...perspective. • Technical perspective is defined as the shared technology resources that provide the platform for the firm’s specific information system applications. It consists of a set of physical devices and software applications that are required to operate the entire enterprise. • Service perspective is defined as providing the foundation for serving customers, working with vendors, and managing internal firm business processes. In this sense, IT infrastructure focuses on the services provided by all the hardware and software. IT infrastructure is a set of firm-wide services budgeted by management and comprising both human and technical capabilities. List and describe the components of IT infrastructure that firms need to manage. Students may wish to use Figure 5-10 to answer the question. IT infrastructure today is composed of seven major components. • Internet Platforms – Apache, Microsoft IIS, .NET, UNIX, Cisco, Java • Computer Hardware Platforms – Dell, IBM, Sun, HP, Apple, Linux machines • Operating Systems Platforms – Microsoft Windows, UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X • Enterprise Software Applications – (including middleware), SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Microsoft, BEA • Networking/Telecommunications – Microsoft Windows Server, Linux, Novell, Cisco, Lucent, Nortel, MCI, AT&T, Verizon • Consultants and System Integrators – IBM/KPMG, EDS, Accenture • Data Management and Storage – IBM DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase, MySQL, EMC Systems ...
Words: 3398 - Pages: 14
...Question 1.1. (TCO A) In the United States, which of the following types of organization has the greatest revenue in total? (Points : 5) | Sole proprietorship C corporation S corporation Limited partnership | Question 2.2. (TCO A) The one thing that makes a corporation different from the other forms of business ownership is (Points : 5) | legally, the corporation is the same as its owners. it requires all owners to share liability equally. it is a legally defined entity, completely separate from its owners. it protects small shareholders, allocating most of any liability to those who own more stock. | Question 3.3. (TCO B) Which of the following would cause the present value of an annuity to increase? (Points : 5) | Reducing the number of payments. Increasing the interest rate. Decreasing the interest rate. Decreasing the liquidity of the payments. | Question 4.4. (TCO B) In a TVM calculation, if incoming cash flows are positive, outgoing cash flows must be (Points : 5) | positive. negative. either positive or negative. It really doesn’t matter. stated in time units that are different from the time units in which the interest rates are stated. | Question 5.5. (TCO G) If you were a manager of a company, which of the three right side components of the DuPont Identity would you want to increase and which would...
Words: 1911 - Pages: 8
...http://www.hrpayrollsystems.net/hris/ http://www.successfactors.com/content/dam/successfactors/en_us/resources/white-papers/cloud-when-and-why-wp.pdf The Cloud When & Why? WHITE PAPERSUCCESSFACTORS / WHITE PAPER HOW CHROS DELIVER BUSINESS IMPACT Achieving CIO Goals in the Cloud Introduction CIO’s jobs are changing. These days it’s not only about running IT efficiently, but also about supporting core business strategies and helping create strategic advantage by reducing cost and driving innovation. This means CIOs are under pressure to build infrastructure that can move and adapt at the same rapid pace as the rest of the business. They need to support geographical expansion, mergers, and product or service innovation while at the same time reducing costs. In other words, CIOs are being asked to do more for the business with fewer resources. Every year, the same cycle repeats: reduce total cost, move the cost structure from fixed to variable cost, and free up resources for innovation by reducing operating expenditures. Initially, companies adopted outsourcing and Cloud solutions primarily to reduce costs and preserve resources for strategic initiatives. More recently, however, Cloud applications have been used to support the strategic agility today’s businesses need. In addition, having one single code-base across all their customers allows modern Cloud application vendors to very quickly leverage innovations and distribute product improvements...
Words: 3060 - Pages: 13
...Research In Motion (RIM) is a leading manufacturer and distributor of innovative wireless mobile devices that incorporate both email and voice solution for the mobile telecommunication market for the mobile communications market globally. The company was founded in 1984 in Waterloo, Ontario and had grown dramatically that included strategic opening of offices in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. RIM business is focuses on integrated hardware development, software application and telecommunication products and services that support multiple wireless network standards. The company also provides platform and solution for seamless and integrated access to time-sensitive information that includes corporate emails, voice services, and text messaging, internet and intranet based applications. RIM technology support and enable a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers producing complementary technology which in return further enhances its products and services making the company a common name and standard business tool for a large number of corporations. These third party products complement RIM's devices extending functionalities, capabilities, and making it a popular personal digital assistant (PDA) device choice for both personal and business users rivaling that of Palm’s offerings in the field of smartphone category. RIM popularized a product we called BlackBerry which is basically a mobile phone device competing against Apple's...
Words: 1420 - Pages: 6
...it – both positive and negative. On the one hand, cloud computing saves money because it does not require IT infrastructure, servers, and it is very scalable. On the other hand, it might lead to financial loss due to security risks, possible data access problems, data privacy policies, etc. Therefore, cloud computing evaluation based on financial metrics is proposed in this article. This paper consists of four major sections. The first section is a literature review of cloud computing and its types. The next section describes some common financial metrics such as CBA, ROI and TCO and describes how they might be applied to evaluate cloud computing. The third section proposes evaluation strategies, and the last section contains the evaluation of a series of cloud computing projects based on chosen evaluation strategies, and results are verified based on expert opinion. Keywords – cloud computing, CBA, ROI, TCO, ROC computing as “a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configuration computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction” [11] or in simple terms – “low cost flexible entry and exit”. According to Cisco IBSG research [12], in March 2011, at least 12 percent of all enterprise workloads will run on clouds (public, private, hybrid and community) with distribution based on different areas of enterprises shown in Fig. 1, and, as a result, the percentage of cloud...
Words: 4831 - Pages: 20
...Department. We are in charge of maintaining the network, helping users, and maintaining the phone system. The phone system is over 10 years old and is an analog system. This system runs off of Windows Server 2000. Windows Server 2000 is very old software and Microsoft does not support it anymore. So this means there are no new updates or patches to software. This can leave our phone system open to outside attacks from hackers. Our biggest problems with the current system are functionality and features. The system randomly stops working about once a week and this usually occurs during business hours. The server needs to be re-booted when this happens. The IT Department cannot re-boot this system remotely. It must be manually re-booted at our Northeast Philadelphia location where it is housed. The phones will not work at all until one of us re-boots the server. This downtime can seriously damage our sales because the customer service representatives cannot take calls. This is also a burden on the IT Department because this can happen when we are not in the office causing the downtime to be longer. This phone system also lacks the features necessary to improve the overall sales of both companies. Managers...
Words: 3299 - Pages: 14
...Chapter 5 IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies IT Infrastructure • Shared technology resources providing platform for specific IS applications • Investment in hardware, software, services (consulting, education, training) • Foundation for serving customers, working with vendors, managing business process • Set of physical devices and software required to operate enterprise • Set of firmwide services o Computing platforms providing computing services (e.g desktop computer, laptop) o Telecommunications services o Data management services (+analyzing) o Application software services (ERP, CRM, SCM, KMS) o Physical facilities management services o IT management (plan infrastr. Coordinate with BU), standards (policies), education (training) , research and development services (future investments) • “Service platform” perspective more accurate view of value of investments Evolution of IT Infrastructure • General-‐purpose mainframe & minicomputer era: 1959 to present ...
Words: 3490 - Pages: 14
...INFORMATION COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (ICT) PROCUREMENT MANUAL TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS SECTION 2 PREPARING FOR ICT PROCUREMENT PLANNING How do we prepare for ICT Procurement? Looking at Total Cost Ownership What is the value of Hiring ICT Procurement Consultant? What are the classifications of ICT Procurement? Drafting the Technical Specifications, Scope of Work and Terms of Reference Drafting Service Level Requirements Reference to Benchmarks Use of Brand Names in ICT Procurement “Green” Considerations in Making Technical Specifications PREPARING THE BIDDING DOCUMENTS What are Bidding Documents? Who shall participate in the preparation of the Bidding Documents? BAC for ICT Projects What various types and sizes of contracts may be provided in the Bidding Documents How should Pre-Procurement Conference be conducted? Conducting Proof-of-Concept SECTION 3 INSTRUCTIONS ON THE PROCEDURAL STEPS FOR ICT PROCUREMENT Competitive Bidding ICTO-DOST Standards Development SECTION 4 GUIDELINES ON CONTRACT IMPLEMENTATION FOR ICT PROCUREMENT OF GOODS Dispute Resolution ANNEX A: Definition of Terms ANNEX B: Process Flow for Goods and Infrastructure ANNEX C1: Process Flow Quality Based Evaluation ANNEX C2: Process Flow Quality Cost Based Evaluation ANNEX D: Sample Technical Specification Checklist ANNEX E: Sample Bid Evaluation Template 1 2 3 3 4 4 5 7 10 11 11 11 13 13 14 14 14 17 17 18 18 18 19 SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION This Manual seeks to...
Words: 8267 - Pages: 34
...M Infrastructure Optimization Driving Down Costs of the Business Desktop Abstract Deployment and management costs of PCs and the infrastructure that supports them use up 30 to 45 percent of most organizations’ IT budget. However, increasingly complex IT environments often incur increased costs and require service level compromises. This paper presents the results of surveys and analysis conducted during 2005 at 14 private enterprises. These organizations used best practices and management software technologies to optimize their organization’s IT infrastructure and reduce PC management costs. Results of this study indicate a direct correlation between the number of best practices adopted, the management technologies used, and the positive impact on reducing PC-related labor costs. Technical decision makers, especially those responsible for desktop PC environments, will gain insight into how they can better manage their IT environment with fewer financial resources. April 2006 William Barna, MBA Senior Program Manager Windows Enterprise Management Division The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft or its respective suppliers cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the...
Words: 10459 - Pages: 42
...ETEC 522 The Business of eLearning The Phoenix Effect An Environmental Analysis of Apple Inc. Jeff Miller, Alan Doree, David Vogt, Bruce Stewart Jerry BleeckeR MET Program University of British Columbia October 22, 2004 Introduction – “As Bad as it Gets” The year was 1985. Apple Inc., the industry leader in the personal computer industry was bleeding money and floundering in a market it had once dominated. Shares in Apple were trading at an all time low of $7. The company had just announced its first layoff in history and1200 employees were being let go (Goodell, 1996). To make matters worse, Steve Jobs, Apple’s visionary leader had just lost control of the company to John Scully, the former CEO of Pepsi Cola, in a boardroom show down. Jobs was too erratic, it was claimed, and Apple required more steady leadership. Eleven years and two CEO’s later, Apple had still not recovered and teetered on the brink of extinction. It had lost was more than half its market share, and the company now only commanded only 16.5% of sales (Whelan, 98). In addition, it had just posted a $708 million fourth quarter loss and announced a reduction of one-third of its workforce for the second quarter (Goodell, 1996). A shadow of its former self, Apple needed a miracle. It needed a strategic vision and new direction. Ironically, this arrived...
Words: 3798 - Pages: 16
...environment control, more availability, reduced project timelines by eliminating hardware procurement, improved disaster recovery capability, more central control of the desktop, and improved outsourcing services. With these benefits, it is no wonder that virtualization has had a meteoric rise to the 2008 Top 10 IT Projects! This white paper presents a brief look at virtualization, its benefits and weaknesses, and today’s “best practices” regarding virtualization. The Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) recommends these “best practices” to obtain the benefits that virtualization offers. Copyright 2008, Association of Information Technology Professionals. Permission to copy for personal non-commercial use granted. When the paper is referenced or quoted, direct the reader to www.aitp.org. Special thanks to the following editor: Mike Hinton, Southwestern Illinois College AITP Research and Strategy Advisory Group October 14, 2008 Page 1 of 40 Virtualization and Its Benefits Executive Summary Virtualization has quickly evolved from concept to reality. The technologies that are used for servers, clients, storage, and networks are being virtualized to create flexible and cost effective IT infrastructures. The focus of this paper is the use of virtual technology for data center systems with management best practices. Given today‘s emphasis on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and Return On Investment (ROI), virtualization of servers is...
Words: 16382 - Pages: 66
...Assignment 3: Evaluate Virtual Work Software Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Jeanette Johnson Lawrence Technological University MIS 7463 – Virtual Work Environments – Spring 2013 Dr. Anne Kohnke, Assistant Professor of IT, College of Management April 13, 2013 Contents Product Description and Application 3 Major Issues 4 Why the Need for VDI? 4 Is VDI for Everyone? 5 Successful Application of VDI 5 What Exactly Does VDI Offer Organizations? 5 Oracle Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Specifications….at a Glance 7 Reviews 8 What Oral Roberts University has to say about VDI 8 Scripps Networks’ Review of VDI 10 What Small Business Computing Reviewer, Joe Moran, Thinks of VDI 10 Summary and Interpretation of Reviews 11 Implementation 12 VDI Project Plan: Start with Using the Proper Apps and Utilize Pilot Program 13 VDI Licensing: Be Wary about Going for the $40 (or less) per Desktop Guarantee 13 Ensure you Tackle VDI Storage Challenge with Network-Attached Storage (NAS) System and Data Deduplication 14 Factors to Consider When Considering Whether or Not to Implement VDI 15 Conclusion 16 VDI offers Better Support 16 VDI Helps Strengthen Security 16 The BYOD Crowd will Be Happier with VDI 17 Product Description and Application Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is simply the practice of hosting desktop operating systems (OS) in a virtual...
Words: 4825 - Pages: 20
...| | | | | | |This paper serves as a business plan prepared for Qualitynet for the introduction of Google | |Enterprise services in the State of Kuwait. | | | | | |April 21, 2010 | | | TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ………………………… 3 ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND AND VISION ………………………… 4 CLOUD COMPUTING AND BENEFITS ………………………… 4 What’s in the Cloud for the Customers ………………………… 5 What’s in the Cloud for Us? ………………………… 5 THE SERVICES AND PRODUCTS ………………………… 6 OUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES ………………………… 7 SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGIES ………………………… 8 Marketing Strategy ………………………… 8 Sales Strategy ………………………… 10 FINANCIAL STRATEGY ………………………… 11 Sources of Income ………………………… 11 Revenues...
Words: 3505 - Pages: 15
...T II 4 IT Infrastructure: Hardware and Software 5 Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Management 6 Telecommunications, the Internet, and Wireless Technology 7 Securing Information Systems Part II provides the technical foundation for understanding information systems by examining hardware, software, databases, networking technologies, and tools and techniques for security and control. This part answers questions such as these: What technologies and tools do businesses today need to accomplish their work? What do I need to know about these technologies to make sure they enhance the performance of my firm? How are ISBN 1-269-41688-X these technologies likely to change in the future? 107 Essentials of Management Information Systems, Tenth Edition, by Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. IT Infrastructure: Hardware and Software LEARNING OBJECTIVES C H A P T E R 4 STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES After completing this chapter, you will be able to answer the following questions: 1. 2. What are the components of IT infrastructure? What are the major computer hardware, data storage, input, and output technologies used in business? What are the major types of computer software used in business? What are the most important contemporary hardware and software trends? What are the principal issues in managing hardware and software technology? 3. ...
Words: 21212 - Pages: 85
...serves the needs of people in finance as well as it does the people in human resources and in the warehouse. Each of those departments typically has its own computer system, each optimized for the particular ways that the department does its work. But ERP combines them all together into a single, integrated software program that runs off a single database so that the various departments can more easily share information and communicate with each other. That integrated approach can have a tremendous payback if companies install the software correctly. Take a customer order, for example. Typically, when a customer places an order, that order begins a mostly paper-based journey from in-basket to in-basket around the company, often being keyed and re-keyed into different departments’ computer systems along the way. All that lounging around in in-baskets causes delays and lost orders, and all the keying into different computer systems invites errors. Meanwhile, no one in the company truly knows what the status of the order is at any given point because there is no way for the finance department, for example, to get into the warehouse’s computer system to see whether the item has been shipped. “You’ll have to call the warehouse,” is the familiar refrain heard by frustrated customers. How can...
Words: 3921 - Pages: 16
