Innovation in Information Technology Infrastructure
Can innovation in information technology infrastructure be used as business strategy by telecommunication industry to gain competitive advantage? A case study of Alcatel Lucent, KSA
Abstract
My assignment "Can innovation in information technology infrastructure be used as business strategy by telecommunication industry to gain competitive advantage" the discussion is about how innovation really makes a big change in any country where IT infrastructure does not exist as it should be. Modern Saudi Arabian society, one of the world's most conservative societies, is represented by a marked contrast with the largely isolated and undeveloped nation scarcely 50 years ago
My focus is on a French and American based company (Alcatel Lucent) in 2006 they officially merged before both of these companies were separate. Both companies actually work as a bock bone for IT infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, as there was no concept of IT (Information Technology) two decade before because of cultural and ethical values of Saudi Arabia. Lucent technologies are the first who installed digital telephone lines in the kingdom. Similar projects have followed, resulting in a four million line expansion of the fixed system. Similarly Alcatel followed and installed a large number of ASAM 7300 Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) technology which works on ATM network through out the kingdom make a remarkable change as broadband and high speed internet available almost every part of the kingdom.
Introduction
The scale of corporate IT infrastructure has increased dramatically over the past decade and a half. At many companies, it has moved from basements with a few dozen servers to sophisticated data centers with thousands or tens of thousands of them. Networked storage hardly existed in the early '90s but today consumes tens of millions of dollars in large IT organizations.
There are good reasons for this expansion. Infrastructure runs the applications that process transactions, handles the customer data that yield market insights, and supports the analytical tools that help executives and managers make and communicate the decisions shaping complex organizations. In fact, infrastructure has made possible much of the corporate growth and rising productivity of recent years.
Information technology (IT) undergoes a development inside every organization, from a means to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization to a means to influence the strategic position of the company, when applied more intensively. The way in which management controls IT has changed simultaneously
What can the strategic contribution of IT comprise?
A good strategy focuses less and less on the product or the service itself and more and more on the rendering of services, reputation and so forth. This is especially applicable to products which have become a "commodity"; they are produced by many suppliers and their quality is usually high enough. This is why strategies in the same branch differ to a high degree. For example, a great difference arises when the bottom of the market is the focus; for example, East European cars such as Skoda and Lada, or, on the other hand, the top of the market, for example, the German top cars, Mercedes and BMW. Quality control, tailor made products and product innovation are applied in a very different way. This leads to very different information needs and to a unique use of IT within the same car branch. Quality control, tailor made products and innovation are of vital importance, for example, to Mercedes. The use of IT should strongly support these business processes in particular, and constantly offer the management of this car manufacturer the appropriate steering information.
Business strategy
The business strategy should offer sufficient clues in order to work on the strategic use of IT in a concrete way. Existing strategic plans are often too vague and subject to multiple interpretations. This section explains which abstract and particularly concrete parts the business strategy should consist of, and how a company can move from abstract ideas to concrete clues.
Business vision
What is a business vision?
A business vision is a management vision of the way in which the organization should function in order to survive and in order to be competitive in the years to come. Some even go as far as saying: "An organization without a business vision is a control instrument".
IT infrastructure
The IT infrastructure is described as the setting up and management of the whole hardware, software and data communication supply, in such a way that the business architecture and IT architecture can be implemented successfully. This means that in the realization of the IT infrastructure, in addition to management consultants, information experts must also be involved
In this phase, dependent on the completion of the IT architecture, a further technical elaboration is made of the infrastructure, on the basis of the business strategy and the business architecture. This elaboration is expressed in brands and types of hardware and support software, IT service, specific (new) technological products and telecommunication supplies. At the end of this phase, choices have been made for all the necessary components for the development and functioning of the applications.
Telecommunication in Saudi Arabia, KSA
Modern Saudi Arabian society, one of the world's most conservative societies, is represented by a marked contrast with the largely isolated and undeveloped nation scarcely 50 years ago. The last three decades have brought far reaching changes in the educational and employment opportunities. With the huge expansion in public network and wireless access, government policy is changing to allow the development of new technologies while maintaining the same security and control of media use that is mandated in Saudi culture. Saudi Arabia has been linked to the Internet for several years, but public access was not widely available until January 1999.
The importance of Internet's commercial potential is very well understood by almost everyone in Saudi Arabia, resulting in many Internet related projects from back bone design to electronic commerce. The project has evolved to balance these considerations
Saudi Arabia's telecommunication and information technology sector is one of the largest and fastest growing in Middle East. A Major investment has been made in developing a modern telecommunication and IT infrastructure capable of supporting e commerce and the demands of a growing information conscious society.
Global focused
The rapid growth of communications network and news media is creating a worldwide culture and a global village; and the dramatic decline in real cost of information processing, communication and transportation is globalizing nationals markets and expanding the resource availability globally. As advances in information processing capabilities allow market makers to instant absorb and process large volumes of information from any place around the world, many organizations are "going Global" transforming business from domestic, or highly fragmented multinational organizations to single unified global entity.
Timeless and location less
The traditional limitations of time and space are disappearing as a result of dramatic advances in information and communication technologies. The new generations of enterprise networks deliver anytime anywhere connectivity, access and control for the integrated voice, video and data infrastructure. The internet revolution has promoted the new era of virtual organization and virtual integration through the use of information technology and fully developed network services.
Information can no longer be easily controlled and manipulated, nor can ideas be suppressed and societies kept closed. It is now possible to access endless amount of information any time from any where in the world. In many ways internet is pushing corporations out of their traditional boundaries moving towards borderless market environments and virtual integration.
Decentralized and disinter mediated
With the internet, anyone can now be a distributor of information and knowledge. Not only new operating environments have been distributed to often remote locations where local "domain" expertise has started to form, but the networking infrastructures of network hubs, bridges and routers has also been highly dispersed, as well. New channels are changing markets access and branding, causing the disintermediation of traditional distribution channels. By working directly with customers, companies are able to avoid the usual distributors, thus forming closer relationships with the end users, improving service and reducing costs.
E service oriented
Emerging information technologies have played a significant role in reducing many traditional barriers to interaction and exchange. High speed multimedia communication, for instance help reduced the barriers caused by distances and time differences, and it allows for quick, seamless cross border data and information exchange.
Sustainable competitive advantage from information technology
The strategic benefit of IT in supporting business functions is often seen as the basis for competitive advantage that is sustainable. Information technology and systems are often cited as having strategic competitive advantage; the strategic benefit of deploying information technology to support business function is often seen as a competitive advantage that is sustainable.
Alcatel Lucent, KSA
Saudi Arabia began updating its telephone lines from analog to state of the art digital lines in the mid 1990. Lucent technologies, under the US$4 billion TEP 6 project, installed digital telephone lines in the kingdom. Similar projects have followed, resulting in a four million line expansion of the fixed system. In 2002 STC Saudi Telecom give a project to different companies to expand and implement new standards that are an evolution of Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) technology. Each standard introduces improvements at various levels, such as in performance, operations and stability. The direct evolution of ADSL is the ADSL2 standard, on which the ADSL2plus and Reach Extended ADSL2
Alcatel's broadband access leadership allows it to offer its worldwide customers an unequaled service level and an integrated product portfolio that helps them to face their key challenges: increasing coverage, tackling scaling problems, offering more services on their broadband infrastructure and converging voice and data platforms.
This contract further reinforces Alcatel's DSL leadership in the Middle East region; today Alcatel broadband solutions are present in the networks of numerous Middle East operators. Alcatel holds 36.8 percent share of the global DSL access market based on November 2003 data from industry analyst Dell'Oro Group and has shipped more than 33.6 million DSL lines.
Alcatel has been selected by Saudi Telecom to supply equipment for a DSL network that delivers high speed services to 38 locations across the country. In a deal worth approximately six million dollars, Alcatel will supply the 7300 Advanced Services Access Manager (ASAM) and the Alcatel 5620 Network Manager (NM) to enable Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) services to its subscribers.
Aims and objective
The main aims and objective of this report is to analyze the growth and advancement of IT infrastructure and the changes in the business strategies, also how the society and culture where things related to technology like 3G (third generation), now going to towards 4G (fourth Generation), high speed internet, Fiber optic, Broadband and other technologies are acceptable which is hard to believe because two or thee decade before its seems difficult. Telecommunication structure like any first world country gives people a huge change different aspect of life, off course this will not end and grow more and more.
Literature Review
Research Methodology
In this chapter I will explain how will I conduct my research, what research methodology I will follow, what strategy would be applied? How I would collect the data?
Data collection methods are one of the critical decisions has to be made when conducting a survey, i.e. which method to use to collect the data. In addition to the traditional methods of in person, Telephone, and mail surveys, new technology has enabled the researcher to use a variety of methods including the Internet and e mail. Technology has revolutionized the old method of interviewing such as Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) and Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI), these methods ensure the integrity of the data, and are more accurate. Apart from survey there are several other research strategies which are as follows:
- Case study
- Experiments
- Action research
- Ethnography
- Grounded theory
- Internet research
The topic I choose is purely based on few things like innovation in IT infrastructure, so the best way to find changes and advancement from last two decade is to survey the different companies which has strong impact on these changes like Siemens, Ericsson, Lucent technologies and Alcatel which is later Alcatel Lucent, Huawei and Saudi Telecom it self which is semi private telecom company of Saudi Arabia, Internet helps in surveying these companies, different case studies.
Conclusion
According to Lovelcok (1996), "research reveals that delivering high quality service is closely linked to profits, cost saving and market share in many industry". My research provide a analysis of IT infrastructure give really benefit to business specially if we consider telecommunication industry as a tool, also considering that Information technology is not some thing just "IT" it is very broad field from analog and digital phone lines to video phone, mobile internet, first generation and now entering in 4G (fourth Generation).GSM technologies, e commerce, fiber optic to home user, wireless technology. The main theme is also the country where television and phone even seems to bad values because of cultural and ethical values now admire and accepts the benefits of information technology and business in every field grows day by day. The place where women and some have restrictions to go outside and buy things can now enjoy the e commerce facility from there home, online education and get every information on you PC is because of telecommunication industry. A society where there is a gap of social activities, people not much easily talk and meet like other countries this advancement of technology really helps to cover the negative impact.
References
Shoult Anthony, 2006 Edition 3 Doing Business with Saudi Arabia (http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=or08gGGX_toC&dq=Lucent+technologies+history++in+ksa&source=gbs_navlinks_s)
http://www.alcatel lucent.com/wps/portal/country?LMSG_CABINET=Corporate&LMSG_CONTENT_FILE=Country_Content/Middle_East/Country.xml&lu_lang_code=en_AA
Khosrow Pour Mehdi, 2004 Innovations through information technology (http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=O4UGa7ujJOAC&dq=innovation+in+information+technology+infrastructure++to+benefit+business&source=gbs_navlinks_s)
Technology Industry (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BFP/is_2000_March_13/ai_60066551/)
http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/435550/alcatel_teams_with_aec_for_dsl_deployment_in_saudi_arabia/index.html
http://www.ameinfo.com/35704.html
http://www.allbusiness.com/media telecommunications/telecommunications/7865588 1.html
