Technology Guide 1: Computer Hardware

Question One: What is computer hardware and what are the major hardware components?

Hardware refers to the physical equipment used for the input, processing, output, and storage activities of a computer system. It consists of the following:

· Central Processing Unit (CPU): manipulates the data and controls the task performed by the other components

· Primary Storage: temporarily stores data and programs instructions during processing

· Secondary Storage: is external to the CPU; stores data and programs for future use

· Input Technologies: Accept data and instructions and convert them to a form that the computer can understand

· Output Technologies: Present data and information in a form people can understand

· Communication Technologies: Provides for the flow of data form external computer networks to the CPU and from the CPU to computer networks

Question Two: What is Moore's Law/what does it mean in relation to computers?

Moore’s Law is that the microprocessor complexity would double every two years as a result of the following changes:

· Increasing miniaturization of transistors.

· Making the physical layout of the chip’s components as compact and efficient as possible.

· Using materials for the chip that improve the conductivity (flow) of electricity.

· Targeting the amount of basic instructions programmed into the chip.

Question Three: In basic terms, describe how a microprocessor functions.

A microprocessor is made up of millions of microscopic transistors embedded in a circuit on a silicon chip. It consists of:

· Control unit: sequentially accesses program instructions, decodes them and controls the flow of data to and from the ALU, the registers, the caches, primary storage, secondary storage and various output devices.

· Arithmetic-logic unit (ALU): performs the mathematic calculations and makes logical comparisons.

· Registers: are high-speed storage areas that store very small amounts of data and instructions for short periods.

Below is a diagram showing the processing cycle of how a microprocessor functions:

The information processing cycle is as follows:

The input is the information entered into the system (keyboard, mouse, bar code) is processed (converts data to knowledge) and the output is the data exiting the computer system (monitor, print, web page). This data stored by a computer in storage and communicated over internet, through the air or cables.

Question Four: What factors determine the speed of the microprocessor?

The speed of the microprocessor is determined by:

· Binary Form: form in which the CPU – only 0s and 1s, can read data and instructions.

· Machine Instruction Cycle: cycle of computer processing, whose speed is measured in terms of the number of instructions a chip processes per second.

· Clock Speed: preset speed of the computer clock that times all chip activities, measured in megahertz and gigahertz.

· Word length: number of bits (0s and 1s) that can be processed by the CPU at any one time.

· Bus Width: size of the physical paths down which the data and instructions travel as electrical impulses on a computer chip.

· Line Width: distance between transistors; the smaller the line width, the faster the chip.

Question Five: What are the four main types of primary storage?

Primary storage stores three types of information for very brief periods. There are four types of primary storage, these are:

1. Registers: registers are part of the CPU with the least capacity, storing extremely limited amounts of instructions and data only immediately before and after processing.
2. Random Access Memory (RAM): holds a software program and small amounts of data when they are brought from secondary storage.
3. Cache Memory: where the computer can temporarily store blocks of data used more often.
4. Read-only Memory (ROM): where certain critical instructions are safeguarded; the storage is nonvolatile and retains the instructions when the power to the computer is turned off.

Question Six: What are the main types of secondary storage?

Secondary storage is designed to store very large amounts of data for extended periods of time. The main types of secondary storage can be categorised as magnetic media and optical media.

Magnetic media includes the following: tapes, hard drives and thumb, or flash devices

Optical media includes the following: CD-ROM, DVD and optical jukeboxes

Question Seven: How does primary storage differ from secondary storage in terms of speed cost and capacity?

Primary storage has much less capacity than secondary storage, and it is faster and more expensive per byte stored. IT is located much closer to the CPU than is secondary storage. Sequential-access secondary storage media such as magnetic tape are much slower and less expensive than direct access media, for example hard drives and optical media.

Question Eight: What are enterprise storage systems?

Enterprise storage systems are an independent, external system with intelligence that includes two or more storage devices. There are three major types of enterprise storage subsystems: redundant arrays of independent disks (RAIDs), storage area networks (SANs) and network- attached storage (NAS).

Question Nine: Distinguish between human data input devices and source data automation.

Human data entry devices require a certain amount of human effort to input data. Examples include: keyboard, mouse, pointing stick, trackball, joystick, touchscreen, stylus and voice- recognition

Source data automation devices input data with minimal human intervention. These technologies speed up data collection, reduce errors, and gather data at the source of a transaction or other events. Barcode readers are an example of source data automation.

Question Ten: What is one new technology that will change how we do things?

New technologies are being created continuously affecting all areas of our lives, changing how we do things. One new technology is holographic storage.

- Holography has meant that we our now able to record through full depth mediums.

- Holography records and reads over data with a single flash of light

- Holography is efficient, reliable, a low cost media and is flexible

For further information about holographic storage visit this website:

http://www.inphase-technologies.com/default.asp?tnn=1

Here are some resources regarding holographic storage:

http://www.inphase-technologies.com/technology/tour/index.html

http://www.inphase-technologies.com/downloads/pdf/technology/techTour.pdf

http://www.inphase-technologies.com/downloads/pdf/technology/holoBasics.pdf

http://www.inphase-technologies.com/downloads/pdf/technology/whatIsHoloStorage.pdf

Chapter Two: Information Systems- Concepts and Management

Question One: What is the difference between an 'application' and a computer-based information systems?

An application program is a computer program designed to support a specific task or business process, whereas a computer based information system is an information system that uses computer technology to perform some or all of its intended tasks

Question Two: What are strategic information systems?

Strategic information systems are systems that help an organisation gain a competitive advantage by supporting its strategic goals and/ or increasing performance and productivity.

Question Three: According to Porter, what are the five forces that could endanger a firm’s position in its industry or marketplaces?

According to Porter, the five forces that could endanger a firm’s position in its industry or marketplace, as shown in the diagram below, can be identified as:

· The threat of new competitors entering the market

· The bargaining power of suppliers

· The bargaining power of customers (buyers)

· The threat of substitute products or services

· The rivalries among existing firms in the industry

Question Four: In relation to Porter's value chain model, what is meant by primary activities and support activities, and how does IT support these activities?

Porter’s value chain model developed in 1985, identify specific activities where they can use competitive strategies for the greatest impact. This model also shows points where an organisation can use information technology to achieve competitive advantage.

The below diagram demonstrates Porter’s value chain model:

According to Porter’s value chain model, the activities conducted in any organisation can be divided into two categories:

· Primary activities: those business activities that relate to the production and distribution of the firm’s products and services, thus creating value for which customers are willing to pay. This includes the following steps:

1. Inbound Logistics (inputs)

2. Operations (Manufacturing and Testing)

3. Outbound Logistics (Storage and Distribution)

4. Marketing and Sales

5. Services (After-sales Services)

· Support activities: do not add value to the firm’s product or services but contribute to the firm’s competitive advantage by supporting the primary activities. This includes the following activities:

1. The firm’s infrastructure (accounting, finance, management)

2. Human Resources Management

3. Product and Technology Development (R&D)

4. Procurement

The Internet has changed the nature of competition. Porter concludes that the overall impact of the Internet is to increase competitions, which has a negative impact on profitability.

Question Five: Discuss the logic of building information systems in accordance with the organizational hierarchical structure.

Information systems have numerous impacts on the organisational hierarchical structure. These include the following:

· IT reduces the number of middle managers needed: IT makes managers more productive and increases the number of employees who can report to a single manager, therefore it decreases the amount of managers and experts that are needed in an organisation

· IT will change the manager’s job: IT changes the way managers make decisions with more time to plan activities, being able to gather information easier and reducing the time necessary in the decision making process. IT allows managers to complete tasks

· Job Security: IT creates the competitive advantage of replacing people with machinery. Outsourcing and offshoring are also a concern that employees now have due to advances in IT.

· IT impacting employees at work: there has been a loss of identity due to computerisation, as there is a reduction/ elimination of the human element that is present in the non- computerised systems. The increased use of the Internet has had an isolating effect on employees also, IT can impacts the health and safety of employees. IT has been able to create jobs for those with disabilities.

· IT provides quality-of-life improvements: IT can provide flexibility that can significantly improve the quality of leisure times, even if it doesn’t increase the total amount of leisure time. However, IT can also place employees on ‘constant call’ so that they are never truly away from the office, even when they are on holidays.

Question Six: How has the Internet affected each of the five forces in Porter’s competitive forces model?

According to Porter, the five forces in the competitive forces model are affected by the Internet in the following ways:

· The threat of new competitors entering the market: The web increase the threat that new competitors will enter the market by sharply reducing traditional barriers to entry. Today, competitors frequently need only to set up a web site. This threat is particularly acute in industries that perform an intermediation role, which is a link between buyers and sellers as well as industries where the primary product or services is digital. In addition, geographical reach of the web enables distant competitors to compete with an existing firm.

· The bargaining power of suppliers: The Internet’s impact on suppliers is mixed. On one hand, buyers can find alternative suppliers and compare prices more easily, reducing the supplier’s bargaining power. On the other hand, as companies use the Internet to integrate their supply chains, participating suppliers prosper by locking in customers.

· The bargaining power of customers (buyers): The web significantly increases a buyers access to information about products and suppliers. IT can reduce customers’ switching costs, which are the costs of a decision to buy somewhere else. In addition, buyers can more easily buy from suppliers. In these ways the Internet gradually increase customers’ bargaining power

· The threat of substitute products or services: New technologies can substitute products very rapidly. Information based industries are in the greatest danger from substitutes. Any industry in which digitalised information can replace goods must view the Internet as a threat because the Internet can convey this information efficiently and at low costs.

· The rivalries among existing firms in the industry: The threat from rivalry is high when there is intense competition among many firms in an industry. The threat is low when the competition is among fewer firms and is not as intense.

Chapter One: The Modern Organisation in the Global, Web Based Environment

Question One: What are the characteristics of the modern business environment?

A modern business environment is identified through the following characteristics:

- Global

- Massively interconnected

- 24/7/365

- Real time

- Rapidly changing & dynamic

- Information- intensive

- Operates through e-commerce

- Increasing use social networking

Question Two: What is meant by a web-based, global platform, what does it provide, and how has it affected business?

The global, web-based platform consists of the hardware, software and communications technologies that comprise the Internet and the functionality of the World Wide Web. This platform enables individuals to connect, compute, communicate, compete and collaborate everywhere and anywhere, anytime and all the time, and to access limitless amounts of information services and entertainment. This platform operates without regard to geography, time, distance, and language barriers. The web-based platform has created today’s business environment, which is global massively interconnected, 24/7/365, real time, rapidly changing & dynamic and information- intensive.

The below diagram is an example of a global, web-based platform:

When a query is searched on the Internet through a search engine like Google, Yahoo or Amazon, the query request travels over the Internet to one of their data centers. As many servers as are needed are brought to bear answering the query and the response is then sent back.

Question Three: What are the main pressures that characterize the modern global business environment?

The modern global business pressures can be defined as:

• Market pressures

• Technology pressures

• Societal pressures (includes legal and political pressures)

o Market Pressures: generated by the global economy and strong competition, the changing nature of the workforce and powerful customers

- Global Economy and Strong Competition:

o facilitated by the emergence of the global, web based platform

o many labour intensive industries move their operations to countries with low labour costs with IT making these much easier to implement

- The Changing Nature of the Workforce

o The workforce is becoming more diversified (e.g. increasing numbers of women, single parents, minorities)

o IT is easing the integration of these employees into the traditional workforce and is enabling people to work from home

- Powerful Customers

o Consumer sophistication and expectations increase as customers become more knowledgeable about the availability and quality of products and services

o Technological Pressures

- Technological Innovation and Obsolescence:

o New and improved technologies rapidly create/ support substitutes for products, alternative service options and superb quality and therefore today’s state-of-the-art products may be obsolete tomorrow

- Information Overload

o To make decisions effectively and efficiently, managers must be able to access, navigate and utilize these vast stores of data information and knowledge; information technologies (e.g. search engines and data mining) provide valuable support in these efforts

o Societal/ Political and Legal Pressures

- Social Responsibility

o Social issues that affect businesses range----the efforts are known as organisational social responsibility

o Example: social problem= digital divide; solution = cybercafés

- Compliance with government regulation and deregulation

o Businesses see these regulations as expensive and time consuming on its activities; deregulation intensifies the competition

o IT helps process as it provides the necessary controls and information for compliance

- Protection against terrorist attacks

o Businesses need to protect themselves against terrorist attacks(including cyber attacks)

o IT can help protect businesses by providing security systems and possibly identifying patterns of behaviour associated with terrorist activities that will prevent attacks

- Ethical issues

o Ethical issues can damage an organisation’s image and destroy employees’ morale

o Pressures on an organisation are increasing and orgs. need to be prepared to take responsive actions if they are to succeed

Question Four: What are/discuss some of the common, IT oriented organizational responses to these pressures?

Organisational responses respond to business pressures by implementing IT strategies however, businesses need to react frequently and quickly to both the threats and the opportunities resulting from these pressures and the resulting new business environment. Technology is often seen as providing the answer however, finding the appropriate IT solution can be a difficult task however. The following are different organisational responses that are implemented by businesses:

o Strategic Systems: provide organisations with advantages that enable them to increase their market share and/ or profits to better to negotiate with suppliers or to prevent competitors entering the market

o Customer Focus: attempts to provide superb customer service can make the difference between attracting and keeping customers than losing them to competitors

o Made-to-order and Mass Customisation: made to order can be expensive; solution is to change from mass production to mass customisation; this is a simple attempt to perform make-to-order on a large scale

o E-Business and E-Commerce: this is an essential strategy for competing in today’s business environment

Question Five: How are IT architecture and IT infrastructure are interrelated?

An organisation’s information technology architecture is a high-level map or plan of the information assets in an organisation. The IT architecture integrates the information requirements of the overall organisation and all individual users, the IT infrastructure and all applications. An organisation’s information technology infrastructure consists of the physical facilities, IT components, IT services, and IT management that support the entire organisation.

Question Six: Is the Internet an infrastructure, an architecture, or an application program or something else? Why?

The Internet can be identified as being both IT infrastructure and IT architecture. The infrastructure of the Internet is made up of hardware components and a system of software is used by the Internet’s IT architecture. The Internet is a host to different types of services such as social networking, electronic mail services, the sharing and transferring of information resources, games and commercial and financial services.