G041: Lecture 08 ICT Infrastructure Used By Organisations Mr C Johnston ICT Teacher

Session Objectives Understand key ICT developments which companies can utilise to enhance performance, Know how to identify benefits and drawbacks offered by ICT infrastructure used, Know the impact of , internet and other emerging technologies on an organisation.

Key ICT Developments LAN (gigabit, wifi) System Integration EPOS WAN Internet / Intranet Videoconferencing Sensors Swipe cards, chip pin and other biometric devices SMS

Exercise Read the following pages from the online text books to find out more: Doyle pp25-27 Heinemann pp29-31 In pairs create a presentation describing one of the key ICT developments – your tutor will decide which one you should do. The presentation will need to include: A description of the key development, A description of the kit needed / how development works, Benefits to a company of using this development, Any potential problems / drawbacks of using the development. Download and complete this topics exercise from my website.

LAN Local Area Network – development from mainframe technology. Computers which can communicate with one another on one building or site, Linked together using a communication medium, Used to share files, apps, printers, and communicate, Made up of clients (computers) and servers, Security is key to prevent loss of data, Allow communication internal and externally via . Peer-to-peer / Client Server EPOS and System Integration make use of LAN

WAN Wide Area Network A network which consists of several sites or offices linked together using the public telephone network or other communicate medium, Allows different offices in different towns/cities/countries to communicate perhaps via electronic conferencing or even video conferencing, Has similar benefits to LAN but is more open to attack as data transferred over public lines.

Internet Allows companies to advertise and trade their goods on an electronic platform (eCommerce), Little companies can compete with the big boys and trade on a global basis – find new markets, Three different internet models to adopt #1: “Basic presence” #2: “On line catalogue” #3: “Full blown trading platform” The oldest companies who have been trading for years have adopted this model, Online banking service is a benefit to all as companies can transfer money, accept payments and pay suppliers online.

Intranet Internal networks provide companies with the opportunity to set up an intranet site, Uses the same technologies to distribute information as the internet but tends to be “behind shut doors” – you can only access the site from the companies internal network - not from the outside, Purpose of an intranet site is to disseminate information to employees in an electronic format – like an electronic notice board, Typical features of an intranet include: company news, job vacancies, company policies, access to documents, reports and a wide range of other information. Some organisations provide limited access to their intranets from outside the organisation using the internet. This is known as an extranet.

Internal requires a computer network and external mail requires a connection to the internet and for each person to have their own address an “ server”, is popular because: Messages from managers / interdepartmental communication can be sent to large numbers of people simultaneously, Quicker than sending a letter to suppliers / customers, Easy to reply and response can be seen almost immediately, Very cheap micro pence per message! Can check if person has read it / received it Major disadvantages of are spam, getting ride of unsolicited mail and employees abusing facilities.

Video Conferencing Ability to see and hear people who are in two different locations using a computer system, Two or more people may be connected together and can interact with one another simultaneously, Requires each person to have a high spec PC, video camera, microphone, speakers and an internet connection – higher the speed the better, Enables business meetings and interviews to take place without the expense of time and travel, Initial cost of equipment will be returned quickly.