Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
at the zip code level are published, then each store can figure out the
sales of the other by subtracting their own sales from the totals.
Production Environments Can Create Problems
On the implementation side, the application developer may have little
control over the production environments in which the application will
run. Making assumptions about the environment, and the level of security
it could provide, is rather risky. As environments change, the parties
(organization IT, software and hardware vendors) involved in putting the
change in the production environment may not understand its impact on
these applications. If they do not communicate the changes properly or
in time, either security holes are created or the application misbehaves
due to tightened security.
Patch and Upgrade Management Are Critical
Getting the latest patches to the OS (operating system) and databases is
critical. There is more automation on this front in PC-based systems, where
every user has encountered notices for automatic updates for their desktop
applications, than there is in larger IT based enterprise systems. Patch and
upgrade management is a serious and time-consuming task.
The installation of a patch is a change. Changes can introduce prob-
lems. It is not safe to assume that every patch or upgrade has improved
or maintained security. Adequate testing on both the functionality and
security fronts is required — otherwise, a confirmation from the vendor
on similar lines.
Information systems can be viewed as simulators. We
are familiar with spreadsheets, business applications
and computer games though we may not view them as
simulators. If we do, though, many behavioral or lifecy-
cle aspects of such systems become understandable,
especially the issue of why updates and revisions are
required and, in some sense, unavoidable. John D. Bar-
row in his recent topic on infinities “The Infinite Book”
touches on the subject of simulators:
Suppose the simulators or at least the first generations
of them while having very advanced knowledge of the
laws of nature, still have incomplete knowledge of
