Page 644 - Introduction to Business

618 PART 6 Managing Business Operations, Management Information Systems, and the Digital Enterprise

containing the search terms or key words. Popular search engines are Yahoo!,
Google, and AltaVista.
Telecommunications networks can be classified as intranets and extranets. An
intranet An internal network in a intranet is an internal network in a business organization that is used by employ-
business organization that is used by ees to collaborate, share information, and access internal websites. An extranet is
employees to collaborate, share a network that links the intranet resources of a company with other organizations
information, and access internal
websites outside the company. For example, extranets allow customers and suppliers of a
extranet A network that links the firm to access the firm’s selected intranet websites. Organizations can establish pri-
intranet resources of a company with vate extranets among themselves or use the Internet as the connecting medium. In
other organizations
the latter case, security can be achieved by a virtual private network. A virtual
virtual private network (VPN) A secure private network (VPN) is a secure network that uses the Internet as its main
network that uses the Internet as its
main backbone network, but relies on a backbone network, but relies on a network firewall. A network firewall, or simply a
network firewall for security firewall, is a computer that uses security software to screen all network traffic for
network firewall A computer that uses passwords and other security codes and permits only authorized transmissions in
security software to screen all network and out of the network. A firewall is a gatekeeper computer system that protects a
traffic for passwords and other security
codes and permits only authorized company’s intranets from unauthorized users. For example, a virtual private net-
transmission in and out of the network work enables DaimlerChrysler to use the Internet to build secure intranets among
its manufacturing plants and corporate offices and to maintain secure extranets
with its suppliers and customers.
Telecommunications networks can also be classified as client/server networks,
client/server network A on the basis of the role that each computer plays in the network. A client/server
telecommunications network where network is a telecommunications network where some computers are “clients” and
some computers are “clients” and some some computers are “servers.” The clients are personal computers or workstations
computers are “servers”
that provide user interfaces and perform some processing on an application. The
clients Personal computers or
workstations in a client/server network servers are midrange or mainframe computers that perform most of the processing
that provide user interfaces and on an application, all computations, and database management. The most com-
perform some processing on an mon client/server network is known as a three-tier network. In a three-tier
application
client/server network, the user interface resides on personal computers or work-
servers Midrange or mainframe
computers in a client/server network stations, the system and application software reside on midrange computers, and
that perform most processing on an the database resides on mainframe computers. Client/server networks have
application, all computations, and become the predominant information architecture for the digital enterprise.
database management
three-tier client/server network A reality
client/server network where the user CH ECK Can you think of the information technology infrastructure behind
interface resides on personal Amazon.com?
computers or workstations, the system
and application software reside on
midrange computers, and the database
resides on mainframe computers

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3
Define enterprise resource planning.
Many modern businesses are organized by functional area: accounting, finance,
marketing, operations, and human resources, among others. While this form of
organization has reduced the complexity in business management, it has also
information fragmentation The situation naturally induced the problem of information fragmentation. Information
in a business organization where the fragmentation refers to the situation where the information of a business organi-
information does not reside in a single
repository, but instead is spread across zation does not reside in a single repository, but instead is spread across functional
functional areas, business units, areas, business units, regions, factories, and offices. The problem of information
regions, factories, and offices fragmentation is exacerbated by information systems that typically do not “talk” to
each other, and consequently, lead to decisions that have to be made using

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