Chapter #14 Enterprise Computing

What is Enterprise Computing ?

• Enterprise computing involves the use of computers in networks, such as LANs and WANs, or a series of interconnected networks that encompass a variety of different operating systems, protocols, and network architectures.
• Types of enterprises include :

1. Retail
2. Manufacturing
3. Service
4. Wholesale
5. Government
6. Educational
7. Transportation

• Most traditional enterprises are organized in a hierarchical manner.
• In an enterprise, users typically fall into one of four categories :

1. Executive Management
2. Middle Management
3. Operational Management
4. Nonmanagement Employees

• Enterprise information is the information gathered in the ongoing operations of an enterprise-sized organization.

1. Business intelligence
2. Business process management
3. Business process automation

• Managers coordinate resources by performing four activities :

1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Leading
4. Controlling

Information Systems in the Enterprise

• An information system is a set of hardware, software, data, people, and procedures that work together to produce information.
• Functional units within an enterprise might include :

1. Accounting and Finance
2. Human Resources
3. Engineering or Product Development
4. Manufacturing
5. Marketing
6. Sales
7. Distribution
8. Customer Service
9. Information Technology

• Accounting software manages everyday transactions.
• Billing software helps the company reconcile purchases with customer payments.
• Financial software helps manager budget, forecast, and analyze.
• A human resources information system (HRIS) manages one or more human resources functions.
• Employee relationship management systems mange communication between employees and the business.
• Computer-aided design (CAD) uses a computer and special software to aid in engineering, drafting, and design.
• Computer-aided engineering (CAE) uses computers to test product designs.
• Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) is the use of computers to control production equipment.
• Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) uses computers to integrate the many different operations of the manufacturing process.
• Material Requirements Planning (MRP) uses software to help monitor and control processes related to production.
• Manufacturing Resource Planning II (MRP II) is an extension of MRP and also includes software that helps in scheduling.
• A quality control system helps an organization maintain or improve the quality of its products or services.
• A marketing information system serves as a central repository for the tasks of a marketing department.
• Sales force automation (SFA) software equips traveling salespeople with the electronic tools they need to be more productive.
• Distribution systems perform the following functions :

1. Provide forecasting for inventory control
2. Manage and track shipping of products
3. Provide information and analysis on inventory in a warehouse

• Customer interaction management (CIM) software manages the day-to-day interactions with customers.
• The information technology (IT) department makes technology decisions for the enterprise.

1. Whether to build or buy new information systems.
2. When a computer or information system has outlived its useful life.

• Web site management programs collect data designed to help organizations make informed decisions regarding their Web presence.
• General purpose information systems generally fall into one of five categories.

1. Office Information System
2. Transaction Processing System
3. Management Information System
4. Decision Support System
5. Expert System

• Batch processing vs. online transaction processing.
• Integrated Information Systems

1. Customer relationship management manages information about customers, interactions with customers, past purchases, and interests.
2. Enterprise resource planning provides centralized, integrated software to help manage and coordinate ongoing activities.
3. Content management systems are information systems that combine databases, software, and procedures.

Enterprise-Wide Technologies and Methodologies

• Some technologies used in enterprise include :

1. Protals
2. Data warehouses
3. Electronic data interchange
4. Extranets
5. Web services
6. Document management systems
7. Workflow
8. Virtual private networks

• A portal is a collection of links, content and services presented on a Web page that are interesting for a particular job function.
• A data warehouse is a huge database that stores and manages the data required to analyze historical and current transactions.
• EDI is a set of standards that controls the transfer of business data and information among computers both within and among enterprises.
• An extranet is the portion of a company's network that allows customers or suppliers of a company to access parts of an enterprise's intranet.
• Web services allow businesses to create products and B2B interactions over the Internet.
• In a service-oriented architecture, information systems provide services to other information systems in a well-defined manner over a network.
• A document management system (DMS) allows for storage and management of a company's documents. - Stored in a repository
• A workflow is a defined process that identifies the specific set of steps involves in completing a particular project or business process. - Workflow application 
• A virtual private network (VPN) provides mobile users, vendors, and customers with a secure connection to the company network server.

Virtualization and Cloud Computing

• Virtualization is the practice of sharing or pooling computing resources.
• Server virtualization - Provides the capability to divide a physical server logically into many virtual servers.

• Storage virtualization - Provides the capability to create a single logical storage device from many physical storage devices.

Enterprise Hardware

• Enterprise hardware allows large organizations to manage and store information and data using devices geared for :

1. Heavy use
2. Maximum availability
3. Maximum efficiency

• RAID duplicates data and implements duplication in different ways.
• Network attached storage (NAS) is a server that provides storage to users and information systems attached to the network.
• A storage area network (SAN) is a high-speed network that provides storage to other servers to which it is attached.
• An enterprise storage system is a strategy that focuses on the availability, protection, and backup of storage in a company.
• Goal is to consolidate storage.
• A blade server packs a complete computer server on a single card (called a blade) rather than a system unit.
• The individual blades insert in a blade server chassis.
• A thin client is a small terminal-like computer that mostly relies on a server for data storage and processing.
• The processing for a thin client usually is done on a server.

High Availability, Scalability, and Interoperability 

• A high-availability system continues running and performing tasks for at least 99 percent of the time - May include how-swapping and redundant components 
• When a component fails, another component takes over and the system continues to function.
• Scalability is a measure of how well computer hardware, software, or an information system can grow to meet increasing performance demands.
• Interoperability is the ability for an information system to share information with other information systems within an enterprise.

Backup Procedures

• Continuous data protection provides automatic data backup whenever data is changed in an enterprise.
• A disaster recovery plan is a written plan describing the steps a company would take to restore computer operations in the event of a disaster.
• Contains four major components : 

1. Emergency plan
2. Backup plan
3. Recovery plan
4. Test plan