Virtual Private Network (VPN) create secure connections, called tunnels, through public shared communication infrastructures such as the Internet. These tunnels are not physical entities, but logical constructs, created using encryption, security standards, and protocols. The VPN tunneling protocols are set of standardized rules and policy that are employed on the transmitted data. There are various standard of protocol technologies used to create a VPN tunnel and each of these protocols is specially built with some unique security features. The most widely used Virtual Private Network (VPN) Tunneling Protocols are discussed below. Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) The Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) has proposed in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comment (RFC) database in RFC (2401), provides data packet integrity, confidentiality and authentication over IP networks. The IPSec policy consists of sets of rules that designate the traffic to be protected, the type of protection, such as authentication or confidentiality, Continue reading
Information Technology
Enterprise-Wide Computing – Meaning, Importance and Issues
Current breakthroughs in information technology have enabled the worldwide usage of distributed computing systems, leading to decentralize management of information. This has been supported by and has become inflamed great competition in business through faster and more precise data storage and retrieval and information processing. A number of organizations have accomplished high efficiency, comprising ease of use and lesser costs in operations by adopting a client/server computing structure. Furthermore, system integration and interoperability issues are being intensified as institutions and organizations are moving from mainframe based processes towards an open, distributed computing environment, and this situation is pressing corporations into an accelerated construction of extensive distributed systems for operational use. Technological transformations are at this point is happening and accelerating very fast that it may increase the computational power just same as the creation of desktop and personal computers did. Soon a lot of demanding computer applications will no longer Continue reading
Case Study on Information Systems: Integrated Customer Ordering Service at Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer is one of the leading retail organizations in UK which sell stylish, quality and great value clothing and home products , also quality food. They are one of the most popular brand among people not only in UK but globally. They have more than 600 stores in UK and constantly increasing many more around the world. It was founded when in 1884, Michael Marks opened a stall at Leeds Kirkgate Market. In 1901, its first registered store was located at Derby street, Manchester. By 1924 they started expanding and the head office moved from Manchester to London. Implementation of new policies and maintenance of services and value kept on adding to the success of Marks and Spencer. In 1998, it became the first retailer to earn a profit of £1 billion. The organisation commonly called as M&S has always followed the principles of Quality, Value, Service, Innovation Continue reading
Data Warehouse Architecture – Concept and Models
According to William Inmon, data warehouse is a subject-oriented, integrated, time-variant, and non-volatile collection of data in support of the management’s decision-making process. Data warehouse is a database containing data that usually represents the business history of an organization. This historical data is used for analysis that supports business decisions at many levels, from strategic planning to performance evaluation of a discrete organizational unit. It provides an effective integration of operational databases into an environment that enables strategic use of data. These technologies include relational and MDDB management systems, client/server architecture, meta-data modelling and repositories, graphical user interface and much more. The emergence of cross discipline domain such as knowledge management in finance, health and e-commerce have proved that vast amount of data need to be analyzed. The evolution of data in data warehouse can provide multiple dataset dimensions to solve various problems. Thus, critical decision making process of this dataset Continue reading
What is Enterprise Architecture (EA)?
The Evolution of Enterprise Architecture (EA) Enterprise Architecture evolution began as an idea in 1980 and was embodied in John Zachman’s early EA framework. Thus, informing the reference to John Zachman, as the father of EA. The evolution of Enterprise architecture was to address the increasing complexity of IT systems and difficulty of delivering business value using those systems. Enterprise architecture is characterized by a framework that supports the alignment of business and IT strategy. It was first defined in 1992 by Zachman and Sowa, resulting in its reference as the Zachman framework. It was then referred to as Information System Architecture but later changed in reference, to enterprise architecture in 1996 when Clinger-Cohen Act of the U.S. government directed all federal agencies to implement a holistic approach to incorporate IT to their business goals. Interest in adopting Enterprise architecture has increased as a result, as both government and private Continue reading
Case Study of Zara : Application of Business Intelligence in Retail Industry
ZARA is a Spanish clothing and accessories retailer based in Arteixo, Galicia. Founded in 24 May ,1975 by Amancio Ortega and RosalÃa Mera, the brand is renowned for it’s ability to deliver new clothes to stores quickly and in small batches. Zara needs just two weeks to develop a new product and get it to stores, compared to the six-month industry average, and launches around 10,000 new designs each year. Zara was described by Louis Vuitton Fashion Director Daniel Piette as “possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world. The company produces about 450 million items a year for its 1,770 stores in 86 countries. The Zara has made of use of Information Systems (IS) and to advance in many areas. This has resulted in huge success for the company. This included application of Business intelligence (BI) involves technologies, practices for collection, integration and applications to analyze and Continue reading