THE BUSINESS BENEFITS OF A SOLID MIS INFRASTRUCTURE

1. THE BUSINESS BENEFITS OF A SOLID MIS INFRASTRUCTURE • MIS Infrastructure—Includes the plans for how a firm will build, deploy, use, and share its data, processes, and MIS assets • Hardware • Software • Network • Client • Server • Enterprise Architect—Is a person grounded in technology, fluent in business, and able to provide the important bridge between MIS and the business

2. SUPPORTING OPERATIONS: INFORMATION MIS INFRASTRUCTURE • Backup and Recovery Plan • Backup—An exact copy of a system’s information • Recovery—The ability to get a system up and running in the event of a system crash or failure • Fault tolerance • Failover • Failback • Companies should choose a backup and recovery strategy in line with their goals and operational needs

3. SUPPORTING OPERATIONS: INFORMATION MIS INFRASTRUCTURE • Disaster Recovery Plan • Hot Site—A separate and fully equipped facility where the company can move immediately after a disaster and resume business • Cold Site—A separate facility that does not have any computer equipment, but is a place where employees can move after a disaster • Warm Site—A separate facility with computer equipment that requires installation and configuration

4. SUPPORTING OPERATIONS: INFORMATION MIS INFRASTRUCTURE • Disaster Recovery Plan • Disaster Recovery Plan—A detailed process for recovering information or an IT system in the event of a catastrophic disaster such as a fire or flood • Disaster Recovery Cost Curve—Charts (1) the cost to the organization of the unavailability of info and technology and (2) the cost to the organization of recovering from a disaster over time

5. SUPPORTING OPERATIONS: INFORMATION MIS INFRASTRUCTURE • Business Continuity Plan • Business Continuity Planning (BCP)—A plan for how an organization will recover and restore partially or completely interrupted critical function(s) within a predetermined time after a disaster or extended disruption • Emergency Notification Service—An infrastructure built for notifying people in the event of an emergency

6. SUPPORTING CHANGE: AGILE MIS INFRASTRUCTURE • Accessibility—Refers to the varying levels that define what a user can access, view, or perform when operating a system • Administrator Access—Unrestricted access to the entire system. • Availability—Time frames when the system is operational • Unavailable—Time frames when a system is not operating and cannot be used • High availability—System is continuously operational at all times • Maintainability—How quickly a system can transform to support environmental changes

7. SUPPORTING CHANGE: AGILE MIS INFRASTRUCTURE • Portability—The ability of an application to operate on different devices or software platforms • Reliability—Ensures a system is functioning correctly and providing accurate information • Scalability—How well a system can scale up, or adapt to the increased demands of growth

8. SUPPORTING CHANGE: AGILE MIS INFRASTRUCTURE • Performance—Measures how quickly a system performs a process or transaction • Capacity planning—Determines future environmental infrastructure requirements to ensure high-quality system performance • Usability—The degree to which a system is easy to learn and efficient and satisfying to use

9. MIS AND THE ENVIRONMENT • Moore’s Law—Refers to how the computer chip performance per dollar doubles every 18 months • Sustainable, or “Green,” MIS—Describes the production, management, use, and disposal of technology in a way that minimizes damage to the environment • Corporate Social Responsibility—Companies’ acknowledged responsibility to society

10. MIS AND THE ENVIRONMENT • Increased Electronic Waste • Ewaste—Refers to discarded, obsolete, or broken electronic devices • Sustainable MIS Disposal—Refers to the safe disposal of MIS assets at the end of their life cycle • Increased Energy Consumption • The energy consumed by a computer is estimated to produce as much as 10 percent of the amount of carbon dioxide produced by an automobile

11. MIS AND THE ENVIRONMENT • Increased Carbon Emissions • The major human-generated greenhouse gases, such as carbon emissions from energy use, are very likely responsible for the increases in climatic temperature over the past half a century • When left on continuously, a single desktop computer and monitor can consume at least 100 watts of power per hour

12. SUPPORTING THE ENVIRONMENT: SUSTAINABLE MIS INFRASTRUCTURE • Grid Computing—A collection of computers, often geographically dispersed, that are coordinated to solve a common problem • Cloud Computing—Refers to the use of resources and applications hosted remotely on the Internet • Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) • Software as a Service (SaaS) • Platform as a Service (PaaS)

13. SUPPORTING THE ENVIRONMENT: SUSTAINABLE MIS INFRASTRUCTURE • Virtualization—Creates multiple “virtual” machines on a single computing device • Data Center—A facility used to house management information systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems • Sustainable Data Centers • Reduces carbon emissions • Reduces required floor space • Chooses geographic location