The Business Benefits of A Solid MIS Infrastructure

Chapter 5 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 - Physical device ○ Software - The set of instructions the hardware executes ○ Network - A communications system created by linking two or more devices and establishing a standard methodology in which they can communicate ○ Client - A computer designed to request information from a server ○ Server - A computer dedicated to providing information in response to requests ● Enterprise Architect - A person grounded in technology, Fluent in Business, and able to provide the important bridge between MIS and the business ● Supporting Operations ○ Information MIS insfrasture ● Supporting Change ○ Agile MIS insfrasture ● Supporting the Environment ○ Sustainable MIS infrastruture Supporting Operations: Information MIS Infrastructure ● Backup and Recovery Plan ● Disaster recovery plan ● Business Continuity plan (BCP) Backup and Reovery 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 - A general concept that a system has the ability to respon to unexpected failure or system crashes ○ Failover - A redundant storage server offers an exact replica of the real-time data ○ Failback - when the primary machine recovers and resumes operations ● Disaster recovery plan - a detailed process for recovering information or an it system in the event of a catastrophic disaster such a fire or flood ● Disaster Recovery cost curve - Charts (1) the cost to the organization of the unavailability of information and technology and (2) the cost to the organziation of recovering from a disaster over time. ● Hot site - A seperate and fully equipped facility where the company can move immediately after a disaster and resume business ● Cold site - A separate facility with computer equipment that requires installation and configuration Business continuity plan ● Business continuity planning (BCP) - A plan for how an organization will recover and restore partially o rcompletely interrupted critical functions within a predetermined time after a disaster or extend disruption ● Business impact analysis - Identities all critical business functions and the effect that a specific disaster may have upon them Supporting Change: Agile MIS infrasture ● Characteristics of an agile MIS infrastructure ○ Acessbility ○ Avaibility ○ Maintainbility ○ Portability ○ Realiability ○ Scalability ○ Usability Accesbility ● Accessbility - Refers to the varying levels that define what a user can access, view, or perform when operating a system ● Web accessibility - Allows people with disabilities to use the web ● Adminstrator access - unrestricted access to the entire system Availability ● Availbility - time frames when the system is operational ● Unavailability - time frames when a system is not operating and cannot be used ● High availability - System is continuously operational at all times Maitanbility ● Maintability - How quickly a system can transform to support environmental changes ● Organizations must watch today’s business, as well as tomorrow’s, when designing and building systems ● Systems must be flexible enough to meet all types of business changes Portability ● Portability - the ability of an application to operate on different devices or software platforms Realibilty ● Reability - Ensures a system is functioning correctly and providing accurate information ○ Reability is another term for accuracy when discussing the correctness of systems within the context of efficiency it metrics ● Vulnerability - A system weakness that can be exploited by a threat ● Scalability - how well a system can scale up, or adapt to the increased demands of growth. ● Performance - Measures how quickly a system performs a process or transaction ● Capacity planning - Determines future environmental infrastrure requirements to ensure high-quality system performance