Rapidly Changing World of Information Technology

1. Rapidly Changing World of Information Technology William R. Mussatto CyberStrategies, Inc. mussatto@csz.com

2. Topics • Fundamental Business Realities • Evolution of I/T • Role of I/T Today • Client/Server Computing • The Impact of the Internet

3. Fundamental Business Realities • Global Market • Rapid Change • Leadership • low-cost or high-value • Jack Welch and GE • Relationships • partners and suppliers • Segmenting Customers

4. Fundamental Business Realities • More Demanding Customers • Today, customers are … • more likely to be educated • enjoying higher standard of living • more sophisticated in their use of I/T • I/T enables more customization and personalization

5. Evolution of I/T • Limited Role in Past • calculators and adding machines • accounting and finance • MIS glass house • Engineering • Led to Islands of Information

6. Evolution of I/T Centralized Distributed Functional Stovepipe Hierarchies Cross-Functional Teams Reactive Proactive Stable, Predictable Conditions Dynamic, Unpredictable Conditions Loyalty, Seniority Performance Standalone Networked

7. Evolution of I/T Computing Telecommunications  Central Nervous System

8. Role of I/T Today • Ubiquitous Communications and Productivity Infrastructure • Key Enabler of Business Critical Processes • Becoming More Aligned with Business Objectives • must understand fundamental business realities • CIOs reporting to COOs not CEOs

9. Client / Server Computing • Definitions • Examples • Communications Protocols

10. Definitions • Preliminaries • http://www.whatis.com/ • Distributed Computing • distributing computational capability and data over physically separated computers • usually connected via a network • network may be intermittent.

11. Definitions • Distributed Computing • Client / Server • Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) • Open Software Foundation (OSF) Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) • TCP/IP Berkeley Sockets • Distributed Objects • Object Management Group CORBA • Common Object Request Broker Architecture • Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) • Microsoft C# (this week).

12. DefinitionsClient / Server • Client • makes request • initiates communication • may have a GUI and human • but not always • Server • fulfills request • passively waits for requests • usually multitasking machine

13. DefinitionsClient / Server • Sometimes “Client” refers to the • host • platform • machine (often a desktop machine) • but often refers to the • client-side software • examples: Netscape Communicator, Eudora

14. DefinitionsClient / Server • The Server often controls access to shared resources such as • file systems (disks, tapes, etc.) • printers • shared communications facilities • email server • Same ambiguity applies to term “Server” as to “Client”

15. DefinitionsClient / Server • Fat Clients (aka Rich Clients) • full-featured, large applications • use servers as data servers • not much computational power on the server side • Thin Clients • small applications • downloaded from the network • relies on computational power of server

16. DefinitionsClient / Server • Fat Client Example • Web Browser • Eudora • Visio • Thin Client • HTML pages and Java applets • JavaScript applications inside of HTML pages • note dependence on fat client (i.e., the browser)

17. DefinitionsTCP / IP Berkeley Sockets • Defined in late 70’s early 80’s • Shipped with versions of Berkeley Unix in early 80’s (1982) • endpoints in connections • Transport Layer • like Unix file descriptors and pipes (but 2-way)

18. DefinitionsTCP / IP Berkeley Sockets • Five Basic Attributes of a Socket Connection • Local Port (chosen by OS on client side) • Local IP Address • Remote Port • Remote IP Address • Protocol (“tcp”, “udp”, etc.) • Each Connection Has Own 5-tuple

19. DefinitionsTCP / IP Berkeley Sockets • Server Listens on (Well-Known) Port • Clients Attempts Make a Connection • Server Accepts the Connection • Server Receives Request from Client • Server Interprets Request • performs some action • Sends Response to Client • Shuts Down the Connection

20. DefinitionsDistributed Objects • Object Management Group (OMG) CORBA • Common Object Request Broker Architecture • ORB = Object Request Broker • brokers components between clients and servers • client does not need to know the where the server is or how its interface works • like a registry

21. ExamplesDistributed Objects • Application Servers / Frameworks • Three-Tier Architecture • Examples • IPlanet Application Server (IpAS) • Oracle Application Server • IBM WebSphere Application Server • Bluestone’s Saphire/Web (R) Application Server Framework

22. ExamplesDistributed Objects: NAS 2-tier Multi-tier

23. ExamplesDistributed Objects: NAS

24. SummaryClient / Server • A Type of Distributed Computing • most common type • Client Initiates Request • Server Passively Waits, then Responds to Client Request • Berkeley Sockets • most widely used mechanism facilitating client / server computing on the Internet

25. Impact of the Internet • Internet Technologies within the Enterprise ==> Intranet • Studies Show 1000% ROI on Intranets • New Flow of Information Into and Out of the Enterprise • Security a Major Factor • VPNs