In order to understand Chapter 5 I must first define IT infrastructure and it's components. IT infrastructure is the shared technology resources that provide the platform for the firms specific information system applications. IT infrastructure includes hardware, software and services that are shared across the entire organization. Major IT infrastructure components are computer hardware platforms, operating system platforms, enterprise software platforms, networking and telecommunications platforms, database management software, Internet platforms and consulting services and systems integrators.
The chapter also details the stages and technology drivers of the IT infrastructure evolution. The five stages of IT infrastructure evolution are the mainframe era, the personal computing era, the client/server era, the enterprise computing era and the cloud and mobile computing era. Moore's Law deals with the growth in processing power and decrease in the cost of computer technology. As we learned in Chapter 4 the power of micro-processors doubles every 18 months and the price of computing falls in half. The Law of Mass Digital storage deals with the exponential decline in the cost of storing data, stating that the number of kilobytes of data can be stored on magnetic media for $1 doubles every 15 months. Metcalfe's Law helps show that a networks value to participants grows as the network takes on more members.
Some of the current trends in the computer hardware platform are computing on a mobile digital platform, grid computing, virtualization and cloud computing. Grid computing involves connecting geographically remote computers into a single network to create computational grid that combines the computing power of all computers on the network. Virtualization organizes computing resources so that their use is not restricted by physical configuration or geographic location. In cloud computing organizations and individual users obtain computing power and software as services over a network, including the Internet, rather than purchasing and installing the hardware and software on their own computer.
Some of the current trends in software platforms include open source software that is produced and maintained by global community of programmers and can usually be downloaded for free. Linux is a powerful open source OS that can run on multiple hardware platforms and is used widely to run Web servers. Java is an OS and hardware-independent programming language that is the leading interactive programming environment for the Web. Now often times corporations are purchasing their software from outside sources including software packages, by outsourcing customer application development software services (SaaS). Mash ups combine two different software services to create new software applications and services.
Managing IT infrastructure in the modern world does come with some inherent challenges. Those challenges include dealing with the platform and infrastructure change, infrastructure management and governance and making wise infrastructure investments. The solution guidelines include using a competitive forces model to determine how much to spend on the IT infrastructure and where to take strategic infrastructure investments, and establishing the total cost of ownership (TCO) of information technology assets. The TCO of owning technology resources usually includes not only the cost of the original hardware and software, but also the costs for upgrades, maintenance, technical support and training.
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