Information System Infrastructure and Unified Communication Paper

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Information systems infrastructure Discussion post 1- 03/25/2020 $4 – 300 words Find and view several online videos on unified communications. Identify the URLs for three that you think do a particularly good job illustrating the characteristics and capabilities of UC (Unified communications)systems. Select the one that you think is best and briefly justify your selection. Reply to discussion Post- Tirumalesh Pusunala - 03/25/2020 $2 150 words UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS: Unified communications (UC) is an evolving technology that works as a marketing concept for business enterprises through the integration of multiple communication methods to unify human and device communications via automation. It's a framework of interconnected systems of asynchronous and real-time communication tools aimed to enhance business productivity, communication, and collaboration. There are numerous videos online illustrating the characteristics and capabilities of UC systems, some of them being. The first URL, in particular, explains the need and benefits of UC along with the trends driving the adoption of UC systems. UC gives professionals the freedom to pursue new opportunities all over the world and share their skills. They are no more confined to a specific computer screen, phone, or desk. It facilitates a high level of interaction by seamlessly dispersing the workforce globally. Irrespective of the location of work, the individuals will have access to secure systems equipped with web conferencing, screen (business.att.com, 2020). And document sharing, SMS and IM, email, voicemail, VoIP and video calling, and so much more. UC simplifies the work and enhances the user experience by giving the employees the freedom to work as they wish which in turn reduces the costs and result in better productivity and returns. Stronger performance is achieved as the employees tend to collaborate and communicate faster to solve customer problems. Enterprises have shunned the old forms of communication and are increasingly adopting UC technologies for their operation in inefficient silos. They have to cater to hundreds and thousands of employees ranging from remote workers to global staff to on-premises office hires. Maintaining communication with everyone requires agility and innovation in their means. UC helps in the on-growth of an enterprise in the following ways (Scott, 2017). · Reduction in costs · Facilitates innovation · Simplifies on boarding · Better customer and user experience · Assessing the workforce · Understanding the current environment · Getting support from the right vendor · Creating a Single-Pane-of-Glass environment References business.att.com. (2020). Unified communications and Collaboration benefits. Retrieved from, https://www.business.att.com/learn/what-is-unified-communications-and-collaboration.html Scott, R. (2017). What is Unified Communications? Retrieved from, https://www.uctoday.com/unified-communications/what-is-unified-communications/ Case study- Attached the case study 03/ 27/2020 - $6 Answer the questions in the attached case study. Do the same work you did in last times assignment( word count and format) CASE STUDY 6 CHEVRON’S INFRASTRUCTURE EVOLUTION Chevron Corporation (www.chevron.com) is one of the world’s leading energy companies. Chevron’s headquarters are in San Ramon, California. The company has more than 62,000 employees and produces more than 700,000 barrels of oil per day. It has 19,500 retail sites in 84 countries. In 2012, Chevron was number three on the Fortune 500 list and had more than $244 billion in revenue in 2011 [STAT12]. IT infrastructure is very important to Chevron and to better support all facets of its global operations, the company is always focused on improving its infrastructure [GALL12]. Chevron faces new challenges from increased global demand for its traditional hydrocarbon products and the need to develop IT support for new value chains for liquid natural gas (LNG) and the extraction of gas and oil from shale. Huge investments are being made around the world, particularly in Australia and Angola on massive projects of unprecedented scale. Modeling and analytics are more important than ever to help Chevron exploit deep water drilling and hydrocarbon extraction in areas with challenging geographies. For example, advanced seismic imaging tools are used by Chevron to reveal possible oil or natural gas reservoirs beneath the earth’s surface. Chevron’s proprietary seismic imaging C6-1 technology contributed to it achieving a 69% discovery rate in 2011[CHEV12]. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Systems Chevron refineries are continually collecting data from sensors spread throughout the facilities to maintain safe operations and to alert operators to potential safety issues before they ever become safety issues. Data from the sensors is also used to optimize the way the refineries work and to identify opportunities of greater efficiency. IT controls 60,000 valves at Chevron’s Pascagoula, Mississippi refinery; the efficiency and safety of its end-to-end operations are dependent on advanced sensors, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, and other digital industrial control systems [GALL12]. SCADA systems are typically centralized systems that monitor and control entire sites and/or complexes of systems that are spread out over large areas such as an entire manufacturing, fabrication, power generation, or refining facility. The key components of SCADA systems include:  Programmable logic units (PLCs) that and remote terminal units (RTUs) connected to sensors that convert sensor signals to digital data and send it to the supervisory system  A supervisory computer system that acquires data about the process and sends control commands to the process  A human-machine interface (HMI) that presents process to the human operators that monitor and control the process.  Process meters and process analysis instruments  Communication infrastructure connecting the supervisory system and RTUs and PLCs. These are illustrated in Figure C6.1. C6-2 Data acquisition occurs at the PLC or RTU level. This includes meter readings and equipment status reports that are sent to the supervisory system. The collected data is compiled and formatted by the HMI to enable the operator to make determine whether adjustments to normal PLC or RTU settings are needed. Current data may also be compared to historical data in a SCADA database to assess trends or perform analytical auditing. C6-3 In addition to Chevron refineries, SCADA are extremely important in national infrastructures such as water supplies, pipelines, and electric grids. Because attacks or damage to SCADA systems can affect large numbers of people, ensuring adequate security is important. Business Infrastructure Transformation Because of the complexity of its operational processes and the IT that is needed to support them, Chevron has traditionally been more infrastructure than business focused. SCADA systems and digital industrial control systems are critical IT infrastructure at Chevron’s refineries and will always play an important role in monitoring and managing facility-based processes. These also are among the first IT systems needed to support Chevron’s new value chains for LNG and shale oil extraction. However, like any large corporation, Chevron relies on a wide variety of business applications to run its businesses. As it is for most global businesses, SAP ERP is a key transaction processing system at Chevron. Chevron has been using SAP for more than two decades and it has played an important role in the development of SAP’s vertical solutions for the hydrocarbon industry. There are more than 50 instances of SAP used by Chevron [SCRI11]. Most of these run on Oracle databases. Some other key enterprise applications at Chevron include Ariba Buyer, EMC Documentum, Informatica, MicroStrategy, multiple Oracle applications [SCRI11]. Going forward, IT executives at Chevron would like to flip the company’s traditional IT priorities so that the majority of the IT staff’s time and attention is focused on improving business capabilities [GALL12]. To do this, Chevron’s IT leaders have increasingly turned their attention to Web services, software as a service (SaaS), and cloud computing to help it run its business. Chevron considers mobility to be a game changer in how it C6-4 delivers information and provides solutions and it is convinced that it can do both without sacrificing security or reliability. IT infrastructure at Chevron pervades every facet of its operations. However, Chevron’s executives have not lost sight of the fact that IT is not the company’s core competency. By moving business solutions to the cloud, Chevron executives hope to help the company maintain its focus on its core competencies. C6-5 Chevron has used business-oriented Web services for several years. Ariba Buyer, Salesforce.com, and Ketera’s price negotiation system are just a few of the SaaS solutions that Chevron has woven into its IT architecture. Chevron is interested in developing an integrated information network that includes all of its major supply chain partners, both upstream and downstream. Identify management has emerged as a priority at Chevron to ensure secure data transfer among its business partners. A generic example of an identify management system is illustrated in Figure C6.2. When users at Chevron partners need to access Chevron’s intranet and/or SaaS data or solutions, they are first cleared by an identity broker. The identity broker authenticates the user and transparently provides a single sign on (SSO) token that enables the partner to access Chevron’s intranet (2) or the company’s SaaS solution providers (3). Chevron hopes to better align its operations with those of its business partners via its migration of business applications to the cloud. It hopes that the business infrastructure transformation that is currently underway will also lead to better IT and business alignment. As a global company, the cloud may be an ideal platform for running the business. In the years ahead, Chevron’s IT leaders expect mobility, analytics and visualization, and social media to become critical aspects of its business infrastructure. At the facilities level, advanced sensors and deeper embedding of RTUs and PLCs within operations are foreseen [GALL12]. Technical appreciation of convergence network infrastructure will continue to be important, but business literacy/savvy will be most important to the longterm success of Chevron’s IT leaders. Discussion Points 1. Do some Internet research on Chevron’s use of seismic imaging technology. Briefly explain how it works and how it has helped Chevron discover new oil and gas reservoirs. C6-6 2. Do some Internet research on security vulnerabilities associated with SCADA and digital industrial control systems. Summarize the major security concerns associated with these systems and steps than can be taken to enhance their security. 3. Discuss the pros and cons of moving enterprise-wide applications that have traditionally been supported on premises to the cloud. 4. Do some Internet research on identify management and single sign on systems. Briefly explain how these work and why they are important in business intranets and extranets. 5. Why is it increasing most important for a CIO or IT executive who oversees geographically distributed enterprise networks to be business literate? Sources [CHEV12] Chevron.com “Seismic Imaging.” Retrieved online: at http://www.chevron.com/deliveringenegy/oil/seismicimaging. [GALL12] Gallant, J. ”Chevron’s CIO Talks Transformation and Why IT Leaders Should Smile.” April 12, 2012. Retrieved online at: http://www.cio.com/article/print/704095. [SCRI11] Scribd.com. “Chevron Corporation CRUSH Report.” August 17, 2011. Retrieved online at http://www.scribd.com/doc/62481977/ChevronCRUSH-Report-09A1. [STAT12] Statistic Brain. “Chevron Company Statistics.” February 12, 2102. Retrieved online at: http://www.statisticbrain.com/chevron-companystatistics/. C6-7
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Explanation & Answer

Reply to discussion Post-tirumaleshpusunala

Reply to discussion Post- tirumaleshpusunala
Good Post!
The major thing is that Unified communication reduces the dependency of
communication on medium. With the utilization of unified communication, we can change the
mode of communication in the long run. Some of the benefits of UC are; it provides an
integrated solution that includes the messaging voice, video and content (N. & Hebbar, 2019).
When we switch to voice over IP from legacy, it provides a cost-effective solution. It provides
the best and effective communication in the context of mobile work. Unified communication also
provides better results in audio and video quality.
The latest features that UC systems include is Personal Assistant with the technology of
speech recognition. These assistants help the mobile workers to handle their communication for
example, messaging, call control and other different enterprise data. Thus we can say UC
technology is the integration of real-time communication services.
Also, I have a question, can you please tell some real-life examples where UC is adopted?
Reference
N., B., & Hebbar, A. (2019). An Integrated Solution of the Unified Communication System.
International Journal of Computer Applications, 181(43), 50-52.
https://doi.org/10.5120/ijca2019918555

initial discussion

Running head: UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS

1

Unified Communication
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date

UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS

2

Unified Communication
Unified Communication is one of the most emerging technology which provides the
solution in information technology (IT) discipline and inflate the effectiveness of business
processes. UC system allows the association of different elements. It comes up with the real
time communication in between the users such as audio messages, video streaming, text
messages and conference calls.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dzITWkmgA8
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W71_FuhaWXg
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUtEB7KaoPQ
After searching and watching three videos, I selected this video
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W71_FuhaWXg). The reason why I am interested in this
video is that it provides information on how UC improve the methods of communication.
Unified communication provides the ability to enhance the methods of communication among
businesses. It helps to reduce dependency on the communication medium. Through unified
communication, a person can send a message by using one different and receive the message by
using another medium. Moreover, different communication methods can be integrated such as
conference, mobility and speech access.
Another point that is described is the combination of multiple communication methods.
Unified communication and collaboration aresome of the types of unified communication,
andthe integration of different communication tools creates it. With the use of UCC, we can
combine the tools, for example, virtual whiteboards, real-time audio communication and video
conference (Ashok Hebbar, 2019). UCC, as a service, is a cloud-based platform, and it provides

UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS
interests such as scalability, flexibility, security and low maintenance management. With the
unified communication provisioning, we can configure the settings for those users who use
instant messaging and other channels of communication.
UC technology is extremely vital to achieve the effectiveness in the business process. UC
systems are included in one of the most generally utilized modules for gaining effective
association, these suppliers are promoting the products in market (Ashok Hebbar, 2019). The
general development for this system is just like a scope of unanswered specialized and
authoritative inquiries block the spread of UC systems.

3

UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS

4

References
Ashok Hebbar, S. N. (2019). An Integrated Solution of the Unified Communication
System. International Journal of Computer Application...


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