The Importance of Understanding Information Technology Systems Infrastructure

This paper will be able is going to cover the importance in the management of any organization whether big or small in having knowledge of the Information Technology infrastructure. The first topic that we will cover will be the history behind the word infrastructure. We will next be covering what exactly an Information Technology infrastructure consists of as well as the importance of the Information Technology infrastructure to a business. We will then cover the personnel and equipment that will be needed for a successful Information Technology infrastructure We will finally cover a solution Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) that will assist the management in having a manageable IT infrastructure while remaining competitive.

Finally, we will go into what Infrastructure as a Service brings to the organization and with this will come understanding what it needed as far as infrastructure in within the organization and how a manager of an organization can have a manageable and reliable infrastructure while having an understanding of what is really going on behind the scenes to make the business operate as it does.

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Table of ContentsWHAT IS IT INFRASTRUCTURE? 6I. WHY IS IT INFRASTRUCTURE IMPORTANT? 7II. WHY IS MIS INFRASTRUCTURE ALSO IMPORTANT? 7III. PERSONNEL TO MANAGE AND INTEGRATE INFORMATION SYSTEMS 8IMAGE FROM (SMARTSHEET, 2019). TABLE1 9IMPORTANCE OF IT INFRASTRUCTURE TO BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 9I. COST SAVINGS 10II. SCALABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY 10III. DISASTER RECOVERY AND HIGH AVAILABILITY 11IV. BUSINESS GROWTH 11CONCLUSION 11IntroductionStatement of the Problem When management does not know what their Information Technology infrastructure is doing for them, they could see a down fall in their business.

It is important for the management to be involved in the development and the sustainment of Information Technology infrastructure and management because they know what they want and need out of their business. Statement of the Purpose The purpose of this paper will be to investigate the training that is given to management of any given business on the Information Systems Infrastructure that assist in them in having a successful business. A lot people in business management probably think that this stuff is all the technical stuff that they do not need to know about.Research Questions The question posed is would the management have any clue about any of the systems given there is a failure and they lose all of the databases? Should business management be a part of the Information Systems Infrastructure planning? Do most managers know what their Information Systems Infrastructure consists of? Significance of the Study There is an importance to management of any company to understand how exactly that the Information Systems Infrastructure or Information Technology Infrastructures not only generates growth of their business but also reduce costs, improves business operations, improves productivity and increases productivity (Baltzan, 2011). This paper will discuss what an Information Systems Infrastructure is as well as what it consists of (Rouse, 2017). Next, we will cover why exactly Information Systems are important for businesses (InspiredTechs, 2017). Next, we will go over the roles of the Management Information Systems (MIS) and how they tie into the Information Systems Infrastructure (Martin, 2016). Then we will discuss knowledge that management needs to grow a business (ACCLR, 2019). The Importance of UnderstandingInformation Technology Systems Infrastructure The word infrastructure has been used for centuries in order to describe big or multifaceted structures and was first used in France for railroad plans in 1875 and even before that, it was used in the beginning of roads and canals. As Information Technology grew the IT infrastructure would become the backbone for businesses (Smartsheet, 2019). The Information Technology (IT) infrastructure must be built in order for the management to have the information in which is required to run the business effectively. In order for a manager to know what should go into their IT infrastructure they must first understand the importance of the IT infrastructure and what it brings to the business. The problem is that there are many business managers that do not understand the IT infrastructure and what role they play in creating it. This paper will explain that there are many advantages in IT infrastructures in which could encourage the management to use the faculties put in place. It is important that managers do not use the IT infrastructure as a piece of art but rather as a tool for productivity. There are many advantages for management when it comes to IT infrastructures. Some of these advantages are that it assists in the reduction in costs, improves communications by removing communication barriers (Chand, 2014). The end result of this paper is for management to understand the importance of IT infrastructure and know what their role is when creating a successful IT infrastructure. What is IT infrastructure? IT infrastructures are a structure of facilities, hardware, software and other service components that will ultimately support the processes of business as well as enable the IT processes (Gartner, 2018). The employees in a business may not need to know the importance of being able to have instant accessibility to their applications and software but it is a necessity for the management of a business to embrace the importance of IT infrastructure planning based on the business needs of the company. If this is not accomplished the business may suffer in the long term. A successful IT infrastructure will be able to satisfy the needs of the users while also being able to expand to meet needs as the business grows (Lazor, 2014). I. Why is IT infrastructure important? When a business first starts out they tend to get the basics for an IT infrastructure such as desktop computers, a basic phone system, and an internet connection. As for the business's other services, these are normally conducted using cloud services. The thing is that when a business grows there are many issues that will arise. The first is security breaches, as of 2014 the security breaches on small businesses had increased three hundred percent in two years. In order for business managers to have a competitive advantage it is imperative that they invest in having a strategic IT infrastructure. This includes hardware, software, network services, and MIS Management Information Systems (MIS), as well as the personnel to manage the IT and MIS infrastructure (Lazor, 2014). II. Why is MIS infrastructure also important? First, a Management Information System (MIS) infrastructure is important because it enables the identification of how and where important information like customers information is secured and maintained. It is important to have a responsive MIS infrastructure that includes software, hardware, and communications equipment that will ultimately work together in order to support the goals of the organization. It is also important that an organization can find ways in which they will be able to grow when it comes to computing resources without being too dependent of hardware and energy consumption. MIS has the capability of being a dynamic infrastructure with the ability to change as the organizations needs change. Every time that there is a new device that is introduced to the world it is important that the organization is able to support the needs of this new device. This is where the importance of having personnel on board that understand what it takes to manage and integrate systems into the company's current infrastructure (Baltzan, 2015). III. Personnel to manage and integrate information systemsAn enterprise architect is a person that is able to bridge the MIS and business because they are based in technology and fluent in business. This person is important to an organization because of the fact that they are able to manage the change that takes place and will then update the MIS infrastructure to support the change taking place (Balzan, 2015). The purpose of having someone that manages the IT infrastructure is to bring structure as well as the control of functions in which are ultimately responsible for the operations of a technical nature that involve the software, hardware and networking in both a virtual and physical environment. Due to the involvedness involved in the IT infrastructure the management of the different areas may be broken up into sections, such as storage management, systems management, and network management. They will all ultimately be responsible for the lifecycle of equipment, capacity planning and monitoring, storage, network utilization, availability, power consumption, environmental issues, facilities, software, hardware, security, connectivity, and maintenance. These services that an IT infrastructure management team provide are normally done behind the scenes and this is why it is important for business management to understand what is taking place and be a part of it as this is what supports the business as a whole on a day to day basis (Smartsheet, 2019). Image from (Smartsheet, 2019). Table1Importance of IT infrastructure to business management When an organization is in a competitive market the last thing that the management wants to think about is if the IT infrastructure is able to keep up with the need to respond to the competitive pressures. In modern times it is important for business managers to look at Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to be a part of their solution. This can provide cost savings, scalability and flexibility, faster time to market, support disaster recovery and high availability, and focus on growth (Staff, 2014). I. Cost Savings The most obvious part of cost savings when dealing with the IaaS is scaling down the physical foot and cost for that. It is also less maintenance and upkeep for the business. Going in this direction will also allow for a smaller IT staff. The organization will pay for the capacity that they need at the time and as the business grows they will pay for what is needed to support their operations. This will also reduce the monthly or annual fees for benefits they are not going to use (Staff, 2014). II. Scalability and flexibility IaaS enables the organization the ability to scale up and down in an orderly fashion to suit the needs of the organization. The IaaS generally will be kept with the latest and most powerful network and storage in order to keep up with the needs of the customer. This also includes on demand scalability. The end result is that the organization will be able to have faster time to get to market and this results in having better competition (Staff, 2014). III. Disaster Recovery and high availability Often organizations have different disaster recovery plans for each location and can become expensive and hard to manage. Using IaaS can enable the organization to have a consolidated disaster recovery which will in turn reduce the costs as well as increase the manageability. The employees will also be able to reach their same infrastructure regardless of where they are connecting to the Internet (Staff, 2014).IV. Business growth When an organization is focusing on growth, using IaaS is a way to relieve some of the stress that can take place during this time. This includes getting someone to manage the IT infrastructure. The IaaS enables the business to focus on the applications and solutions (Staff, 2014). However, it is still very important for management to understand their IT infrastructure needs. Conclusion In conclusion we were able to cover the importance of the management having knowledge of the Information Technology infrastructure. We first covered the history behind the word infrastructure followed by what an IT infrastructure consists of and the importance of the IT infrastructure to a business. We then covered the personnel and equipment needed for a successful IT infrastructure and finally a solution IaaS that will assist the management in having a manageable IT infrastructure while remaining competitive and understanding what it needed as far as infrastructure in within the organization. The recommendation would be for the business management to not only use IaaS for their IT Infrastructure solution but to also understand the importance of knowing what they will need in order to cover all business needs and remain competitive with an IT infrastructure. ReferencesBaltzan, P. (2015). Business driven information systems. New Delhi: Mc Graw Hill.Chand, S. (2014, February 22). Importance of Information Technology Infrastructure for Managers. Retrieved from technology/importance-of-information-technology-infrastructure-for-managers/10195Dai, Q., Kauffman, R. J., & March, S. T. (2007). Valuing information technology infrastructures: A growth options approach. Information Technology and Management, 8(1), 1-17. doi: Gartner. (2018, February 08). IT infrastructure. Retrieved from (2017, January 28). Why Information Systems are so Important to Businesses. Retrieved from important/ Lazor, D. (2014). Business IT Insights. Retrieved from than-you-think Smartsheet. (2019, January 07). Beginner's Guide to IT Infrastructure Management. Retrieved from S. (2014, March 14). Infrastructure As A Service - 5 Important Benefits. Retrieved from benefits