Kenneth and Jane Laudon identify five eras of MIS evolution corresponding to five phases in the development of computing technology: 1) mainframe and minicomputer computing, 2) personal computers, 3) client/server networks, 4) enterprise computing, and 5) cloud computing.
The first (mainframe and minicomputer) era was ruled by IBM and their mainframe computers, these computers would often take up whole rooms and require teams to run them, IBM supplied the hardware and the software. As technology advanced these computers were able to handle greater capacities and therefore reduce their cost. Smaller, more affordable minicomputers allowed larger businesses to run their own computing centers in-house.
The second (personal computer) era began in 1965 as microprocessors started to compete with mainframes and minicomputers and accelerated the process of decentralizing computing power from large data centers to smaller offices. In the late 1970s minicomputer technology gave way to personal computers and relatively low cost computers were becoming mass market commodities, allowing businesses to provide their employees access to computing power that ten years before would have cost tens of thousands of dollars. This proliferation of computers created a ready market for interconnecting networks and the popularization of the Internet.
As the