Summary hardware, software findings

Hardware and software component summary Number: Lecturer: Hardware and software component summary Intel Corp has done all it could do to ensure that the departments are well equipped with the latest in terms of computer software and hardware. There are different hardware components which have been installed in the company. Most of the software is Windows based as the operating system is also Windows. There are information systems which have been installed in the company that are used to undertake the various issues and processes within the organization. One such information system is that of Customer Relationship Management software. This is special software that is used by the human resource department people and the marketing department to record and manage knowledge of the customer. This is a special information system that is procured differently from the rest of the software. This information system, however, is not fully owned by the Intel Corp company. This is because it is hired from the cloud service provider (Blundell, 2008).
Another important feature of the architecture of hardware and software of Intel Corp is that it has adopted the latest technologies in their system. There is the use of cloud computing in their network. This technology helps to overcome the challenges of having servers and whole applications on the local site. This system and arrangement are seen in the way the company operates the CRM software. The CRM software is accessed from the cloud service provider. This means that the company does not own the software system in full (Hamlet, 2010).
Another important aspect that can be seen in the software is that of using one vendor to procure the software. Most computers are installed with Windows Operating systems and Windows based software applications, like office suites and utility programs.
The hardware components that are found in the company are seen to adopt client-server architecture in most of the structures that have been analyzed and presented so far. Most of the computer hardware is structured in such a way that the machines depend on each other to access the important server parts of the hardware.
The hardware that is used use the latest technologies and have higher speeds in their structures. They are installed with the latest technologies and applications.
One deficiency that I find with the software is that they are from one vendor. As stated earlier, most of the applications are for Windows. In case there will be a need to have an upgrade so that there other applications from the other vendors, this could be a tedious and difficult task. This is because there is no arrangement that has been done to ensure that the future installations of different applications are well taken care of.
Another deficiency is that of efficient security. In the arrangement, there are no security policies that have been set in place to ensure that the users are aware the importance of security in the organization. There is also some lack of privacy in the way human resource data are handled. The data has been outsourced to a third-[arty, the people handling the cloud computing architecture. There is no clear policy that has been put in place to ensure that the data in the cloud are safe. Even though this is a new technology, a clear cut policy that will define how the third-party will use and share the data has not been put in place.
Another issue is that there is no parallel system that has been set to ensure data recovery and business continuity. In case there is problem/disaster, the business continuity will be disrupted.
References
Blundell, B. (2008). Computer hardware. Cengage Learning EMEA.
Hamlet, D. (2010). Composing software components: A Software-testing perspective. Springer.