List and describe the different stages in the evolution of the modern IT infrastructure from earliest to latest. Since this evolution is cumulative, provide an example of how a modern organization could utilize each type of technology.

Stand-alone mainframes - students could argue that organization-wide systems like ERP could run on mainframes; while this is enterprise computing, organizations wouldn't want just anyone to have access to these critical systems; as such, those systems would be separated from non-IT personnel - access would only be to those areas of the system people need (see the next point) Mainframe and dumb terminals - as noted above, ERP systems are effectively mainframe and dumb terminals in that people don't have access to the systems themselves but can update what they need to from their PCs Stand-alone PCs - this is the current BYOD phenomenon with employees bringing their own phones, tablets, etc.) to work LANs - all organizations have LANs in that all computers, printers, even phones are linked together (most is wireless) Enterprise computing - this is ERP, CRM, SCM, etc. Cloud computing and mobile computing - not every organization utilizes cloud computing (which is effectively outsourcing) but all are using mobile computing (BYOD effectively "forces" companies to deal with smartphones, tablets, etc.)