Amity School of Business

Information Technology
Architecture

Pragya Arya
Lecturer
ASB, AUUP
 Amity School of Business

Objectives
• Components of a Computer System
• Information System or IT resources
• Managing Hardware & Software
Assets
• Managing Data Resources (DRM)
• Data Bank Concept
• DBMS (Data Base Management
System)
 Amity School of Business

Components of a Computer System

Memory

Input CU Output

ALU

• Input
• The Central Processing Unit
• Memory
– Internal
– External
 Amity School of Business

Information System / IT Resources

So
Pr
c es lists og ftwa
r
ou ecia ra re
s m
R e Sp s & Res
e
pl & I S P ou
o
Pe ers System Activities
roc rce
U s ed s
d ur
En Control of System Performance es

& M rces
Dat

a
edi
a&
Dat nowl

I/p Data Data O/p Info.

sou
Resources into Products
aR
K

chi re Re
info.
eso dge B

nes
e
urc

Storage of Data Resources

a
rdw
es ses

Ma
Ha
a

Network Resources
Communications Media &
Network Support
 Amity School of Business

Managing Hardware Resources

• Variety of computer systems (sizes, speeds
& functional features)
• Nature of IT needs
• Volume of data to be processed
• Sources of Data
• Complexity of Data Analysis
• High rate of obsolescence (short plan
periods)
• Impact of other related factors & provision
for expected changes in these factors in the
future
 Amity School of Business

Considerations in Purchasing
Hardware
• Power
- Speed & RAM capacity
• Expandability
– Slots for additional RAM
• Ports
– For printers, external hard disks & other
peripherals
• Ergonomics
– Comfort & Safety
 Amity School of Business

Considerations in Purchasing
Hardware
•Compatibility
– With Hardware (existing & new; same & other
manufacturers)
– With Software (software packages being used
currently & potentially to be used)
• Support
– Telephone and online support for
troubleshooting
– New updates information
• Warranty
– Longer Warranty periods
• Cost
– Lower Cost
 Amity School of Business

Managing Software Resources

• Determines what the hardware does
• Being intangible, gets a backseat in
planning
• Improper selection – major cause of failure
of IT infrastructure
• Software acquisition is a slow process
• Persistent effort towards maintenance
improvement
• Maintain a rich library of well-tested
software packages
 Amity School of Business

Considerations in Purchasing
Software
• Specific goals & custom requirements
to be considered
• Fitness for purpose
– Maximise the no. of needs satisfied
• Ease of learning to use
– Shorter the training time, the better
• Ease of Use
– User friendly interfaces
– Minimise the no. of controls to be
memorised
 Amity School of Business

Considerations in Purchasing
Software
• Compatibility with other software
– Maximise compatibility with related
software & with other OS
– Maximise portability of data & output to
other programs
• Reputation of Vendor
– Gather background information on
Vendor (quality, delivery time, as per
schedule)
– Be sure vendor stands by its pricing
 Amity School of Business

Considerations in Purchasing
Software
• Availability and Quality of Support
– After sales support service
– Knowledgeable staff on web and phone support
• Networking
– Feature to share on many computers
• Cost
– Seek detailed pricing info of all available
packages in the market
– Negotiate on best price, maintaining quality &
performance
 Amity School of Business

Data Resource Management

• Why?
– Data: a vital organisational resource
• A managerial activity that applies
information system technologies like
database management, data
warehousing, data mining, and other data
management tools to the task of managing
an organization’s data resources to meet the
information needs of their business
stakeholders
 Amity School of Business

Database
• An integrated collection of logically related
data elements
• Consolidates records previously stored in
separate files into a common pool of data
elements that provides data for many
applications
• Data stored in a database are independent
of the application programs using them and
of the type of storage devices on which they
are stored.
 Amity School of Business

Types of Database
• Operational Database
• External Database
• Distributed Database
• Hypermedia Database
 Amity School of Business

Database Structures
• Hierarchical (traditional tree like
structure)
– One to many relationship
• Network Structure
– Many to many relationship
• Relational Structure (database stored
as tables)
• Multidimensional Structure
• Object-oriented structure
 Amity School of Business

Data Warehousing
• The activity of storing data that have
been extracted from the various
operational, external & other
databases of organisation
• Data marts, which hold subsets of
data
• Metadata
 Amity School of Business

Phases in Building a Data

Warehouse
• Equipment selection
– Mainframe computers; scalability issue
• Extraction phase
– Extracting required data from transaction
databases
• Transformation phase
– Cleanse and modify data
• Loading phase
– Transfer files to data warehouse
 Amity School of Business

Data Mining
• Involves analysing the data in a
datawarehouse to reveal hidden
patterns & trends in historical
business activity
 Amity School of Business

Data Base Management System

• Approach
– Consolidates data records & objects into
databases that can be accessed by many
different application programs
• DBMS serves as a software interface
between users
• Helps users easily access the data in a
database
 Amity School of Business

Implementing DRM

Data
Administration

Data Planning

Database
Administration

Source: Figure 3.15, Module II, Chapter 3, Management Information Systems, James A.
O’Brien, Sixth Edition