Smaller, Faster and Cheaper

The ENIAC which was the first digital computer and it was huge! It had less power than the original IBM AT 8086 desktop which was 8 MHz with 512k of RAM. I still have one and use it for my world clock, not much use for it after that.

More about the ENIAC:
http://ftp.arl.army.mil/~mike/comphist/96summary/

Computer Historical Photos:
http://ftp.arl.army.mil/ftp/historic-computers/

Another example would be when I worked at a fortune 25 companies our Big Iron IBM mainframe had 40 Meg hard drives that were as big as a full size refrigerator. We had 60 of them and they we water cooled. Years later they were replaced with one unit that was about the size of one full size refrigerator that held 90gig. All of the 40 meg drives where removed. We have so much empty space left in the data center management held a celebration putting tournament in the empty space with 18 putting holes.

Here is funny story on the 40 meg refrigerator hard drives. A third party company was contract to remove and dispose of the hardware. They loaded them onto a Simi, but did not tie them down or lock the wheels on the hard drives. As a result when the truck pulled out of the loading dock as started up the hill all the hard drives shifted to the back of the trailer ripping the doors off, dumping them all on the ground and some roll back down the hill. What a mess that was. We were glad that was not our project.

That was the last time I saw a hard drive with wheels!

Hardware Reviews & Research

Here are a couple of links that I use regularly. They contain the latest information on hardware reviews and pricing. The best way to learn more about hardware and components is to read the review sites and check on the pricing. I used to use Computer Shopper magazine back when it was the size of a telephone book each month. It was a great tool to stay on top of the latest stuff. Now I do everything online at these links and others. Note, I do not always purchase from these sites. I use them to get the latest info and price comparison.

Tom's Hardware
http://www.tomshardware.com/

Price Watch
http://www.pricewatch.com/

Management Implications of Tech Trends

Q: What are the implications for management of each of the following trends:

• Reduction in cost of hardware with time
• Reduction in size of hardware with time
• Increase in power of hardware with time

Implication means consequence. The obvious benefits are better management of information and better productivity. The benefits listed in the text are better quality information, more accurate, helps to provide improved service, increase in productivity (which means doing a lot more in the same amount of available time). Instead of completing 5 things in 8 hours you are completing 30 things in 8 hours. They also provide competitive advantages.

One would think that the trends stated above would have a positive impact on your business. The key word in those items list is time. The only positive benefits that can be reaped is in the future purchases of that better hardware. There is no benefits to a business currents state and does impact a business in negative ways. This is not stated in the text provided.

Taking your current business state with the huge investment in hardware, software, engineering and ongoing support costs, a reduction of cost, size and an increase in power of hardware can affect the business by allowing competitors who are in a position to purchase and deploy the hardware into production immediately.

Most businesses have a fixed budget in which they can afford to purchase, lease and write-off the hardware as a capital expense. If a business is held in financial hostage and can not afford to make the purchase of the faster better hardware, then they are at a disadvantage point against those who can make the purchase.

I see this every day as businesses try to squeeze every last ounce out of their purchases to get a return on their investment, more commonly know as ROI. Microsoft in there marketing packages called this the “Total Cost of Ownership”.

How to know when to upgrade is easy. Is the overall cost of doing business losing money using the existing hardware? If so, can the current company financial state afford to make the purchase relevant to the loss in doing business with the current hardware?

So the overall implications as a result of faster, smaller, cheaper hardware puts companies with current heavy investment at a disadvantage. However as the company is able to afford in the future the newer faster, smaller, cheaper hardware it will greatly benefit the company.

Another key word in the question is “hardware”. Notice that there was no mention of software. Software has its own dynamics.

Cost-Benefit Analysis & Decision Tree

Cost-Benefit Analysis is a tool used to determine what costs are associated with decision making and problem solving. A cost-benefit analysis can be simple basic math or as complex as one presented by Center for Information Technology - National Institutes of Health.

A simple cost-benefit analysis would be how much time would it take to resolve the problem and what is the rate of the person solving the problem.

• If a problem takes 30 minutes to resolve at Technician A’s rate of $150.00 per hour, then the cost to resolve the problem would be $75.00.
  
• If a problem takes 1 hour to resolve at Technician B’s rate of $100.00 per hour, then the cost to resolve the problem would be $100.00.
  
• If a problem takes 4 hours to resolve at Technician C’s rate of $50.00 per hour, then the cost to resolve the problem would be $200.00.

So the rates are relevant to the skills of the tech. In this case cheaper rates don’t mean it is less expensive to solve a problem. This is a simple example of cost-benefit analysis.

A more complex and involved cost-benefit analysis would be like what the Center for Information Technology - National Institutes of Health uses. They implemented in their management guide a section that identifies the cost benefits analysis as a part of a requirement that was previously established in the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 and implemented by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in revisions to OMB A-130.

They define Cost-Benefit Analysis as: Preparing an analysis for IT initiatives to demonstrate how the IT resource will meet ICD mission requirements, support ongoing management oversight processes, maximize return on investment and minimize financial and operational risk;

• In section 5.1 of the NIH IT Management Guide the first step is to define the problem.
  
• In Section 5.5 they use a number of tools and techniques to determine IT performance measures. These tool and techniques are very similar to the one we are studying in this class.
  
• In Section 5.6 Prepare Cost Benefit Analysis they use this tool as their primary justification for the development or major modification of an IT system. So the Cost-Benefit analysis result plays a major role in determining if the project or problem to be solved will be doable. The key to the cost benefit analysis for the NIH IT is to make it commensurate with the size and complexity of the system.
  
• In Section 5.6 they refer to a number of governmental and regulatory documents to help guide them in there cost-benefit analysis. This means that the cost-benefit analysis is not as straight forward as simple math. A regulatory requirement could very easily cause the costs of a solution to sky rocket. This is one example of why many government projects have budget over runs and are a sign that a proper or complete cost benefit analysis was not conducted.

A Decision Tree is typically used with deductive logical thinking. It is used with most all the elements are known and the problem has clearly been identified. It is used to help guide the way through the problem to the end result solution. A Decision Tree where the problem is known, a tree is already pre-rendered and can be easily followed.

A Decision Tree can also be used to help state goals and define specific tasks necessary to reach that goal for a particular project and in planning. In this case no decision tree may exist. Therefore it must be constructed.

A Decision Tree can be constructed by using backward planning to build the task lists and their groupings. Backward planning starts with asking the question: What is the finial task to be completed? What are the supporting tasks for that task? You repeat the process for all supporting tasks and sub tasks. The Decision Tree’s backward planning method provides a road map to follow to the finial task.

There are many software programs that can help in the creation of a Decision Tree. The Decision Tree Example below was created in Microsoft Visio. Microsoft Paint Brush and Microsoft Project are just a few applications to help in creating a decision tree. Simple pencil and paper will work too. In Microsoft Word the Outline feature can be used as a quick way of getting your thoughts down and sub tasks to list them. I prefer that method over the Visio method.

Self Employed Myths

Myth - Work Less:
I work more and the people that are subcontractors work more than we did when we were working for the big companies. I am not a good example, because I love my work therefore it is hard to tell when I am playing and when I am working.

Myth - Paid More for same hours:
Yes you can get paid more (a lot more, about 50% to 75% more). The gotcha is you pay more taxes, more for insurance, all business expenses, and yes the almighty administration monster work. There are a lot of hours working that you do not get paid. That is why you are paid more.

Myth - 6 weeks of Vacation!!!!
Not! Every day that you do not work, you do not get paid. You do not get paid for anytime off period! You must build up your time and build it into your rates and plan well in advance. I have taken less time off since I have been working for myself and spend every spare min improving my work and my business. Harvey McKay said you can be successful working half days! You can work the first 12hrs or the second 12 hrs!

There are many more, but these are a few big one's. For as many Con's as there are Pro's, I enjoy working for myself far better than working for a big company full time. I do business with big companies, but I am not there all the time. I have complete control over my destiny. To hell with titles and career ladder climbing. I am the President, CEO, Director of IT and head bottle washer! I hold a number of prestige titles all of which might buy me a cup of coffee.

The moral of the story, to be self employed you must be self motivated and vigorously seek answers.