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196 Part Two Information Technology Infrastructure

FIGURE 5.1 CONNECTION BETWEEN THE FIRM, IT INFRASTRUCTURE, AND
BUSINESS CAPABILITIES

The services a firm is capable of providing to its customers, suppliers, and employees are a direct
function of its IT infrastructure. Ideally, this infrastructure should support the firm’s business and
information systems strategy. New information technologies have a powerful impact on business and
IT strategies, as well as the services that can be provided to customers.

• Data management services that store and manage corporate data and provide
capabilities for analyzing the data
• Application software services, including online software services, that
provide enterprise-wide capabilities such as enterprise resource planning,
customer relationship management, supply chain management, and
knowledge management systems that are shared by all business units
• Physical facilities management services that develop and manage the
physical installations required for computing, telecommunications, and data
management services
• IT management services that plan and develop the infrastructure, coordi-
nate with the business units for IT services, manage accounting for the IT
expenditure, and provide project management services
• IT standards services that provide the firm and its business units with
policies that determine which information technology will be used, when,
and how
• IT education services that provide training in system use to employees and
offer managers training in how to plan for and manage IT investments
• IT research and development services that provide the firm with research
on potential future IT projects and investments that could help the firm
differentiate itself in the marketplace
This “service platform” perspective makes it easier to understand the
business value provided by infrastructure investments. For instance, the
real business value of a fully loaded personal computer operating at 3 giga-
hertz that costs about $1,000 and a high-speed Internet connection is hard to
understand without knowing who will use it and how it will be used. When
we look at the services provided by these tools, however, their value becomes

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