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210 Part Two Information Technology Infrastructure

5.3 CONTEMPORARY HARDWARE PLATFORM TRENDS

The exploding power of computer hardware and networking technology has
dramatically changed how businesses organize their computing power, putting
more of this power on networks and mobile handheld devices. We look at eight
hardware trends: the mobile digital platform, consumerization of IT, grid com-
puting, virtualization, cloud computing, green computing, high-performance/
power-saving processors, and autonomic computing.

THE MOBILE DIGITAL PLATFORM

Chapter 1 pointed out that new mobile digital computing platforms have
emerged as alternatives to PCs and larger computers. Smartphones such as the
iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry smartphones have taken on many functions
of PCs, including transmission of data, surfing the Web, transmitting e-mail
and instant messages, displaying digital content, and exchanging data with
internal corporate systems. The new mobile platform also includes small,
lightweight netbooks optimized for wireless communication and Internet
access, tablet computers such as the iPad, and digital e-book readers such as
Amazon’s Kindle with Web access capabilities.
Smartphones and tablet computers are becoming an important means
of accessing the Internet. These devices are increasingly used for business
computing as well as for consumer applications. For example, senior execu-
tives at General Motors are using smartphone applications that drill down
into vehicle sales information, financial performance, manufacturing metrics,
and project management status.

CONSUMERIZATION OF IT AND BYOD

The popularity, ease of use, and rich array of useful applications for
smartphones and tablet computers have created a groundswell of interest in
allowing employees to use their personal mobile devices in the workplace,
a phenomenon popularly called “bring your own device” (BYOD). BYOD is one
aspect of the consumerization of IT, in which new information technology
that first emerges in the consumer market spreads into business organizations.
Consumerization of IT includes not only mobile personal devices but also
business uses of software services such as Google and Yahoo search, Gmail,
Google Apps, Dropbox (see Chapter 2), and even Facebook and Twitter that
originated in the consumer marketplace as well.
Consumerization of IT is forcing businesses, especially large enterprises, to
rethink the way they obtain and manage information technology equipment
and services. Historically, at least in large firms, the central IT department
was responsible for selecting and managing the information technology and
applications used by the firm and its employees. It furnished employees with
desktops or laptops that were able to access corporate systems securely. The
IT department maintained control over the firm’s hardware and software to
ensure that the business was being protected and that information systems
served the purposes of the firm and its management. Today, employees and
business departments are playing a much larger role in technology selection,
in many cases demanding that employees be able to use their own personal
computers, smartphones, and tablets to access the corporate network. It is
more difficult for the firm to manage and control these consumer technologies,

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