P.P. C To The Customers example essay topic

ANALYSE THE WHOLE I T CONFIGURATION OF A BIG COMPANY 1. Introduction In today's competitive market the firms are bound to reduce their costs and also maximize their profits. The only solution to achieve this objective is the usage of the Computer Systems, which are far more than computational and text processing tools. With their rapid expansion, and certainly via the Networks people can exchange and also sharing a variety of information, regardless of how far they are each other. The introduction of a new technology into a work environment has effectively increased the firm's investment and also its productivity. Computers are not truly capable of intelligence and independent problem solving, but they become, as they are programmable from the human workers.

Nevertheless, the new technology does not necessarily need to replace the workers in a workplace, but to help them to increase their productivity. Despite of these technological advantages, the Information Technology creates a gap between the rich people and poor, as the habitation of a computer system in our days, requires certain skills and money to spent. The company that it was selected for further analysis, as it concerns the current Information Technology configuration, is the P.P. C of Greece. 2.

Description of the current configuration of P.P. C 2.1 The Mainframe In the early 1950's, the mid size and large companies were using the mainframes, which they occupy entire rooms for their existence. They are large and powerful computers and also very expensive. A professional staff is needed for the operation of those systems and also some special environmental conditions must be carefully set, such temperature and humidity in order that such a machine will functioning properly. Since 1990, the P.P. C's Computer Center has one IBM's mainframe R 42-9672, with 512 MB Real Memory and it is consisted of four processors with total speed 72, 8 Mips each.

All these processors are connected, via 20 Esc on technology parallel channels. There are also three large ranges RAMAC -RAID 5, with 152 (DADDY) volumes in total, where each of them has a 1, 89 GB capacity. So the total capacity is 287.28 GB. The current protocol that it is used is the Standard Network Architecture, with local controllers IBM-3174 and its duty is to set up certain rules for formatting and regulating the speed of the data, that they are transmitted via EDP (Electronic Data Processing) and its 170 branches that are exist, all around the Greece.

For backup purposes, the P.P. C uses a Tape Library Data Server, that has 2375 slots and 12 tape drives, with total capacity 800 MB each. The backup procedure is vital for every company and for every individual who utilize the Computers. There are 3000 active terminals and 1000 remote printers, all around Greece, connected to this mainframe, via dedicated lines and modems. The current Operating System for this mainframe is the MVS 5.2. 1, which has been configured from IBM with certain specifications that P.P. C had provided to them. Finally the current database management system is the CA - I DMS, which is a Network Database with 200 GB total capacity, as the P.P. C's customers are approximately 6,700,000.

There are also installed some communication software packages (Condi r, Nd), which they are responsible for the file transfers between the branches and the mainframe. A Front-end processor IBM 3745 also exists, supporting the P.P. C's network. The chart in the following page represents the current configuration of the P.P. C's mainframe. 2.2 The Customer Service Department Every branch is connected with the mainframe (Host) with the support of an IBM 3174 remote controller and a modem.

The main purpose of these departments is to serve the P.P. C's customer requests and also to provide certain information when it is needed. Each of this department is consisted of three to thirty terminals, depending on the number of the customers that they are obliged to serve. The employees of those departments are representing P.P. C, to the customers, so their good operation is crucial for the whole corporation. As it concerns the internal I. T configuration of those departments, it must also be noted that they are all connected with the receipt system and the measuring system, via an IBM 3174 controller. Usually their main accoutrement is consisted of 3270 terminals and OKI 395 printers. There is also a standard software application, that is running and P.P. C called it "ER MHS".

This application is written in Cobol language. Via this application the terminal-users can produce printouts and transfer certain files from mainframe and back. The following chart, presents the current I. T configuration of those branches. 2.2. 1 The Measuring System As we mention above every branch has its own Measuring System department, which is connected with the mainframe (Host) via an IBM 3174 remote controller and a modem. The main purpose of this subsystem is to measure the Kilowatts that every household or firm had burnt during a specific period of time.

So it is obvious that, this subsystem determines the P.P. C revenue. Each of this department is consisted of one Pentium PC, a printer, and a terminal base that is used for the particular hand held terminals. These hand held terminals are pre-installed with a special program, that it is downloaded to them from the PC. They had a lot of capabilities and they are used from many companies, as they are very practical and very easy to use them. Again the number of the hand held terminals depends on the number of the customers that this particular branch is obliged to serve. The operating system of those PC's is the Ms-Windows 3.1 and the active application is an Access database.

Via this application the terminal users can produce useful printouts and transfer certain files to the mainframe and back. The chart in the next page, presents the current I. T configuration of this subsystem. 2.2. 2 The Point of Sales System Likewise every branch has its own Point of Sales subsystem, which main purpose is to serve the P.P. C's customers, in the sense that these are the places where the bills for the electricity are paid. It is also connected with the mainframe (Host) via the P.P. C's network, and its duty is to transfer every single transaction to the (Host) for the every day batch processing.

Thereby the scope of this subsystem is to receive payment from every household or firm, according to their bill. From what it is mentioned above, this subsystem is very vital as it brings straightforward money to P.P.C. Each of those departments are consisted of one Pentium PC, a printer, and the Cash Machines, which they have their own memory and operating system. That's happens because they have to serve a lot of transactions during a day. As it concerns the PC's, their operating system is an IBM OS/2 and the active application is an Oracle database. The number of the cash machines depends on the number of the customers that this particular branch is obliged to serve.

Via this subsystem the employees are obtain useful printouts and this subsystem is tune-up to transfer one file from day to day basis, to the mainframe in order that P.P. C be aware of every transaction. In the next page, there is a chart that presents the I. T configuration of this subsystem. 2.3 The Internally I. T Departments of the P.P. The vast majority of the programmers and users in the Computer Center of P.P. C, have their own PC's with operating system Ms-Windows either 98, 2000 or XP, with 3270 connection. They are running different applications, according to the department that they belong. Each department is usually consisted of eight to ten employees, and they are all connected to each other, via a LAN (Local Area Network), which is the most common configuration in an organization.

LAN's enable organizations to share information, software's and data. There is also a Network Administrator, who is responsible for establishing the network, the implementation, the tuning and also for the security of the network. Specifically, the Star Network topology it is used, where all devices (PC's, printers) have an access to the server, which is a computer with NT-Windows as an operating system. The connection is established with the use of Ethernet protocol, which is commonly used in the Star topologies and the use of UTP cables category 5. The Ethernet adapters are of 10 Mbps. Each department has its own Internet account and Internet provider, as it concerns their access to the Internet.

They are all using modems with 56 Kbps speed connection. The Storage Device is responsible for the backup procedure, which must be done on an every day basis, as it is very vital proceeding. The following chart represents the Star Network topology: CLIENT SERVER - STAR TOPOLOGY 3. Proposals for some I. T improvements 3.1 The Internet connection. P. C must revise the current situation, as far it concerns the type of the modems and their speed. It should replace all the 56 Kbs modems, with new 128 Kbs modems for better performance and faster transition of the data.

Also they must increase the total capacity of the Hard drives, in all the servers and likewise they must increase the current RAM (126 MB) with a bigger one (256 MB). 3.2 The Mainframe configuration Regarding its mainframe, P.P. C should upgrade the current operating system IBM - MVS 5.2. 1, with the IBM - OS 390 (Z series), since web applications have become the hot area for mainframe development and also a great challenge. In this operating system TCP / IP protocol is included, which is a communication package that provides connectivity with Unix servers and it is capable of handling file transfers and web applications in the Internet. Also such a protocol ensures more stability in the network. It is also provides new features, as it concerns the security of the data in the mainframe and also in the Internet.

AlI these changes, requires a big amount of money, but in the long term it is seems that the benefits from such a change, will balance this expenditure for the P.P.C. 3.3 The Development of an Intranet The need of an Internal network is vital in any modern organization, such it reduces the bureaucracy within the various departments and also improves the company's image. The Intranet is usually secure that only members of the organization may access to certain information and services. The main advantage of such a network is that the most vital software applications of the organization are connected and distributed to all the operators, no matter how far they are form each other. So the information can be accessible from everyone, with some priorities of course according to their level in the hierarchy. 3.4 Improvements in the LAN " sIt will be very useful, if they could upgrade the current servers of those departments, which they connected via the LAN with more powerful and faster PC's. Also it will be desideratum the classic Ethernet adapters of 10 Mbps, to be replaced from adapters of 100 Mbps, in order that the users of the PC's would have a faster access to the servers.

Likewise with this change, they could reduce the network traffic. 3.5 Standardization of the P. C'sWith this term, we mean that every user or the employees of the various departments, should make sure that they use the same operation system for their PC's and also they run the same applications (Word, Excel), for compatibility reasons. This will ensure that every text or chart or spreadsheet will be readable from everyone, in the network, when it is need to. 3.6 The Development of an M.I. S System At the top management level, computers assist the executives in the strategic planning. The M.I. S it is an integrated database management system, which can distribute information, via a network and satisfies the needs of the top-level management within a company. The scope of such a system is to deliver to the managers the timely and relevant information, for the needs of the whole organization.

The managers have access to the whole database anytime from their usual PC's and there is also available information, which may be helpful for some important decisions to be taken very fast. The development of this system requires, very good analysis of the specific needs of the company, and also very professed and skilled programmers to develop it. 4. Conclusion By a large it seems that P.P. C is a well organized, as it concerns the Information Technology systems, but there is always some space for changes and ideas. Especially when we have to deal with the modern technologies, where every day something new is happened or new software is developed, or a new hardware is come up in the market.

So, every big firm or organization, just like P.P. C in our case, must always beware of the technological improvements and upgrade the sooner its current Information Technology systems with new ones.