ENTERPRISE INFRASTRUCTURE
AND INTEGRATION
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Building the Dynamic Enterprise
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INTRODUCTION
Successful IT systems provide an integrated
view of:

1.
2.
3.
4.
Business
Extend analytical capabilities to users
Leverage a corporation's information and expertise
Allow the seamless flowing of information across
diverse business functions, business units and
geographic boundaries
INTRODUCTION

Enterprises need to encompass a range of
intelligence systems and analytical applications
that include:




Data warehouses and data marts
Online analytical processing (OLAP)
Decision support systems (DSSs)
Executive information systems (EISs)
ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS


An enterprise system (ES) - large software
application that companies use to manage their
operations
Key way by which large organizations distribute
content of all kinds to their:



Workforce
Suppliers
Customers
ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS
ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS

Enterprise systems are suited for information
transactions


They are the underlying information “factory”
Enterprise systems offer the first great
opportunity to achieve true connectivity


A state in which everyone knows what everyone else is
doing in the business all over the world at the same
time
A complex product and there are failures in
implementation – technology and people related
problems
DEVELOPING AGILE IT SYSTEMS


Business agility means being prepared for
change at a moment’s notice
Factors to consider whenever you are
developing an IT system - these are commonly
referred to as the “ilities”:







Availability
Accessibility
Reliability
Scalability
Flexibility
Performance
Capacity planning
Availability


Availability is determining when an IT system
will be available for employees to access
Most companies have IT systems available 24 x
7 x 365
Accessibility


Accessibility is determining who has the right to
access different types of IT systems and
information
Accessibility also means who can access or
manipulate the information, whether they can
create, read, update, and/or delete information
Reliability


Reliability ensures your IT systems are
functioning correctly and providing accurate
information
Inaccurate information exists for many reasons:


The information being entered incorrectly
The information becoming corrupt
Scalability


Scalability refers to how well a system can adapt
to increased demands
A number of factors can affect organizational
growth including:



The market
The industry
The economy
Flexibility


A single system can be designed in a number of
different ways to perform exactly the same
function
When choosing which design to implement,
think about the system’s “flexibility,” or the
system’s ability to change quickly
Performance



Performance measures how quickly an IT
system performs a certain process
Benchmarks are baseline values a system seeks
to attain
Benchmarking is a process of continuously
measuring system results, comparing those
results to optimal system performance
(benchmark values), and identifying steps and
procedures to improve system performance
Capacity Planning


Capacity planning determines the future IT
infrastructure requirements for new equipment
and additional network capacity
It’s cheaper for an organization to implement an
IT infrastructure that considers capacity growth
at the beginning of a system deployment
INFORMATION SYSTEMS INFRASTRUCTURE


An IT architecture is the blueprint for translating
a business strategy into a plan
An infrastructure is a relative term meaning “the
structure beneath a structure”


This definition implies different layers of structure,
which provide support or services
It is the implementation of the architecture
INFORMATION SYSTEMS INFRASTRUCTURE
Why Architecture Matters


The IT architecture identifies what information
must be standardized corporate-wide and what
will be standardized at a regional level
An IT architecture specifies where and how
information will be located and accessed
Why Infrastructure Matters


Global markets are creating enormous demands
for increased information sharing
A powerful, flexible IT infrastructure has become
a prerequisite for doing business
Why Infrastructure Matters

IT infrastructure should exhibit several key traits,
such as:

Efficiency


Effectiveness


Reusable components that are priced reasonably and can be
turned around quickly for application development projects
Easy integration of all components in a way that supports their
operation
Agility

Good planning and design processes that allow companies to
develop new applications quickly and to upgrade their existing
infrastructure to support new requirements for existing and/or
new applications
Why Infrastructure Matters

Translating the architecture into an infrastructure
entails creating details about certain
technologies:




Hardware
Software
Network
Information
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE
There are four types of information technology
infrastructures:

1.
2.
3.
4.
Decentralized infrastructure
Centralized infrastructure
Distributed infrastructure
Client/server infrastructure
Types of Infrastructure and their Characteristics
Characteristics
Decentralized
Centralized
Distributed
Client/Server
Cost efficiency
Moderate
Excellent
Moderate
Very
reasonable
Data location
Distributed
Centralized
Distributed
Distributed
Management
Ease
Simple
Easy
Difficult
Moderate
Network
performance
Excellent
Constrained
Varies
Constrained
Processing
location
Distributed
Centralized
Distributed
Shared
User control
Full
Very limited
Varies
Varies
Decentralized Infrastructure



A decentralized infrastructure involves little or no sharing
of information systems
Gives users the liberty to develop applications that meet
their needs and maintain control over the applications they
develop
Disadvantages

Difficult to share applications and information across areas


Each area may have their own hardware/software, maintenance and
service contracts which could increase cost
Encourages duplication of data which can lead to inconsistencies
Decentralized Infrastructure
Centralized Infrastructure

A centralized infrastructure involves the storing of
application software and information in one central
area or one central mainframe


Mainframes were originally the only computers
available for business
Advantages:



High degree of control makes it easy to maintain h/w, s/w,
procedures and operations standards
Easy to control access to information
Disadvantages:

Inflexibility – different departments have different needs and
one size does not fit all
Centralized Infrastructure
Distributed Infrastructure

A distributed infrastructure involves distributing the
information and processing power of IT systems via a
network



The architecture must be able to determine the location as well
as the optimal way to request specific applications and
information
By connecting all the information systems via a
distributed infrastructure, all locations can share
information and applications
Processing activity can be allocated to the location(s)
where it can most efficiently be done

Will duplicate the same application and/or information in
multiple sites
Distributed Infrastructure
Client/Server Infrastructure


A client/server infrastructure (or client/server
network) has one or more computers that are servers
which provide services to other computers, called
clients
The client/server infrastructure is a form of distributed
infrastructure

Application processing is split between the client and server


When surfing the web, your computer is the client using browser
software and interacting with Web servers that have information you
are seeking (shopping, news, education, etc.)
The server sends information to the client where it is
processed – the network is heavily used which can become a
bottleneck
Client/Server Infrastructure
Other Types of Infrastructure

In a tiered infrastructure (sometimes referred to
as a layer infrastructure), the IT system is
partitioned into tiers (or layers) where each tier
(or layer) performs a specific type of
functionality
Other Types of Infrastructure




A 1-tier infrastructure is the most basic setup because it involves a
single tier on a single machine
 An application running on a standalone PC
A 2-tier infrastructure is the basic client/server relationship
 Server handles request for information, client displays it and
application is either on the client (fat client) or server (thin client)
A 3-tier infrastructure is the most common approach used for Web
applications today
 Application (business logic) in 2-tier is placed on a separate server
An n-tier infrastructure balances the work of the network over
several different servers
Other Types of Infrastructure
The Infrastructure Investment




IT investments are one of the most important
decisions made within an organization
IT infrastructure investments are large, long term, and
have no (real) value on their own
An infrastructure's value lies in its ability to quickly
and economically enable the implementation of new
applications which in turn generate even more
business value
An infrastructure provides for standardization of
services which allows for easier integration and
information access across business units

Telecommunications, databases
The Infrastructure Investment



Infrastructure investement can account for more
than 58% of IT dollars
By developing a solid infrastructure, GM
reduced the number of applications in use at the
company from 7,000 to 3,000 and has saved $1
billion annually for the past 5 years
Wachovia Corp (4th largest financial services
comp and 3rd largest brokerage firm in the US)
invested $1.4 million in infastructure
development and saved $2.3 million within two
years
Supporting an IT Infrastructure


Backup is the process of making a copy of the
information stored on a computer
Recovery is the process of reinstalling the
backup information in the event the information
was lost

Storage area networks (SAN) is an infrastructure for
building special, dedicated networks that allow rapid
and reliable access to storage devices by multiple
servers
Disaster Recovery Plan





A disaster recovery plan is a detailed process for recovering
information or an IT system in the event of a catastrophic disaster
such as a fire or flood
A collocation facility is a company that rents space and
telecommunications equipment from another company
Hot site – separate and fully equipped facility where a company
can move immediately after a disaster and resume business
Cold site – separate facility that does not have computer
equipment but where employees can move after a disaster
A disaster recovery cost curve charts (1) the cost of the
unavailability of information and technology and (2) the cost of
recovering from a disaster over time
Disaster Recovery Plan
INTEGRATING THE ENTERPRISE


Integration allows separate applications to
communicate directly with each other by
automatically exporting data files from one
application and importing them into another
Building integrations between applications helps
an organization maintain better control of its
information
INTEGRATING THE ENTERPRISE



Gap Inc has 1,900 stores around the world, employees
more than 13,000 people and genarated%16.3 billion
revenues in 2004
Their goal is to maintain a 20% growth rate each year –
to do this they need to provide their employees with
immediate access to real-time information
By building an IT infrastructure based in system
integrating and the use of the Internet, they are able to
exchange real-time sales, inventory and shipping
information among all its information systems and
employees. This has increased employee and company
performance
Why Integration Is Necessary

Integration requires the simplification and
streamlining of organizational processes using
techniques such as BPR and workflow redesign


Business process reengineering (BPR) is the analysis
and redesign of workflow within and between
enterprises
Workflow defines all the steps or business rules, from
beginning to end, required for a business process
Motives for Integration


An organization may choose to integrate because
of its concerns about its operations, both with
internal processes and external relationships
Enterprise integration is viewed as a possible
solution to a number of problems with internal
organizational processes
Motives for Integration
OPERATIONAL
MOTIVES
Poor performance
TECHNICAL MOTIVES
Disparate systems
High cost structure
Poor quality of information
Responsiveness to
customers
Complex processes
Systems not integrated
Globalization
Limited growth potential
Obsolete systems
Benefits of Integration

Many of the benefits can be easily measured in
financial terms



Cost reduction
Reduction of inventory costs
Reduction of personnel costs
Benefits of Integration
RANK
TANGIBLE
INTANGIBLE
1
Inventory reduction
Information visibility
2
Personnel reduction
New/improved process
3
Productivity improvements
Customer responsiveness
4
Order processing improvements
Integration
5
IT cost reduction
Standardization
6
Procurement reduction
Flexibility
7
Revenue/profit increase
Globalization
8
Transportation logistics
Business performance
Integration Obstacles



People
Process
Technology