dientgt
• ltinstructionsgt ltstepgtMix all ingredients
  together, and knead thoroughly.lt/stepgtltstepgtCover
  with a cloth, and leave for one hour in warm
  room.lt/stepgt ltstepgtKnead again, place in a tin,
  and then bake in the oven.lt/stepgt
• lt/instructionsgt
• lt/recipegt

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Web Service Components
ApplicationServer
Secure TCP/IPConnections
WS Registry (UDDI, WSDL)
SOAP/HTTP
JDBC
J2EE
Web Services
EnterpriseApplication
Enterprise Integration Server (SOAP processor)
SOAP/HTTP
Service Requests
ODBC
SOAP/HTTP
.Net
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J2EE

• J2EE 1.4 Standards
• IBM, Sun and Oracle have compliant offerings
• Still not the complete solution to build and
  integrate enterprise applications
• But neither is .Net
• Do not define
• Clustering, reliability, security, application
  integration, etc.

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Impact of Web Services on CRM

• Siebel Systems added support for Simple Object
  Access Protocol (SOAP), Web Services Description
  Language, and Java Connectivity Architecture
• Oracle supports Java, SOAP, UDDI, and XML.
• Epiphany supports SOAP and XML and is planning
  additional SOAP interfaces to improve integration
  with third-party applications.
• PeopleSoft exposes all application functions to
  XML

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Hurdles for web services

• Standards are evolving, not set
• Security
• Web services do not 'solve' interoperability
  between applications
• Hence need ERP before you add CRM