BCIS 1305, Ch. 7: Infrastructure, Cloud Computing, Metrics, and Business Continuity Planning

Discuss Maintenance as the 6th phase of BCP.

Continually assess new threats and reevaluate your IT systems and related assets to determine their changing importance to the organization.

Discuss Implementation as the 4th phase of BCP.

Engage businesses that will provide collocation facilities, hot sites, and cold sites; implement necessary procedures for recovering from a disaster; train employees; evaluate each IT system to ensure its configuration is optimal for recovering from a disaster.

Discuss Testing as the 5th phase of BCP.

Executing simulated scenarios of disasters and having EEs execute on the disaster recovery plan.

How does one justify the costs of technology?

Need to be able to measure the success of technology. Benchmarking -- the process of continuously measuring system results and comparing these results to benchmarks -- baseline values a system seeks to attain.

Describe 1-tier, 2-tier, 3-tier and n-tier infrastructure.

1-tier: the most basic setup bec involves a single tier on a single machine. Ex: basic word processor 2-tier: the basic client/server relationship. Ex: database query 3-tier: the most common approach used for Web applications today. Ex: where Web browser acts as the client, an application servers handles the business logic, and a separate tier (ex: DBMS) handles database fxs. n-tier: balances the work of the network over several different servers. Typically, starts with a basic 3-tier model and expands on it to allow for other benefits.

List some Effectiveness metrics as they relate to Supply Chain Management (SCM).

1. Number of stockouts 2. Excess inventory 3. Distribution and warehousing costs

Discuss Effectiveness metrics in regard to CRM and SCM.

CRM: want to increase the value of all the CRM metrics, e.g., more cross-selling success the better, a common characteristics of metrics that measure growth (from the RGT framework) SCM: want to reduce the value of all the SCM metrics, e.g., have as little excess inventory as possible, a common characteristic of metrics that measure run initiatives SO--Run initiatives, such as SCM, seek to optimize efficiency metrics while not negatively affecting effectiveness metrics, and growth initiatives, such CRM, seek to optimize effectiveness metrics while not negatively affecting efficiency metrics.

How does one categorize metrics (or ways to measure something)?

Efficiency -- doing something right (ex: Web traffic in a Web development project_ vs Effectiveness -- doing the right thing (ex: getting customers to make a purchase)

What happens during the Organizational strategic plan of BCP?

Starts here with understanding the relative importance of resources, systems, processes, and other organizational assets.

What do Effectiveness Metrics measure?

These measure results of the technology or application in some environment.

What is a Distributed Infrastructure?

This involves distributing the information and processing power of IT systems via a network. By connecting all the info systems via a distributed infrastructure, all locations can share info and applications. To improve performance and reduce network traffic, a distributed infrastructure will often store the same application and/or info in two or more locations.

What is a Web-centric Metric?

This is a measure of the success of your Web and e-business initiatives.

Define the term "infrastructure."

This term means "the structure beneath a structure." It implies different layers of structure, which provide support or services.

What are the most common network infrastructures?

1. Distributed infrastructure 2. Client/Server Infrastructure (client/server network) 3. Tiered infrastructure

How does SoA philosophy impact information needs?

1. End users with access to all types of information 2. Integrated information, business intelligence, and knowledge 3. Data warehouses 4. Standard information formats 5. Integrity controls 6. No duplicate information

How does a SoA philosophy help end users (i.e., EEs within the org)?

1. Fully integrated ERP system that meets every application software and information need of each and every EE 2. Interoperability among vendors 3. Interoperability of modules by the same vendor 4. Mobile computing (access to information and software regardless of location and device)

What three elements are necessary to implement a SoA philosophy?

1. Hardware and software infrastructure 2. Metrics for determining success 3. Measures to ensure consistent, uninterrupted success

How does SoA philosophy impact hardware requirements?

1. Integration of different technologies and technology platforms 2. Large storage capacity 3. Your focus on logical, not physical 4. Safe and secure telecommunications platform

How does a SoA philosophy help customers?

1. Multi-channel service deliver (customers should be able to plug-and-play into any communications channel with your org, such as fax, the Web, face-to-face contact, social ....) 2. Consistent, high-quality interactions regardless of the venue 3. Customizable product and service capabilities

List some Effectiveness metrics as they relate to Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

1. Number of cross-selling successes 2. Cost-per-thousand (CPM) -- sales dollars generated per dollar of advertising 3. Number of new customers generated 4. Avg length of time a customer stays active (i.e., continues to buy products and services from you)

What are the phases of Business Continuity Planning?

1. Organizational strategic plan 2. Analysis 3. Design 4. Implementation 5. Testing 6. Maintenance

What are town of the primary goals of an ERP system within a service-oriented architecture?

1. Provide interoperability within an ERP vendor and for modules among different ERP vendors. 2. Hide the underlying IT infrastructure of information and hardware from end users and customers.

How does SoA philosophy impact Software Development?

1. SoA as a framework 2. RAD, XP, and agile as development methodologies 3. Exciting new deployments like Web 2.0

What is the fundamental underlying infrastructure for any IT environment?

1. a network 2. two or more computers sharing info 3. software 4. peripheral devices 5. processing power

Define a Tiered Infrastructure.

Also referred to as a layer infrastructure, this IT system is partitioned into tiers (or layers) where each tier (or layer) performs a specific type of functionality.

What can be a disadvantage of the client/server infrastructure?

Because processing occurs at many client locations, and the client and server interact frequently and extensively, info must flow rapidly between server and clients for adequate performance. So, then places a heavy load on the network capacity.

Discuss an Infrastructure-centric metric.

Efficiency metrics: This is typically a measure of the efficiency, speed, and/or capacity of technology. These include: 1. Throughput -- amt of info that can pass through a system in a given amt of time (ex: Kbps) 2. Transaction speed -- the speed at which a system can process a transaction 3. System availability -- usually measured inversely as downtime, or the avg amt of time system is down and unavailable to end users and customers. Does not include regularly scheduled maintenance. 4. Accuracy -- usually measured inversely as error rate, or the number of errors per thousand (or million) that a system generates. 5. Response time -- avg time to respond to a user-generated event, such as a request for a report, a mouse click, and so on. 6. Scalability -- how well a system can adapt to increased demands.

What is a Disaster Recovery Cost Curve in the 3rd phase, Design, in the BCP?

It charts: 1. the cost to your organization of the unavailability of information and technology and, 2. the cost to your organization of recovering from a disaster over time. Where the two curves intersect is the best recovery plan in terms of cost and time.

In a corporation what does IT infrastructure include?

It includes the hardware, software (such as ERP software), and information that (1) ensure the components work together and (2) enable people, business processes, and customers to interact and perform their tasks.

What is interoperability?

It is the capability of two or more computing components to share information and other resources, even if they are made by different manufacturers.

What is the primary advantage of the client/server infrastructure?

It offloads the application programs and information from the server.

Discuss Analysis as the second phase of BCP.

Perform impact analysis, threat analysis, and impact scenario analysis and build a requirement recovery document, a detailed document that describes (1) the distinction between critical and noncritical IT systems and information, (2) each possible threat, and (3) the possible worst-case scenarios that can result from each disaster.

What is a Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system?

The software system for business management, supporting areas such as planning, manufacturing, sales, marketing, distribution, accounting, finance, human resource management, project management, inventory management, service and maintenance, transportation and e-business.

What is a Digital Dashboard?

This displays key information gathered from several sources on a computer screen in a format tailored to the needs and wants of an individual knowledge worker.

What is a Client/Server Infrastructure (Client/Server network)?

This has one or more computers that are servers which provide services to other computers, called clients. Is a form of distributed infrastructure but the basic notion here is that application processing is divided between the client and the server. Surfing on internet is example of this infrastructure.

What is an Application Service Provider (ASP)?

This is a business providing computer-based services to customers over a network; such as access to a particular software application (such as CRM) using a standard protocol (such as HTTP). The need for ASPs has evolved from the increasing costs of specialized software that have far exceeded the price range of small to medium sized businesses. Also, the growing complexities of software have led to huge costs in distributing the software to end-users.

What is Business Continuity Planning (BCP)?

This is a rigorous and well-informed organizational methodology for developing a business continuity plan, a step-by-step guideline defining how the organization will recover from a disaster or extended disruption of its business process.

What is a service-oriented architecture (SOA or SoA)?

This is a software architecture perspective that focuses on the development, use, and reuse of small self-contained blocks of code (called services) to meet all the application software needs of an organization. Thus new applications build on past solutions organically using established building blocks. If SoA is adopted, the organization is saying that instead of bringing in brand new systems all its software will be developed from reusable units of code.

What is Cloud Computing?

This is a technology model in which any and all resources -- application software, processing power, data storage, backup facilities, development tools...literally everything -- are delivered as a set of services via the Internet.

Define Scalability as an infrastructure-centric metric.

This is how well a system can adapt to increased demands. This is more of a conceptual metric that assesses your ability to upgrade the implemented infrastructure at minimal cost and service interruption.

What is a Click-through Web-centric metric?

This is the count of the number of people who visit a site, click on an ad, and are taken to the site of the advertiser.

What is a Conversion rate Web-centric metric?

This is the percentage of potential customers who visit your site who actually buy something.

Discuss Design as the third phase of BCP.

Using the requirement recovery document, create a disaster recovery plan, which identifies collocation facilities, hot sites, and cold sites and illustrates a disaster recovery cost curve (the cost to your organization of the unavailability of information and technology as compared to the cost to your organization of recovering from a disaster over time)

What is sustainable interoperability?

When, within the ERP suite, you replace software modules with in-house developed software and software modules from other vendors (and software developed through outsourcing for that matter. Long after implementation, you can add other modules and plug them directly into your ERP solution, as well.

What is a Disaster Recovery Plan based on?

a Disaster Recovery Cost Curve