Altitude Online: Choosing Hardware
Jon Cabezas and his colleagues at Altitude Online are eager to take advantage of the benefits provided by new state-of-the-art hardware. Although they still need to collaborate with an ERP vendor to determine the specific requirements of the new ERP system, the systems administrators have a good idea of the general hardware requirements.
As a result of earlier acquisitions and mergers, Altitude Online currently has four separate information systems supported by four servers, each maintained by a systems administrator. An ERP system will combine the work of the four servers into one centralized computing facility or data center. Jon and his systems administrators plan to use blade servers at the core of the ERP to manage the enterprise-wide systems. They will house the servers in a small data center at corporate headquarters in New York. They also plan to use a storage area network (SAN) with solid-state drives for storage. To get the most our of each blade server, they will use virtualization. Using blade servers and a SAN means that Altitude Online can add more servers and drives as they are needed, allowing the system to scale to meet the demands of the growing company. Jon and the systems administrators will determine the exact amount of processing power and storage capacity they need after further investigation and collaboration with the ERP vendor.
Altitude Online has a sizable mobile workforce and office staff. To support its employees, the company needs desktop workstations in house and notebook PCs for its mobile users. Rather than desktop PCs, the system administrators are planning on using thin clients to save money and take advantage of the blade server system. Because some employees have relatively new desktop computers, the blade computers will be adopted gradually over time.
Altitude Onlines mobile workforce includes sales representatives and marketing engineers that work side-by-side with clients. The sales reps need to access records quickly and in any environment. Jon determines that tablet PCs will provide that flexibility. Marketing engineers need more computing power, and always work at a desk or table, so for them, a high-end notebook should do the job. Altitude Online will replace all of the mobile computers with a new tablet or notebook so that they have a standardized platform across the enterprise. In addition to mobile PCs, employees that work outside the Altitude Online offices will be equipped with BlackBerry smartphones so that they can have convenient access to e-mail and corporate systems from any location.
In addition to servers, PCs, and smartphones, Altitude Online will need to replace outdated printers, scanners, and special input and output devices it uses for graphics design and editing. These specialized devices include digital cameras, graphics tablets that support pen input, and large displays.
Question 1: How will Altitude Online determine the computing power and storage requirements of the new systems?
Altitude Online: Choosing Software
Typical enterprise-wide system development projects include the development of server software, to provide information from corporate databases or other information and communications services, client software to run on the users machines, and sometimes middleware to allow different types of systems to communicate.
The ERP system in which Altitude Online is investing will provide the software and systems that act as the backbone of the organization. It will manage and store business records such as accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory, payroll, human resources, and other standard business systems and operations. All of the core enterprise software will be provided by the ERP. Jons team has been interviewing several vendors for an ERP solution and considering their bids for the contract. So far, it looks as though the team favors SAP for the job. However, businesses typically require more software than is used in its core enterprise systems. They require the special software tools of their trade.
Jon maintains a comprehensive list of all the software used at Altitude Online. He has to since maintaining a record of software licenses is a legal requirement for all businesses. Altitude Online uses a mixture of Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac PCs for its work force. Many of its Web developers and graphic artists prefer the Mac platform, while its business staff tends to prefer the Windows platform. Altitude Online uses Microsoft Office for its word processing, spreadsheet, email, and presentation capabilities. Many of its customers and partners use Office as well, so using the same software makes Altitude Online compatible with those it does business with. There are versions of Office for both Windows and PC platforms.
Altitude Online also uses several media development and production applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. Video production is done using Final Cut Pro for Mac. The Altitude Online Web developers utilize Adobe Dreamweaver, Cold Fusion, and other programming IDEs. There are a number of other applications in use across Altitude Online to meet the needs of individual employees.
Most of the personal application packages in use at Altitude Online will not be impacted by the upcoming system upgrade. They will continue to be used until they fall out of favor or require an upgrade. The company doesnt typically upgrade software unless the upgrade provides significant advantages. Once the ERP system is decided on, there may be minor adjustments required in personal application software. For example, the new ERP system may provide a unified communication system that makes Microsoft Outlook obsolete.
Once the contract is finalized with an ERP vendor, the team can begin the serious work of designing its enterprise-wide information architecture. Little else can proceed on this initiative until the ERP is decided on.
Question 2 : Why do you think Altitude Online uses two PC platforms Windows and Mac rather than standardizing on one?
Question: 3
Think of a software product that is currently not offered as a service. How would the requirements for this product change if it were offered as a service? How would the business processes change if the product were offered as a service? How would the business plan for such a transformation?
Note, Please answer this question on a new page and name it Question 3
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