Exam 1 Review

Intro to Managing IT

Information Technology’s Impact on Business Operations

Figure 1.2 (source CIO Magazine)

3Q: What may explain that only 17% of the Info Security effectiveness depend on Technology?

PTP Information Security involves people, technology, and

policies/procedures People

Employees/users Customers, suppliers Guests, and nauthorized users Etc.

Technology Antivirus Firewalls Intrusion detection systems Etc.

Policies/Procedures Work procedures Fair-use policy Password, login policy Etc. 4

Technologies & business functions

• Click-to-talk– also known as click-to-call, click-to-chat and click-to-text.

– form of Web-based communication in which a person clicks an object (e.g., button, image or text) to request an immediate connection with another person in real-time either by phone call, instant messaging, or text.

– typically used in eBusiness to assist online store visitors in selecting products.

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Technologies & business functions (cont.)• Call Center

– Is centralized office set by large organizations in order to receive and transmit a large volume of requests by phone.

– Is, typically, operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers.

– Is also used for outgoing calls for telemarketing and debt collection.

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Technologies & business functions (cont.)• Call Scripting tools

– Refer to application software typically used by call center employees to help provide accurate answers to customers and react appropriately to their inquiries.

– Are, typically, connected to the corporate database, which allows pulling off the needed data to be used in assisting callers.

• Benefits of Call Scripting include:– agents can be guided through calls in a predictable way

– uniformity in the way call center employees handle cases.

– reduced errors and complaints, increased effectiveness

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Technologies & business functions (cont.)• Supply Chain Management (SCM) Systems

– Refer to a category of IS that support the activities related to business supply chain.

– Supply chain involves: (a) materials flow from suppliers, (b) transformation of materials and production processes, (c) distribution of products to customers

• Typical activities supported:– Procurement / purchase of supplies– Tracking orders from suppliers– Handling customers orders– Invoicing– Tracking customers orders

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Technologies & business functions (cont.)

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems– Refer to a category of IS that support the activities related to managing and

nurturing a company’s interactions with customers, clients, and sales prospects.

– Help increase organizational effort by multiple departments like marketing, sales, support division, and customer service to improve customer relations

– Goals are to help : (1) find, attract, and win new clients – (2) nurture and maintain existing customers – (3) entice former customers back into the fold

• Typical activities supported:– Managing Sales teams

– Tracing potential customers

– Running MKT campaigns

– Analyzing sales

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Technologies & business functions (cont.)

• Hepling customers find best deals

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Do In-Class Exercise 1: Technologies supporting business functions

Web sites Mobile appsGasBuddy.com GasBuddy for smartphone

Pricewatch.com iGas for iPhone

PriceGrabber.com PriceGrabber

Mygroceryspy.com RedLaser – Reads bar code & searches the net for best deal

Nexag.com GoogleShopper

IT, IS, MISInformation technology (IT) refers to

a field concerned with the use of technology in managing and processing information

Computer-based tools used to capture, store, protect, process, retrieve, and transmit information

IT is a main part of Business IntelligenceBusiness Intelligence is a broad array of

applications and technologies used to gather, provide access to, and analyze huge amount of data to support decision making. Its use allows discovering patterns, associations, etc.

Information technology is an important enabler of business success and innovation 11

IT, IS, MIS (cont.)

Management information systems (MIS) :Is a business function and academic discipline Deals with the application of information systems

and information technology to solve business problems

MIS is a business function, similar to Accounting, Finance, Operations, and Human Resources

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IT, IS, MIS (cont.)Information Systems – systems designed for

use by organizations in order to transform raw data into information that can help workers do their job and managers make decisions.

An information system has the following key components: People Technology Procedures

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Technology:HardwareSoftware

DatabasesNetworks

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Data versus Information• Data = raw facts that represent the characteristics of an event

– Example 1:• Event: High temperature• Data: 100° F

– Example 2:• Event: Sale• Data: Sale’s date, item number, item description, etc.

• Information = facts within a given context– Information results from transforming data by adding context and meaning

to make it more useful.– The temperature today at noon in Times Square, NYC was 100° F

I P O

Note: Info generated by one system may be used as input in another system

IT & Competitive Advantage

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGETo survive and thrive an organization must

have a competitive advantage a strategic advantage one business has over its

rivals within its competitive industry. an attribute (or combination of attributes)

acquired or developed by a business allowing it to outperform its competitors. Examples:

—distinctive product that customers place a greater value in—Unique service that stands out—Access to rare natural resources—highly skilled workers, etc.

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GAINING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGEOrganizations watch their competition through

environmental scanning e.i., the acquisition and analysis of events and trends in the

environment external to an organizationSocrates Technology-based Competitive Strategy

system (1983-1990)SWOT analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,

Threats (Stanford Research Institute 1960-70)Porter’s Five-Force Model

Porter, M.E. (1979) How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy, Harvard business Review, March/April 1979

Porter, Michael (1985) Competitive Advantage, Free Press, New York. 17

PORTER’S FIVE FORCES MODEL

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Threat of New Entrants Entry barriers

- Customers’ switching cost- Capital Requirements- Access to distribution channels- Economies of scale

Industry Growth rate

Buyers Power Buyers’ switching Cost Buyers concentration Threat of backward integration Threat of forward integration Buyers volume

Suppliers Power Suppliers concentration Cost of switching supplier Substitute inputs Threat of forward integration

Threat of Substitutes Relative quantity of substitutes Relative price of substitutes Buyers’ switching cost

Rivalry # of competitors &

industry concentration Buyers volume Market growth Exit barriers

Buyers’ switching cost

Generic Competitive StrategiesThree basic strategies for pursuing

competitive advantage Cost leadership

– Exploiting all sources of cost advantage while complying with industry norms

Differentiation– Offering unique and distinctive product/service

through innovation Focus

– Targeting segments (niche markets) and exploiting the under-performance of broad competitors in the segments through cost leadership or differentiation

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IT Infrastructure: Hardware

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The Core Computer Components Four subsystems in a computer system:

1. Input subsystem 3. Output subsystem

2. Processing subsystem 4. I/O (Storage) subsystem

InputProcess

Output

Input/Output (storage)

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I/O or Secondary Storage devices Secondary compared to the main primary memory called RAM Nonvolatile1 storage of digital data - Could be Magnetic, Optical, Magnetic storage (i.e. data stored on magnetically coated surface)

Examples: Magnetic tape, Hard disk, floppy disk Sequential access (e.g. tape) or direct access (e.g. HDD) HDDs are electromechanical devices with spinning disks and movable disks

– Use standards/interfaces like• Parallel ATA (PATA) or IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)• Serial ATA (SATA)2

• SCSI (Small Computer System Interface)– SCSI provides disk fault-tolerance by using RAID – Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks;

that is multiple disks set together to provide continued service in case one disk fails.– Disk speed:

• Transfer rate in MBps (Megabytes per second) or GBps• Average Read Time (in milliseconds or ms)• Platter rotation speed in RPM (5400/7200/10,000/15,000)

State Solid Disks (SSD) use microchips which retain data in non-volatile memory chips No moving parts | Have lower access time and latency Can replace your existing HDD if same interface

1. Means that the stored data wouldn’t disappear (or be deleted) in case of power shortage2. In SATA and PATA, ATA stands for Advanced Technology Attachment

256GB Crucial m4 2.5-inch SATA 6GB/s

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Processing subsystemMotherboard: chipset that all components connect to

CPU Socket types Pin Grid Array (PGA): CPU must have

pins to fit in the socket holes) Land Grid Array (LGA) with locks Zero Insertion Force (ZIP)

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Processing subsystem (cont.)Two major components in processing subsys.

– CPU (Central Processing Unit) or Processor(s)– Primary Storage:

• Random Access Memory (RAM)• Read Only Memory (ROM)

Busses that transfer data

CPU

Primary Storage

Othercomponents

on the Motherboard

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Central Processing Unit

Clock: generate time that synchronize other components

ICU: Fetches instructions from RAM

ALU: Execute instructions (arithmetic & logic operations)

Registers: Store control information, data, intermediate results

Processor

Clock

Instruction Control Unit

Arithmetic Logic Unit

Registers

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Primary Storage

RAM holds running programs and the data they use

ROM contains critical programs such as those that boot the computer

Primary Storage

RAM

ROM

Computer’s memory stored on semiconductor chips Two categories:

RAM (Random Access Memory) which is volatile Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM) Double Data Rate SDRAM or DDR SDRAM

ROM (Read-Only Memory) which is non-volatile

Capacity in Megabytes (MB) or Gigabytes (GB)

Program Data

RAM slots

Windows 95 and Win 98 can access up to 512 MB of RAM

Win XP and Vista 32-bit access up to less than 4 GB of RAM

Win Vista and Win 7 64-bit can access more than 4 GB of RAM

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Front Side Bus and Northbridge

CPU

Northbridge(Memory Controller)

Southbridge(Memory Controller)

RAM

AGP Video Card

PCI bus

Real Time Clock

USB

Other devices

Front Side Bus (FSB)

FSB: bi-directional data bus carrying data b/w CPU and Northbridge FSB speed is measured in Hz; e.g. 800 MHz FSB (or in GB Transfer/s in newer Intel – 4.8 GT/s = 4.8x2 = 9.6 GB/s )

Quad Core Intel® Xeon® W3530 2.80GHz, 8M L3, 4.8GT/s

Cache MemoryClock

CPU speed/Clock rate

Cache Memory

Quick Path Interconnect QPI/FSB speed

AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.20GHz, Socket AM3, 6MB Cache, 2GHz (4GT/s) FSB

IT Infrastructure: Software

Relationship of software to hardware

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Main Types of Software

• Systems software

– Programs that surround and control access to the hardware

– Manage computer hardware and application software

– Three types of systems software:• Operating systems (e.g. Windows, Linux)• Language translators (C++ compiler, VB compiler)• Utility programs (Norton Utilities, etc.)

Systems Software

Application Software

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Operating System (OS)• Software platform on which other programs run

• Provide a connection between application programs and the computer hardware

• Major tasks– Starting the computer

– Managing files

– Managing Programs and Memory (RAM)

– Ensuring security

– Providing a user interface

– Control input and output devices

Application program

Operating system

Hardware

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OS: Program and Memory Management• OS is responsible for

– Sending programs to the CPU– Allocating primary storage (RAM) to programs– Controlling devices that programs requires

• Multiprogramming and Multitasking– More than one program in memory at once– OS keeps track of memory for each program– One program runs until it needs data from the user, then the

OS switches to the other program

• Virtual memory– “Extending” the computer RAM by using secondary storage– Used when RAM insufficient to hold programs to be used 32

OS: Multiprogramming￭ Ability of the OS to allow running multiple program “at the same time”

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￭ A technique that “extends” primary memory (RAM) by using secondary storage devices

￭ Needed when there is not enough RAM to hold multiple programs in memory

￭ There need to be enough free disk space for virtual memory to work.

OS: Virtual Memory

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Programming Language Generations & Language translators

EnglishMachine Language

Programming languages

• Language Translators: convert programs written in programming language into machine language

• Example of programming languages: C++, Java, COBOL, VB