Managing Computers in Large Organizations

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Managing Microcomputers in Large Organizations http://www.nap.edu/catalog/167.html About this PDF file: This new digital representation of the original work has been recomposed from XML files created from the original paper book, not from the original typesetting files. Page breaks are true to the original; line lengths, word breaks, heading styles, and other typesetting-specific formatting, however, cannot be retained, and some typographic errors may have been accidentally inserted. Please use the print version of this publication as the authoritative version for attribution. FASTER, SMALLER, CHEAPER TRENDS IN MICROCOMPUTER TECHNOLOGY 23 with how to develop application software across an entire computing resource. Clearly, we have more options in the area of capacity planning than we had several years ago when the only computing facility for a new application was a large mainframe or perhaps a distributed mini with a dedicated voice-grade line. Today we have an entire range of processing capabilities throughout our organizations, ranging from small desktop equipment to much larger machines. The variety of options offered by the new technology means that traditional job functions have to change to maintain efficiency within the organization. Integrated circuit technology is the driving force of equipment development occurring in the second stage. And we almost have a second generation of the distributed resource, which will include small, local loops of technology (a loop of intelligent workstations or a loop of Apple computers, for example); front ends to large mainframes; twin minis, which handle strip files for management decision making; and remote communications to other networks. Based on effective management decisions concerning cost/benefit analysis, these are the directions in which we will be moving in the mid-1980s in terms of a totally distributed information resource. It is absolutely critical that organizations be concerned not only with the technology but also with how the technology will serve our business, raise our profit levels, and help our service. I suggest that the key issue to keep in mind when making decisions about the management of computers is that what we are doing with each new level of technology is serving a wider audience of potential users. When we had five people in white coats overseeing the major computer in the computer center, the management problem was relatively easy. We delivered data to the center, pumped it through, and if everything went according to plan, the machine gave us a printout that we could distribute on a rolling cart. Today there is still the need for that kind of application; batch applications for payroll and receivables and data-crunching operations have not gone away. However, as the technology becomes cheaper, we can serve more people with different types of equipment and software. If we take a look at what has been happening from the vendors' standpoint we find that in the early 1980s the 6502 and the Z80 chips were the key foundations for microcomputer development. Software developers were moving the fastest in these areas and, therefore, they attracted hardware peripheral vendors, additional Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Managing Microcomputers in Large Organizations http://www.nap.edu/catalog/167.html About this PDF file: This new digital representation of the original work has been recomposed from XML files created from the original paper book, not from the original typesetting files. Page breaks are true to the original; line lengths, word breaks, heading styles, and other typesetting-specific formatting, however, cannot be retained, and some typographic errors may have been accidentally inserted. Please use the print version of this publication as the authoritative version for attribution. FASTER, SMALLER, CHEAPER TRENDS IN MICROCOMPUTER TECHNOLOGY 24 software development, and user involvement in the applications development process at the site. These two early microprocessors have now been relegated to the sidelines. Their address-based limitations have caused people in the business graphics market, for example, to shift to larger 16-and 32-bit types of hardware. Thus, to purchase the older equipment today may be a bad business decision, though there may be nothing wrong with continuing to use it effectively if we already have it. Because of market dynamics, the purchase of both hardware and software is an important business decision. We don't necessarily want our programmers to have to solve all our application needs. Of course, if we have embedded systems or unique applications, we will want to be able to quickly develop new applications that meet our specifications. But we also want to be able to make use of new applications in the field. It now appears that the Intel 16-/32-bit chips (the 8088 and perhaps later the 188) may provide some stability in the area of the general-purpose business tool like the IBM PC. However, the Apple McIntosh is coming in at a relatively inexpensive level using the 68000 from Motorola, and others will be fast on its heels as a third generation of application software is developed. We can anticipate some exciting things for the future. These include objectoriented architectures—dealing in objects rather than continuous lines of code— that move from one object to an-other and have the kind of transfer talked about in the same breath with artificial intelligence. We will also have additional capabilities on the chip itself, which will give another level of sophistication. However eagerly we may anticipate such future developments, it is not necessarily best to wait for them to happen. There are many things an organization can do now to improve its productivity, even beyond an individual workstation application to make that device earn its keep. To be concerned about technological obsolescence is a good idea from the standpoint of longrange planning, but it shouldn't prevent us from getting new work done now. In the near term one of the major technological impacts will be in the area of peripheral chips. This is a key area in terms of the smaller, cheaper, faster syndrome. The ability to put all kinds of sophisticated programming locally at the chip level and integrate it into the workstation gives the user a smaller, cleaner, and more Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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