Tài liệu Module 3: Characteristics of Information docx

In this module, you will learn about four categories of information that help to group information and to provide direction on the types of information that you should collect for the bu

Module 3: Characteristics of

Information

Module 1: Course Overview

Module 4: Gathering Information

Module 5: Analyzing

Information: Use Cases

and Usage Scenarios

Information Review

Module 3:

Characteristics ofInformation

In this module, you will learn about four categories of information that help to group information and to provide direction on the types of information that you should collect for the business challenge Next, you will learn about three sources of information that you can use when gathering information about each

of the four categories Finally, you will learn about two perspectives on information that you can use when you are looking at different sources and categories of information

After completing this module, you will be able to:

" Distinguish the four categories of information present in a set of information

" Generate a list, based on the three sources of information, from which to gather information on a business challenge

" Determine what information to look for, based on business and user perspectives, when investigating a business challenge

Slide Objective

To provide an overview of

the module topics and

objectives

A complete review of an enterprise architecture model is beyond the scope of this course Instead, you will use four descriptive categories from an enterprise architecture model to guide and classify the information you gather about a business The four categories you will learn about in this section are business, applications, information, and technology

In Activity 3.1, you will take information from the case study, break it down, and assign it to one of the four categories

Slide Objective

To provide an overview of

the section

Business

$ Goals and objectives

$ Organizational structure

$ Key business processes and activities

$ Relationships with customers and suppliers

$ Products and services

$ Relationship of all these elements

It is as important to gather information that explains why an individual does a task as it is to know the details of a task Each task should contribute to the core processes of the business in one way or another

As you gather information about a user’s tasks, determine the business reasons for each task An activity could possibly continue even after changes in the business processes make it irrelevant A new solution would not need to include the irrelevant activity

Information from the business category describes how the business works It describes the functions and the cross-functional activities that an organization performs Information from this category also describes the enterprise’s high-level goals and objectives, products and services, financial structures, integrated business functions and processes, major organizational structures, and the interaction of these elements It includes broad business strategies and plans for moving the organization from its current state to its future state

Look beyond obvious information for information about what drives the business For example, there may be political reasons, internal and external to the business, that influence policies and decisions

Slide Objective

To define the business

category

Lead-in

Information from this

category indicates how the

business works

Application

support the business processes

$ Identify redundancies

$ Identify opportunities for reuse

$ Provide guidelines for new applications and application models

The application category includes the services and functionality that may cross organizational boundaries and link users of different skills and functions to achieve common business objectives

Information in this application category describes the automated and nonautomated services that support the business processes It provides information on the interaction and interdependencies of the organization’s application systems

Automated business services can include complete applications, utilities, productivity tools, components, and code modules that allow for the analysis of information or task functionality It is not unusual to find different groups within an organization performing similar tasks by using different tools

Likewise, identical tasks are often repeated multiple times by using different tools

As you gather information about processes in the organization, investigate the different applications used to conduct company activities These existing applications or portions of these applications can provide core services for any new application-based solution It is more cost effective to reuse than to rebuild these services The information you gather will help to refine the business processes by indicating potential inefficiencies or redundancies

The application category provides information about the current use of systems and services You will also obtain indicators about future directions as you gather information from resources such as users and business documents

indicates the function of

automated systems and

how they work together

You can identify the information’s origin, ownership, and consumption

Tracking its access and use patterns provides the basis for making data distribution, replication, and partitioning decisions, as well as identifying what

is needed to establish standards and guidelines for replication, repositories, and data warehousing Often, the consumers of information are not adequately questioned to determine not only what information they need, but also what they do with the information when they have it

The relationship between key business processes and the information required

to perform these processes helps to set standards and guidelines for creating, retrieving, updating, and deleting information and data; for sharing critical documents and data; and for defining security levels and standards for access Realize that not all information is centralized or easy to access by each person

or system that needs the information Often, the information most critical to an organization resides not only in database servers, but also on the desktop computers that make up the active working environment of the business

Slide Objective

To define the information

category

Lead-in

The information category

provides users and the

business with the

information that they need to

run processes and

operations

Technology

to build and run the organization’s systems

specifications, hardware tiers, operating systems, and more

This category also provides information on the standards and guidelines that a business uses for acquiring and deploying workstation and server tools, base applications, infrastructure services, network connectivity components, and platforms

Technology provides the link between applications and information

Applications are created and based on different technologies They use technology to access information, which is stored by using various storage technologies

You can use information from the technology category to determine the standard interfaces, services, and application models to be used in development This information can translate into development resources for the project teams, including component/code libraries, standards documents, and design

guidelines This information can also provide a basis for an application’s design goals and constraints

Slide Objective

To define the technology

category

Lead-in

Information from this

category includes all of the

hardware, software,

technical support, and

standards and guidelines

needed to achieve the

business mission

Information that you gather that is relevant to the technology category will help you or others in the project team to assess the current technology base for the enterprise The specifications and requirements that you ascertain from information in the business, application, and information categories establish the constraints for evaluating and adopting new technologies You can use this information to assess:

" Overall functionality and effectiveness

" Reliability, as in availability, performance, and security

" Flexibility, dependencies, and manageability

" Overall efficiency or cost of ownership

Determining what technologies a business uses is important to improving current processes and developing a business solution

Activity 3.1: Identifying Categories of Information

In this activity, you will work in small groups to analyze the case study and find examples of a particular category

After completing this activity, you will be able to:

" Distinguish the four categories of information present in a set of information

Slide Objective

To introduce the activity

The larger the business, the more potential places to find information As you gather information, you will need to be your own detective to uncover relevant information that may not be readily apparent

In this section, you will learn about the sources of information: artifacts, systems, and people In Activity 3.2, you will look at the different sources of information found in the Ferguson and Bardell, Inc case study

Slide Objective

To provide an overview of

the section

Artifacts

Throughout a project, the project team may create its own artifacts Examples include project meeting notes, summaries of the information gathered within the business, and the vision document Some artifacts, such as meeting notes, may not be shown outside the project team, whereas a vision document or vision statement helps to communicate information to both the project team and stakeholders

Some artifacts may be easily observed throughout a business For example, employees keep frequently used artifacts around their work area Other artifacts may be kept in company file rooms or on computer media and are less visible Each can provide information about core business processes

Individuals in an organization may develop their own artifacts A user may create an instruction sheet for an application or process, for example, or an employee may outline how to accomplish a task through e-mail

correspondence These unofficial artifacts provide valuable information They indicate not only what people do in their daily work, but also what types of support information are lacking

You may require access to proprietary artifacts to conduct a thorough information review Use discretion in handling artifacts that are directly or indirectly part of the intellectual property that allows a business to compete in the marketplace

Slide Objective

To define an artifact and

provide examples

Systems

documents, actions, or items that function as a whole

$ Web-based airline reservations

$ Help desks

$ Bug tracking software

A system is a set of discrete processes that accomplishes a task or activity A system may be composed of subsystems Systems describe an element of the business that is performing an action

A system can be a tangible process, such as an inventory tracking system, or an intangible process, such as the undocumented methods that a manager uses to determine problems within the company

Systems indicate not only how a business conducts day-to-day activities, but may also indicate how individuals get around policies that impede daily tasks Systems can be complex because they can contain multiple subsystems As a source of information, they can contain many categories of information and it can take a long time to understand them completely Not all of the subsystems may be readily apparent Enlist an expert in the system when you are trying to understand it and break it down into subsystems

Slide Objective

To define systems and

provide examples

as to how the different activities in a business relate to each other

People provide invaluable insights into a business They are a source of the unwritten information about a business Take the time to identify the different roles that people perform in a business If you miss a particular group of people, you may miss information that is critical to understanding the core processes of

a business For example, a company may distribute its products through a party vendor The vendor may have a unique perspective on the efficiency of a business and its processes

third-Slide Objective

To define people in the

business and provide

examples

Activity 3.2: Identifying Sources of Information

As a class, you will generate examples of sources of information that you would investigate for the Ferguson and Bardell, Inc case study

After completing this activity, you will be able to:

" Generate a list, based on the three sources of information, from which to gather information on a business challenge

Slide Objective

To introduce the activity

In this section, you will learn about business and user perspectives In Activity 3.3, you will look at the information in the case study from both perspectives to determine the types of information that you need to gather from different sources

Slide Objective

To provide an overview of

the section and activity

$ Operations and support

The business perspective provides information that leads to the requirements necessary for ensuring the success of an organization’s goals and the efficiency

of its day-to-day operations The project team needs to keep this information in mind so that they develop a solution that is business driven, not technology driven

In this module, you learned about business, application, information, and technology as four categories of information These categories come from the enterprise architecture model and provide important information about the relationship between business and technology As you investigate artifacts, talk

to people and examine systems to determine what information they provide from each category Document the information so that as you create business solutions, you can also contribute to the development of the enterprise architecture for a business

Management oversees the day-to-day operations of different aspects of the business Managers work with core business processes, as well as with the systems and individuals that are part of the processes When gathering information, look for indications of whether processes are working properly and what information is available to explain problems or suggest improvements

A customer is the entity who funds and approves the final business solution The customer wants to know that the proposed business solution has an acceptable return on investment The customer must be able to justify the costs

of the solution within the business goals and activities

Slide Objective

To explain the business

perspective

Help desk personnel, information technology (IT) groups, and operations groups provide information about the technology of a business When gathering information, the project team needs to address existing conditions, such as security requirements or the ability of an application to scale with an increased number of users given the existing and planned technology infrastructure For example, the IT group may be planning an upgrade to the operating system for all users You will need to capture that information to properly propose and plan any applications the project team develops as part of the final business solution