Docker Optimization of an Automotive Sector Virtual Server Infrastructure

Subject area Business/technology strategy. The purpose of the case is to enable the students to understand the following: how technology implementation can change the face of business like cab service? How information technology deployment can influence competition? How investment in company's IT infrastructure affects the bottom line? Study level/applicability The case can be discussed at Master of Business Administration (MBA)/Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (PGDBA) level students as well as executive education program. It is aimed at graduate level and postgraduate level management courses such as management information systems, strategic information systems, and technology management. Case overview Meru Cabs, started in April 2007 at Mumbai, was one of the firsts to provide “radio taxi” service in India. Meru Cabs delivers a reliable taxi service by concentrating on three C's, namely customer, call centre and chauffeur. Much of its growth can be attributed to successful deployment of the technology. This case presents the growth of Meru Cabs and how it has differentiated itself by utilizing the technology to attain market leader position in the four cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore, where it operates. Also the case discusses about the future of cab service in general and what it has in store for Meru Cabs. With the flurry of cabs service coming up in every city and the competition getting intense, the case put forth the opportunities and challenges existing for cab companies in general and Meru Cabs in particular. Expected learning outcomes To enable the students to understand that technology is a strategic tool: to enhance customer relationship, to manage business operations, to achieve sustained competitive advantage and that forms an integral part of company's growth and/or expansion strategy. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

A company's IT infrastructure delivers the basic hardware, networking, operating system, and middleware support to the business' applications. IT service providers perform incident and problem resolution, as well as user administration and change implementation required to maintain the availability and service provided for the business. As a result, they become increasingly challenged with delivering better, faster, and cheaper services to their customers. With the variety of incident tickets reported on a daily basis, understanding where and how much effort is spent to resolve them is critical. Moreover, analyzing the effort data identifies opportunities for self-service and automation, as well as what modernization strategies businesses should implement to reduce incident volumes and, by association, labor effort. In this paper, we conduct a large scale study on the incident and server factors that affect technician effort and quantify their impact. We show that the nature of the incidents and their complexity, the assigned support groups, as well as the underlying OS type play a major role in how much labor effort is spent towards resolving such tickets.

Анотація. У сучасному цифровому світі, де велика частина бізнес-операцій і обміну даними відбувається в електронному форматі, шифрування стає незамінним інструментом для забезпечення безпеки. Дана стаття присвячена опису розробленого прикладного програмного забезпечення, що реалізує алгоритми шифрування даних. Програмний застосунок може бути використаний в управлінській діяльності для забезпечення достатнього рівня захисту даних, враховуючи потенційні загрози. До чутливих даних компанії, що потребують особливої уваги з точки зору безпеки відносяться наступні: комерційна таємниця, фінансова інформація, внутрішня кореспонденція, персональні дані співробітників й клієнтів тощо. Шифрування цих типів даних дозволяє компаніям захистити свою комерційну інформацію, знизити ризик фінансових та репутаційних втрат. При розробці програмного забезпечення використовувалися алгоритми ChaCha20 і Poly1305 в декілька ключових етапів. Спочатку реалізовано основні функції, такі як QuarterRound і ChaChaBlock, які виконують перетворення стану ChaCha20. Далі створено механізм шифрування відкритого тексту, розбивши його на блоки і використовуючи XOR для обробки кожного блоку згенерованим потоком ключів. Крім того, імплементовано функцію аутентифікації повідомлень Poly1305, що генерує тег для перевірки цілісності даних. Завершальним етапом було інтегрування обох частин системи – шифрування та аутентифікації, щоб забезпечити конфіденційність та цілісність переданих даних. Також проведено тестування розробленого програмного забезпечення, що показало коректність його роботи. Розроблений застосунок легко інтегрується в майже будь-яку ІТ-інфраструктуру компанії, може працювати в реальному часі для шифрування внутрішньої кореспонденції або повідомлені по мережі компанії. Завдяки відкритому коду, програмне забезпечення може буде вдосконалено під умови замовника (наприклад для шифрування документів в різних форматах для довготривалого збереження та/або переказу по відкритому каналу зв’язку).

The case centers on Shilling & Smith's acquisition of Xteria Inc. and the resulting need to quickly scale the company's IT infrastructure to accommodate the acquisition. The case is based on a real leasing problem faced by a major retail firm in the Chicago area when it purchased a small credit card processing firm and scaled the operations to handle the retail firm's credit card transactions. The CIO of Shilling & Smith needs to determine which lease option is the best means of providing the technical infrastructure needed to support the firm after the acquisition of Xteria. Several issues will drive this decision, including the value and useful life of the equipment, as well as the strategic context of the firm. This case examines how to evaluate different lease options when acquiring data center information technology infrastructure. Specifically, the case addresses software vs. hardware leasing, different lease terms, and choosing between different lease structures depending on the strategy and needs of a company. This case enables students to understand the different types of technology leases and in which situations these leases would be employed.The Shilling & Smith case examines how to evaluate different lease options when acquiring data center information technology infrastructure. Specifically, students learn software vs. hardware leasing, different lease terms, and how to choose between different lease structures depending on the strategy and needs of the company. A secondary objective of the case is to teach students the important components and relative costs of information technology infrastructure.

Nowadays Bachelor and Master Students in Management usually do not acquire deep knowledges in Information Technologies, Information Systems and Software Development during their curricular if their educational program is not directly related to Business Informatics. However, industrial experience shows that working in innovative companies requires managers being able not only to manage the business processes effectively, but also initiate changes to them in order to keep the companies stay ahead. Today in digital age corporative business processes are supported by Enterprise Information Systems. Therefore the need for hard skills in Information Systems (IS) is relevant for future managers. Another question is how deep these hard skills in IT should be. This paper discusses the results of implementing the course of the Enterprise Architecture (EA) in educational process of Bachelor students in Management with focus on Management (Field of study 38.03.02. Management, Educational program Industrial Management (Energy)) and focus on Supply Chain Management (Field of study 38.03.02. Management, Educational program Logistics and Supply Chain Management). Archimate, Archi and generally TOGAF methodologies assisted the students in conducting their project work on changes in company IT infrastructure or during the hands-on exercise. The study was carried out at two Russian higher educational institutions (HEI) using the quantitative survey technique and data collection. The simplified framework of EA skills constituting the competency of business stakeholders is presented. General recommendation is that EA course can be effectively included in educational process of Bachelor Students in Management in order to develop EA skills that are significant for future managers and decision makers in digital environment. The results of the study contribute to curriculum choices, teaching methods and learning objectives in current educational process of future managers.

The effective management of IT infrastructure in educational institutions is critical for supporting seamless academic and administrative operations in an increasingly digital environment. Universities and colleges face challenges such as frequent IT service disruptions, inefficient incident management, and the lack of standardized service delivery processes. This paper explores the application of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework as a structured approach to IT Service Management (ITSM) within higher education institutions. By analyzing existing incidents, service requests, and operational inefficiencies, the study identifies key areas where ITIL principles can improve service efficiency, reduce system downtime, and enhance overall user satisfaction among students, faculty, and staff.The research employs qualitative methodologies, including focus groups and structured interviews with IT administrators, academic personnel, and students, to assess IT infrastructure challenges and service management needs. Additionally, the study investigates the impact of modern ITSM tools, such as Jira Service Management, in automating service workflows, tracking incidents, and improving resolution times. A comparative analysis of IT service performance before and after ITIL implementation highlights significant improvements in response efficiency, proactive monitoring, and structured service request handling. Findings indicate that adopting ITIL-based service management practices leads to enhanced IT operations through improved resource allocation, automated incident tracking, and data-driven decision-making. Standardizing workflows and implementing proactive IT monitoring strategies enable universities to mitigate recurring technical issues and optimize IT support services. The study concludes with recommendations for the effective adoption of ITIL frameworks in higher education institutions, emphasizing the long-term benefits of IT governance, continuous service improvement, and user-centric IT service delivery.

This paper introduces a new method to promote energy efficiency in computing systems. The rapidly growing demand for computational power in high-performance computing (HPC) systems is accompanied by a significant increase in energy consumption. This research investigates the many ways to minimise energy consumption in HPC systems without sacrificing computational performance. Building upon previous research we combined and refined ideas to develop an optimised approach. Our method utilises a tri-modular framework incorporating an Energy-Efficient Hardware Design, Resource Management, and Optimisation, and Server Virtualisation. The first module employs a method of designing smart energy-efficient hardware. This method incorporates leakage reduction techniques such as clock gating and sleep states. The second module uses a technique focused on optimising server software. This method is based on Dynamic Voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) for power management in data centres. The third module is based on server virtualisation and employs software to create multiple virtual machines on a single physical server allowing for a significant reduction in energy and hardware costs. The methods used in these three modules are systematically integrated to produce a more efficient consumption of electricity. This will allow for the computing system to minimise energy consumption without compromising computational power.

This study aims to evaluate PT Gramedia Asri Media to find out whether the company's IT services meet the best standards of the ITIL V3 Service Operations framework. Service Operations focus includes Problem Management, Incident Management, Access Management, Request Fulfillment, and Event Management. Evaluation is carried out in four stages: planning, field inspection, reporting, and follow-up. The results indicate the maturity level of IT service implementation. For data collection, questionnaires were distributed to five people who were surveyed and interviewed with the heads of engineering services and support staff. The results show that the company's IT service maturity level is at level one. In addition, this research produced seventy suggestions for companies to improve their IT services. The results show that almost all suggestions were well received by the company, and some of them have been implemented at PT Gramedia Asri Media. However, of course, with the problems discovered from this research, there will be a desire to improve service and performance.

With the popularity of IT technology, the problem of IT service quality is becoming more and more cause the attention of the relevant customer, at the same time, the user demand for with the IT service quality are also improved. Customer service as a direct user-oriented service organization, must correspondingly enhance their professional skills and optimize management system to gradually achieve discovered by passive user problem, again into the request itself can take the initiative to found the problem, in the process throughout the entire process of IT service management, improve the efficiency of operational management, ensure the company's IT service system is reliable, stable and efficient operation, this paper combined with the existing of the service work system, from two aspects of system of prevention and to explore the method of how to improve the quality of the user IT service.

IT service catalogs are a pivotal element for managing IT services in many organizations, in accordance with common practice IT service management frameworks such as the IT Infrastructure Library. However, both in theory and practice, IT service catalogs are underspecified as much emphasis is put on the structure and content of the catalogs while the use and integration into IT service management processes are often neglected. Consequentially, the aim of the present paper is to propose a maturity model for IT service catalogs that covers structure and content as well as use and integration. This advances our understanding of this pivotal artifact in many IT service management systems and helps practitioners to identify improvement potentials for their IT service catalog-related practices.

The main objective of the Service Level Management process is to ensure that an agreed level of IT service is provided for all current IT services and that future services are delivered to agreed achievable targets. The number of agreed SLAs has rapidly increased in the IT industry while more and more IT customers have become aware of Service Level Management best practices. IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is the most widely used IT service management framework that provides best practices for implementing IT service management processes including Service Level Management. The research problem of this study is: how Service Level Agreements can be implemented with an IT service management tool. We use a combination of IT service management and knowledge management approach to study the problem. The main contribution of this paper is to present results of a case study that focused on improving Service Level Management practices in a Finnish IT service provider company Tieto.

Digital technologies have rapidly become critical enablers in the oil and gas industry. They increase the speed of operations across the hydrocarbon lifecycle, reduce costs and improve delivery to all business locations. This paper assesses the value contribution of digital technologies at Shell EP over the past three years. It focuses on the business impact of the global IT standardisation and simplification programme, and three strategically important technologies; Smart FieldsTM, Virtual Collaboration and Grid Computing. Introduction Information technology has moved to the very heart of the EP business in a relatively short time. IT tools are now fundamental to the daily performance of our people around the world. In addition, every well, reservoir and production facility relies on some form of IT. While it is clear that digital technologies are already part of the mainstream of the oil and gas industry, it is vital to assess the business value that has been contributed from investment in these systems. An understanding of the financial and strategic value returned on this investment to date, will improve the industry's capability to make the most of the next phase of digital advances. This paper reviews the impact of two key areas of digital technology value contribution to the Shell EP business in the past three years:Global IT simplification and standardisation programme.Three strategic value-add digital technology initiativesSmart FieldsVirtual CollaborationGrid Computing 1. Global IT Simplification and Standardisation Programme The introduction of a simplified and standardised IT environment in Shell EP has played an important role in reducing business complexity, removing costs, and providing world-class remote working capabilities. The programme included the following integrated activities: Global IT team, strategy and plan. The introduction of a global IT team, strategy and plan, has enabled IT services to be directly aligned with Shell EP's business needs, and also removed duplication. The continued delivery of IT services through local teams ensures that specific location requirements are incorporated. In addition, local services have been enhanced through access to more powerful and cost-effective worldwide IT resources. Robust, high-speed global telecommunications network. A global network upgrade and standardisation programme, and a 20-fold increase in bandwidth between key locations, has improved speed, reliability and security of core IT services. Standardised digital operating environment. Shell EP staff work on a single, standardised IT service which is available from any PC in any Shell or non-Shell location, at anytime with complete access to files and 24/7 helpdesk support. This standardised digital environment not only enhances the productivity and flexibility of individual staff members, but is also the bedrock of remote working for both technical and commercial teams. IT infrastructure consolidation. With a common digital operating environment in place, IT infrastructure is also being consolidated from a large number of local data centres to a few linked major hubs, which host standard applications and support services (see Figure 1).

Due to problems such as lack of interconnectivity between all 33 locations, between secretariats and several other points in the municipality, as well as difficulties in hiring, support, and speed of services provided by the telecommunications company, as well as security risks and adjustments to LGPD 13.709 /2018 and finally better management of IT resources, one of which was server virtualization, it was necessary to implement Cloud Phone telephony systems, Internet Mpls with Virtual Private Network at all points and server virtualization within the scope of the City Hall of Ibiá, Minas Gerais, represented a major transformation of the municipal IT infrastructure. The shift from a decentralized environment to an integrated structure has revolutionized operational efficiency, optimizing resources and increasing cybersecurity, as well as platform-as-a-service usage. The interconnectivity between all municipal public management locations facilitated communication and collaboration between different sectors and departments, enabling remote work and adaptation to new needs as they arise.

Building on process management and service climate theories, this paper investigates the pertinent issues of whether firms that implement ITIL best practices for IT service management will also experience growth in their process management activities and IT service climate. First, ITIL practices imply that processes in the IT department should be managed on a daily basis; without process management, ITIL will fail beyond its initial implementation. Second, two of the main reasons for adopting ITIL are to become a service-oriented organisation and to deliver IT services that meet business needs. Thus, we hypothesise that as the implementation status of ITIL increases, process management and IT service climate will be enhanced. Using data from 161 Nordic IT functions, we found empirical support for the hypotheses, indicating that ITIL is a management tool for influencing behaviour in service production that strengthens the IT service climate directly and indirectly through process management. As such, ITIL represents both an alternative and a complement to service management initiatives focusing on IT service climate. We discuss implications and suggest avenues for further research.

Living IT infrastructures — An ontology-based approach to aligning IT infrastructure capacity and business needs