Designing and Managing the Information Age IT Architecture

by Professor Lynda M. Applegate, Harvard Business School

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, business computing was highly
centralized and tightly controlled. Most business applications ran on central computer
systems managed by the management information systems department. Users had
"dumb" terminals on their desks connected to computers in the machine room, located
out of sight and out of mind. They used mainframe computers for email, word
processing, communications, and information access. This centralized model of
organizational computing offered a certain sense of order. !ystems managers could
readily control the environment from a single point in the system. "nd users performed
their #obs without worrying about software updates, system backups, or network
connectivity.
Then personal computer $%&' and local area network $()*' technologies
entered the picture. !ometime between the late +,-.s and the early +,,.s $it/s hard to
pinpoint an e0act date' things changed. 1ith high performance computers on their
desktops $or in their briefcases', managers now had direct access to the local data and
the local computer processing intelligence re2uired to turn that data into useful
information. 3ut, the ability to access centralized information and to communicate
easily with colleagues, clients, customers, and business partners could not keep pace
with the demands of a rapidly changing and comple0 world. 4mplementing networked
computing environments that ade2uately supported more fle0ible and comple0
organizational designs of the +,,.s became a business imperative. $!ee Managing in
an Information Age !rgani"ational #hallenges and !pportunities, 53! *o. +,6..7,
and Managing in an Information Age I$ #hallenges and !pportunities, 53! *o. +,6
..8, for an overview of the interrelationships of the organizational and 4T challenges
in the +,,.s.'
"nter the notion of distributed 4T architectures and clientserver computing, as a
tool to unite the "islands of automation" that e0isted within firms as a result of the
proliferation of %&s and the inability to effectively link centralized and decentralized
information resources. This note describes the design and management of distributed
4T architectures re2uired to support the information age organization of the +,,.s. The
information and communication management components are discussed in the first
two sections. The note concludes with a summary of key issues that must be addressed
to ensure effective management of a distributed 4T architecture.
$his note is based on a si%&year research pro'ect entitled (Managing in an Information
Age.)
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