Application Architecture

This is a plan for an organization’s application systems. It includes plans for maintaining legacy applications and strategies for replacement, plans for new applications and their interfaces, awareness of how new technologies may impact existing and future applications, and plans to support the expected business growth. The application architecture plan must be flexible enough to be able to evolve with the business. BAs should consult with the application architecture team at the beginning of large projects to make sure that all work is done in alignment with the plan.

Technology Architecture

The technology architecture supports the application architecture by outlining the strategic direction for brands and types of hardware, software, operating systems, networks, programming language, database management system, etc. that will be used. By having a long-term plan, IT departments are better able to obtain beneficial purchasing and licensing agreements with vendors and plan for periodic upgrades of equipment. This “IT road map” often includes an inventory of an organization’s current equipment and software. This information is often useful during brainstorming for possible solutions. It is important to be aware of the available equipment when designing a solution.

Case in Point

An IT development team at an insurance company built a new client-server application for the company’s independent agents to replace an old mainframe system. The new software utilized GUI (graphical user interface) components like drop-down lists, radio buttons, and auto-fill data entry fields (where a user types the first letter in an entry field and the software lists options that begin with that letter, which the user can select to save keystrokes). The team was very proud of the new application and eagerly awaited rave reviews from the agents. Unfortunately, as the rollout of the software to the agents got started, the team realized that few of the agents had PCs that could utilize the new software. Agents were unwilling to replace their old equipment because of the expense, so the application had to be rewritten to work with the older equipment. A simple review of the current technology inventory would have saved thousands of hours of development time.

Security Architecture

The security architecture outlines the plan for ensuring security of corporate assets like databases and business rules. It also plans for the protection of application systems by specifying backup, restore, and recovery plans. The security architecture typically includes common elements like individual PC protection, network security, user access levels, and employee computer usage policies. BAs should include the security officer in their list of stakeholders for most projects. Security officers should be consulted early in new projects so that security can be built into a project rather than retrofitted later.

Communicating Strategic Plans

Unfortunately, in very large organizations (and sometimes even medium-size ones), corporate goals and direction are difficult to communicate well. Corporate executives may have spent days or weeks working through a strategic planning session to develop these goals and then try to communicate them to thousands of employees throughout the world in just a half-hour employee meeting. Most employees have never really thought about what their organization’s high-level goals might be, so when they hear them, they don’t really make an impression. An individual employee in a large organization may wonder: “How can I have an impact when I am just one of thousands and such a small piece of this huge puzzle?” This mentality is one of the true challenges of managing a large organization: communicating corporate strategy successfully.

An excellent BA works to see the organization from the perspective of the corporate executives. Work to learn as much as you can about the strategic plan and direction of the company. Truly listen at those company meetings and ask questions. And then think about how your projects, no matter how small, will support the strategic goals of the company. You impact the bottom line goals of the organization. Every employee does. The more aware you are of these goals, the more focused your work will be and the more on target your requirements elicitation will be. You will also help your stakeholders keep the correct perspective when they have conflicts about how to handle specific problem areas.