Exam 1 Review

June 20, 2012

Intro to IT Management

Technologies & business functions• Supply Chain Management (SCM) Systems

– Refer to a category of IS that support the activities related to business supply chain.

• Typical activities supported:– Procurement / purchase of supplies– Tracking orders from suppliers– Taking/Handling customers orders– Invoicing– Tracking customers orders

• SCM systems are typically part of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems

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Technologies & business functions

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems– Refer to a category of IS that support the activities related to managing and

nurturing a company’s interactions with customers, clients, and sales prospects.

– Help increase organizational effort by multiple departments like marketing, sales, support division, and customer service to improve customer relations

– Goals are to help : (1) find, attract, and win new clients – (2) nurture and maintain existing customers – (3) entice former customers back into the fold

• Typical activities supported:– Managing Sales teams

– Tracing potential customers

– Running MKT campaigns

– Analyzing sales

• SCM systems are typically part of ERP systems

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IT, IS, MISInformation technology (IT) refers to

a field concerned with the use of technology in managing and processing information

Computer-based tools used to capture, store, protect, process, retrieve, and transmit information

IT is a main part of Business IntelligenceBusiness Intelligence is a broad array of applications

and technologies used to gather, provide access to, and analyze data and information to support decision making

Information technology is an important enabler of business success and innovation

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IT, IS, MIS (cont.)

Management information systems (MIS) :Is a business function and academic discipline Deals with the application of information systems

and information technology to solve business problems

MIS is a business function, similar to Accounting, Finance, Operations, and Human Resources

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IT, IS, MIS (cont.)Information Systems – systems designed for

use by organizations in order to transform raw data into information that can help workers do their job and managers make decisions.

An information system has the following key components: People Technology Procedures

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TechnologyHardwareSoftware

DatabasesNetworks

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All IS are IPO systems

• The output of one system can be an input for another system

I P O

Rate = $10/hourHours = 45

Mrs. Johnson’s weekly salary is $450.

WS = numeric variableWS = 10 * 45

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Information system vs. Information Technology

Information System

Information Technologies

Hardware Software

Databases

Network

Information

IT Infrastructure: Hardware

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The Core Computer Components Four subsystems in a computer system:

1. Input subsystem 3. Output subsystem

2. Processing subsystem 4. I/O (Storage) subsystem

InputProcess

Output

Input/Output (storage)

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I/O or Secondary Storage devices Secondary compared to the main primary memory called RAM Nonvolatile1 storage of digital data - Could be Magnetic, Optical, Magnetic storage (i.e. data stored on magnetically coated surface)

Examples: Magnetic tape, Hard disk, floppy disk Sequential access (e.g. tape) or direct access (e.g. HDD) HDDs are electromechanical devices with spinning disks and movable disks

– Use standards/interfaces like• Parallel ATA (PATA) or IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)• Serial ATA (SATA)2

• SCSI (Small Computer System Interface)– SCSI provides disk fault-tolerance by using RAID – Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks;

that is multiple disks set together to provide continued service in case one disk fails.– Disk speed:

• Transfer rate in MBps (Megabytes per second) or GBps• Average Read Time (in milliseconds or ms)• Platter rotation speed in RPM (5400/7200/10,000/15,000)

State Solid Disks (SSD) use microchips which retain data in non-volatile memory chips No moving parts | Have lower access time and latency Can replace your existing HDD if same interface

1. Means that the stored data wouldn’t disappear (or be deleted) in case of power shortage2. In SATA and PATA, ATA stands for Advanced Technology Attachment

256GB Crucial m4 2.5-inch SATA 6GB/s

RPM = Revolution Per Minute = # complete turns in 1 minute

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Processing subsystemMotherboard: chipset that all components connect to

CPU Socket types Pin Grid Array (PGA) (CPU must have

pins to fit in the socket holes) Land Grid Array (LGA) with locks Zero Insertion Force (ZIP)

Note: CPU socket must of the same type as motherboard’s

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Processing subsystem (cont.)Two major components in processing subsys.

– CPU (Central Processing Unit) or Processor(s)– Primary Storage:

• Random Access Memory (RAM)• holds running programs and the data they use

• Read Only Memory (ROM)• contains critical programs such as those that boot

Busses that transfer data

CPU

Primary Storage

Othercomponents

on the Motherboard

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Central Processing Unit

Clock: generate time that synchronize other components

ICU: Fetches instructions from RAM

ALU: Execute instructions (arithmetic & logic operations)

Registers: Store control information, data, intermediate results

Processor

Clock

Instruction Control Unit

Arithmetic Logic Unit

Registers

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Front Side Bus and Northbridge

CPU

Northbridge(Memory Controller)

Southbridge(Memory Controller)

RAM

AGP Video Card

PCI bus

Real Time Clock

USB

Other devices

Front Side Bus

FSB: bi-directional data bus carrying data b/w CPU and Northbridge FSB speed is measured in Hz; e.g. 800 MHz FSB (or in GB Transfer/s in newer Intel – 4.8 GT/s = 4.8x2 = 9.6 GB/s )

Quad Core Intel® Xeon® W3530 2.80GHz, 8M L3, 4.8GT/s

Cache MemoryClock

CPU speed/Clock rate

Cache Memory

Quick Path Interconnect QPI/FSB speed

AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.20GHz, Socket AM3, 6MB Cache, 2GHz (4GT/s) FSB

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Grid ComputingConnecting geographically remote computers to

create a “virtual supercomputer”Takes advantage of fact that most computers use

about 25% of their CPU in average.

Advantages: Cost savings Speed Reliability (because if one fails,

the still system functions)

IT Infrastructure: Software

Relationship of software to hardware

Operating System (OS)• Software platform on which other programs run

• Provide a connection between application programs and the computer hardware

• Major tasks– Starting the computer

– Managing files

– Managing Programs and Memory (RAM)

– Ensuring security

– Providing a user interface

– Control input and output devices

Application program

Operating system

Hardware

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OS: Multiprogramming￭ Ability of the OS to allow running multiple program “at the same time”

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￭ A technique that “extends” primary memory (RAM) by using secondary storage devices

￭ Needed when there is not enough RAM to hold multiple programs in memory

￭ There need to be enough free disk space for virtual memory to work.

OS: Virtual Memory

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Organizations and ISDegree of

repetitiveness

Non-repetitive

Repetitive

Type of Information System used

DSS

TPS

EIS

Task structure level

Unstructured

Structured

Semi-structured

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Administrative Information Systems• Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)

– Basic business system that serves the operational level (analysts) in an organization

• Office Automation Systems (OAS)– Systems designed to help office workers in doing their job.

• Decision Support Systems (DSS)– Systems designed to support middle managers and

business professionals during the decision-making process• Executive Information Systems (EIS) or Executive

Support Systems (ESS)– Specialized DSS that help senior level executives make

decisions.• GDSS: computer-based systems that facilitate solving

of unstructured problems by set of decision makers

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DSS structure• Systems designed to help middle

managers make decisions• Major components

– Data management subsystem• Internal and external data sources

– Analysis subsystem• Typically mathematical in nature

– User interface• How the people interact with the DSS• Data visualization is the key

– Text– Graphs– Charts

UserInterface

Analysis- Sensitivity Analysis -> What-if Analysis -> Goal-seeking Analysis-Data-driven tools -> Data mining -> OLAP*

Data Management

- Transactional Data- Data warehouse- Business partners data- Economic data

* OLAP: OnLine Analytical Processing

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Expert Systems Components• Knowledge base: database of the expertise, often in IF THEN rules. • Inference engine: derives recommendations from knowledge base and problem-specific

data • User interface: controls the dialog between the user and the system • Explanation system: Explain the how and why of recommendations

Knowledgebase

Domain Expert

Knowledge Engineer

Expertise

ExplanationSystem

InferenceEngine

UserInterface

User

System Engineer

Encoded expertise

IFfamily is albatross ANDcolor is whiteTHENbird is laysan albatross.

IFfamily is albatross ANDcolor is darkTHENbird is black footed albatross

Example of rules

- Knowledge engineer codify the human expert’s expertise into the systems’ knowledge base.- System engineer is the IT professional who develop the user interface, the inference engine, and the explanation system.