It infrastructure and Platforms

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  IT infrastructure in the earliest stage (1930-1950) consisted of specialized “electronic accounting machines” that were primitive computers used for accounting tasks.
  
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  IT infrastructure in the mainframe era (1959 to present) consists of a mainframe performing centralized processing that could be networked to thousands of terminals and eventually some decentralized and departmental computing using networked minicomputers.
  
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  The personal computer era (1981 to present) in IT infrastructure has been dominated by the widespread use of standalone desktop computers and office productivity tools.
  
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  The predominant infrastructure in the client/server era (1983 to present) consists of desktop or laptop clients networked to more powerful server computers that handle most of the data management and processing.
  
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  The enterprise Internet computing era (1992 to present) is defined by large numbers of PCs linked into local area networks and growing use of standards and software to link disparate networks and devices linked into an enterprise-wide network so that information can flow freely across the organization.
  

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  Moore’s Law deals with the exponential increase in processing power and decline in the cost of computer technology, stating that every 18 months the power of microprocessors doubles and the price of computing falls in half.
  
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  The Law of Mass Digital Storage deals with the exponential decrease in the cost of storing data, stating that the number of kilobytes of data that can be stored on magnetic media for $1 roughly doubles every 15 months.
  
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  Metcalfe’s Law helps explain the mushrooming use of computers by showing that a network’s value to participants grows exponentially as the network takes on more members.
  
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  Declining communications cost and the Internet are also driving the explosion of computer use. The rapid decline in costs of communication and growing agreement in the technology industry to use computing and communications standards are driving the explosion of computer use.
  

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  Internet Platforms (Apache, Microsoft IIS, .NET, Unix, Cisco, Nortel, Java)
  
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  Computer Hardware Platforms (Dell, IBM, Sun, HP, Apple, Linux machines)
  
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  Operating Systems Platforms (Microsoft Windows, Unix, Linux, Mac OS X)
  
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  Enterprise Software Applications (including middleware, SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Microsoft, BEA)
  
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  Network/Telecommunications (Microsoft Windows Server, Linux, Novell, Cisco, Lucent, Nortel, MCI, ATT, Verizon)
  
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  Consultants and System Integrators (IBM, KPMG, Accenture, Capgemini)
  
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  Data Management and Storage (IBM DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase, MYSQL, EMC Systems)
  
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  Grid computing involves connecting geographically remote computers into a single network to create a computational grid that combines the computing power of all the computers on the network with which to attack large computing problems.
  
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  Edge computing balances the processing load for Web-based applications by distributing parts of the Web content, logic, and processing among multiple servers.
  
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  On-demand computing also depends on networks for firms to purchase additional processing power from large computer service firms and to have that power delivered when they need it over a network.
  

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  Growing use of Linux and open-source software – open-source software is produced and maintained by a global community of programmers and is downloadable for free. Linux is a powerful, resilient open-source operating system that can run on multiple hardware platforms and is used widely to run Web servers.
  
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  Java – is an operating-system and hardware-independent programming language that is the leading interactive programming environment for the Web.
  
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  Web services and service-oriented architecture – software for enterprise integration includes enterprise applications and middleware such as enterprise application integration (EAI) software and Web services. Unlike EAI software, Web services are loosely coupled software components based on open Web standards that are not product-specific and can work with any application software and operating system. They can be used as components of Web-based applications linking the systems of two different organizations or to link disparate systems of a single company.
  
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  Software outsourcing – companies are purchasing their new software applications from outside sources, including application software packages, by outsourcing custom application development to an external vendor (that may be offshore), or by renting software services from an application service provider.
  

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  Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) is a set of rules for structuring messages that enables applications to pass data and instructions to one another.
  
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  Web Services Description Language (WSDL) is a common framework for describing the tasks performed by a Web service and the commands and data it will accept so that it can be used by other applications.
  
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  Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) enable a Web service to be listed in a directory of Web services so that it can be easily located.
  

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  Cost of IT infrastructure
  
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  Integration of information, applications, and platforms.
  
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  Flexibility to respond to business environments.
  
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  Resilience
  
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  Service levels
  

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  Making wise infrastructure investments
  
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  Choosing and coordinating infrastructure components
  
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  Dealing with infrastructure change
  
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  Agreeing on infrastructure management and governance
  

Solution guidelines include:

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  Using a competitive forces model to determine how much to spend on IT infrastructure and where to make strategic infrastructure investments
  
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  Starting out new infrastructure initiatives with small experimental pilot projects
  
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  Establishing the total cost of ownership (TOC) of information technology assets.