Modern IT Infrastructure - Essay Example

Up gradation of Corporation’s IT Infrastructure to Multi-Programming Based & Virtual Memory Capable System Table of Contents The need for ModernIT Infrastructure for successful business 2. Multi-Programming: a. What is it? b. How it is Different and better? 3. Virtual Memory a. What is it? b. How it is Different and better? 4. Does introducing the New System Enhance Profit? 5. The Cost to Profit Ratio of IT Up Gradation 6. The Business Value of Computers 7. Strategic Investments 8. Is it the Right Time? “Installing a new computer system is like doing surgery” -Paul Strassmann There is no doubt that computers have altogether changed the way we conduct business these days. Blackberry has become the basic requirement of a businessman. To stay in contact 24/7 is the new mantra in business. There is virtually no business communication being done through letters. The processing of information in an organization is all being done in computers in a highly sophisticated and efficient manner. In short computers have changed the way we conduct business. However there is a definite down side to computers, modern business practices are now heavily dependent on them and they can prove to be highly troublesome at times and unreliable. There are additional expenses that are to be bore because of training costs for the employees, establishment of an Information Technology Department in the organization for regular functioning of the system. Henceforth there are costs involved but definitely the benefits far outweigh the costs. Our company is now competing for market in a highly dynamic and challenging environment and therefore it is imperative that we establish quick, reliable and efficient information processing and business processing system within the organization, which unfortunately is not possible within the domains of out existing IT infrastructure which is based on batch type computers working without Virtual memory. It is therefore recommended that the current system be upgraded with a newer system with capabilities for multi programming and virtual memory. The report attempts to justify the proposed requirements in the light of current and future business processes. Multi-Programming: What is it? Multi-programming or Multi Tasking is the ability of a computer to perform simultaneous processing on various projects or as a part of one project or task. It is a much better computing system over the old batch type systems with possibility of calculating two requirements at a time and therefore considerably reducing the processing time and therefore saving the time by doing calculations which is wasted during user input process. It ensures that the idle time between calculations of one requirement can be used for another requirement and therefore can process lots of requirements simultaneously. This reduces overall processing time and increases the efficiency of the system and the cuts off time from the whole process. How it is Different and better? Most of the time used on a computer is used in inputting the data and afterwards the calculations is generally the smaller part. The batch type system processes the requirements one at a time whereas a multi-programming based system will allow a user to use the computing time of the computer for one task as the input time for the second task. This allows far more efficient usage of a computer’s processing powers and also makes the whole business process much faster and therefore time efficient. The saved time directly affects the profitability of the business. . Virtual Memory-what is it? Another new technology now available in computers is the virtual memory. Notwithstanding the technical details, virtual memory allows the internal functioning of a computer faster and therefore reduces the processing time. A virtual memory capable computer can outpace other computers in time required for a specific calculation by many margins. How it is different and Better? Virtual memory’s advantage lies in the processing time required by the computer for one specific task. A computer has to do a lot of memory transfer of data within itself to execute a particular task. Every computer has a limited process able memory called Random Access Memory (RAM). Whenever the RAM is fully utilized, more processes are stopped till the time some space is restored in RAM. Therefore a multi-tasking capable computer would be rendered useless because of limited space available in RAM. Virtual memory allows continuing by utilizing some portion of the Hardware memory as virtual memory. It is a sin qua non of modern computing and multi-tasking / multi-programming capable computers and therefore every new computer must be capable of virtual memory. It results in saved costs related to RAMs and reduced processing times of the machine. Does introducing the New System Enhances Profit? As this is the most fundamental question asked during a decision of expenditure of any type, it is better be argued here. The answer to this question may be yes or no. Not withstanding all the logics given above, it is the correct usage of the system which will cut costs. In case of the current procedures being applied by the company, it might not give much advantage. However if utilized properly with better practices of usage and coordination, the new system can give a tremendous advantage over the batch type system presently available in the organization. The saved time will translate into more business being done, shorter turnaround time for the company on one query and the much needed competitive advantage to our adversaries and counterparts. The Cost to Profit Ratio of IT Up Gradation It is easier to argue in theory over the advantages of Multi-programming capable computers over batch type computer currently being utilized in the company than relating this advantage to a mathematical entity depicting the cost to profit ratio. This is due to the reason that such quantification is very difficult due to the non linear nature of this relationship. There is no direct link between and expensive machine and higher profits, an entity which is required to justify any new expenditure in business processes. The up gradation will improve information flow, reduce turn around time of a particular business process and therefore impact the efficiency of the organization in a profound manner. The elements are easily visible in the arguments and therefore justify the one time expenditure without calculating the cost to profit ratio The Business Value of Computers The biggest problem any organization faces is to understand the business value of computers. It is definitely very hard to prove a link that justifies the additional expenditure on computers and for any success story there are many competitors who vie for the credit. Therefore it is not easily possible to quantify the benefits accrued from extra spending on the IT infrastructure. The link is subtle because IT department is not a separate functioning department but it is penetrates all across organization. The extra spending improves workflow, control over the business processes and resultant efficiency of the organization. It can be argued that it actually increases efficiency of the employees by helping them to quickly process data and produce results. The current system used by our organization is too old to be really effective in the age of multi-tasking and virtual memory capable computers. Therefore at best, the relationship between the capital costs incurred on the IT infrastructure and profits is intangible. There is no tangible relationship between the two. Computers are only tools to the process; therefore it is the efficient utilization of them which makes the difference. Still it does not negate that at appropriate time, the old tools be replaced with fresh new ones which can help perform the same job better and more efficiently. Strategic Investments “An organization must gain strategic advantages over its competitors if it is to succeed” (Strassmann, 163). This is an utmost need for the Darwinian environment of today’s business. Therefore at some stage there is a need to rethink the complete strategic environment of the organization. As our competitors have either upgraded or are poised to do so in near future, it is important that we do not give them this advantage over us. In case even if they are yet to decide and therefore may take some time, we should be quick in decision and implementation to gain this strategic advantage. The costs incurred on upgrading the IT infrastructure can be taken as a strategic investment for the organization. Is it the Right Time? The very important question regarding the strategic investments is the timing of investment. Is it the right time to do it or should I wait? This requires analysis of facts from past and trends from future. In the context of our organization, our last up gradation had been a sufficient time before. Moreover the company had been suffering due to lack of modern computers which are available in the market for quite some time. As the trend goes in the IT industry, a new system costs sufficiently high but with the passage of time, the costs are reduced. Depending on the nature of business and its size, the organization has to make a decision for the appropriate time for the investment into the new system. This is to ensure that neither the costs of acquisition are not too high to offset any profit advantage nor it is too late that all the possible benefits have already evaporated. In the current scenario, the time is perfectly ripe for this acquisition. Conclusion The decision to upgrade the existing IT system is a lengthy process where all the pros and cons are to be weighed appropriate to their relative importance. No single factor can decide the issue. The whole process is fraught with uncertainties however it is still worth taking a risk as after the thorough analysis above, odds are definitely in favour of up gradation at the current time. As the business is expanding every passing day in its scope and extents, the up gradation has become extremely imperative. Though no tangible factor can be produced for the decision, all the intangibles dictate that now is the time we perform this much needed “surgery” to keep our prospects of a happy future. Works Cited Strassmann, Paul A. Business Value of Computers. an Executive Guide. Strassmanns Inc. 1-521. Read More