Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive Systems Integration (1992) / Chapter Skim
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4 The Next Tier: Building Systems of Systems
4 The Next Tier: Building Systems of Systems
Pages 62-73
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From page 62... ...
Disorientation is almost inevitable when, for example, one tries to determine the roles of communication carriers and service providers, an amalgam of local telephone monopolies and emerging competitors, long-distance carriers, equipment makers, and suppliers of information services that operates in a complex, multijurisdictional regulatory environment. In short, the technological complexity inherent in systems integration is subsumed by other types of complexity that arise as the scope of networking grows from small a single firm—to intermediate a group of firms to largean entire nation and beyond.
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From page 63... ...
These organizations, said Robert Martin, Bellcore vice president for software technology and systems, have managed to create network-based systems and, collectively, they face the formidable task of integrating those systems. In Martin's view, at the peak of the mountain they and others must climb is a "national information networking infrastructure." The challenge for today, Martin, Teflian, and others said, is to build a foundation that supports successively higher levels of integration within and among information systems and, in so doing, increases the accessibility,
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From page 64... ...
The need for specialized applications to solve complex problems and to address unique organizational needs would remain, even with a "highly networked distributed base," Martin said. Simplicity, Transparency, and Functionality "Heterogeneity is going to be the byword of systems integration for the foreseeable future," Alfred Aho said.
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From page 65... ...
Consistent Architecture and Efficient Methods for Distributed Development of Systems The goal of facilitating collaboration among geographically dispersed groups and among people with different skills and expertise is a major impetus for information networking. Not fully appreciated, however, is the high level of collaboration among dispersed parties required to integrate groups of systems and, ultimately, to create a cooperative environment.
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From page 66... ...
Because of stiffening global competition and the resultant shortening of product life cycles, most firms will view their products and services as "perishable goods," he said, and OLTP systems will be critical to seizing marketing opportunities in narrowing time frames. The American Express information network provides an example.
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From page 67... ...
Most were dissatisfied with the pace, with some proffering that the more strategic, government-coordinated efforts under way in Europe and Japan will prove more productive than the piecemeal market-driven efforts undertaken in the United States. Whether the comparatively slow response of the United States to infrastructural issues marks a period of watchful waiting or one of indecision is an important question.
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From page 68... ...
Especially contentious are federal, state, and local rules pertaining to the seven Regional Bell Holding Companies and the some 1,300 smaller companies that provide local exchange service. By virtue of their monopoly in local markets, these telephone companies must obtain the approval of state and local utility commissions to raise rates, and the fees they charge for connecting calls to the long-distance network are set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
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From page 69... ...
Within the current regulatory environment and with the proliferation of alternative communications technology, many companies have found that they can save money by bypassing the local telephone network, and they have built their own links to long-distance haulers. providers have also emerged within local markets.
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From page 70... ...
government and across the states, and so there is a policy. The only question is what that policy should be." THE HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM: A STEP TOWARD AN ADVANCED NATIONWIDE INFORMATION NETWORK Although many colloquium participants suggested that the path of the nation's migration into the information age is still unmarked, virtually all were encouraged by the federal government's newly begun High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC)
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From page 71... ...
Technical issues, the committee pointed out, arise in many areas, including network control, layered architectures, communication protocols, switching, routing, multiplexing, and processor interfaces. In addressing these and other issues, colloquium participants pointed out, the NREN project can clear the technical obstacles that stand in the way of building an advanced information infrastructure for the United States.
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From page 72... ...
While the government is putting in a substantial amount of money, a large part of the burden is shared by industry, which is contributing a phenomenal amount of resources, lines, engineering talent, and research talent. So it is a very interesting vehicle, and it may tell us how we want to do cooperative work in the future in this country." To the extent that the NREN project and the entire HPCC program succeeds in exposing and developing these opportunities, the United States will have a clearer technical route into the information age.
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From page 73... ...
1990. "Information Partnerships Shared Data, Shared Scale," Harvard Business Review, September-October, p.
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