The Cyber Organization and Development of IT - Essay Example

The Cyber Organization and Development Of IT [Lecturer] The Cyber Organization and Development Of IT Introduction There is certainly no doubt that Information Technology has impacted upon the large majority of the worlds population, with respect to many areas of their lives, ranging from within the very elementary school level to that of the large organizations conducting multibillion dollar transactions on a daily basis. The impact of the development of such Information Technology, inclusive of equipment and peripherals has extended specifically into the office environment fostering the opportunities of decentralisation, away from the traditional "office cubicle" allowing for a number of advantages and benefits to be realized accordingly. This does not however imply the so-called cyber infrastructure is the utopia of office environments, albeit on a virtual basis, there are a number of factors that also contribute to the threats towards this modern type of infrastructure, as well as a number of factors that may well culminate within the "failures in the cyber infrastructure" (Goetz & Shenoi p. 351 2008). With this in mind these factors and situations must be analysed to measure the efficacy of either of the scenarios, and weigh up which is indeed arguably the most feasible. Virtual Organisations Defined Although a definition is provided within the question and title of this paper, a more comprehensive definition is made available from DeSanctis & Monge (1999) in "Virtual Organization [n]: a collection of geographically distributed, functionally and/or culturally diverse entities that are linked by electronic forms of communication and rely on lateral, dynamic relationships for coordination." This definition incorporates the aforementioned definition, however provides a little more insight in terms of factors that need to be taken into account, with specific reference to the organization. Five main elements exist within this definition, which may be analysed within the greater context of the cyber infrastructure. These elements are: Geographically Distributed; Functionally Diverse; Culturally Diverse; Linked by Electronic Forms of Communication; and Relationship reliant, laterally and dynamic. Starting with these five elements, the geographically distributed factor certainly pertains to the traditional corporation as well as the virtual organization, specifically with reference to organizations that operate on a global basis, or even those with regional representation. However specifically to the virtual organization, the possibility and "variety" of such distribution is far more diverse than being limited to a specific office area or building, as compared to that of the traditional organization, within specific geographic locations, such as that of a head office and satellite branches. Within the case of the virtual organization, the employee or representative person can literally be located anywhere, provided of course that the technological infrastructure is sufficient enough to enable the individual or entity concerned to be able to communicate with others within the virtual organization, and within the function of their daily tasks and requirements for the organization concerned. The mention of the technological infrastructure touches upon the fourth element, which was defined as "linked by electronic forms of communication", which implies that sufficient and capable technology is employed in maintaining the lines and means of communication between the diversely distributed stakeholders, who make up the workforce of the organization in question. This technological infrastructure does not however come about without the active involvement of a dedicated workforce that is required to implement and more importantly manage the ongoing operation thereof. Therefore an implication thereof would be the actual staffing of a qualified technical staff compliment responsible for the management of such technology. In analysing the definition further, the issues of functionally and culturally diverse provide that the workforce will occupy and conduct a variety of functions within the organization, as well as the cultural aspect of diversity coming about by virtue of the geographical distribution of the workforce. Hence the functional aspect is specific to the roles and duties of the individual staff members, and may refer to roles such as logistical, sales, administrative and so forth; whilst the cultural aspect bears reference to the geographical region from which the individual may hail from. The culture within which that individual or group of individuals may have a direct bearing upon the management of such individuals, as identified by authors and academics, such as Hofstede amongst others. Goetz & Shenoi (2008) that specific concentration upon such technology, and more specifically that of the remote employee or personnel, leads to a lack of focus upon the actual organizational and cultural issues of the company in question (p. 92.) Therefore the cultural aspects may well suffer under the technological advancements contained within the cyber infrastructure of a company. The lateral and dynamic reliance upon relationships is the final element of the above mentioned definition and applies to the relationship amongst both the staff members within the organization, both on a professional level within the ambit of daily work tasks and functions as well as the relationships required by virtue of the dependence upon technology to accomplish their tasks, of which is specific between employees and the infrastructural staff. Considering the impact of such cyber infrastructure, one may well assume that these aspects, as described above may well have a significant effect upon the management decisions and controls of a company electing to pursue such an infrastructure, and although there may be apparent benefits contained within this pursuit, a number of considerations need to be taken into account, that may directly affect the establishment of such and infrastructure. Goetz & Shenoi provide the analysis of how the threats and disruptions within the physical environment can spill over into the cyber infrastructure, and can lead to the demise or failure of such infrastructure. Hence the last element of the above definition is further extended into the relationship between the physical infrastructure and that of the cyber infrastructure. In addition to this Dutton (2005) provides the key questions that must be addressed when considering how management must control and monitor the transformation process that comes about through the influence and impact of technology, as in the case of the infrastructure and related technologies and processes, that directly affect the modern day organization. One may surmise that such transformation does indeed take place, considering the definition and purpose of this analysis. The impacts of such transformation, as well as the very process itself should be closely monitored and managed to ensure that the any changes as well as the resultant effects are managed in an optimal and efficient manner. Of specific interest and relevance within the definition and analysis of the cyber infrastructure is addressed by Goetz & Shenoi, in their presentation of Kopylec, DAmico & Goodalls paper on "Visualizing Cascading Failures in Critical Cyber Infrastructures". Within this study specific relationship issues are identified between the physical infrastructure as well as that of the cyber infrastructure, and how any problems, failures or issues within the former entity can negatively impact upon, and even result in the demise of the cyber infrastructure. Threats that exist and present challenges to the physical infrastructure, such as "power, transportation and communications" which result in significant impacts and possible failure of the cyber infrastructure. In addition to this the cyber threats that already exist may present additional challenges and problems too, these would include the likes of "software based attacks, viruses, worms and denial-of-service attacks" (Goetz & Shenoi p.351-352). This highlights the importance of specific planning that is required, as well as the management and planning with reference to the so called "cyber assets". These assets may well be affected by additional geographical implications, such as power disruptions as well as geological phenomena too, such as that of earthquakes, weather phenomena and so forth. Any physical world disruptions or failures may well be adequately managed with sufficient crisis planning and crisis management upon the need arising. Focusing upon the more positive aspects that a cyber infrastructure has to offer has been clearly evidenced within the scientific sector, within which issues such as collaboration and information sharing has subsequently add great value to research projects in a variety of contexts. Such information sharing at any given time has realized significant time savings, and ultimately cost savings too, by the very virtue of this collaboration and the efforts of all involved within the researching process and resultant knowledge and information sharing. Issues that have been of specific reference include items that occur on a global basis and literally too big for any one single location to achieve major breakthroughs, and the collaborative workings have enabled such breakthroughs to reduce both working and studying time within the research and problem solving phases. One may wonder whether this aspect is in fact beneficial to the global business, within the private sector, as in all likelihood many organizations will retain such knowledge for their own profit generation possibilities and opportunities. However, in the event of a multinational enterprise, research between two different sectors can aid the development of the product and service offering of the organization, with specific elements that can be taken on a cross cultural basis, as well as a geographically diverse platform. Therefore the business and organization may well benefit both on the research (or academic) front as well as within the private sector, however these developments and the use of the underlying technology required to build the infrastructure itself does not occur in isolation of physical elements or impacts. And this too needs the physical world input, man power and related logistical items in order for the cyber infrastructure to be effectively built, and managed on a sustainable basis to ensure the resultant outcomes of the project as a whole. Therefore in order to achieve the optimal functionality of the cyber infrastructure, the physical infrastructure will have to be put into place prior to undertaking the initiation of the cyber infrastructure, as well as ongoing management, which includes possible crisis management in the event of any possible disruptions or failures within the physical environment or infrastructure. Existing cyber infrastructures and virtual organizations provide a valuable role for the business and communities that wish to consider implementation thereof, and these existing infrastructures should be analysed in the aim of establishing more functional and arguably lesser dependent infrastructures, than is the current practice. The desired results of the cyber infrastructure may be determined from what the organization may require, and in order to accomplish exactly what the objective is will require specific planning, in terms of both the cyber and physical perspectives to ensure that these objectives are not only obtainable but achievable too, without the wastage of computing resources or the underlying support staff. This can be accomplished via published checklists, as is provided by Hollan & Stornetta (1992) which can be used in the analysis of crucial issues surrounding the cyber infrastructure. Although these may well be targeted at or emananting from the scientific community and collaborations, the basic underlying "message" of such checklists and processes can be adopted to any organization and should finetuned according to the desired objectives of the company in question. An example provided by the aforementioned authors, the checklist may take the form of the same as that obtained from the "theory of remote scientific collaboration (TORSC)" which contains five elements for consideration within the development and administration of the cyber infrastructure. These five elements are described as : Nature of work; Common ground; Collaboration readiness; Management, Planning and decision making; and Technological readiness. As can be seen from these elements, these may be applied to any business within any sector; provided such cyber based infrastructure is being planned by the organization in question. The above mentioned elements are echoed by Dutton (2005) in the "design principles, system architecture, and analysis of impact of such IT-based environments must therefore include a merged technical and social/cultural/behavioral perspective" (p.161.); thereby reiterating the implications for the organization. The latter component of the "social/cultural/behavioral perspective" raises specific points of interest with regards to the implementation of any cyber infrastructure, when viewed within the definition of the cyber setup. This may be primarily due to the fact that such an infrastructure will for all intensive purpose transgress the boundaries of geographic relevance, which in turn crosses the cultural boundaries, of which will necessitates the need for sound cross cultural management and expertise. This therefore extends beyond the day to day and business related management of the organization, into that of the development of a sound human resource management team. The issue of cyber threats, previously discussed is referenced by OHanlan (2001), with reference to how such threats can affect the various government agencies as well as business, however the relevancy here is the mention made of the costs involved in countering these threats, which may well appear to be a significant downside of establishing and maintaining the cyber infrastructure within an organization. In addition to this the author provides that the government actually only comprises of 5% of computer networks and related cyber type infrastructure. This therefore translates to 95% of these networks being run by or privately held. To compound the issue, OHalen provides that the true cost thereof is not necessarily set or even known, and "that not all costs and needed efforts have a clear price tag" (p. 137), which could possibly pose a problem in terms of budgetary allocation for protection of any organizations vital information, whether it be governmental or privately held companies. The security concerns of such cyber threats is further expressed in terms of the number of utilities companies, providing essential services such as power, water and so forth, and how these companies may be open to any threats within the cyber threat analysis. Although this is extremely relevant to the implications of the cyber infrastructure, it is beyond the scope of this discussion. Conclusion There are a vast number of issues that need to be considered, managed, developed and taken into account when considering the implementation of a cyber infrastructure for any organization, regardless of function or ownership. These aspects extend into a variety of disciplines within the organization, from both the physical staffing to that of possible cross cultural management where applicable. One should not underestimate the need and importance of the physical infrastructure of the organization, as well as the infrastructure of the various localized individuals or representatives that will be partaking or be a part of the infrastructure. These aspects will directly affect the setting up of and maintenance of the cyber based infrastructure. The geographic composition of any locale if of specific importance and natural elements or even disasters can negatively impact upon the effective and sustainable management of such technologies. The physical infrastructure is basically the support and foundation of the cyber infrastructure and one would expect that the latter cannot and would not be able to exist without the former, these factors such as the staffing, and architecture of the systems of the cyber infrastructure not only give "life" to the cyber infrastructure but rather also ensure the daily functioning and efficacy thereof. Sound decision making and staff appointments are of crucial importance when establishing the technologies, so that the undertaking is successful and offers the advantages and benefits that are thereto associated. The aspect of security and the mentioned threats to such networks and infrastructure furthermore bears very serious consideration, which in turn is also expressed as a potentially massive monetary or budgetary commitment, which may even be on an open ended basis, in terms of actual costs. This within the private sector is certainly not feasible and specific budget amounts need to be allocated, together with specific protection mechanisms in order to protect the companys trade secrets, records and so forth. Although the possibilities and positive benefits or advantages of the cyber infrastructure are arguably limitless and can add value in a variety of areas of both research, development and business in general, if the basic physical foundation is not correctly setup and managed there will be absolutely no cyber possibility, or inadequate planning or management may even lead to the complete failure of such an initiative. Hence starting from the ground up the basics must be allocated and managed correctly, as well as the resultant security aspects that come into play once established, in order to ensure that the initiative provides the return on investment and adds value to the organization in question. References Browaeys, M.-J., & Price, R. (2008). Understanding cross-cultural management. Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. DeSanctis, G. & Monge, P. (1999). Communication Processes for Virtual Organizations. Organization Science, 10 (6). 693-703. Dutton, W. H. (2005). Transforming enterprise The economic and social implications of information technology. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. http://www.lib.sfu.ca/cgi-bin/validate/books24x7.cgi?bookid=10753. Goetz, E., & Shenoi, S. (2008). Critical infrastructure protection. New York, NY: Springer. Hollan, J., & Stornetta, S. (1992). Beyond Being There. CHI -CONFERENCE-. 119. OHanlon, M. E. (2001). Defense policy choices for the Bush administration, 2001 - 05. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Read More