IT Infrastructure Components
IT infrastructure has been regarded as the sharing of technology resources to enhance existence, management, and operationalization of a given task. It consists of hardware devices and software that provide a platform which firms can base their information systems on in order to run their operations. IT infrastructure consists of seven major components which include computer hardware platforms, enterprise software applications, operating system platforms, and networking telecommunications platform. Others are data management and storage, consulting system integration services, as well as internet platforms. For a firm to have an effective as well as complete IT infrastructure, it should guaranteed the coordination of all the major components. Each component has at least three suppliers. Therefore, firms have multiple sources of IT infrastructures as known from researches https://topdissertations.com/
The seven major IT infrastructure components are fully fledged industries worth billions and trillions of dollars. The computer hardware platform is an industry worth 670 billion dollars. It is comprised of client machines, servers, mainframes, and chip producers. Another industry is the operating system platform that costs 250 billion dollars. It is comprised of OS providers, enterprise application, and middle providers. Networking/ telecommunication is a massive industry worth 1.65 trillion dollars. The industry is comprised of network OS and hardware providers. Organizations need to conduct industry analysis to understand the available economies of scale in each industry. Additionally, it will help them understand suppliers’ bargaining power. Information on each supplier’s market share will enable firms to understand which supplier’s products are widely preferred and accepted in the market.
Current Trends in Computer Hardware Platforms
The current trend in the hardware platforms is the increase in the use of mobile digital platforms for computing purposes. Organizations allow employees to use their own personal mobiles at the workplace. The new trend is being referred as Bring Your Own Device. Quantum computing is another trend. It means that an organization can apply quantum physics to perform operations and represent data. Firms use entanglement and superposition to operate data. The use of quantum computers has dramatically increased the speed of computing. Another emerging trend is virtualization. It allows the use of a single computer/ physical device in varying environments. It means that the single resource is not affected by geographical location or physical configurations. Virtualization allows firms to use a single computer to access multiple sources. Additionally, it has led to the reduction of power and hardware expenditure. With virtualization, firms can centralize their hardware.
Cloud computing essentially means that individuals and organizations can procure or rent computing power and software over a network; especially, the internet and acquisition are mainly performed in form of a service. Therefore, firms do no need to install new or keep on updating old hardware and software. It minimizes a firm’s investment in IT. However, its disadvantages are reliability and rising security concerns. Green computing is also referred to as green IT. It includes technologies and practices used to control the manufacturing, application, and disposal of IT hardware. The goal is to reduce the adverse effects on the environment. High performance and power saving processors have more than one processor that increases its efficiency. An example is the multi-core processor which uses solar cells and emits less heat. The multi-core processor is power-efficient.
Current Trends in Software Platforms
The manufacture of open source software has always been done by a community of programmers who are spread across the globe. In most cases, the software has remained free with an option for modification to suit a user’s interests. Linux is an open source operating system that is resilient and mostly used in high performance computing. It is a powerful system that can be operated on numerous hardware components. Linux is mostly used in web servers, LANs, mobile devices, and Android OS. The main software for websites include Java, HTML, the latest evolution HTML5, Ruby, and Python. Java is an operating system and computer programming language that creates and delivers contents to the web. HTML is the web description language. The new evolution HTML5 has embedded animation and media. Web services consist of linked software components that exchange and present data using the web language and standards such as the Extensible Markup Language (XML). Service leaning structural design, a software platform, uses service amalgamation through communication protocol to offer services required for other components.
Most companies outsource the software components. There are three main external sources where organization can look for software platforms. First, it may procure new software packages. Second, an organization may decide to award contract to an external manufacturer to produce the software. Third, an organization may use the cloud-based software service to access the required software in form of a service over the internet. Other outsourcing and clouding services include mashups and apps.
Challenges of Managing IT Infrastructure
A major challenge is managing the changes needed to implement the IT infrastructure components. An organization needs to be more flexible and scalable to support IT infrastructure. Additionally, there is a need for new policies that support IT infrastructure and formation of new contracts with suppliers of cloud computing services. Another challenge is the need to reorganize the management structure and form of governance in order to integrate the use of IT. Commissioning and installation of IT infrastructure is very expensive and, if not properly managed, it may increase tied up capital. Therefore, managers are faced with a challenge of making informed and wise decisions on investing in IT infrastructure. To determine how much to invest, a firm may use the competitive model. First, the firm needs to assess the market demand and its level of IT. Secondly, it must review its business and IT strategy. Lastly, the firm should assess the competitor’s services as well as its degree of investment in IT infrastructure.
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