The Responsibilities of the Data Communications Function in an Organization

Wayne Machuca
Northcentral University

October, 2005

Introduction

&= nbsp; Foundational to any organization is the need for accurate and successful communications.= In the present time-line of technological development, “information age” (Fitzgerald & Dennis, 2002) organizations which can fully utilize their data communications will be able to progress easier and much = more efficiently. To this end, the organization must have a data communications function. This function will most likely manifest as an information systems= or data services department within the hierarchy of the company. This essay wi= ll describe the responsibilities of the group which is responsible for the provision of data communications for the organization. Within the context of this essay, that group will be referred to as information services.<= /p>

The Function of Infor= mation Services

&= nbsp; The primary purpose for Information Services (IS) is to provide data communicat= ion service. The IS does not generate data= or even create a profit center. Their purpose is first and foremost to provide= the data communications services to the other entities of the organization and = to facilitate their abilities to enhance their own performance. IS does well w= hen other groups do well as a result of their interaction with IS. Limoncelli a= nd Hogan (2002) note “building a solid, reliable service is a key role o= f an [systems administrator]”. That solid and reliable service which Limoncelli (2002) describes is the foundation for this essay.

The Service of Servic= e is Service

&= nbsp; As previously noted, it is the responsibility of Information Services to provi= de the service of business communications. Limoncelli (2002) describes 14 different services for when the organization depends and IS must provide. Foremost on the list of services is that IS must understand the customers requirements. The customer here being the organization which “pays= 221; the IS department to function and hence is the departments customer. The organizational can be a very demanding and specific customer. However, this customer, whether it is a single division such as sales, accounting, or manufacturing, has a very specific task and needs to be supported in perfor= ming that task to the best of its ability. The service that IS provides here is understanding what the customer needs and wants to do their job and provide the technology which supports the job.

&= nbsp; Within this service of supporting the customers’ requirements is the understanding that IS must work within the operational requirements of the technology available. The systems administrator (SA) must be aware that the customer may require more from the IS that is technological feasible. Therefore, the SA must keep in mind network performance capabilities when making Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees.

&= nbsp; Limoncelli (2002) notes “wherever possible, a new service should be built around= an architecture that uses open protocols and file formats.” Provision of services based on an open architecture concepts gives the various uses the ability to use the technology that best suits their needs and abilities by “(alleviating) the problems of incompatibility…” (Shelly, Cashman, & Serwatka, 2001) rather than forcing the customers to conform= to a proprietary software for the software’s sake.

&= nbsp; As multiple systems and networks become emplaced, the next responsibility of Information Services is to keep the new services simple. Simplicity in netw= ork architecting “should be [the SA’s] foremost consideration” Limoncelli (2002). As systems grow, they become more complex. The SA is tas= ked with the responsibility of controlling the growth design in such a fashion = that communications is facilitated and architecture remains understandable and controllable.

&= nbsp; Another important service that IS needs to provide is effective and stable relations with vendors. When the IS department maintains good relationships with vend= ors, they can often pull in new technology or updates which can support the customers both operationally and structurally. Additionally, when the organization can make major purchases from a particularly vendor, they can receive the double bonus of bulk pricing and network simplicity. For exampl= e, if several hundred units need to be purchased, every platform can be identi= cal making service, maintenance, and updates far easier for the technical suppo= rt people. The only drawback, of course, is that bulk purchases from a single vendor adversely affects the open architecture conversation described above. Therefore, the SA needs to work in a balance between different service considerations.

&= nbsp; Another critical service that IS must provide is machine independence. Here, the service must be provided without regard to the physical device providing the service. Panko (2003) notes:

It might be nice if there was only = one set of standards that governed all network equipment. The reality, however,= is that there are several competing standards architectures, which = are families of related standards that collectively allow an application progra= m on one machine on an internet to communicate with another applications program= on one machine on an internet to communicate with another application program = on another machine on the internet.” (emphasis author’s).

This level of complexity needs to be completely transparent to the = user community. For example, the customer needs the service email. If the device that provides email brakes, is exchanged with another vendor type, or is upgraded complete, that change should and must be transparent to the user community. To them, mail is mail.

&= nbsp; At first blush, the desire to provide machine independence contradicts the nee= d to provide system simplicity. Here, again, is a situation where the expertise = of the SA will provide the direction to accommodating both perspectives.

&= nbsp; Limoncelli (2002) describes the next necessary service as Environment. His perspective= is that the data center is responsible for providing the correct physical environment (heating, air conditioning, power supply, backups, etc.) in ord= er to accommodate the highest level of availability.

&= nbsp; A critical service that IS must provide is systems security. This service, in part, is provided by controlling the users who may access parts of the syst= em. White (2002) notes:

“Computer network security has reached a point at which it can best be characterized by tow seemingly conflicting statements: Never has network security been better that it is today; and never have computer networks been more vulnerable than they are today. How both these statements can be true is an interesting paradox.R= 21;

&= nbsp; One method that IS will use to control access is called authentication. In an authentication conversation, the user is required at one or more opportunit= ies to prove who they are via a variety of verification methods. Here again, complete authentication is juxtaposed to simplicity. By definition, the gre= ater the value of the data and systems, the greater the sophistication of the security needs to be. More and more systems are moving away from standard u= ser id/password verification and into biometrics. Biometric is the measurement = of some physical part of the user for verification. These measurements may inc= lude retinal scans, fingerprints, and more.

&= nbsp; The service of reliability is additionally a critical component of the IS. Essentially, the user community wants access to the service when they want = to use it. It is the responsibility of IS to make sure that the systems are available. The IS may often make an agreement with the user community as to= the number of hours per week that the systems will be available. This agreement= is often referred to as the Quality of Service (QoS) agreement. In the QoS, th= e IS will negotiate when services will be available and when not. Fitzgerald &am= p; Dennis (2002) suggest the use of redundant systems coupled with uninterrupt= ible power supplies to act as assurance for system survivability. Systems upgrad= es, clean ups, back ups, and repairs must be done from time to time and outages which are known and scheduled allow all communities to be able to function within known and acceptable parameters.

&= nbsp; Of the remaining services outlined by Limoncelli (2002), the most important are performance and monitoring. In many ways, these services go together. Performance is best understood as the speed at which the systems and network handle service requests. High performance and speed get communications thro= ugh the organization and satisfies user needs. Within this conversation, any systems, programs, or issues which bottleneck performance must be dealt with quickly. Finding these bottlenecks is a matter of monitoring performance against known standards.

Conclusions

&= nbsp; There exists an interesting phenomena in the business communications conversation= and it is that the service provider, IS, must be able to facilitate communicati= ons between a variety of hardware, components, networks, protocols, and user ty= pes while at the same time assuring that services are available, networks perfo= rm at optimal speeds, data systems are secure, and that the overall system is = as easy to use and understand as possible. It is truly an interesting challenge and it is the responsibility of the IS department to provide that function = on a daily basis.

References

Fitzgerald, D. & Dennis, A. (2002). Business data communications and networking (7th = ed., p. 303). New York, NY: John Wiley & sons, Inc.

Limoncelli, T.A. &am= p; Hogan, C. (2002). The practice of system and network administration. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Panko, R. R. (2003).= Business data networks and telecommunications (4th ed., p. 60). Upper Saddle Riv= er, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Shelly, G.B., Cashma= n, T.J., Serwatka, J.A. (2001). Business data communications introductory concepts and techniques (3rd ed., p. 1.17). Boston, MA: Course Technolo= gy.

White, C.W. (2002). = Data communications and computer networks a business user’s approach (= 2nd ed., p. 412). Boston, MA: Course Technology.