Lecture 01 - IT Infrastructure - Jan - 12 - 2012(2)

LECTURE – 1INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY / IT INFRASTRUCTURE

AND INFO SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE

LECTURE – 1INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY / IT INFRASTRUCTURE

AND INFO SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE

Information Technology Infrastructure


Mubashir Ahmad Jan – 12th 2012

What is IT Infrastructure?

There are probably as many definitions of IT Infrastructure as there are IT organizations. I believe the following definitions are representative and appropriate:

IT Infrastructure.. ”IT infrastructure consists of the equipment, systems, software, and services used in common across an organization, regardless of mission/program/project. IT Infrastructure also serves as the foundation upon which mission/program/project-specific systems and capabilities are built.” from cio.gov.

ITIL defines infrastructure more like: All of the components (Configuration Items) that are needed to deliver IT Services to customers. The IT Infrastructure consists of more than just hardware and software and IT services as the means to that end.

All these definitions clearly provide insight that IT infrastructure is everything needed to deliver the service.

What is ITIL?

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and practices for Information Technology Services Management (ITSM), Information Technology (IT) development and IT operations.

ITIL gives detailed descriptions of a number of important IT practices and provides comprehensive checklists, tasks and procedures that any IT organization can tailor to its needs. ITIL is published in a series of books, each of which covers an IT management topic. The names ITIL and IT Infrastructure Library are registered trademarks of the United Kingdom's Office of Government Commerce (OGC).

History and Time-line for ITIL

Responding to growing dependence on IT, the UK Government's Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency in the 1980s developed a set of recommendations. It recognized that without standard practices, government agencies and private sector contracts were independently creating their own IT management practices.

The IT Infrastructure Library originated as a collection of books, each covering a specific practice within IT Service Management. ITIL was built around a process-model based view of controlling and managing operations often credited to W. Edwards Deming and his plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle.

After the initial publication in 1989–1996, the number of books quickly grew within ITIL v1 to over 30 volumes.,

In 2000/2001, to make ITIL more accessible (and affordable), ITIL v2 consolidated the publications into 8 logical "sets" that grouped related process-guidelines to match different aspects of IT management, applications, and services. However, the main focus was known as the Service Management sets (Service Support and Service Delivery) which were by far the most widely used, circulated, and understood of ITIL v2 publications.

In April 2001 the CCTA was merged into the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), an office of the UK Treasury.[

In 2006, the ITIL v2 glossary was published.

In May 2007, this organization issued the version 3 of ITIL (also known as the ITIL Refresh Project) consisting of 26 processes and functions, now grouped under only 5 volumes, arranged around the concept of Service lifecycle structure.

In 2009, the OGC officially announced that ITIL v2 would be withdrawn and launched a major consultation as per how to

proceed

Overview of the ITIL v3 library

Five volumes comprise the ITIL v3, published in May 2007: 1. ITIL Service Strategy 2. ITIL Service Design 3. ITIL Service Transition 4. ITIL Service Operation 5. ITIL Continual Service Improvement

ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) provides a framework of Best Practice guidance for IT Service Management and since its creation, ITIL has grown to become the most widely accepted approach to IT Service Management in the world.

Information Technology (IT)

Broadly , an organization’s collection of information resources, their users, and the management that oversees them; includes the IT infrastructure and all other information systems in an organization.


The physical facilities, IT components, IT services, and IT management that support an entire organization.

IT components are the computer hardware, software and communications technologies that are used by IT personnel to produce IT services.

IT services include data management systems development , and security concerns .

IT infrastructure include these resources as well as their integration, operation, documentation, maintenance and management.

The IT architecture of an e-business

Information Systems: Concepts and Definitions

An information system (IS) collects, processes, stores, analyzes, and disseminates information for a specific purpose.

Like any other system, an information system includes inputs (data, instructions) and outputs (reports, calculations). It processes the inputs by using technology such as PCs and produces outputs that are sent to users or to other systems via electronic networks. A feedback mechanism that controls the operation may be included.

Like any other system, an information system also includes people, procedures, and physical facilities, and it operates within an environment. An information system is not necessarily computerized, although most of them are.

Computer- Based Information SystemsInformation System (IS): A Process that

collects, processes, stores, analyzes, and disseminates information for a specific purpose.

Computer Based information system (CBIS): an information system that uses computer technology to perform some or all of its intended tasks.

Major Capabilities of Information Systems

Perform high-speed, high-volume, numerical computations.

Provide fast, accurate, and inexpensive communication within and between organizations.

Store huge amounts of information in an easy-to-access, yet small space.

Allow quick and inexpensive access to vast amounts of information, worldwide.

Enable communication and collaboration anywhere, any time.

Capabilities of Information Systems Cont..

Increase the effectiveness and efficiency of people working in groups in one place or in several locations.

Vividly present information that challenges the human mind.

Facilitate work in hazardous environments.Automate both semiautomatic business processes

and manually done tasks.Facilitate interpretation of vast amounts of data.Facilitate global trade.Can be wireless, thus supporting unique applications

anywhere.Accomplish all of the above much less expensively

than when done manually.

Application Program

A computer program designed to support a specific task, a business process , or another application program.

The collection of application programs in a single department is usually considered a departmental information system.

Data, Information, and Knowledge

Data items. An elementary description of things, events, activities, and transactions that are recorded , classified, and stored, but are not organized to convey any specific meaning.

Information. Data that have been organized to that they have meaning and value to the recipient.

Knowledge. Data and/ or information that have been organized and processed to convey understanding, experience, accumulated learning, and expertise as apply to a current problem or activity.

Evolution of Information System The first business application of

computers( in the mid- 1950s) performed repetitive. High-volume, transaction –computing tasks. The computers” crunched numbers” summarizing and organizing transactions and data in the accounting, finance, and human resources areas. Such systems are generally called transaction processing systems (TPSs)

Evolution of IS cont…

Management Information Systems (MISs): these systems access, organize, summarize and display information for supporting routine decision making in the functional areas.

Office Automation Systems( OASs): such as word processing systems were developed to support office and clerical workers.

Decision Support Systems: were developed to provide computer based support for complex, nonroutine decision.


End- user computing: The use or development of information systems by the principal users of the systems’ outputs, such as analysts, managers, and other professionals.


Intelligent Support System (ISSs): Include expert systems which provide the stored knowledge of experts to nonexperts, and a new type of intelligent systems with machine- learning capabilities that can learn from historical cases.


Knowledge Management Systems: Support the creating, gathering, organizing, integrating and disseminating of an organization knowledge.

Data Warehousing: A data warehouse is a database designed to support DSS, ESS and other analytical and end-user activities.


Mobile Computing: Information systems that support employee who are working with customers or business partners outside the physical boundaries of their companies; can be done over wire line or wireless networks.

Classification of Information Systems

The two most common classifications are: Classification by breath of support classification by organizational level .

Classification by Breath of Support

Typical information systems that follow the hierarchical organization structure are functional ( departmental ) enterprisewide and interorganizational

Functional information systems are organized around the traditional departments.Enterprise information systems serve several department or the entire enterprise.Interorganizational systems connect two or more organizations.An organization’s supply chain describe the flow of materials , information money and service from raw material suppliers through factories and warehouses to the end customers.IT provide two major types of software solution for managing supply chain activities . First enterprise resource planning ( ERP), Second Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Departmental, corporate, and interorganizational IS

IT outside your organization

Classification by Organization Levels

The typical enterprise is organized hierarchically, from the clerical and office worker layer, to the operational layer, the managerial layer, the knowledge worker layer and finally the strategic layer.

The Clerical Level

Clerical workers constitute a large class of employee who support managers at all levels of the company. Among clerical workers, those who use, manipulate, or disseminate information are referred to as data workers. These employee include bookkeepers, secretaries who work with word processors, electronic file clerks, and insurance claim processors.

The Operational Level

Operational, or first- line managers deal with the day-to day operations of the organization, making routine decision, which deal in general with activities such as short- term planning, organizing, and control

The Knowledge-Work Level

They act as advisors and assistants to both top and middle management and are often subject-area experts. Many of these professional workers are classified as knowledge workers, people who create information and knowledge as part of their work and integrate it into the business.

The Strategic Level

Top-level or strategic managers( the executive) make decision that deal with situation that may significantly change the manner in which business is done.

Computing Environment

Computing Environment: The way in which an organization’s information technologies ( hardware, software, and communications technology) are organized and integrated for optimal efficiency and effectiveness.Legacy system: Older systems, typically those that process an organization’s high-volume transactions, that are central to the operations of a business.

Distributed Computing

Computing architecture that divides the processing work between two or more computers, using a network for connection, also called distributed processing.

Client / server architecture

A type of distributed architecture that divides distributed computing units into two major categories, clients and servers, connected by a network .Client .A computer ( such as a PC attached to a network ) that is used to access shared network resources. Server. A computer that is attached to a client/server network and provides clients with variety of services.

Client/Server Architecture cont…

Enterprise wide computing. Computing environment in which each client/ server architecture is used throughout an organization.Peer- to – Peer (P2P). A distribute computing network in which each client/ server computer shares files or computer resources directory with others but not through a central service (as in traditional client/ server architecture).

Web-Based Systems

Web based systems: Applications or service that are resident on a server that is accessible using a web browser and is therefore accessible from anywhere via the internet. Internet (“ the Net”): a world wide system of computer – a network of networks; a public, cooperative and self- sustaining facility accessible to hundreds of millions of people worldwide.Information Superhighway. A national fiber-optic- based network and wireless infrastructure that will connect all internet users in a country

World Wide Web

An application that uses the transport functions of the Internet; has universally accepted standards for storing, retrieving formatting, and displaying information via a client/server architecture

Intranet

A private network, usually within one enterprise that uses web technologies such as browsers and internet protocols separated from the Internet by a security gateway such as a firewall

Extranet

A secured network that connects several intranet via the Internet; allows two or more enterprise to communicate and collaborate in a controlled fashion .

Corporate portal

Web site that provide the gateway to corporate information from a single point of access.

Web-Based E-Commerce Systems

Electronic Storefront: The web- equivalent of a showroom or a physical store through which an e-business can display and/or sell its products.

Electronic market: A network of interaction and relationships over which information, products service and payments are exchanged.

Web-Based E-commerce cont…

Electronic exchange: A web based public electronic market in which many buyer and many sellers interact electronically .

Mobile commerce: The buying and selling of goods and services in a wireless environment.

Location based commerce: M–commerce transaction targeted to customers in specific locations at specific times.

Enterprise Web: An open environment for managing and delivering web application by combining service from different vendors in a technology layer that spans platform and business systems.

Emerging Computing Environment

Utility computing: Unlimited computing power and storage capacity that, like electricity and water services, can be obtained on demand from virtual utilities around the globe.

Subscription computing: A type of utility computing that puts the pieces of a computing platform together as services, rather than as a collection of separately purchase component .

Grid computing: The use of networks to harness unused processing cycles of various computers in order to create powerful computing capabilities.

Emerging Computing cont…

Pervasive computing: invisible, everywhere computing that is embedded in objects around us.

Web services: Universal, prefabricated business process software modules, delivered over the Internet that users can select and combine through almost any device enabling disparate system to share data and services.

Documents

Lecture 01 - IT Infrastructure - Jan - 12 - 2012(2)