Chapter 14 Enterprise Computing 
September 29,2016. Thursday

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:
 -Retail
 -Manufacturing 
 -Service
 -Wholesale
 -Government 
 -Educational
 -Transportation

•      Most traditional enterprises are organized in a hierarchical manner 

•In an enterprise, users typically fall into one of four categories:
 -Executive Management 
 -Middle Management
 -Operational Management
 -Nonmanagement Employees
•      Enterprise information is the information gathered in the ongoing       operations of an enterprise-sized organization
    –     Business intelligence
    –     Business process management
   –     Business process automation 

•Managers coordinate resources by performing 4 activities:

   -Planning

   -Organizing

   -Leading

   -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:  
         •Enterprise
            -Accounting and Finance 
            -Human Resources
            -Engineering or Product Development
            -Manufacturing 
            -Marketing 
            -Sales
            -Distribution
            -Customer Service
            -Information Technology

• Accounting software manages everyday transactions

• Billing software helps the company reconcile purchases with
 customer payments

• Financial software helps managers budget, forecast, and analyze 

• A human resources information system (HRIS) manages one or more    human resources functions

•Employee relationship management systems manage 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

•Managers coordinate resources by performing four activities
 Planning > Organizing > Leading > Controlling 

•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:
 -Provide forecasting for inventory control
 -Manage and track shipping of products 
 -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
     –     Whether to build or buy new information systems
     –     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
-Office Information System 
-Transaction processing System 
-Management Information system 
-Decision support system 
-Expert System  

•      Batch processing vs. online transaction processing 

• A Sample expert system in windows 7 Help and support

Enterprise-Wide technologies and Methodologies 
•Some technologies used in enterprises include:
 •Portals

   -A collection of links, content and services presented on a web page      that are interesting for a particular job function

 •Data warehouses

   -A huge database that stores and manages the data required to  analyze historical and current transactions

 •Electronic data interchange

   -A set of standards that controls the transfer of business data and  information among computers both within and among enterprises

 •Extranets

   -The portion of a company's network that allows customers or  suppliers of a company to access aprts of an enterprise's intranet

 •Web services

   -Allow business to create products and B2B interactions over the  Internet

 •Document management systems

   -Allows for storage and mangement of a company's documents

 •Workflow
   -Process that identifies the specific set of steps involved in  completing a particular project or business process
 •Virtual private networks

   - Provides mobile users, vendors and customers with a secure  connection to the company network server

•  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 computer 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  involved 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: 
1.Server virtualization
  -Provides the capability to divide a physical server logically into          many virtual servers 
2.Storage virtualization
  -Provides the capability to create a single logical storage devices 
•Cloud computing is an Internet service that provides computing needs  to computer users
•Grid computing combines many servers and personal computers on a  network to act as one large computer

E-Commerce

Enterprise Hardware
• Enterprise hardware allows large organizations to manage and store    information and data using devices geared for:
    –     Heavy use
   –     Maximum availability
    –     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, organization, 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 hot-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 disadter 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 
 -Emergency plan 
 -Backup plan 
 -Recovery plan
 -Test plan