Management Information Systems, 13E

Laudon & Laudon

Lecture Files by Barbara J. Ellestad

Chapter 5 IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies

As information becomes a valuable resource of a digital firm, the infrastructure used to care for it takes on added importance. We’ll examine all of the components that comprise today’s and tomorrow’s IT infrastructure and how best to manage it.

5.1 IT Infrastructure

When you mention the phrase “information technology infrastructure,” most people immediately think of just hardware and software. However, there is more to it than just those two. In fact, the most important and often most-ignored component is that of services. Integrating all three components forces a business to think in terms of the value of the whole and not just the parts. Including all three components in any discussion of IT infrastructure truly fits the cliché that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Defining IT Infrastructure

If you define a firm’s IT infrastructure in terms of technology you limit the discussion to the hardware and software components. By broadening the definition to that of service-based, you are then bringing into the discussion the services generated by the first two components. Also, you are including the persware element that we discussed in Chapter 1. As technology advances the types of hardware and software available, it becomes more critical for the firm to focus on the services that a firm can provide to its customers, suppliers, employees, and business partners.

To round out the list of IT infrastructure components you need to add the following services to computing hardware and software:

• Computing services: Provide platforms that ensure a coherent digital environment • Telecommunications services: Determine appropriate data, voice, and video that connect employees, customers, and