Information
Technology Trends
Dr. Merle P. Martin
MIS Department
CSU Sacramento
Acknowledgements
Dr. Russell Ching (MIS Dept)
Source Materiel / Graphics
 Edie Schmidt (UMS) - Graphic Design
 Prentice Hall Publishing (Permissions)
 Martin, Analysis and Design of
Business Information Systems, 1995

Agenda
Information as Power
 The IT System
 IT Trends
 IT Issues
 Chief Information Officer (CIO)

Information as Power
Collapse of Communism
 Information and
Totalitarianism
 Information and
Organizations
 Power
 Just in case
 Information Overload

Relevance
IT is a critical resource
 Requires mgmnt decisions
 IT people have been making
these decisions by default
 lack of management awareness
 lack of management knowledge
 inpenetrable jargon (binary curtain)

The IT System
Hardware/SoftTECHNOLOGY
MANAGEMENT
ware
COMPUTER
USER
Interface
Change
Management
Decision
Support
Application
Programming
Connectivity
IT Operations
Management
Database
Systems
Development
Shneiderman’s
10 Plagues
of the Information Age
 Who is Ben Shneiderman?
 Univ Maryland (College Park)
 Computer Science
 Human Factors Institute
 System Philosopher

The Ten Plagues
Anxiety
 “computer shock”
 “terminal terror”
 “network neurosis”
 Alienation
 less connected to other people
 “Whose voice is that, anyway”

Ten Plagues (cont.)
Information-poor minority
 another way for
disadvantaged to
be more disadvantaged
 Impotence of individual
 everyone treated the same
 no special treatment for exceptions

Ten Plagues (cont.)
Bewildering complexity
and speed
 Windows 98?
 Organizational fragility (SciFi)
 Invasion of privacy
 Alaskan jury list

Ten Plagues
Unemployment
and displacement
 clerks / typesetters
 VP - mortgage loan decision
replaced by Expert System (ES)
 Lack of professional responsibility
 “Sorry, the computer won’t let
me ________.”

Ten Plagues

Deteriorating image
of people
 “smart machines”
 “intelligent terminals”
 “expert systems”
 “Maybe they’ll keep us as pets.”
 Shneiderman’s computer with
arms and legs.
Ten Plagues (cont.)
What are some of
your experiences?
IT Trends
Hardware
 Software
 Data
 Telecommunications
 Systems Development
 End-users

Hardware Trends

Batch to on-line
 Batch is delayed
processing
 Airport limousine
 Monthly billing application
 On-line is instantaneous processing
 Airport taxi
 Airline Reservation System
On-line with Delayed Processing
On-line
Batch
Hardware Trends
Central to distributed
processing
 Mainframe to PC
 Individual productivity
 Centralized to decentralized
resource control
 Departmental purchases
Software Trends
Large to small system
development
 Reusable code (packages)
 Outsourcing
 Prototyping
 3GL to 4GL
 concept of the Macro

Concept of the Macro
Computer processes
one instruction at a time
 CAD PAY
 ADD BONUS
 STO NEWPAY
 Macro is one-to-many
 ADD PAY, BONUS, NEWPAY

Third Vs. Fourth GLs
COBOL
SQL
OPEN INPUT EMPLOYEE-FILE. SELECT EMP-ID,
READ EMPLOYEE-FILE.
EMP-FIRST-NAME,
PERFORM WHILE NOT EOF
EMP-LAST-NAME,
IF EMP-ID = SEARCH-KEY
EMP-YTD-PAY
DISPLAY EMP-ID " "
FROM EMPLOYEE
EMP-FIRST-NAME " "
WHERE EMP-ID=1234
EMP-LAST-NAME " "
EMP-YTD-PAY
END-IF
READ EMPLOYEE-FILE
END-PERFORM.
Data Trends
Centralized to
decentralized
 mainframe to PC
 Keystroke to optical scanning
 voice?
 Multimedia
 voice / animation / video, etc.
 Data to information

Telecomm Trends
Link organizations to
 customers
 Amer Hosp Supply (AHS)
 suppliers
 Porter Model
 LAN to WAN
 Internet

Development Trends
“Information systems are
becoming too complex to
develop by conventional means.”
John Podlipnik
Vice President,
American Management Systems
Increasing Complexity
Program Lines of Code
 1970’s - 10,000
 1980’s - 100,00+
 1990’s - 1,000,000+
 Type Hardware
 1970’s - Standalone
 1980’s - Networked
 1990’s - Distributed

Increasing Complexity
Type of Data
 1970’s - Text
 1980’s - Graph User Intrface (GUI)
 1990’s - Object-oriented User
Interface (OOUI)
 Data Organization
 1970’s - Files
 1980’s - Databases
 1990’s - Relational Databases

Increasing Complexity
Software Languages
 1970’s - 3GL
 1980’s - 3GL / 4GL
 1990’s - 3GL / 4GL / Objects
 Application of Blaab’s Law

Blaab’s Law
“Old technologies persist
in the face of new
technologies.”
 Magnetic
tape
 Windmill east of Livermore
Issue
“Our company is committed to
providing each employee with
the latest technology.”
Anonymous CEO
WHAT DO YOU THINK
ABOUT THIS POLICY ?
Increasing Complexity

Standards
 1970’s - None
 1980’s - Some
 1990’s - “Open”
Podlipnik’s Question:
“How do we deal with changing:
 business environment ,
 technology landscape AND
 increasingly complex systems?”
Podlipnik’s Answer
Advanced user interfaces
 user-centered
methodologies
 Client / server solutions
 integration to legacy systems
 Object-oriented techniques
 Open systems
 to address technology evolution

Legacy Systems
Client/Server
Object Technology
End-user Trends
More knowledgeable users
 More demanding of IT
 More opportunities for
 misuse of IT resources
 mischief
 computer crime
 IT people as communicators

IT Issues Model
Society
Company
IT Dept
End-user
End-user IT Issues

Computer Literacy
 What is it?
 Costs
 How do we deliver?
 Changing content
 Shneiderman plagues
 anxiety and alienation
 information poor minority
End-user Issues
User development
 how much?
 power / control / misuse
 Safe IT work environment
(Ergonomics)
 IT humanization
 Human Factors
 deteriorating image of people

IT Department Issues
Centralize or decentralize
IT resources
 Interconnectivity
 islands of technology
 Alignment of IT dept. goals
with organization
 Organizational level
 VP? Report to whom?

Department Issues

Technology transfer
 “bewildering complexity
and speed”
 scouting the future
 predicting trends
 technology mapping
 prototyping / demonstrations
 technology implementation
Company IT Issues
Strategic role of IT
 Computer crime / security
 Reengineering with IT
 Business value of IT (e.g, waste)
 IT Top-down planning

Company Issues

Organizational fragility
 Worst case scenarios
 Contingency Management
 Electronic Data Systems
(EDS) example
 Change Management
Societal Issues
Ethics
 “professional responsibility”
 Individual privacy
 Unemployment / displacement
 Social responsibility

Chief Information
Officer (CIO)
VP for IT Services
 Understands business
 Technology transfer
 Create IT vision
 sell it !
 Implement IT infrastructure
 chassis for building on

Issue
Does your firm have a CIO?
 To whom does the CIO report?
 Has the CIO created an IT vision?
 Does the CIO have a technical or
management background?
TELL US YOUR EXPERIENCES!
Points to Remember
IT Trends
 IT Issues
 CIO
 Apply to a business organization
 Exercises
 Research paper
