Information Technology Costs Research Articles

An ontology-based cloud infrastructure service discovery and selection system

In recent years, due to global economic downfall, many of the organisations have resorted to downsizing their Information Technology (IT) expenses by adopting innovative computing models like cloud computing, which allows business houses to reduce their fixed IT costs by promising a greener, scalable, cost-effective alternative to utilise the IT resources. A growing number of pay-per-use cloud services are now available on the web in the form of Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS). With the increase in the number of services, there has also been an increase in demand and adoption of cloud services making cloud service identification and discovery a challenging task. This is due to varied service, descriptions, non-standardised naming conventions, heterogeneity in type and features of cloud services. Thus, selecting an appropriate cloud service according to consumer requirements is a daunting task, especially for applications that use a composition of different cloud services. In this paper, we have designed an ontology-based cloud infrastructure service discovery and selection system that defines functional and non-functional concepts, attributes and relations of infrastructure services. We have shown how the system enables one to discover appropriate services optimally as requested by consumers.

An ontology-based cloud infrastructure service discovery and selection system

In recent years, due to global economic downfall, many of the organisations have resorted to downsizing their Information Technology (IT) expenses by adopting innovative computing models like cloud computing, which allows business houses to reduce their fixed IT costs by promising a greener, scalable, cost-effective alternative to utilise the IT resources. A growing number of pay-per-use cloud services are now available on the web in the form of Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS). With the increase in the number of services, there has also been an increase in demand and adoption of cloud services making cloud service identification and discovery a challenging task. This is due to varied service, descriptions, non-standardised naming conventions, heterogeneity in type and features of cloud services. Thus, selecting an appropriate cloud service according to consumer requirements is a daunting task, especially for applications that use a composition of different cloud services. In this paper, we have designed an ontology-based cloud infrastructure service discovery and selection system that defines functional and non-functional concepts, attributes and relations of infrastructure services. We have shown how the system enables one to discover appropriate services optimally as requested by consumers.

Riding the waves of technology through the decades: The relation between industry-level information technology intensity and the cost of equity capital

This paper examines the effect that information technology (IT) investments have on the industry cost of equity capital. We find that industry IT intensity, defined as the relative amount of IT investment to total fixed asset expenditures, is negatively related to the industry cost of equity capital. These results indicate that industries with higher levels of IT investment have lower cost of equity capital. We also find that the relation between IT intensity and cost of equity capital changes over time. Initially, investors viewed IT investments as risky ventures and demanded higher levels of cost of equity (or higher return on their investment) for those industries investing in IT. However, beginning in the 1980s, as IT became more reliable, more cost effective, and had the ability to transform businesses, investors viewed IT Intensity as a positive business strategy with less associated risks and reduced their required cost of equity capital (or lower return on their investment). Extrapolating from our industry results, IT investments allow firms to potentially raise capital at a lower price so they have more assets to employ, indicating that IT investments can be a key factor for business success.

Strategic IT investment in B2B e-commerce platform on user loyalty: considering variable investment cost

In the competitive market of B2B e-commerce platform, the early entrants have the advantage of switching cost while the late entrants have the advantage of declining information technology (IT) cost. Considering the variable investment cost due to the improvement of platform quality, the paper develops an IT investment model to investigate the best investment strategy for B2B e-commerce platform under the impact of switching cost, declining IT cost, price-sensitive coefficient and quality-sensitive coefficient. Results show that switching cost helps early entrants increase investment in platform quality, assume an aggressive investment strategy. Declining IT cost helps late entrants increase investment in platform quality and assume an aggressive investment strategy only when switching costs are lower. With the increase of price-sensitive coefficient, early entrants and late entrants should both decrease investment in platform quality. With the increase of quality-sensitive coefficient, early entrants and late entrants should both increase investment in platform quality.

TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN TRANSPORT MANUFACTURING FIRMS: EVIDENCE FROM MALAYSIA

This study aims to identify the level of technical efficiency and the determinants of technical inefficiency for transport manufacturing firms in Malaysia for 2010 using cross-sectional data of 130 firms acquired from the Department of Statistics (DOS). Based on the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) approach, the results of the study reveal that the average level of technical efficiency is moderate. The estimated result identifies the important determinants of technical inefficiency which are due to employee wage rates as well as the cost of information and communication technology. The fundamental implications of this study are that transport manufacturing firms need to boost motivation among employees and strengthen the network of the production market via wage increment and communication cost.

Enterprise system case using Microsoft Dynamics GP via DynamicsCloud

Abstract This case increases your understanding of enterprise systems by applying course concepts in an active-learning setting. Specifically, you build on previous course knowledge by using Microsoft Dynamics GP via a cloud provider, DynamicsCloud. Cloud applications allow companies to reduce information technology costs and use one consistent platform across the entire company, whether they have one or many locations across the globe. The case consists of three main parts (i.e., system overview, data collection and storage, and information retrieval) and integrates internal controls and exercises within each part of the case. Upon completion of this case, you will understand the basic functions of an enterprise system. Activities require you to collect and process data in the revenue and purchasing cycles, identify internal controls within the system, and provide useful information for decision making. In addition, you gain hands-on experience using an enterprise system and acquire skills that transfer to other enterprise systems or to upgraded versions of Dynamics GP, which companies can use to support global operations. The case should increase accounting information system knowledge, system navigation skills, and the ability to learn on your own.

CONTEXTO, CONTEÚDO E PROCESSO DA MUDANÇA ESTRATÉGICA EM UMA ENTIDADE DE CLASSE DA INDÚSTRIA BRASILEIRA

O presente artigo tem como objetivo analisar a mudança estratégica realizada por uma federação das indústrias brasileira, utilizando como abordagem teórica as dimensões de contexto, conteúdo e processo, sugeridas por Pettigrew (2013) para o estudo sobre o tema nas organizações. A pesquisa, caracterizada como um estudo de caso qualitativo, utilizou como evidência, entrevistas, documentos e arquivos de uso público, a fim de responder a questão norteadora: como ocorreu a mudança estratégica no Sistema FIEC, no período de 2009 a 2014, em termos de contexto, conteúdo e processo? Como resultado, foi possível identificar um contexto externo marcado por baixos níveis de investimento, inovação e produtividade e um contexto interno pela revisão do planejamento estratégico. Como conteúdo da mudança, projetos de tecnologia da informação, marketing e custos. Quanto ao processo, observou-se que, a partir da avaliação do ambiente pelas lideranças estratégicas, foram desenvolvidos projetos, que, apesar de iniciarem em períodos distintos, faziam parte de uma mesma estratégia que visava à ruptura de uma cultura de passividade, buscando uma inteligência organizacional que passava pela integração da atuação das organizações.

Projecting Critical Care Beyond the ICU: An Analysis of Tele-ICU Support for Rapid Response Teams.

The rapid response team (RRT) concept was developed to improve care for decompensating patients outside of the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. The tele-ICU service (eICU(®)) at Health First Hospitals (Brevard County, FL) has provided tele-critical care support for patients outside the ICU using a mobile platform (the eMobile platform) since 2012. In this study we sought to evaluate the ability of eMobile to support care administered by RRTs. A retrospective review evaluating mobile cart activations for RRT calls was performed. Data on mobile cart deployments were recorded over a 33-month period from January 2012 through September 2014. Five hundred eighty mobile cart activations for critical care support were initiated by RRTs, and 577 were completed (>99%). For recorded gender, 223 patients (47%) were male, and 248 (53%) patients were female. Mean recorded age was 70 ± 16 years (median, 72 years). The most common patient conditions were respiratory distress (n = 190, 33%), altered mental status (n = 137, 24%) and hypotension (n = 59, 10%). The most common interventions were medication orders (n = 231, 40%) and laboratory studies (n = 92, 29%). For 566 eMobile calls with documented dispositions, 189 patients (33%) were managed without ICU upgrade. No adverse patient outcomes were recorded involving eMobile. Compared with the RRT program in 2009, the last year before testing of eMobile began (2010-2011), addition of tele-critical care support for calendar years 2012 and 2013 increased projected cost avoidance from unnecessary ICU transfers by a mean of 66% above the 2009 baseline. For Fiscal Year 2014, a projected cost avoidance analysis for unnecessary ICU transfers including costs of information technology (IT) support demonstrated a return on investment up to $1.66 for every $1 invested in IT support. Mobile critical care coupled with RRT is clinically effective and can generate meaningful cost avoidance.

How to improve the sustainability of digital libraries and information Services?

Arguing that environmental sustainability is a growing concern for digital information systems and services, this article proposes a simple method for estimation of the energy and environmental costs of digital libraries and information services. It is shown that several factors contribute to the overall energy and environmental costs of information and communication technology (ICT) in general and digital information systems and services in particular. It is also shown that end‐user energy costs play a key role in the overall environmental costs of a digital library or information service. It is argued that appropriate user research, transaction log analysis, user modeling, and better design and delivery of services can significantly reduce the user interaction time, and thus the environmental costs, of digital information systems and services, making them more sustainable.

Research Commentary—Information Technology Substitution Revisited

Taking advantage of the opportunities created by the price adjusted performance improvement in information technology (IT) depends in part on the ability of IT capital to substitute for other inputs in production. Studies in the information systems literature and most economics training examining the substitution of IT capital for other inputs use the Allen elasticity of substitution (AES). We present a less-well-known measure for the elasticity of substitution, the Morishima elasticity of substitution (MES). In contrast to the AES, which is misleading when there are three or more inputs—such as non-IT capital, labor, and IT capital—the MES provides a substitution measure where the scale is meaningful, and the measure differs depending on which price is changing. This is particularly important for IT capital, because prices have been declining, and there is evidence that IT capital can substitute for non-IT capital or labor in a qualitatively different way than non-IT capital and labor substitute for each other. Methodologically, we also show the impact of imposing local regularity—for example, monotonicity of output from increases in inputs—which we do through Bayesian methods employed to estimate the underlying functions that are used to calculate various measures of substitution. We demonstrate the importance of the MES as an underrecognized measure of substitution and the impact of imposing local regularity using an economy-wide industry-level data set covering 1998–2009 at the three-digit North American Industry Classification System code level. Our MES results show that reductions in the price of IT capital increase the quantity of IT capital in use, but are unlikely to change the input share of IT capital—the value of IT capital as a proportion of the value of all inputs—in contrast to major studies using the AES. In addition, estimates for both elasticities of substitution are more stable after imposing local regularity. Both of these advances—that is, the MES and imposing local regularity—have the potential to impact future work on IT productivity, IT pricing, IT cost estimation, and any type of analysis that posits the substitution of IT capital for non-IT capital or labor.

Web-Based Tools and Instructional Delivery in Selected Secondary Schools in Owerri Education Zone 1, IMO State

The study was carried out to determine Web-based tools for instructional delivery in selected secondary schools in Owerri education zone 1 of Imo State. Three research questions were posed that guided the study. The study adopted expost facto design. The study comprised of 250 teachers selected from 65 secondary schools in Owerri education zone I, of Imo state. The researchers developed instrument named “Web-Based Tools for Instructional Delivery Questionnaire (WDTIDQ)” to gather information for the study. The result revealed that teacher’s awareness on facebook and e-mail is high; also teacher’s usage of facebook and e-mail in teaching and learning in the selected secondary school is high. Furthermore, there exist challenges to the use of web-based tools for instructional delivery in the selected secondary schools in Owerri educational zone 1 of Imo State, such as, lack of power supply, lack of awareness, lack of basic computing skills on the part of the teachers, lack of Internet connectivity in most of the secondary schools investigated and high cost of information and communication technology (ICT) facilities in these selected schools etc. Following from the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that Web-based tools should be provided for teachers use in teaching and learning process. Also, effective and accessible electricity services should be in place in schools for ICT to thrive. It is believed that if these measures are put in place teaching and learning in the secondary schools will be at a par with the developed countries of the world.

Factors influencing SMEs website continuance intention in Malaysia

The purpose of this study is to find critical determinants of Malaysian Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) intention to continue website as a business innovation. CEO, organizational, technological, and environmental characteristics are considered as cohesive significant predictors. Further, it is aimed to examine the influence of existing level of web adoption as a moderator in small to medium firm website continuance intention. A total number of 108 SMEs participated in this research. The website continuance intention was found to be depended on CEO’s innovativeness, CEO’s IT attitude, relative advantage, and cost in Malaysian SMEs. Surprisingly, CEO IT knowledge, firm’s size, employee IS knowledge, compatibility, security, external pressure and support do not play any role on the continuance of website adoption. In addition, the moderator effect of web adoption level is revealed to have an insignificant role in this study. Understanding the influential factors of websites continuance intention would help the government to devise appropriate policies and support programmes on promoting information technology (IT) acceptance and extension among the SMEs. Likewise website owner or solution provider can gain considerable value from a better insight into key determinants of businesses website retention intention.

Recent advances on knowledge discovery and business intelligence

Information Technology (IT) is advancing rapidly. In the last years, IT costs have reduced while data storage, communication and processing capabilities have increased. In effect, vast datasets are becoming commonplace. All this data hold valuable knowledge such as trends and patterns, which can be used to improve decision making and optimize chances of success. These datasets are often highly complex for a manual analysis due to the volume, variety and velocity properties of data. Following these advances, there has been a growing interest in using IT to provide useful knowledge, extracted from humans or raw data, for decision support. This interest was approached under different perspectives through the last decades [Carbonell et al., 1983, Ein-Dor and Segev, 1993, Turban et al., 2010, Piatetsky-Shapiro, 2011]:

A Vision on the Evolution of Perceptions of Professional Practice

Human factor is the element that produces more deviations in the costs of information technology (IT) projects. Recently, a gap between the competences required from the IT industry and the competences taught in the computer science university degrees has been proposed as a possible explanation to it. This paper further investigates this issue following several steps. First, through a questionnaire administered to different groups of computer science students, it analyses their performance according to a set of professional competences. Then, it addresses the evolution of the students' competences from the beginning of their studies until the end. Finally, it determines the matching of the students' competences with their personal characteristics at the moment they select their major. The results obtained permit recruiting staff to identify competence stereotypes in students and their evolution as well as comparing them with studies of competence requirements included in recent curricular efforts, so that they can act accordingly.

On information and communication technology and production cost in construction industry: evidence from the Netherlands

The interplay between information and communication technology (ICT) and the competitiveness of construction firms is considered. More specifically, the question is whether firms that invest in information and communication technology have a production cost advantage. The economics literature hypothesizes that ICT brings about a production cost advantage, as ICT brings flexibility and improves the planning, organization and control of work. To test this proposition for the construction industry, a production cost function allowing for the inclusion of ICT is formulated. Using statistical nearest-neighbour matching methods it is possible to identify the effect of ICT on production costs thereby controlling for economic moderators. Data from a sample of Dutch construction firms reveal that those firms that installed ICT capital do have a production cost advantage. The results indicate further that firms need a minimum level of ICT capital to fully benefit from its production cost advantage.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND COST OPTIMIZATION

An Approach to Balancing Capital Spending, Operating Efficiency, and Risk Mitigation” Faced with competitive business environment and shrinking budget, in order to cut costs, improve agility firms are viewing IT optimization as high priority initiative. Management is still top priority. However, making meaningful cost reduction without affecting performance is easier said than done. This article discusses a structured and pragmatic approach to zero-basing can help achieve sustainable cost reduction while protecting key activities.” Information technology cost optimization, IT Budget, IT cost accounting, IT cost allocation, IT cost analysis, IT cost benchmarking, IT cost categories, IT cost cutting ,IT cost cutting ideas Though world economies show some signs of emerging from recession, cost management remains top priority and key performance driver for most companies. Many businesses have weathered the downturn by addressing easily accessible cost reduction opportunities. However, making significant and sustainable cost reductions without threatening performance and competitiveness is more difficult because many companies are unable to systematically identify and analyze the full range of activities ----------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------

Thin Client: New Cost Savings?

Information technology (IT) costs can be a major headache for cost managers. To cut costs, companies replaced desktop PCs with what are called thin clients: a software program, actual computer, or other device that relies on another computer to do most of the computing. While the expected cost savings didn't happen in all cases, the thin‐client model still achieved significant cost savings and became a large portion of IT spending. But all this has taken place over the past two decades, so why is there now a new interest now in using thin clients?

Cost Management for IT Activities: A Case Study in the IT Division of a French Bank Using Activity-Based Costing

The costs of information technology (IT) activities have been increasing rapidly these recent years, due to the technological sophistication and more market-oriented strategies that complexify the value chains of the firms. Many of these expenses do not relate to individual products but are associated to customers, market segments and distribution channels. In this context, the companies try to understand the cost of selling their products and services. This is the reason why customer-driven and market-oriented cost management approaches have gained in popularity.In this paper, we review in a first part the strategic cost management stream and the way we can give a customer orientation to cost management processes, based on the Activity-based costing (ABC) method. In a second part we present a case study that takes place in the IT division of a French Bank that has developed an ABC method since several years. We describe how the ABC model has evolved toward a process that enables to compare the performances of different customers. With this case study, we will conclude about the new forms of management controls and controllers that emerge.

Establishing Payment Hubs—Unwind the Spaghetti?

Banks and financial services providers are facing a more and more competitive business within the retail banking as well as corporate market. Increasing productivity and efficiency by decreasing operational costs is very often one milestone on the strategic business roadmap of a bank or financial services providers. The payment area is usually seen as a cost intensive, but necessary part of the business and information technology (IT) landscape. Many banks and financial services providers do still follow a best-of-breed approach within the system payments landscape, which ends up in high operational and maintenance costs as different payment processing platforms are serving different business purposes. The establishment of a single globally centralized payment hub cannot be only the solution for the ending of a heterogeneous payment processing landscape, but also for supporting the strategic management roadmap by decreasing system complexity and increasing the efficiency of the payment platforms and thus decreasing operational and maintenance IT costs. Furthermore it can support banks to establish a far more flexible technological implementation approach for an entire core banking transformation program. This paper is analyzing the challenges and issues banks and financial services providers are facing with the establishment of payment hubs in their enterprise system landscape from a management as well as IT point of view.

Strategic Cost-Cutting in Information Technology: toward a Framework for Enhancing the Business Value of IT

The increasing dependency of many businesses with information technology (IT)and the high percentage of the IT investment in all invested capital in businessenvironment ask for more attention to this important driver of business. Thelimitation of capital budget forces the managers to look for more wise investment inIT. There are many cost-cutting techniques in the literature and each of them has adifferent impact on the organization. This study is one of the first steps in providingmore insight on this issue via proposing a conceptual framework for strategic costcuttingin IT. The literature review revealed that the strategic role of IT inorganizations, IT costs structure, firm’s IT structure, senior management support andorganizational learning are the important factors that affect the cost-cuttingtechnique selection in IT. The proposed framework focuses on the strategic role ofIT in business to suggest which cost-cutting techniques are the best to be applied inan organization in order to save costs while ensuring high-quality service andsupport for business growth and maximizing business value from IT spending.