IT Infrastructure: Software

1. IT Infrastructure: Software CIS 2200 Kannan Mohan Department of CIS Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College

2. Learning Objectives • Identify and describe the different types of software • Describe distributed computing • Describe open source software • Explain cloud computing, its different types, and its advantages and risks

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4. What is Software? • A computer program or a collection of programs • Precise set of instructions that tells hardware what to do

5. Operating Systems

6. Mobile OS (IDC, 2014)

7. Firmware and Embedded Systems • Firmware • Software stored on nonvolatile memory chips (as opposed to being stored on devices such as hard drives or removable discs) • Embedded systems • Special-purpose software designed and included inside physical products (often on firmware) • Helping devices become “smarter”

8. Application Software • Desktop Software - Applications installed on a personal computer, typically supporting tasks performed by a single user • Enterprise software - Applications that address the needs of multiple users throughout an organization or work group • Types of Enterprise Software

9. ERP in Action

10. The Front-end and the Back-end • Graphical user interface • Mechanisms through which users interact with the system (menus, scroll bars) • Databases – to manage data • Database management system (DBMS) • Software used for creating, maintaining, and manipulating data

11. Enterprise Software and Databases

12. Distributed Computing

13. Distributed Computing • Web services • Small pieces of code that are accessed via the application server which permit interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network • Application programming interfaces (APIs) • Programming hooks (or guidelines) published by firms that tell other programs how to get a service to perform a task, such as send or receive data • Service-oriented architecture (SOA) • A robust set of Web services built around an organizations processes and procedures

14. Data Exchange – Messaging Standards • EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) • A set of standards for exchanging information between computer applications • A way to send the electronic equivalent of structured documents between different organizations • Extensible markup language (XML) • A tagging language that can be used to structure data

15. Developing Software Programs • Programming Languages • Provides the standards, syntax, statements, and instructions for writing computer software • IDE (Integrated Development Environment) • C++, C#, Visual Basic, and Java • Development entails more than writing programs/code

16. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Different cost categories that comprise total cost of ownership: • Software development and documentation • Purchase price • Ongoing license and support fees • Configuration • Testing • Deployment • Maintenance • Support • Training • Compliance auditing • Security, backup • Provisions for disaster recovery

17. Economics of Software • Low or zero marginal cost • Open source software • Software that is free and where anyone can look at and potentially modify the code • Questions facing big software firms • How can we compete with free? • How can we make money and fuel innovation on free? • Cloud computing

18. Open Source Software • Openness in stark contrast to the practice of conventional software firms • Intellectual property as closely guarded secrets • Examples • Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/Python/PHP (LAMP) • Firefox • OpenOffice

19. Cloud Computing • Moving software out of its own IS shop so that it is run on someone else’s hardware • Replacing computing resources with services provided over the Internet • Software as a service (SaaS) • A form of cloud computing where a firm subscribes to a third-party software and receives a service that is delivered online • Utility computing – platform as a service, infrastructure as a service • Private and public clouds • Virtualization

20. Software as a Service • Build vs. buy vs. rent • Advantages • Lower costs associated with the software licenses, server hardware, system maintenance, and IT staff • Faster deployment times • Variable operating expense • Scalable systems • Higher quality and service levels • Remote access and availability • Usage-based pricing model

21. Risks of SaaS • Dependence on a single vendor • Concern about the long-term viability of partner firms • Users may be forced to migrate to new versions • Reliance on a network connection • Data assets stored off-site - security and legal concerns • Limited options • Less rich user interface • Pockets of unauthorized IT use throughout the organization

22. Summary • What is the difference between operating system and application software? • Identify different types of application software • What is distributed computing? • What is cloud computing? Different types of cloud computing? • What is open source software?