MGMD 233 –MIS Topic 3: Enterprise Infrastructure & Integration AMN 2012/2013

INTRODUCTION A service-oriented architecture (SoA) is a software architecture perspective that focuses on the development, use, and reuse of small sell- contained blocks of code (services) to meet all the application software needs of an organization. It also can be used as a philosophical approach to help the organization of the future meet all its IT- related needs and help organization respond to:- **refer text figure 7.1 – SoA Philosopy

Customer – through multichannel service delivery & the provision of customizable products & services End users – through fully integrated ERP system supporting interoperability & mobile computing Software development – as a framework for supporting development methodologies Information needs – including access to all types of integrated information (BI, knowledge), standard information formats, integrity control, elimination of redundant information Hardware requirements – through the integration of different technologies, providing large storage capacities & maintaining safe & secure telecommunications platforms

HARDWARE & SOFTWARE INFRASTRUCTURE Infrastructure – “the structure beneath a structure” – implies different layers of structure, which provide support / services. IT infrastructure is the implementation of architecture (SoA) for an organization’s structure. In corporation, IT infrastructure includes the hardware, software (e.g ERP) & information that to ensure the components work together & enable people, business processes, customer interact & perform their tasks.

HARDWARE & SOFTWARE INFRASTRUCTURE

ERP (revisited) Enterprise resource planning (ERP) system – collection of integrated software for business management, accounting, finance, supply chain management, inventory management, customer relationship management, e-collaboration, etc For ERP to integrate everything, everything must be plug-and-play components or services All modules of an ERP vendor must be interoperable Software from multiple ERP vendors must be interoperable The infrastructure beneath must be hidden from users and customers **refer figure 7.5 – an ERP infrastructure

ERP (revisited) Advantages Reliable info access Avoid data & operations redundancy Delivery & cycle time reduction Cost reduction Easy adaptability Improve scalability Global outreach E-business support Disadvantages Time-consuming Expensive Lack of conformity of modules Vender dependence Too many features, too much complexity Questionable scalability & global reach outreach Not enough extended ERP capability

SUPPORTING NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE Network is two / more computers sharing information, software, peripheral devices, processing power. It’s a fundamental underlying infrastructure for any IT environment. There are 5 major types of network infrastructures

SUPPORTING NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE Involves little/no sharing of IT & other resources (information) Often arise in company having decentralized management approach Decentralized Involves sharing IS in one central area/mainframe Allows high degree of control, make it easy to maintain standards of hardware, software, procedures & operation, also to control access information Centralized Involves distributing information & processing IT systems power via network Must be able to determine location of specific application & information More sophisticated in determining the optimal way to request the application & information Distributed

SUPPORTING NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE Has one / more computers that are servers which provide services to other computers (clients) Servers and clients work together to optimize processing, information storage, etc Client / Server IT system is partitioned into tiers (layers) where each tier performs a specific type of functionality 1-tier – single machine 2-tier – basic client/server relationship 3-tier – client, application server, data or database server N-tier – scalable 3-tier structure with more servers Tiered (Layer)

SUPPORTING NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE – Tiered (Layer)

CLOUD COMPUTING Cloud computing – model in which any and all IT resources are delivered as a set of services via the Internet such as:- – Application software – Processing power – Data storage – Backup facilities – Development tools – Literally everything

CLOUD COMPUTING

CLOUD COMPUTING - Goals Pay for only what you need and use Real-time scalability (up or down) Align computing costs with level of business activity Reduce fixed costs in IT infrastructure

CLOUD COMPUTING - Implementation SaaS delivery model for software in which you pay for software on a pay-per-use basis instead of buying the software outright Supports multi-tenancy - multiple people can simultaneously use a single instance of a piece of software PaaS delivery model for software identical to SaaS with the additional features of The ability to customize data entry forms, screens, reports, and the like Access to software development tools to alter the way in which the software works by adding new modules (services) and/or making modifications to existing modules IaaS model in which you acquire all your technology needs—storage hardware and data, network equipment, application software, operating system software, data backups, CPU processing capabilities, anti-you-name-it software—in the cloud. All you need – Smartphone/tablet and peripheral devices (e.g., printer)

PUBLIC & PRIVATE CLOUD Public cloud – comprises cloud services that exist on the Internet offered to anyone and any business. – Amazon Web Services (AWS) – Windows Azure – Rackspace Cloud – Google Cloud Connect – ElasticHosts

PUBLIC & PRIVATE CLOUD Private cloud – cloud computing services established and hosted by an organization on its internal network and available only to employees and departments within that organization. All benefits of cloud computing, except held private within an organization

ADVANTAGES OF CLOUD Lower capital expenditures Lower barriers to entry Immediate access to a broad range of application software Real-time scalability

BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING (BCP) Business continuity planning (BCP) – 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 BCP is very necessary today given terror threats, increased climate volatility, etc

BCP Methodology

BCP Phases – OSP Organizational Strategic Plan - it all starts here with understanding the relative importance of resources, systems, processes, & other organizational assets.

BCP Phases - Analysis Analysis phase the organization performs on the:- – Impact analysis – risk assessment, evaluating IT assets, their importance, and susceptibility to threat – Threat analysis – document all possible major threats to organizational assets – Impact scenario analysis – build worst-case scenario for each threat – Requirement recovery document – identifies critical assets, threats to them, and worst-case scenarios

BCP Phases - Design Design phase the organization deign a formal, technical and detailed plan for recovering from a disaster. Build disaster recovery plan, may include – Collocation facility – rented space and telecommunications equipment – Hot site – fully equipped facility where your company can move to – Cold site – facility where your company can move to but has no computer equipment

BCP Phases - Implementation Implementation phase is engaging any businesses that will provide collocation facilities, hot sites, and cold sites. Implement procedures for recovering from a disaster Train employees Evaluate each IT system to ensure that it is configured optimally for recovering from a disaster

BCP Phases - Testing As opposed to traditional SDLC, testing in BCP methodology occurs after implementation Testing involves executing simulated scenarios of disasters and having employees execute on the disaster recovery plan to ensure that solution satisfies for organization’s recovery requirements.

BCP Phases – Maintenance Perform testing annually, at a minimum Change business continuity plan as organizational strategic plan changes Evaluate and react to new threats No “system” is ever complete