Transcript Transforming to a Flexible Architectural Framework

Transforming to a Flexible
Architectural Framework
Presentation to the
IPMA
by Milestone Technology
March 20, 2002
" A flexible architecture should be the
cornerstone of I.T. planning. This will set
the stage for defining a better return on
investment. It will allow us to invest
incrementally to keep pace with future
technology changes. "
Rep. Glen Anderson
Objectives
Harvest the gold from emerging trends and
lessons learned
 Reap the benefits from understanding about
more flexible options
 Plant the seeds for transforming into more
flexible solutions
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Agenda
Door 1: The Usual Chaos (introduction)
Door 2: Extracting the Gold (case example)
Door 3: Reflecting on the Harvest (models)
Door 4: Reaping the Benefits (synthesis)
Door 1
The Usual Chaos
(introduction)
Where Have We Been?
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1970-1980: Mainframes
1980-1988: “ + PCs
1988-1996: “ + “ + Internet
1997-1999: “ + “ + “ + e-Commerce
1998-2000: “ + “ + “ + “ + solved Y2K
2000-2002: “ + “ + “ + “ + Wireless+ Portals
2002-2050: “ + “ + “ + “ + “ + “ + “ + “ +” . . . .
The complexity keeps growing!
Emerging Trends I
What vendors are saying:
 Use our new tools.
 Use portals.
 Use web services.
Emerging Trends II
What commentators are saying:
 Business continuity challenges ahead.
 Emerging technologies, like web services, are
good in theory but haven’t stood the test of time.
Emerging Trends III:
What analysts are saying:
 Manage your portfolio.
 Control your costs.
Today: Top Challenges:
Integration
 I.T. Resources
 Funding
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Today: Top Risks
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Inability to satisfy constantly growing customer
expectations
Security
Funding
State of the State’s
Systems
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Hybrids- Mainframes + Client Server +
Intranet/Internet Apps
Some data warehousing efforts underway.
Some transformation efforts underway
Common activity: backend mainframe with front
ends migrating to web (typical plan for the future).
Recognizing need for managing complexity.
Lessons Learned
Demand/complexity continually increasing
 Not changing is a greater risk than changing
 Security risks appear to be increasing faster
than solutions
 Standardization works
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A Business Problem
Continuously growing demand—rapidly evolving
technology—decreasing funding—lack of
resources—additional layers of complexity—
security issues….
CHAOS
How do we effectively manage in this environment?
Door 2
Extracting the Gold
(a case example)
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Drivers
ID
The Drivers
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Opportunity Capture
Strategic Positioning
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The Department of Printing was faced with the
problem of tracking employee time via paper
timesheets and then manually entering this into the
State payroll system.
Legacy COBOL code was used for management
reporting and general ledger processing.
The system was old, time consuming, and it was
difficult to change and keep in sync with the
business.
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Drivers
ID
Immersion Analysis
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Opportunity Capture
Strategic Positioning
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Milestone staff were involved in understanding the
business and culture so that designs would reflect
what was needed specifically for the Printers.
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Drivers
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Strategic Problem ID
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Opportunity Capture
Strategic Positioning
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Providing accurate and timely management
reports to monitor cost centers was difficult.
When staff changed, organizations changed, or
voluntary deductions changed, the COBOL
programs would need to be modified.
Technical staff with the proper mainframe skills
did not exist.
Flexible Framework
JumpStart
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Business Rule Mining
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Flexible Design
Flexible Framework Positioning
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The business rule mining process includes
four essential steps:
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4.
Ensure that you have the all of the components
in the application
Understand the data associated with the
application (model the data)
Understand the process flow (model the
processes)
Extract the rules
Flexible Framework
JumpStart
Point
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Business Rule Mining
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Bu
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Flexible Design
Flexible Framework Positioning
Presentation
Straight
Constraint
Transition
Computation
Derivation
Rule
Stimulus/
Response
Process
Security/Audit
Inference
Modeling the business rules
Requirements Management Plan
 Use Case Models
 Data Models or Class and state transition
models
 Interaction Diagrams showing main players
and their collaborations
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Flexible Framework
JumpStart
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Visual Models
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Flexible Design
Flexible Framework Positioning
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The project then validated the business rules and
made design choices for the future system.
Developed Use Case models to show the
interaction between the actors and the system.
Used Visio to show the high-level architecture.
Used Dreamweaver to show screens.
Used visual tools to show and model data
structures.
Flexible Framework
JumpStart
Point
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Flexible Design
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Bu
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Flexible Design
Flexible Framework Positioning
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The User Interface used templates so that look and
feel could be standardized.
The relational database allowed for a data
structure that supported the business better.
Business rules implemented so they could be
changed easily.
Business and Technical staff could be used to
modify the system.
Built a portable solution.
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Generate/Test/Go Live
Go Live
Transformation Project
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Dreamweaver provides a strong tool that allows
for working in design mode and having code
generated.
Much of the tedious coding was eliminated.
Access allowed migration to a SQL database.
Test
Go Live
Outcomes
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Wrap up
Go Live
Transformation Project
Solved the problems
 Captured the opportunity
 Created flexibility
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Outcomes
Door 3
Reflecting on the Harvest
(models)
Flexibility in design options improves cost-benefit
decisions and final results
Driving this flexibility into the fabric of your
framework empowers you to transform
effectively and efficiently
New stimulating activities are
expressions of your model framework
Results from these activities further
enhance your model framework
Door 4
Reaping the Benefits
(synthesis)
Architecture Framework
Business
Architecture
Drives
Feedback,
measurements
Information
Architecture
Prescribes
Requirements,
Design,
Standards
Application and
Data Architecture
Is Supported by
Technology Architecture- Hardware, Software,
Communications
A complete set of defining
elements...
Architecture Management and Ownership
Principles and standards
Business Blueprints
Information design
People
Technology Investments
Software engineering practices and tools
Customers and Partners
Industry Trends and Offerings
Resources Management Plan
Principles & Standards
Articulated with a purpose...
People and
Skill sets
Information
Design
Design Models
Access Models
Deployment Models
Performance Models
Business
Blueprint
s
Practices/Tools
Partners
Customers
Citizens
Governments
Suppliers
Regulatory
commitments
Methods and
Guidelines,
Development
Environments and tools,
Code analyzers, Case
Tools
Technology Investments (Hardware, Middleware,
Software platforms)
For creating flexible solutions.
Centered around the expression of business
rules
 Building platform independence
 Solid business justification
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Engineering the Business Rules
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Identifying and modeling the business rules in a
systemic way to their most atomic level
Creating secure links between the modeled rules
and their implementing constructs
Establishing custodianship and evolution policies
and practices
Digging into the main ‘veins’ of the existing
applications and data constructs in order to extract
the business rules.
Key Targets in Information
Design
Build visual models
 Implement in one place- deploy with a plan!
 Ensure that you make patterns known and
shareable to the development teams
 Design security as its own layer
 The n-tier architecture (presentation logic,
business logic, data access logic) is still a
good way to go
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What’s in it for me?
Real, validated business rules
 As much independence as possible from
technology decisions
 Common simple modeling technique for IT
people that can leverage their current skills
 Faster, better, cheaper software
development process.
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The $ Value
Case study on 10 year costs – simple business function implementation
$4,493, 500
43 redundant application programs and files
$171,500
Single program and database file
Source: Extract from FEAF, Larry English, 1999 Information Impact
Summary Check-In
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A Flexible Framework expands your options.
Business rule mining provides a key that opens the
door to these options.
Using this key, transformation becomes a cost
beneficial option.
Time to Harvest Your Own Gold!
Question and Answers
Thank you.
For additional information or questions please
contact:
Milestone Technology
203 4th Ave East Suite 321
Olympia, WA 98501
360-786-9173
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.milestone-tech.com