INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE FOR STEEL

摘要

Information Technology (IT) has come a long way since the first transistor was invented. Across all industries, IT has been used to varying degrees and has delivered mixed results. Within the Steel industry, IT has a long history, from the time the first IBM Mainframes were used, to mini-computers such as DIGITAL PDP11 machines and finally to the client/server and web-based systems of today. These systems are from different vendors, run on different operating systems and support an array of business functions; some of the applications have been built in-house, some bought from vendors; some are deployed locally, some centrally. This disparate array of systems, solutions and deployment alternatives has many ramifications to the effective running of the companies: · Many different computers, operating systems, databases adding cost and complexity in operations. · Complex communications infrastructure needed to enable even the simplest link between applications and users. · Data redundancy as the same item of data is stored in many different formats in many different places. · Lack of consolidated data on which to base a company's decision-making process. This paper discusses these issues and proposes an "Information Architecture for Steel". The Oracle Information Architecture (OIA) is in part a vision, a direction, and a blue print that is based on many years experience of bringing comprehensive information based systems to the world's most complex companies. OIA is a plan that recognizes the huge advances that have been made in technology over the last five years, the urgency behind the desire of companies to get a better understanding of their business, whilst also recognizing that companies are tending to become more complex. This paper describes OIA as a ten-stage plan. The order of the stages is a logical order of progression but is by no means rigorous. Key benefits from such architecture are also described.