Managing Computers in Large Organizations

Managing Microcomputers in Large Organizations
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/167.html
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THE USER ERA 129
Communication protocols. The Army is committed to the Defense
Data Network (DDN) protocols (based on the seven-layer reference
standard of the International Organization for Standardization). Systems
that do not satisfy DDN will not be purchased.
Operating systems. The Army will establish as preferred standards CP/
M for 8-bit micros and both UNIX (version V) and MS DOS for 16/32 bitmicros,
with UNIX preferred.
Local area networks. The Army will initially use ETHERNET
protocols (CSMA/CD), but recognizes that it is probably too early in the
development of this technology to commit to a single standard.
Without doubt, society is in the midst of major change in its use of
computer technology. Clearly, the seminal force is the availability of ever more
powerful technology at relatively low cost. Computer literacy has increased at
an exponential rate. The pressure on the software industry for more software
products for the professional has exceeded its capability to respond. However,
the industry has made specific user-oriented software products available.
To shape a program that benefits from these varied forces the Army has
chosen to provide top-down planning and broad architecture; bottom-up, userinitiated
development; a procedure for giving visibility to user-developed
software; a definition of the relative roles of the professional and the user; and a
set of preferred standards to increase compatibility and minimize the cost of
software. The specific course of action the Army has chosen will clearly be
iterative.
In nineteenth-century England a band of workmen known as Luddites tried
to prevent the use of labor-saving machinery by destroying it. Obviously, this
was not a very successful response to technological change. Managing today's
computer technology also requires the ability to implement change
appropriately. Those organizations that remain static will be the Luddites of
tomorrow.
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