Management Information Systems:
Managing the Digital Firm
Eighteenth Edition
Chapter 5
IT Infrastructure
and Emerging
Technologies
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 1
Learning Objectives (1 of 2)
5.1 Discuss IT infrastructure and its evolution
5.2 Describe the components of IT infrastructure
5.3 Discuss the mobile platform, apps, and BYOD
5.4 Discuss quantum computing and green computing
5.5 Discuss virtualization and cloud computing
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 2
Learning Objectives (2 of 2)
5.6 Describe contemporary software platforms
5.7 Discuss alternative ways of obtaining software
5.8 Describe IT infrastructure for AI
5.9 Discuss IT infrastructure management challenges
5.10 Understand how the information in this chapter can
help your career
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 3
Discuss IT Infrastructure and Its
Evolution (1 of 6)
• A firm’s IT infrastructure includes
– Investment in hardware, software, and services
– Consulting, education, and training, as well
– Shared across an entire firm or across entire business units in
the firm
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 4
Figure 5.1 Connections Between the
Firm, IT Infrastructure, and Business
Capabilities
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 5
Discuss IT Infrastructure and Its
Evolution (2 of 6)
• Set of firmwide services composed of both human and
technical capabilities include
– Computing platforms
– Telecommunications services
– Data management services
– Application software services
– Physical facilities management services
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 6
Discuss IT Infrastructure and Its
Evolution (3 of 6)
• Set of firmwide services composed of both human and
technical capabilities include
– IT management services
– IT standards services
– IT education services
– IT research and development services
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 7
Figure 5.2
Eras in
Infrastructure
Evolution
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 8
Discuss IT Infrastructure and Its
Evolution (4 of 6)
• Five eras of computers:
– General-purpose mainframe and minicomputer computing
– Personal computers
– Client/server
– Enterprise computing
– Cloud and mobile computing
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 9
Discuss IT Infrastructure and Its
Evolution (5 of 6)
• Client/server computing
– The computing architecture most widely used today
– A model of computing in which a client is connected in a network
with one or more servers
▪ Client: Various types of devices that can request access to services
or resources
▪ Server: Computers that are dedicated to performing common
functions that the clients on a network need
–File storage
–Software applications
–Printing
–Internet access
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 10
Discuss IT Infrastructure and Its
Evolution (6 of 6)
• Web server
– Responsible for locating and managing stored web pages
– Delivers web pages to a client in response to a request for
service
• Application server
– Handles all application operations between a browser-based
client and an organization’s back-end business applications or
databases
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 11
Figure 5.3 Multitiered (N-Tier)
Client/Server Network
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 12
Describe the Components of IT
Infrastructure (1 of 5)
The components of IT infrastructure
1. Computer hardware platforms
2. Operating system platforms
3. Enterprise software applications
4. Data management and storage
5. Networking/telecommunications platforms
6. Internet platforms
7. Consulting and system integration services
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 13
Figure 5.4 IT Infrastructure
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 14
Describe the Components of IT
Infrastructure (2 of 5)
• Computer hardware platforms
– Computer hardware provides technology for computer
processing, and includes
▪ Mainframes, servers, desktop computers, tablets, smart phones, as
well as sensors and wearable devices such as smartwatches
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 15
Describe the Components of IT
Infrastructure (3 of 5)
• Operating system platforms
– Operating system – Chrome OS
▪ System software that – Android
manages and controls
– iOS
activities of a computer
– Multitouch
– Microsoft Windows
operating system – Microsoft Windows Server
▪ Over 68 percent of – UNIX
desktop computers and
tablets use some form
of this operating system
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 16
Describe the Components of IT
Infrastructure (4 of 5)
• Enterprise software applications
– An important component of IT infrastructure
– Largest providers: SAP and Oracle
– Middleware providers: IBM and Oracle
• Data management and storage
– Enterprise database management software: Responsible for
organizing and managing a firm’s data
– Can be efficiently accessed and used for operations and
decision making
– The leading database software providers: IBM(Db2), Oracle,
Microsoft (SQL Server), and SAP (HANA)
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 17
Describe the Components of IT
Infrastructure (5 of 5)
• Network operating software (NOS)
–Windows Server, Linux
• Internet platforms
– Hardware, software, and services to support company websites
▪ Web-hosting services
• Consulting and system integration services
– Software integration means ensuring new infrastructure works
with older, legacy systems (older system that continues to be
used to avoid higher cost systems)
– Ensuring new elements of the infrastructure work together
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 18
Discuss the Mobile
Platform, Apps, and BYOD
• The mobile platform
– Smartphones; small, lightweight subnotebooks; tablets; car
infotainment systems; wearable devices; and digital e-book
readers
• Apps
– A software program that can be accessed via the Internet
• Consumerization of IT and BYOD
– Forces businesses and IT departments to rethink how IT
equipment and services are acquired and managed
– Bring your own device (BYOD) into the workplace
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 19
Discuss Quantum Computing and
Green Computing
• Two contemporary infrastructure trends
– Quantum computing
▪ Uses quantum physics to represent and operate on data
▪ Dramatic increases in computing speed
– Green computing (or green IT)
▪ Refers to practices and technologies for designing, manufacturing,
using, and disposing of computers and other IT equipment in order
to minimize environmental impact
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 20
Discuss Virtualization and Cloud
Computing (1 of 6)
• Virtualization
– Computing resources not restricted by physical configuration or
geographic location
– Enables a single physical resource (such as a server or a
storage device) to appear to the user as multiple logical
resources
– Reduces hardware and power expenditures
– Facilitates hardware centralization
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 21
Discuss Virtualization and Cloud
Computing (2 of 6)
• Cloud computing
– A model of computing in which computer processing, storage,
software, and other services are provided as
▪ A shared pool of virtualized resources over a network, primarily the
Internet
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 22
Figure 5.5 Cloud Computing
Platform
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 23
Discuss Virtualization and Cloud
Computing (3 of 6)
• Cloud computing can be used to provide three different
types of services
– Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
– Software as a service (SaaS)
– Platform as a service (PaaS)
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 24
Figure 5.6 Amazon Web Services
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 25
Discuss Virtualization and Cloud
Computing (4 of 6)
• There are several different cloud computing models
– Public cloud
– Private cloud
– Industry-cloud platform
– Hybrid cloud
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 26
Discuss Virtualization and Cloud
Computing (5 of 6)
• All of the major cloud computing vendors—Amazon
(AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP),
Microsoft Azure, and Salesforce—offer a wide range of AI
services
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 27
Discuss Virtualization and Cloud
Computing (6 of 6)
• Edge computing
– A method of optimizing cloud computing systems by performing
some data processing on a set of linked servers at the edge of
the network, near the source of the data
▪ Useful when sensors or other IoT devices do not need to be
constantly connected to a central cloud
▪ Reduces delays in transmitting and processing large quantities of
data needed for AI applications
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 28
Describe Contemporary Software
Platforms
• Four major themes in contemporary software platform
evolution
– Open-source software
– Java, HTML, and HTML5
– Web services
– Software outsourcing and cloud software services
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 29
Open-Source Software
• Software produced by a community of thousands of
programmers around the world
– Free
– Can be modified by users
– All works derived from the original code must be free
– Not restricted to any specific operating system or hardware
technology
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 30
Software for the Web: Java, HTML,
and HTML5 (1 of 2)
• Java
– An operating system-independent, processor-independent,
object-oriented programming language
– Created by Sun Microsystems
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 31
Software for the Web: Java, HTML,
and HTML5 (2 of 2)
• Web browser
– Easy-to-use software tool with a graphical user interface
– Displays web pages
– For accessing the web and other Internet resources
– Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
▪ Page description language for specifying how text, graphics, video,
and audio are placed on a web page
– HTML5
– JavaScript
▪ Another core technology for making web pages more dynamic
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 32
Web Services
• Refer to a set of loosely coupled software components
that exchange information with each other
– Using universal web communication standards and languages
– Extensible Markup Language (XML)
▪ Foundation technology for web services
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 33
Figure 5.7 How Dollar Car Rental
Uses Web Services
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 34
Discuss Alternative Ways of
Obtaining Software (1 of 4)
• Three external sources for software
– Software packages from a commercial software vendor
– Cloud-based software services and tools (SaaS/PaaS)
– Outsourcing custom application development to an external
vendor
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 35
Discuss Alternative Ways of
Obtaining Software (2 of 4)
• Commercial software
– Prewritten commercially available set of software programs that
eliminates the need for a firm to write its own software programs
– Typically, software is downloaded from a vendor’s website or
may use the software as a cloud service delivered over the
Internet
▪ Pay a subscription fee
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 36
Discuss Alternative Ways of
Obtaining Software (3 of 4)
• Cloud-based software
– Hosted on servers in data centers
– Service-level agreement (SLA)
▪ Formal contract between customers and service providers
–Defines specific responsibilities of the service provider and the level of
service expected by the customer
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 37
Discuss Alternative Ways of
Obtaining Software (4 of 4)
• Software outsourcing
– Enables a firm to contract custom software development or
maintenance to outside firms
▪ Often operate offshore in low-wage areas of the world where there
are many skilled IT specialists
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 38
Describe IT Infrastructure for AI
• Developing and running AI applications require
specialized hardware and software
– Based on the size of the dataset
– Based on the intended use of the application
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 39
AI and Edge Computing (Edge AI)
• Edge AI refers to the deployment of AI algorithms and AI
models
– Directly on local edge devices such as smartphones, sensors, or
IoT devices
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 40
Discuss IT Infrastructure
Management Challenges (1 of 3)
• Creating and managing a coherent IT infrastructure
raises multiple challenges
– Dealing with platform and technology changes (including cloud
and mobile computing)
– Management and governance
– Making wise infrastructure investments
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 41
Discuss IT Infrastructure
Management Challenges (2 of 3)
• As firms grow, they often quickly outgrow their
infrastructure
– Scalability needed
▪ Ability of a computer, product, or system to expand to serve a large
number of users without breaking down
• Mobile device management (MDM) software
– Monitors, manages, and secures mobile devices that are
deployed across multiple mobile service providers
▪ Across multiple mobile operating systems being used in the
organization
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 42
Discuss IT Infrastructure
Management Challenges (3 of 3)
• IT infrastructure is a major investment for the firm
– How much should the firm spend on infrastructure?
▪ The rent-versus-buy decision
▪ Cloud computing is often a low-cost way to increase scalability and
flexibility
▪ Total cost of ownership (TCO)
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 43
Figure 5.8 Competitive Forces for IT
Infrastructure
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 44
Copyright
This work is protected by United States copyright laws and is
provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their courses
and assessing student learning. Dissemination or sale of any part
of this work (including on the World Wide Web) will destroy the
integrity of the work and is not permitted. The work and materials
from it should never be made available to students except by
instructors using the accompanying text in their classes. All
recipients of this work are expected to abide by these restrictions
and to honor the intended pedagogical purposes and the needs of
other instructors who rely on these materials.
Copyright © 2026, 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Slide - 45