SIT Chapter 6
Enterprise Architecture at Chubb Industries Case
- EA was used to align IT and the business - EA provided a target architecture for business leaders and IT professionals to use to collaborate and to enable the company to adapt and prosper - Chubb is the largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company in the world and the largest commercial insurer in the US and one of the oldest underwriting companies - CIO put in place a decentralized (federated) EA in place to support all 7 lines of business (LOB) however over time it was clear that tweaking the EA did not make it possible to deal with problems that surfaced over time --> standards weren't being followed closely enough and the business units were focusing on their own unit's goals but suboptimizing the organizational goals - the decentralized approach inhibited agility because it misaligned IT and the enterprise business strategy, created duplication, and impeded coordination across the LOBs - so CIO Knight decided to consolidate the LOB architects into a centralized IT org with a broader scope - CIO reorganized IT group to have a Chief Architect/Architecture Practice Lead who reported to the Chief Development Officer who reported to Knight; a manager in charge of development also reported to the Chief Development Officer; the manager in charge of infrastructure reported directly to Knight ---> all this new IT organization was designed to deliver integrated solutions to the business - CIO created target architecture with 4 components (architecture principles, architecture governance, conceptual reference architectures, and emerging technology) --> used 50 architecture compliance rules derived from the TOGAF framework - all new projects were issued a "building permit" by the Architecture Governance Board and were assigned to 1+ architects from the 5 EA domains to ensure that the target architecture was being adhered to --> architects submitted artifacts and design docs for review and formal approval and any deviations from the architecture rules must be corrected or remediates and architects work closely with project leader - believed by the IT executives that the new EA model delivered value to the business, helped determine the new tech that offered the greatest potential benefits, and provided better access to IT intellectual capital - the LOBs get the resources that are most appropriate for meeting their needs
opening paragraph
- chapter provides an overview of IT architecture and Infrastructure issues and designs by translating business in IT architecture and from there into infrastructure - uses fictitious company to show how strategy leads to infrastructure - common architectures such as centralized, decentralized, and web based service-oriented are presented - visualization and cloud computing are two current architectural considerations that are discussed
enterprise architecture
- comprehensive framework or methodology used to create the "blueprint" for all IS and their interrelationships in the firm - basis is business strategy - specifies how IT support business processes, align with business needs, and produce business outcomes - includes the standard technical capabilities and activities for all parts of the enterprise and guidelines for making choices - 4 key layers of business, application, information, technology
architecture principles and descriptions of what they should promote examples:
- ease of use: ease of use in building and supporting the architecture and solutions based architecture - single point view: a consistent, integrated view of the business regardless of how it is accessed - buy rather than build: purchase of applications, components, and enabling frameworks unless there is a competitive reason to develop them internally - speed and quality: acceleration of time to market for solutions while still maintaining required quality levels - flexibility and agility: flexibility to support changing business needs while enabling evolution of the architecture and solutions built on it - innovation: incorporation of new tech, facilitating innovation - data and system security: data protection from unauthorized use and disclosure, systems protection form access modification by unauthorized intruders - common data vocabulary: consistent definitions of data throughout enterprise, which are understandable and available to all users - data quality: accountability of each data element through a trustee responsible for data quality - data asset: management of data like other valuable assets
opening case: Mohawk Paper Mill
- mohawk embraced cloud computing since it enabled the business to strategically transform itself in three ways 1) moving from a primary focus on manufacturing to provide service 2) shifting from a self sufficient model to one of collaboration with a network of partners 3) ensuring that the partner network was flexible and its capabilities were tightly integrated with those of Mohawk - accomplished this flexibility by using service-oriented architecture (SOA) tools --> enabled the firm to scale tech services up and down instantaneously according to its needs - applications under SOA were added or subtracted as needed helping to manage costs while increasing flexibility and capacity throughout the transformation - new envelope manufacturing facility illustrates the benefits of flexibility --> learned of the anticipated bankruptcy of the largest envelope manufacturing firm in the US and jumped on the opportunity for new business by developing into envelopes - after 6 months of using those suppliers as they developed their own facilities, Mohawk shifted to an insourcing model --> using cloud services avoided the IS difficulties usually inherent in such large scale strategic transformations - realized additional benefits from their ability to more easily manage capacity needs --> the cloud approach allowed the company to set up or dismantle servers quickly at a fraction of the cost of purchasing them outright - case illustrates that cloud computing is not just a mechanism to avoid or reduce costs or gain operational benefits --> can support transformation of the business itself (making paper to making connections which enabled them to sell more product) - the system provided capabilities to sell from mohawk's own inventory or from the partners in a seamless way directly to the many 1000s of small businesses and consumers via its website - able to make these changes by shifting to an enhanced web services platform that enabled other orgs and customers to request info, inquire about freight charges and pricing, place orders, and pay for their orders through connections with banks (enabled designers to combine applications as needed on websites that could be built rather quickly --> each feature plugs in using tools that made it easy to connect the websites to existing databases - Benefits Summary: tripled earnings in 2 years; saved 1-2 million in annual costs; increased product variety; increased its customer base **illustrates how infrastructure decisions can enable the strategic objectives of a firm (strategic vision must come before building infrastructure)
guidelines for planning adaptable IT architecture and infrastructure
- plan for applications and systems that are independent and loosely coupled rather than monolithic - set clear boundaries between infrastructure components - when designing a network architecture, provide access to all users when it makes sense to do so (i.e. when security concerns allow it)
assessing financial and managerial issues steps to follow (managers and IT staff)
- quantify costs - determine the anticipated life cycles of system components - quantify benefits - quantify risks - consider ongoing dollar costs and benefits
Extreme Scientists Case
- scientists doing research need serious computing capability to run simulations and crunch data, which often meant working for a large company that could provide the significant investment in IS infrastructure - cloud computing has now changed this - Dr. Schadt does not believe that studying one gene at a time will explain what causes diseases which is making it impossible to find the cures sought by scientific and pharmacology communities - Dr. Schadt's vision is to manage this area of research, and the large amount of data generated, which appears to be too much for any one individual or company to manage, by creating a human social network - he believes that this organization reflects the complexity of the living systems he studies and therefore it is necessary to understand it - Dr. Schadt cofounded a nonprofit org dedicated to biological research using an open-source sharing of data, Sage Bionetworks --> he believes sharing is the key to finding cures and creating drugs that will combat diseases - his company has millions of dollars worth of data from some of the major pharmaceutical companies to use to begin research - he is the Chief Scientific Officer for Pac Bio whose tech helps biologists look at individual molecules of DNA in real time; his job is to work on how to use this tech fir PacBio and to collaborate with others who want to use it for their research - but to do his research he needs access to the capacity of a supercomputer because the amount of data he needs to use for his research is very large - he is able to initiate a complex analysis of his data using Amazon's services, which crunch the data while he flies, and when he lands the analysis is done and he has the results and the cost is just a few hundred dollars versus millions - companies like Amazon have become vendors of extreme computing power - with service like the computing power available in the cloud, Dr. Schadt has a lot of power available to him (comparable to the multimillion-dollar supercomputer at a major pharmaceutical company)
three steps to understanding the current IT environment
1. objectively analyze the existing architecture and infrastructure (assess the capability, capacity, reliability, and expandability of each) 2. objectively analyze the strategy served by the existing architecture (what goals was it designed to attain and to what extent do those goals align with current strategic goals) 3. objectively analyze the ability of the existing architecture and infrastructure to further the current strategic goals (in what areas is alignment present and what parts of the existing architecture/infrastructure must be modified/replaced)
software defined architecture
A cutting-edge type of configuration is one that can allocate or remove resources automatically based on traffic or other indicators of utilization - infrastructure reconfigures based on load or time of day; infrastructure can be reconfigured autonomously based on rules - software defined network, network virtualization - use when resources need to be flexible and reconfigured often and when usage varies dramatically depending on time of day - easy to manage because they self manage many of their features
data center
A facility used to house management information systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems
mainframe
A large, expensive computer that supports hundreds or thousands of users simultaneously and executes many different programs at the same time.
decentralized architecture
Hardware, software, networking, and data are arranged in a way that distributes the processing and functionality between multiple small computers, servers, and devices and they rely heavily on a network to connect them together - computing power is spread out among a number of devices in different locations; servers in different locations, personal computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets are also included; the "client" devices can perform many of the services needed with only occasional requests to central servers for data and services - server-based architecture - used to modularize and address concerns about scalability and when the business is primarily decentralized
strategic business goals dictate
IT architecture requirements; these requirements provide an extensible blueprint suggesting which infrastructure components will best facilitate the realization of the strategic goals
What, Who, Where Chart with Architecture and Infrastructure: software
What: - architecture: does fulfillment of our strategy require ERP software? - infrastructure: shall we go with SAP or Oracle for our ERP software? Who: - Architecture: who is affected by a move to SAP? - infrastructure: who will need SAP training? Where: - architecture: does our geographical organization require multiple database instances? - infrastructure: can we use a cloud instance of Oracle for our database?
What, Who, Where Chart with Architecture and Infrastructure: network
What: - architecture: how should the network be structured to fulfill our strategy? - infrastructure: will a particular Cisco switch be fast enough for what we need? Who: - Architecture: who needs a connection to the network? - infrastructure: who provides our wireless network? Where: - architecture: will we let each users phone be a hotspot? - infrastructure: shall we lease a cable or use satellite?
What, Who, Where Chart with Architecture and Infrastructure: data
What: - architecture: what data do we need for our sales management system? - infrastructure: what format will we store our data in? Who: - Architecture: who needs access to sensitive data? - infrastructure: how will authorized users identify themselves? Where: - architecture: will back-ups be stored onsite or offsite? - infrastructure: will data be in the cloud or our data centers?
What, Who, Where Chart with Architecture and Infrastructure: Hardware
What: - architecture: what type of personal device will our users use? - infrastructure: what size hard drives do we equip our laptops with? Who: - Architecture: who knows the most about servers in our org? - infrastructure: who will operate the server? Where: - architecture: does our architecture require centralized or distributed services? - infrastructure: what specific computers will we put in our Tokyo data center?
platform
a combination of hardware and software that form the basic system that hosts applications and services used by a business and others in its ecosystem (offer basic functionality); often both the operating system and the device (ex: MacBook); also refers to a specialized system for specific business applications (ex: sales force automation)
server based architecture
a decentralized architecture that uses numerous servers often located in different physical locations, at the backbone of the infrastructure
TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework)
a process for creating enterprise architecture; provides a process for architecture development taking managers from a more generic to a specific architecture for their organizations high level overview: four architectures --> business architecture, application architecture, data architecture, and technical architecture
Zachman
a taxonomy for organizing the design documents, models, and other artifacts of the architecture (a taxonomy for the artifacts of an enterprise architecture); way to categorize all the components needed to create an architecture high level overview: six descriptive foci for the architecture (data, function, network, people, time, and motivation) and six key player perspectives (planner, owner, designer, builder, subcontractor, and enterprise)
virtualization
a useful way to design architecture because it enables resources to be shared and allocated as needed by the user and makes maintenance easier because resources are centralized
Service-oriented architecture (SOA)
all computing power resides in the services offered and are accessed by the applications used by the organization - software is broken down into services "orchestrated" and connected to each other; together those services form an application for an entire business process; the services are often offered from multiple vendors on the Internet and are combined to form applications - cloud based architecture - used the be more agile (reusability and componentization can create new apps) and when the business is new and rapid app design is important
Wireless (mobile) infrastructure
allows communication from remote locations using a variety of wireless technologies
web services
another term for SaaS applications when delivered over the internet; applications delivered over the internet that IT developers can select and combine through almost any device, from personal computers to mobile phones
cloud computing
another term used to describe an architecture based on services provided over the Internet; based on the concept of virtual infrastructure
peer-to-peer
architecture that allows networked computers to share resources without needing a central server to play a dominant role
strategy drives _____ which drives _______
architecture which drives infrastructure
virtualization and cloud computing provide...
architectures for web-based delivery of services
bleeding edge technology
brand new technology; the competitive advantage it offers can be eroded by downtime and other problems resulting from untested situations, immature code, and other pioneering efforts with the tech
enterprise architecture is the
broad design that includes both IS architecture and the interrelationships in the enterprise --> specifies logic for the entire org --> identifies core processes, how they work together, how IT systems will support them, and the capabilities necessary to create, execute and manage them --> 4 common EAs are TOGAF, Zachman, FEA, and Gartner
4 configurations for IT architecture are...
centralized, decentralized, SOA (or web-based), and software-defined architectures
centralized architecture
everything purchased, stored, and managed centrally, usually in a data center, to eliminate the difficulties that come with managing a distributed infrastructure - a large central computer system runs all the applications and stores all data; typically the computer is housed in a data center and managed directly by the IT department; networking allows users to access remotely - mainframe architecture - used to make it easier to manage (all functionality located in one place) and when the business is highly centralized
IT infrastructure
everything that supports the flow and processing of information in an organization, including hardware, software, data, and network components; consists of components, chosen and assembled in a manner that best suits the plan and therefore enables the best overarching strategy --> what is actually used to create the IS
standardization
implementation of standars
cloud architecture
locate significant hardware, software, and possibly even data elements on the Internet
web-based architecture
locate significant hardware, software, and possibly even data elements on the Internet; offer greater flexibility when used as a source for capacity-on-demand
adaptability
means that the architecture should be able to handle expected technological advances, such as innovations in storage capacity, end-user devices, and computing power; both hardware and software should be considered when promoting adaptability
enterprise leaders increasingly have requests for..
new devices that employees want to connect to the corporate network; IT consumerization describes the trend to redesign corporate systems for smartphones, tablets, and other consumer-oriented devices
applications are increasingly being...
offered as services, reducing the cost and maintenance requirements for clients
virtual infrastructure
originally meant one in which a "virtual machine" or "virtual desktop system" was accessible to provide computing power; software was used to mimic some, or all, of the functions previously performed by hardware
apps
plug-ins to the platform that offer additional features and services; can be created by independent firms
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
policy allows employees to use their personal mobile devices and computers to access enterprise systems; issues such as capacity, security, and compatibility arise
IT architecture
provides a blueprint for translating business strategy into a plan for IS
utility computing
purchasing any part of the consumers' storage or processing infrastructure they need when they need it; company uses a 3rd party infrastructure to do its processing or transactions and pay only for what it uses
scalability
refers to how well an infrastructure component can adapt to increased, or in some cases decreased, demands; important technical feature because it means that an infrastructure or architecture will grow or shrink easily as the needs of the firm change
reuse
small chunks of functionality are often available for many applications in SOA
network
software and hardware components for local or long-distance networking; local includes switches, hubs, and routers; long distance includes cable, fiber, and microwave paths for communication and sharing data; can be private or public
system software
software responsible for the general operation of a computer system, including the operation of hardware, running application software, and file management (Microsoft Windows, Apple OSX, Linux)
Gartner
starts with an EA vision that involves all impacted leaders and gets alignment for where the business is going and from there the vision is translated into business, info, and technical architectures; an active process for creating an EA bringing business owners, technology implementers, and info specialists high level overview: uses an ongoing process of creating, maintaining, and revisiting the EA to keep it current and vital to the organization focused on the business strategy of where the business wants to go and how it will get there
abstract to concrete IT
strategy --> architecture --> infrastructure
from strategy to architecture to infrastructure
strategy --> goals --> business requirements for the goals --> architectural requirements for the business requirements --> ARCHITECTURE --> functional specifications (hardware, software, storage, interface, data, network, etc. specifications) --> INFRASTRUCTURE
legacy systems
systems in place before organizations transform to newer systems
standards
technical specifications that are expected to be followed throughout the infrastructure
Application Layer (EA)
the applications that support business processes, specifying relationships between processes and business applications
Capacity-on-demand
the availability of additional processing capability for a fee; allows them to use the web-available capacity as needed rather than purchasing additional computers to handle the larger loads
business layer (EA)
the common business organizations, strategies, functions, and models that describe how business is done and the important cross-functional business processes used in the business
maintainability
the ease and speed with which a system can be made to run correctly again after a failure occurs; an aspect of infrastructure and architecture that can greatly affect overall lifetime costs of the IT; key technical consideration because the complexity of these systems increases the number of things that can go wrong/need fixing/need replacing
data
the electronic representation of the numbers and text; main concern is the quantity and format of data and how it must be transferred from one piece of hardware to another or translated from one format to another
Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA)
the enterprise architecture of the US Federal Government, providing a common approach for agencies and organization to integrate strategic, business, and tech management of their IS; models, taxonomy, and processes originally created to build an enterprise architecture for the US govt. high level overview: five reference models --> business, service, components, technical, and data
information layer (EA)
the enterprise information assets used by business processes and enterprise applications; specifies physical storage and access for data such as operational and analytics data
technology layer (EA)
the hardware and software infrastructure, including IT standards, structures, and the plans for IT, which create the technical foundation for the organization
hardware
the physical components that handle computation, storage, or transmission of data
in the cloud
the processing, applications, and data are all hosted by a provider such as Amazon, Google, or other cloud services provider, and are not residing at a location owned by the manager's company (SOA architecture often referred to as...)
software
the programs that run on the hardware to enable work to be performed; usually divided into two groups which are system software and applications
while translating strategy into architecture and then infrastructure, it is important to know...
the state of any existing architecture and infrastructure, to weigh the current against future architectural requirements and strategic time frame, and to analyze the financial consequences of the various systems options under consideration; systems performance should be monitored on an ongoing basis
Software as a Service (SaaS)
the type of software used in SOA architecture; Software that is owned, delivered, and managed remotely and delivered over the Internet to contracted customers on a pay-for-use basis or as a subscription based on use metrics
the managers role is to understand how...
to plan IT to realize business goals; with this knowledge the manager can work with their tech team to translate business goals to IT architecture and identify appropriate infrastructure components
frameworks guide the...
translation from business strategy to IS design; this translation can be simplified by categorizing components into broad classes (hardware, software, network, data) which make up both IT architecture and infrastructure
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
using the cloud to provide infrastructure means that the cloud is essentially a large cluster of virtual servers or storage devices
