Scalability: Its Importance When Constructing an IT Infrastructure

Being that Moore’s Law can be applied to technology as an elemental forecaster of technological growth (not merely to estimate the absolute development of transistor quantities on microchips), serves as a supporting theory to the importance of scalability in building an eBusiness IT infrastructure.

With technology development increasing at enormous rates and systems being modified to have a less complex user interfaces, more and more people/consumers will use the internet, computers, or simply technology, to guzzle goods and services; thus creating a demand for eBusinesses to maintain a similar pace. Keeping this in mind, eBusinesses must maintain their IT infrastructures to support or surpass forecasted growth. Why?

Considering that growth, or lack of, can be imminent, it can be managed; managed in such a way that structures can support the current number of users/consumers to an unexpected number of future consumers. The importance of scalability allows for an eBusiness’ IT insfrastructure to cost-effectively grow or be upgraded with, and support, consumer demand trends, without costs to reinvent, purchase, or assemble a new infrastructure to address the tempo of users/consumers. Not only can a complete reorganization of IT technology to support unexpected growth be costly (from purchasing new hardware, software, and most importantly, the training of employees), it can produce negative effects of losing consumers, clients, or the eBusiness itself. Being able to support the number of e-consumers is ideal; placing a limitation on consumer support is murder.

Automate the supply chain

“The classic objective of logistics has always been to provide the right goods in the right quantities in the right place at the right time. Logistics management is an important support activity for both the sales and the purchasing activities in a company” (Schneider, 2004, Purchasing, Logistics, and Support Activity Section).

In traditional and “E” business, Internet-based technologies can link every dynamic of a company’s productivity. From manufacturing and inventory to real-time sales data, the capability of internet communications have allowed retailers to track and warehouse data (e.g. numbers in supply and demand, information on/of inventory, shipping details, etc.) in computers. Large retailers with numerous storefront settings and eBusiness exposure can track and communicate relevant information on items through a series of networks within a network; where server farms providing data through the internet, automate data to enable the capability of receiving and transmitting information to and from local/broad/virtual locations.

Moreover, they can use this information to track consumer behavior relating to a specific item or a genre of items. However, although servers and the internet are the backbone to automating the exchange of communication and supply chain data, other significant technologies and key features are required to make the complete design perform as fashioned. One of the most recognized forms of Auto-Identification technologies of supply chain data reaching the internet is the EPC (Electronic Product Code) found on most items, and the scanners that scan the information to a web-based data storage center. Companies like Sun Microsystems have managed to develop internet-based technologies to automate most companies’ supply chains, providing simple communication between a consumer’s demand and the business’ supply.

Reference:

Schneider, G. (2004). Chapter 5: Business-to-Business Strategies: From Electronic Data Interchange to Electronic Commerce. [Electronic Version].