Seven primary characteristics of an IT infrastructure (the “ilities”)

Last week we covered the seven primary characteristics of an IT infrastructure (the “ilities”):

Usability
Maintainability
Scalability
Reliability/Availability
Extensibility
Portability
Security
Please select one of the seven characteristics above and respond with an example of what this term means in terms of IT architecture and why it is so important to a solid architecture to support information systems. These terms can be applied to other aspects of IT and business in general, but the focus here is on IT architecture. Some additional research will provide specific examples including what companies have focused on in these areas. Simply typing “IT Scalability” (or whatever characteristic you select) into your web browser should provide good results, but be sure to evaluate the sources to make sure they are relevant to this discussion. Remember to distinguish between objective articles and vendor’s marketing information.

Initial response posted as response to this main topic must be posted by midnight Thursday and a minimum of two comments/responses to classmates’ postings is required by Sunday midnight.) Be sure your posting addresses the discussion questions. Let me know if you have questions. Failure to address discussion topics appropriately will result in less than full participation credit. Be sure to check back and see if other students or I replied to your posting and posed additional questions or asked for additional information.

Note: In Stage 3 of your Case Study (due next week), you’ll be identifying which of the “-ilities” above apply to the solution you are proposing and how they apply, so you will need a good understanding of these to do a good job with Stage 3.