CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Technical Infrastructure

THIS CHAPTER EXAMINES the complex area of the Information Systems/Information Technology (IS/IT) technical infrastructure (planning, implementation, and operational practices). IT architecture/standards over hardware, including mainframe, minicomputers, client-servers, routers, switches, communications, and personal computers (PCs), as well as software, including operating systems, utility software, and database systems, are revealed.

Network components including communications equipment and services rendered to provide networks, network-related hardware, network-related software, and the use of service providers are covered as are security/testing and validation, performance monitoring and evaluation tools, and IT control monitoring and evaluation tools, such as access-control-systems monitoring and intrusion-detection-systems monitoring tools.

In addition, the role of managing information resources and information infrastructure through enterprise management software and the implementation of service-center management and operations standards/guidelines within Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT), IT Infrastructure Library®(ITIL®), and International Standards Organization (ISO) 17799, together with the issues and considerations of service center versus proprietary technical infrastructures, are explored.

Effective and efficient information systems are the cornerstones of most enterprises today. For the ...

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