Telecommunications

Chapter 7

Telecommunications,
the Internet, and Information System Architecture

7.1 Telecommunications Networks
and their Scope

The electronic transmission of
information over distances, called telecommunications, has become virtually inseparable
from computers: Computers and telecommunications create value together.

Components of a
Telecommunications Network

Telecommunications are
the means of electronic transmission of information over distances. The information may be
in the form of voice telephone calls, data, text, images, or video. Today,
telecommunications are used to organize more or less remote computer systems into
telecommunications networks. These networks themselves are run by computers.

A telecommunications
network is an arrangement of computing and telecommunications resources for
communication of information between distant locations.

A telecommunications network
includes the following components:

1. Terminals for
accessing the network

2. Computers that process
information and are interconnected by the network

3. Telecommunications links
that form a channel through which information is transmitted from a sending device to a
receiving device.

4. Telecommunications
equipment that facilitates the transmission of information.

5. Telecommunications
software that controls message transmission over the network.

Scope of Telecommunications
Networks

Two principal types of
telecommunications networks can be distinguished from the point of view of their
geographical scope. They are:

1. Local area networks

2. Wide area networks

Local area network (LAN): is
a privately owned network that interconnects processors, usually microcomputers, within a
building or on a campus site that includes several buildings.

Characteristics of a LAN:
[Figure 7.3][Slide 7-5]

a. LANs are the principal tool
of workgroup computing

b. LANs ensure high-speed
communication within a limited area and enables the users to share facilities
(peripherals) connected to it.

c. Usually include a
large-capacity, secondary storage device, where database and applications software are
maintained, managed by a microcomputer acting as a file server that delivers data or
program files to other computers.

d. Facilities (peripherals) may
include jukebox optical memory and fast printers

e. Frequently, one of the
facilities (peripherals) in a LAN is the gateway hardware and software that give the
network users access to other networks.

f. More group members may
connect to the network from remote sites using wireless telecommunications.

g. Links and equipment of LANs
are owned by the user company, and these networks are generally much faster than WANs.

h. LANs are generally composed
of a network of microcomputers

Wide area network (WAN): is
a telecommunications network that covers a large geographical area.

Characteristics of a WAN:
[Figure 7.4][Slide 7-6]

a. The information system of an
entire organization may be structured as a hierarchy. The WANs system architecture looks
very much like an organization chart.

b. WANs connect all the
divisional minicomputers to the headquarters mainframe with a variety of local
microcomputers and terminals located at remote sites connected, in turn, to the
minicomputers.

c. WANs provide the backbone
through which all other nodes (computers and terminals) communicate.

d. WANs often use
telecommunication links and equipment provided by specialized vendors, called common
carriers.

e. WANs serve to interconnect
multiple LANs and can make specific resources available to a large number of workstations.

Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN)
– are telecommunications networks that interconnect various local area networks within a
metropolitan area, that is, within approximately a 50-mile range.

Characteristics of a WAN:
[Figure 7.4]

a. Purpose of MANs is to
interconnect various LANs within a metropolitan area, that is, within approximately a 50 –
mile range.

b. Generally, the speed of MANs
is equal to that of LANs and they use similar technology.

Interorganizational Information
Systems – are shared by two or more companies.

Characteristics of
Interorganizational Information Systems: [Figure 7.5]

a. These systems help several
firms share information in order to coordinate their work, collaborate on common projects,
or sell and buy products and services.

b. Internet has emerged as a
global public network of networks

c. Some interorganizational
systems are employed in knowledge work

d. Can be used to connect a
firm’s computers to the information systems of its customers, suppliers, and business
partners, and are also used to execute business transactions.

 

7.2 Telecommunications Links

Telecommunications links may be
implemented with various communication media, with a corresponding variety of
characteristics. The main feature of a medium is its potential transmission speed, also
known as channel capacity, which for data transmission purposes is expressed
in bits per second (bps). An alternative measure of transmission channel capacity is
bandwidth – the range of signal frequencies that can be transmitted over the channel.

Six potential media are employed
to implement telecommunication links:

1. Twisted pair

2. Coaxial cable

3. Fiber Optics cable

4. Terrestrial Microwave

5. Satellite Transmission

6. Radio Transmission

Three of the above transmission
media are classified as guided media – in which the signal moves along an enclosed path.
Guided media require wiring. They include:

1. Twisted pair

2. Coaxial cable

3. Fiber optic cable

Three of the above transmission
media are classified as wireless media – the signal is broadcast (radiated in many
directions) over the air or space and received through an antenna. They include:

1. Terrestrial Microwave

2. Satellite Transmission

3. Radio Transmission

Characteristics of
Communications Media:

Twisted Pair a
communications medium consisting of a pair of wires.

Coaxial Cable a
communications medium that consists of a relatively thick central conductor shielded by
several layers of insulation and the second conductor just under the cable’s shell

Fiber Optics high-capacity
communications medium that consists of many strands of pure glass with a data carrying
core in the middle, surrounded by a reflective coating and a protective sheath.

Terrestrial Microwave
long-distance telecommunications by means of microwave signals travelling on the surface
of the earth.

Satellite Transmission form
of microwave transmission in which the signal is transmitted by an earth station to a
satellite which rebroadcasts the signal to the receiving station.

Radio Transmission wireless
communications technology that transmits voice or data over the air using a lower
frequency band than microwaves.

Note: Transmission speeds keep
on rising, particularly in the fiber optics area. We are now moving toward a global
infrastructure of gigabit-speed fiber optic links relying on digital transmission. In this
multimedia environment, data, text, voice, images, and video will travel at speeds of
billions of bits per second.

Analog and Digital
Communications [Figure 7.8][Slide 7-7]

Most of the lines in the
telephone systems of the world at present are analog. Signals are
transmitted as continuous waves. This is a satisfactory way to transmit voice, but digital
data sent by computers (sequences of pulses representing 0s and 1s) must be converted into
an analog signal for transmission over an analog line. The analog data must then be
converted back into digital before entering the memory of the receiving computer. The
conversion of data from digital form into analog for transmission and then back into
digital at the receiving end is done by a pair of interface devices called modems
(modulator-demodulator).

Modem-based telecommunications
have created a significant bottleneck in an environment where computer and peripheral
speeds have increased dramatically. The solution is end-to-end digital
communications, in which signals are sent as streams of on/off pulses. Digital lines are
capable of much faster communication and digital circuitry is now cheaper than analog. All
the new equipment now installed in telephone networks is indeed digital.

Trend: There is a shift toward
digital telecommunications is taking place throughout the world. A digital system for
telecommunications, called TI carrier, is in wide use in parts of the
telephone network.

Future: Integrated Services
Digital Network (ISDN) – a completely digital telecommunications network standardized by
an international committee. Although ISDN services are available in some areas, including
most of the US, worldwide ISDN is not expected to become operational until after the year
2000.

 

How to Reduce the Costs of
Telecommunications Multiplexing and Signal Compression

With the geographical
distribution of information systems, increased volumes of transmission, and the move to
multimedia, the costs of telecommunications are a significant business concern. Two
principal methods of reducing these costs are:

1. Multiplexing – the sharing of
a high-capacity link by a number of transmissions

2. Signal Compression – using
the link more efficiently by removing redundancies from the signal.

 

Multiplexing

Characteristics of multiplexing:

1. There are economies of
scale in telecommunications systems: the higher the system capacity, the lower the unit
cost of transmissions.

2. Many individual transmissions
can share a physical channel through a variety of techniques collectively called multiplexing.

3. Multiplexing combines several
lower-capacity transmissions into a single transmission, which is split at the receiving
end.

Signal Compression

Characteristics of signal
compression:

1. Signal compression is the
reduction of the need for channel capacity by removing redundancies from the signal.

2. To reduce the transmission
needs, we can remove the redundancies at the sender site, transmit the compressed signal,
and then restore the signal at the receiving end.

3. Compression has an impressive
effect on multimedia transmission needs.

7.3 Computer Networks

Computer networks differ in
scope from relatively slow wide area networks, employed to transmit messages across vast
geographic distances, to very fast local area networks that may connect computers located
in the same building. System designers may select one of several arrangements for
interconnecting network nodes, depending on an organization’s requirement. There are
several ways to establish a connection between the sender and the receiver of a message.

Network Topologies

Computers, switches, and
terminals interconnected by network links are collectively called nodes. The
purpose of network control is to provide a connection between nodes that need to
communicate. The arrangement of nodes and links in a network is called a topology.
A variety of arrangements are possible, each with its own advantages and drawbacks.
Network topology has to fit the structure of the organizational unit that will use the
network, and this topology should also be adapted to the unit’s communication traffic
patterns and to the way the databases will be stored in order to facilitate access to
them.

The following topologies are the
most widely used:

1. Hierarchical Network

2. Star Network

3. Ring Network

4. Bus Network

Hierarchical Network:
[Figure 7.4]

a. A corporate host computer
(often a mainframe), divisional minicomputers or powerful workstations, and workgroup
support via micros.

b. This topology matches the
organizational structure of many firms and is still frequently used in WANs.

c. The user workstations may be,
in turn, interconnected using one of the LAN topologies.

d. Failure of the host does not
disable divisional processing, which is a fail-safe feature.

e. Cost-effectiveness of micros
and the growing importance of groupwork leads some downsizing firms to move away from
hierarchical networks to client/server computing.

Star Network: [Figure 7.9a]

a. In a star network, a hub
computer or switch (such as a PBX) interconnects a number of workstations.

b. The computer at the hub acts
as the network server, providing access to the shared database and software. All
communications between the workstations must go through this central mode.

c. The star network is rather
easy to manage and expand, since in both cases it is largely the single central node that
is affected in an expansion of a processing capacity.

d. The central node is a locus
of vulnerability: it may be overloaded or it may fail, disabling the entire network.

Ring Network: [Figure 7.9b]

a. Each node in a ring network
is connected to two of its neighbours.

b. The nodes are usually close
to one another; this topology is frequently used in LANs.

c. When one node sends a message
to another, the message passes through each intermediate node, which restores the signal,
as signals deteriorate in transmission.

d. If a node fails, the ring is
out of service, unless the ring contains two channels transmitting in opposite directions.

Bus Network: [Figure 7.9c]

a. The nodes on a bus network
are connected to a common link such as coaxial cable. This arrangement is used in LANs.

b. A failing device does not
affect the rest of the network; failure of the bus itself, of course, brings the network
down.

Switching in Networks

Many users can be connected at
the same time to a network of communication channels. Switching devices
establish connections between nodes that need to communicate over a network. Principal
techniques for switching include:

1. Circuit Switching

2. Packet Switching

3. Fast Packet Switching

Circuit Switching:

1. The circuit switching
technique is employed in a telephone network.

2. Communication links are
connected to switching centers, which connect to one node to another on demand.

3. The circuit is established
for the entire duration of the communication

4. Circuit switching is suitable
for file transfers and similar longer transmissions

Packet Switching: [Figure
7.10]

1. Packet switching is of
particular importance for data communication owing to its speed and its superior
utilization of communication links when handling Abursty,@ intermittent, traffic. Indeed,
data transmission involves short bursts of activity by a computer or a terminal when the
data are sent, followed by long periods when there is no transmission.

2. Packet switching offers
flexibility in connecting to a network. It is used by most of the public data networks
provided by value-added carriers.

3. In packet switching, messages
are divided at the source into fixed-length chunks, called packets, that
also include bits identifying the receiver. Typically, a packet contains 128 bytes of
data.

4. Each packet, can be
transmitted independently, with routing determined at each node the packet passes through
(as opposed to circuit switching, where the route is predetermined).

Fast Packet Switching:

Traditional packet switching
checks each packet for errors at every node the packet passes through. Modern
telecommunications equipment is far more noise-free than that for which packet switching
was originally designed. To take advantage of this, two fast packet-switching technologies
are being introduced:

Frame Relay: Fast packet
switching that checks a packet for errors only at the entry and exit nodes of the
telecommunications network, thus reducing transmission delay.

Cell Relay:
(asynchronous transfer mode, or ATM) transfers very short fixed-length packets, called
cells, over fast LANs or WANs.

7.4 Communications Protocols in
Computer Networks

Communication rules, called protocols,
enable dissimilar hardware and software to communicate over a single network.

Network Protocols [Figure
7.11][Slide 7-8]

Computer networks exist to
provide connectivity among a variety of computers and access devices. To ensure orderly
communication over a network, all the nodes in the network must follow a set of rules
called protocols. These rules are complex. They extend from the electric
connection to the network and the format of the message, all the way to the interaction
between application programs that run on different nodes.

Explain to students that with
the globalization of telecommunications, the International Standards Organization (ISO)
has developed the OSI model in order to organizing protocols. The open system
approach opens the field to a broad array of competing vendors, a situation that benefits
users to ensure that they are not locked into a closed, proprietary protocol structure of
a specific manufacturer.

1. Gives both users and vendors
flexibility in conforming to a standard.

2. Users can select a protocol
for any layer of the model, as long as the protocol performs the necessary services and
provides the same interface to the adjacent layers.

3. If a layer has to be changed,
only the hardware or software implementing that layer need be modified.

4. A protocol layer in one node
interacts with the corresponding layer in another one.

 

Table 7.2 explains the functions
of the seven layers of protocol in the OSI model. They include:

Layer and its
Function

1.Physical
Provides access to the telecommunications medium and ensures transmission of the bit
stream over it

2.Data Link
Ensures error-free transmission of frames (blocks) of data over a network link

3.Network
Routes messages (or packets) from source to destination by selecting connecting links

4.Transport
Provides reliable end-to-end connection between two communicating nodes. When packet
switching is used this layer breaks a message into packets

5.Session
Establishes, maintains, and terminates a connection (session) between two applications
running on communicating nodes. A session lasts, for example, from a long-on to a specific
application to a log-off.

6.Presentation
Provides any necessary conversions of the character being sent (encryption/decryption,
compression/decompression, or character code conversions). Issue requests for establishing
and terminating a session to the session layer

7.Application
Provides services to communicating application programs; examples include file transfer,
running a remote program, allocating a remote peripheral, and ensuring integrity of remote
databases.

Two protocol sets have gained
importance:

SNA – IBM’s Systems Network
Architecture.

– its functions are broken down
into five layers, basically performing the functions of the five middle OSI levels.

TCP/IP – Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol

– its functions are broken down
into five layers. TCP provides the higher-level services in connecting the communicating
applications, while IP ensures the lower-level functions of routing and addressing,
guiding the packets over the Internet.

Interconnections among Networks

As communication needs increase,
network connectivity becomes a major issue as users want to access a remote computer.
Gateways such as routers and bridges help solve the problem.

Interconnection between two
networks of the same type is accomplished by a relatively simple bridge,
implemented in hardware and software. Interconnection between dissimilar networks, for
example, a LAN and a WAN, is achieved through a more complex router. A
router is a device that accepts messages in the format produced by one of the networks and
translates them into the format used by the other.

7.5 Local Area Networks

Organizations small and large
use fast local area networks (LANs) to interconnect personal computers, and thus make a
basic workgroup tool.

Local Area Network: Workplace
for a Workgroup

A LAN interconnects computers
within a single site, such as an office building, a manufacturing plan, or a corporate or
university campus.

Characteristics of a LAN
include:

1. Its scope is commonly
measured in feet

2. Communication speeds are very
high

3. Used as a local means of
computing and communication among users in larger firms

4. Are owned by the organization

5. Afford a sense of control and
the flexibility to meet the demands of the end users

A LAN gives its users the
following capabilities:

1. Users can share resources,
such as a fast printer or a database

2. Users can collaborate by
communicating over their LAN. This collaboration may be facilitated by groupware that runs
on a LAN

3. Users can access other
networks within a firm or outside of it via bridges and routers

There are two principal LAN
designs:

1. Peer-to-peer – peripherals
are located at terminals and system administration is largely left up to the users

2. Server-based networks – shared
resources are placed a dedicated server that manage a given resource on behalf of user
workstations sharing the resource (file server, printer server, gateway, optical disk
server). Most of the servers are dedicated to their task; using them as workstations
degrades the performance of the net.

Local Networks Based on Private
Branch Exchanges: [Figure 7.12]

A company with a large number of
telephones (from 50 to over 10,000) often elects to own a computer-based private
branch exchange (PBX), an electronic switchboard that interconnects its telephones
and provides connections to the public network.

Characteristics of a PBX:

1. Gives a company control over
the usage of its telephone system and offers a variety of features, such as call
forwarding or voice messaging.

2. Maybe employed as a switch
for data communications

3. Many newer PBXs use digital
technology, eliminating the need for modems, and perform conversions needed to ensure
connectivity between various equipment and telecommunications links.

4. Easy to connect a new
workstation to the net.

5. Speeds of PBX-based networks
are limited

7.6 Client/Server Computing

An important current development
in organizational computing is downsizing – moving from platforms based on
mainframes and minicomputers to a microcomputing environment. These architectures are
based on the client/server model.

Characteristics of client/server
computing:

1. The processing of a given
application is split up among a number of clients – serving individual users – and one or
more servers – providing access to databases and doing most of the computing.

2. Main objective of a client is
to provide a graphical user interface to a user

3. Main objective of a server is
to provide shared services to clients

4. In client/server computing,
individual applications are actually written to run on several computer platforms to take
advantage of their capabilities

5. Client/server computing is
difficult to implement

Most frequently used models of
client/server computing are:

1. Two-Tier Architecture

2. Three-Tier Architecture

Characteristics of Two-Tier
Architecture: [Figure 7.13a]

1. Client performs presentation
services. It displays the GUI and runs the program that determines what happens when the
user selects a menu option.

2. Server manages the accesses
to the database

3. Clients send remote procedure
calls to activate specific applications logic on a server

Characteristics of Three-Tier
Architecture: [Figure 7.13b]

1. An application server runs
most of the application logic, with the user workstation responsible for the display at
the front end and the database server providing database servers at the back end.
Objective is to distribute application so as to reduce the overall hardware costs while
minimizing the network traffic

Issues of client/server
computing:

1. Is attractive in terms of
their acquisition price as related to their performance

2. Is moving computing control
out of the data centers and into the end-user areas

3. Software is complex, and is
expensive to maintain

4. Generate significant traffic
on the firm’s backbone network that connects clients and servers

5. Can be performed in LAN and
WAN environments

7.7 Wide Area Networks

Wide area networks are the
fundamental infrastructure of organizational computing. These long-distance
telecommunications networks employ a variety of equipment so that the expensive links may
be used effectively. The offerings of common carriers and of providers of value-added
services may be combined with private networks to create an overall organizational
network.

Telecommunications Equipment for
Wide Area Networks [Figure 7.15][Slide 7-9]

WANs include equipment that
controls message transfer and makes it possible to share the links among a number of
transfers.

Host Computer

A WAN has a powerful host
computer. The host runs a system program, called a telecommunications monitor, which
processes incoming messages, passing them to the appropriate application programs, and
accepts outgoing messages from the applications in order to transmit them into the
network.

Front-End Processor

Relieves the host computer of
most of the tasks involved in network control. Under the control of its own software, the
front-end processor accepts messages coming from the network and routes outgoing messages
to their destinations. It performs the necessary code conversions, encrypts and decrypts
secure messages, and performs error checking so that the host deals with Aclean@ messages.

Cluster Controller

Manages several terminals,
connecting them to a single telecommunications link, and performs communication tasks for
them, such as screen formatting, code conversion, and error checking. A cluster controller
may also allow the terminals to share a high-speed printer and may handle electronic mail
among the cluster terminals.

Multiplexor

Combines the data that terminals
send to it over local low-speed links into a single stream. This stream is then
transmitted over a high-speed telecommunications channel and is split by another
multiplexor on the opposite end of the channel.

Concentrator

Combines transmission from
several slower terminals that operate in a burst mode into a single transmission stream
that requires a link of lower speed than the sum of the speeds of all the terminals
combined. A concentrator stores messages from terminals and forwards them when warranted.

Switches

Establishes connections between
nodes that need to communicate.

Access Terminals

Include a variety of dumb
terminals, with no processing capacity and intelligent terminals with processing capacity,
such as personal computers.

Where do Facilities for Wide
Area Networks Come From?

Some network facilities are
owned by user organizations, others can be leased by them, or simply used on a
pay-as-you-go basis. Among the typical facilities owned by user firms are workstations,
host computers, and front-end processors. The essential providers of telecommunications
links and services are common carriers and the vendors of enhanced services on value-added
networks. These include:

1. Common carriers

2. Providers of value-added
networks

3. Private lines and private
networks

Common Carriers

Are companies licensed by a
country’s government to provide telecommunications services to the public. The vast
majority of common carriers provide telephone service. These carriers offer the use of a
wide-area telecommunications infrastructure, that is, facilities for the transmission of
voice and data messages.

Common carriers offer a service
called virtual private network where a user firm can purchase guaranteed
access to facilities with specified capabilities, such as transmission speed and access
points.

Providers of Value-Added
Networks

Value-added vendors lease
facilities from the common carriers and provide telecommunications services to their own
customers. These vendors add value to the basic infrastructure furnished by the common
carrier. The value-added networks (VAN) provided by the vendors furnish
services over and above those provided by common carriers.

Private Lines and Private
Networks

Instead of using a service that
has to be shared with others, a firm may lease its own private lines or entire networks
from carriers. This can have economic advantages as compared with VAN use, as well as
provide faster and more secure communications.

 7.8 The Internet and
Electronic Commerce

The Internet has changed the
face of individual and organizational computing. Driven by the possibilities offered by
the Internet and the Web, electronic commerce is expanding its reach.

 Present and Future of
the Internet

The Internet is
the global network of computer networks without a centralized control that has become the
contemporary Ainformation highway.@

Characteristics of the Internet:

1. It is run in a decentralized
fashion by a number of voluntary organizations, the principal of which is the Internet
Society.

2. It is a medium of
communication, a source of information, and a developing means of electronic commerce.

3. A major obstacle to its
development has become the limited capacity of the links interconnecting the networks.

Facilities for Communication and
Information Access

The Internet provides several
essential facilities that organizations can use for internal as well as
interorganizational information sharing and communication.

The principal categories of
Internet use include:

1. Communication

Electronic mail (E-mail)
facilitates quick exchange of information and ideas, and is the Internet facility in
widest use. E-mail can be used for one-to-one communications or to participate in larger
communications forums (newsgroups).

2. Information Access:

The Internet provides access to
the largest organized (loosely) repository of information on earth: the collection of
electronic documents stored on sites all over the world. The main problem is finding the
information. To help with this problem Web search engines have been developed. Examples
include Gopher sites, using indexes such as Veronica, or via a WAIS (Wide Area Information
Service) keyword search.

The World Wide Web

The World Wide Web (or simply,
the Web) is an information service available over the Internet, providing access to
distributed electronic documents via hyper links.

Characteristics of the Web:

1. Grew out of the need of
scientists who wanted to share information and to collaborate from geographically
dispersed locations.

2. Is a client/server system.
The Web is a collection of electronic sites stored on many thousands of servers all over
the world. Each site consists of a home page and often other pages stored with it. Pages
contain hyperlinks to related pages, usually stored on other sites.

3. Access to the Web is through
a client program, known as a browser. The browser sends out for the needed
page into the Internet, interprets the formatting directions on the retrieved page, and
displays the page accordingly on the screen.

4. To access a Web site, you
provide the browser with the site’s identifier, known as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

5. A search engine
is a Web facility that maintains its own information about the documents available on the
Web.

Electronic Commerce

Electronic commerce is
sharing business information, maintaining business relationships, and conducting business
transactions by means of telecommunications networks. In simple words, electronic commerce
is doing business electronically, replacing most of the paper and telephone work with
computer-mediated information and transaction exchange. The Internet, and the Web in
particular, are emerging as the principal means for this new way of doing business.

Some potential uses include:

1. Establishing an electronic
site on the Web to promote your business

2. On-line marketplaces

3. Advertising at frequented Web
sites

4. Establishing newsgroups

5. Job classified

One of the biggest drawbacks for
the use of the Internet for conducting electronic commerce is the lack of financial
security.

The framework of electronic
commerce is summarized in three levels:

1. Infrastructure

– the hardware, software,
databases, and telecommunications that together deliver such functionality as the Web over
the Internet, and support EDI and other forms of messaging over the Internet or over
value-added networks.

2. Services

– messaging and a variety of
services enabling the finding and delivery of information, as well as negotiation,
transaction business, and settlement.

3. Products and structures

– direct provision of commercial
services to consumers and business partners, intraorganizational information sharing and
collaboration, and organization of electronic markets and supply chains.

Intranets

Using the Internet, many firms
have implemented internal networks of Web sites, known as intranets.
Intranets are set up on corporate LANs and WANs. An Intranet is separated from the public
Internet by a facility called firewall. The firewall program runs on the server
computer, preventing access to the Intranet from the public Internet, but allowing access
to the Internet. Intranet is, in effect, the owner company’s private Internet.

Intranets have become
important business tools for:

1. Sharing information and
knowledge among a company’s employees

2. Accessing databases and data
warehouses

3. Organizing the corporate
workflow around electronic documents

4. Enabling collaboration

7.9 Information System
Architecture: [Figure 7.17][Slide 7-10]

The high-level design of a
blueprint for the organizational information system is known as the information
system architecture. This plan must support the present and future computing and
communications needs of a business. Today, the architectural blueprint of many
organizations rests on internetworking: interconnecting a number of local area networks
with a corporate wide area network, or using the Internet connectivity. Fundamental
components of an architectural plan must address the following concerns:

1. How will the processing power
be distributed

2. Where will the databases be
located

3. Network interconnections

4. Protocols

7.10 Using Telecommunications
for Business Process Redesign and to Seek Competitive Advantage

Telecommunications give an
organization the capability to move information rapidly between distant locations and to
provide the ability for the employees, customers, and suppliers to collaborate from
anywhere, combined with the capability to bring processing power to the point of the
application. All of this offers a firm important opportunities to restructure its business
processes and to capture high competitive ground in the marketplace. Through
telecommunications, this value may be:

1. An increase in the efficiency
of operations

2. Improvements in the
effectiveness of management

3. Innovations in the
marketplace

Telecommunications may provide
these values through the following impacts:

1. Time compression

– Telecommunications enable a
firm to transmit raw data and information quickly and accurately between remote sites.

2. Overcoming geographical
dispersion

– Telecommunications enable an
organization with geographically remote sites to function, to a degree, as though these
sites were a single unit. The firm can then reap benefits of scale and scope which would
otherwise be unobtainable.

3. Restructuring business
relationships

– Telecommunications make it
possible to create systems which restructure the interactions of people within a firm as
well as a firm’s relationships with its customers. Operational efficiency may be raised by
eliminating intermediaries from various business processes.