Current Trends In Hardware Platforms Information Technology Essay

Current Trends In Hardware Platforms Information Technology Essay The Infrastructure is one of the vital components in business strategy. If a bank wants to provide good customer service then they should adopt the best technologies that are available. The success of an organization lies with the Infrastructure development. The Infrastructure involves both the hardware and software platforms that are necessary for the operation of an organization. Causes for change in Infrastructures Cost of computing services and software is rising High customer expectations Integration of data across platforms Current trends in hardware platforms There are basically five trends in hardware platforms in recent years Integration of Computing and Telecommunications Platforms High rate of computation via network Integration of telephone and internet High computing power Grid Computing Cost saving on large infrastructures Smaller computer are connected to form a grid Increase the agility of organizations High speed of computing Cloud Computing Cost Saving as no capital investment is needed High speed computing Data transfer is quick Business Agility of organizations Autonomic Computing Develop systems that can automatically download updates Protect themselves from hackers and intruders Recover themselves in case of failure Virtualization and Multi-core Processors Both reduces power consumption Virtualization Accessing computing resources in multiple ways irrespective of geographical location and physical configuration. Multi-core Processors Use multi-core processors to reduce power consumption and heat. Current trends in software platforms Linux and the open-source software movement Linux is one of the most widely used open source software program Linux is supported by almost all platforms like HP, IBM, Intel, Dell, Sun etc. Linux is a open software and can be customized according to the needs of the company. Linux runs on all major hardware platforms mainframes, servers, and clients Java Programming language that is independent of the operating system and hardware processor. Java virtual machine has been defined. Java is compatible with any hardware Java applet has been employed when an object moves or input is required for the user. Leading interactive programming language available for the Web is Java. Software for enterprise integration The usage of enterprise-wide software systems by firms is an important trend in last few years. The goal is to achieve an integrated firm-wide information environment, reduce cost, increase reliability, to adopt business best practices which are captured by the software. AJAX, Mashups and Web-based software applications Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is a Web development tools used for creating interactive Web applications. Mashup It is a Web application that combines data or functionality from more than one source. Software outsourcing It is the prewritten software developed by a software company It helps the organizations from developing their own softwares. Mobile Platform The growth of telecom industry especially in mobile sector has been incredible over last few years. The service providers upgraded the mobile networks with next-Generation services like 3G, WAP and GPRS. The banks are trying to capitalize this growth in the telecom sector and provide the services to the customers through mobile. The main advantage of mobile banking over the Internet banking is that it offers Anywhere Anytime Banking. Customers can check their accounts, transfer funds, balance statements etc during travel without the access to a computer. The limitations of Internet Banking are overcome in mobile banking since it requires only a mobile which can be accessed by people of developing countries also. Mobile Banking Business Models The models of mobile banking are classified into three based on the relationship with the end-customers. They are Bank-focused model Bank-led model Non Bank-led model Mobile Banking Services The various services offered by the bank through mobile are listed below. Account Information Balance statement and checking account history Insurance policy management Checking the terms of fixed deposits Minimum balance alerts Pension plan management Payments Transfers Domestic and international fund transfers. Various bill payments Mobile recharging Payments of different products brought via e-bay, Amazon etc. Investments Alerts and notifications about various portfolios from stock market Assist in investments on stock market and mutual funds. Support Cheque book and card requests Provisions to register complaints through mobile Status of insurance coverage, credits etc ATM and Branch locator Content Services General alerts like weather. News etc Technologies Used in Mobile Banking Interactive Voice Response (IVR) In Interactive Voice Response (IVR) a pre-assigned number is specified to the customers by the bank. In IVR, when a customer make to a call to this number he will be acknowledged by a pre-recorded message. The customer can choose from the menu options specified in the electronic message according to his requirements. There are some limitations for the mobile banking through IVR IVR is expensive compared to data transfer via SMS or WAP Can be used for Enquiry Based Services only Short Messaging Service (SMS) The most popular technology used in Mobile Banking to provide services to customers is Short Messaging Service (SMS). The bank will provide the necessary information to the customers in reply to a service command to a pre-specific number send by the customer. The advantages of SMS are Cheaper compared to IVR Anywhere Anytime Banking Works across all service providers The major limitation of SMS is regarding the security of the contents. Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) In WAP concept the customers access the WAP sites maintained by the bank through the WAP compatible browser on their mobile phones. The advantage of WAP concept is that WAP sites offer the general form based interface Effectively provide security The disadvantage of WAP is dependency on speed of network connection and handset limitation. Standalone Mobile Client Applications This concept is used to provide complex banking transactions like trading in the stock market, securities etc. The advantages of this concept are Can be easily personalized in accordance with the density of the user interface Provides ample security Provide reliable channel for communication. The disadvantages are Several different combinations may prevent support of different devices, operating system etc Inconsistent performance due to differing handset capabilities Advantages of Mobile Banking Cost saving It helps Banks as well as service providers to achieve growth Banks will be able to provide good services to customers like reminding the customers on due dates of insurance, loan repayment dates etc Anywhere Anytime Banking Can be used over vast geographical area Need fewer numbers of employees to provide the services for the consumers. The mobile banking is expected to grow at a rapid rate. The online users of banking are expected to change to mobile banking. The number of mobile banking users is expected to grow to 50-100 million by 2016. The security of mobile banking is a major cause of worry. If the concerns of the customers are addressed properly, then mobile banking will be fully adopted by customers in future. Grid Computing The basic idea of Grid computing is that the computers are connected as a grid and the software running in the grid gives more priority to local users, but when they become idle these computers are used over the grid. In Grid computing the computers over the internet is connected using middleware permitting them to operate as a virtual whole. In Grid computing we use a distributed set of data centre rather than a single centralized data centre. The computers across the globe share resources for computation of large amount of data. If an organization having large numbers of computer, then a cluster is formed by connecting all computers. One main computer called front-end computer is connected to the grid through network. The remaining computers in the cluster is called back-end computer which is connected with front-end computer only. IBM is considered to be the leader in Grid computing. The IBM Grid data centres are compatible with all operating systems like Unix, Linux and Windows. The primary objectives of Grid Computing are Collective processing power Providing remote access to IT resources Advantages of Adopting Grid Computing Scalability If more capacity is required, add more computers to the grid. Economical handling No need of large IT infrastructures like Servers No need of experts to manage IT resources Price will be based on consumption. Grid computation allows effective utilization of resources. Redundancy and recovery Grid environments are much more modular and dont have single points of failure. If any failure occurs, there are large numbers of resources to take the task. Grid computing allows execution of large task by splitting into small pieces and executes them in different machines Grid computation allows parallel execution of a task Disadvantages of Adopting Grid Computing Internet Dependency Need fast internet connection Security Data storage in grid computation is liable for attack from intruders and hackers. It is difficult to manage so many computers in the Grid. There is unavailability of good middleware which hinders the implementation of grid computing. Licensing across many servers may make it prohibitive for some apps The Grid computation is not a new concept. The Grip computation has been used by many institutions to perform complex computations. The Grid computing offers efficient, quick, reliable and standard based solutions for the problems faced by Banks in this competitive environment. The Grid computation will help the Banks to provide services to the customers quickly. The distributed nature of grid computing is transparent to the customers for evaluation. If the security issue associated with the Grid computing is solved then the Grid computing can be used in the banking sector. Cloud Computing The cloud computing is the one of the most popular technology available in business. By 2015, the cloud computing services is expected to grow to $160 billion from existing $36 billion. The cloud computing provides number of services such as account operating, insurance services and loans etc. The cloud computing is customer-centric and flexible business model which will help the banks to gain maximum profit. The cloud computing will help the banks to deliver the services to the customers quickly. The idea behind cloud computing is that the data of the organization is stored in data centers located within the organization or datacenter provided by the cloud providers like Amazon. Cloud computing is divided into three Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) Share the infrastructure between several users. Database as a service (DaaS) Datas of many users is stored in single data base. Software as a service (SaaS) The services are given to the users on monthly subscription rather than buying the license by individuals. It has many advantages like simplicity in installation and maintenance, cost saving etc. There are four types of clouds used Private cloud Built within companys data centre and distributed to the internal business user through virtual communication, communications services etc. To meet the service requirements the components can be expanded and contracted. It permits more control to the organization, but does not support sharing of resources. Public cloud In public cloud the organizations operate the applications from a date centre which is provided by the third party. The servers, infrastructure and the network required for the operation of applications is provided by the third party. Community cloud Cloud is controlled and shared by multiple organizations having similar interest. Hybrid cloud In hybrid cloud features of both the internal private and external public clouds are combined. Advantages of Adopting Cloud Computing Scalability Capacity of the platform can be expanded or contracted according to the requirement. Cost Saving No capital investment is needed No need of IT infrastructure No need of experts to look servers etc Pricing is based on the consumption Less operational cost Business Agility Allows organizations to react quickly to market conditions Cloud computing is flexible High computing power Data transfer is faster Rapid innovations Built-in Disaster Recovery Back-up Sites Provides high level of redundancy Device Location Independence Enable customers to access the system from anywhere Its Greener Low power consumption Greater use of resources Disadvantages of Adopting Cloud Computing Security Data storage in cloud is insecure Data Location Privacy Different privacy and data management laws be relevant in different nations Internet Dependency, Performance Latency Dependency on internet Latency on the Internet is highly inconsistent and volatile Availability Service Levels Potential for down-time if the system isnt available for use Current Enterprise Applications Cant Be Migrated Easily Difficult to change existing arrangement to cloud computing The cloud computing is an evolving concept and it has many advantages and disadvantages. The cloud services will help the organizations like banks to provide services quickly at cheaper rates. I will also help them to provide the customers with 365*7*24 access to the services. So it is upon each individual organization to decide whether they implement cloud computing technology or not. Factors Affecting IT Infrastructure Network Economics There is a central difference between the old and new economies: the old industrial economy was driven by economies of scale; the new information economy is driven by economics of networks. (Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian, 1999) Declining Communication Cost The customers will be benefited if more networks enter into the market. If more competition takes place in the networking field the service providers will be forced to reduce the cost as well provides better service. Consider the case of Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the cost of calls was very high when BSNL alone enjoyed the monopoly of the network. But when more firms enter the telecom industry BSNL was forced to decrease the cost and increase the service provided to the customers. To improve the services given to the customers advancement in technology is necessary. They used new technologies like 3G to provide better services to the customers. Improving Technology Standards The network providers must upgrade the platform by adopting new technologies like mobile banking, grid computing and cloud computing which will help the service providers to improve the performance. Limited packages might benefit consumers. But network owner should not be able to bar services that allow competitive package offerings. For example, preferential caching by the network for an affiliated content provider might be o.k., but barring access for a 3rd party provider of caching services should raise concerns