FREE online courses on Information Technology - Chapter 6 IT - FUNDAMENTALS - IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS

 

What are the implications of this technology for management?

 

¨       The cost/performance ratio for computers continues to decline as the price is continually dropping for increased levels of computing.

¨       Logical functions are no longer the most expensive part of the computer. In the first, generation, the CPU was the scare and expensive resource. Today, very large scale integration (VLSI) using current technology can put several million transistors into a small silicon chip. Processing logic is now readily available at a relatively small cost.

¨       Organizations are spending increasing amounts of money on computers because they are indispensable for many applications. Whereas unit costs may go down, the total expenditure for information technology is increasing in most organizations.

¨       The ease of use and the appeal of a personal computer help to give many more individuals access computer technology. To compete in the coming years, a manager will have to be an intelligent user of computers. It is very difficult to define an appropriate hardware and software architecture for the firm, given the large number of competing demands and alternatives available. Rapid decreases in the cost of making every powerful chips means that workstations have better cost/performance characteristics than mainframes.

¨       Companies have a wide variety of computers because it would be very expensive to try and replace old computers and applications all at once.

¨       In addition to computers themselves, much interest today centers around networks using telecommunications to link computers together. It is no longer sufficient to consider computers alone for most organizations.

 

A basic understanding of hardware and how it works will help you select and use the appropriate computer equipment. Managers today are faced with a variety of computers of different capabilities. A manager may be forced to use existing hardware because it is already in place, or may have the option of acquiring new equipment. In either case, it is important to understand the capabilities of the different types of computers available today.