WEEKLY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER FIVE- Enterprise Architecture

1. What is information architecture and what is information infrastructure and how do they differ and how do they relate to each other? 

 

Information architecture identifies where and how important information is maintained and secured or used within an organisation. It is the plan of configuring IT depending on what type of business it is (brick and mortar or click and mortar).

Information infrastructure  is the actual nuts/ bolts- software, hardware, people, services, involved in implementing the architecture including; physical computer equipment. It is the actual implementation that will provide for effective Information Systems.

Rosenfield and Morville  (2002) compares this to the architecture of a building. They explain that it is:

• ·        The combination of organisation, labelling and navigation schemes with an information system

• ·        “The structural design of an information space to Facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content.” (Rosenfield and Morville  2002)

• ·        Structuring and classifying websites and intranets to mange people and information

• ·        Bringing principals of design and architecture into a digital landscape

Rosenfield and Morville  (2002) explain that it has so many definitions because it is a wide and complex concept.

Reference:  Rosenfield, L and Morville, P, Information Archetecture. Avaliable at http://books.google.com.au/books?id=OM3DvakML-MC&printsec=frontcover&dq=information+architecture&source=bl&ots=D8Mk6boh5k&sig=w9s-31GsCFkIiIkitM5Zyh7WwdQ&hl=en&ei=x8-OTLSCLs-5cf_DnLAM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CEcQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false Viewed 10 September 2010.

  

2. Describe how an organisation can implement a solid information architecture 

·     ·  

·         A. Adequate Back up and recovery systems-  which restore lost data and allow users to have confidence in your system

B. Disaster recovery- plan that says how you will deal in the events of a catastrophic disaster

C. Use of Authentication(method for confirming users' identity)/ authorisation (the process of giving someone permission to have or do something)- to ensure that information is secure

D. Be able to prove systems are safe
E. To have enough security to stop unauthorised users from accessing and changing the content.

3. List and describe the five requirement characteristics of infrastructure architecture. 

Flexibility-systems can cope with new languages, currencies, new products/ business, can adapt to meet changing demands.

Scalability- needs to be scalable to start with, ability to meet growth requirements.

Reliability- accurate info, you must be able to rely and have confidence in the system

Availability- it has information available all the time, ensures business continuity

Performance- speed at which systems can respond to users. 

Here is a picture of one with all of the above qualities:

4. Describe the business value in deploying a service oriented architecture 

SOA is a business driven IT architectural approach that supports integrating a business as linked, repeatable tasks or services. It Ensures that IT systems can adapt quickly, economically and with ease to support changing business needs. SOA is able to increase businesses flexibility in processes & strengthen IT architecture. It is able to reuse exisiting IT investments by creating connections among disparate applications and information sources.

Here is a link to a video that further explains this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbd_1G8Kqjs

 5. What is an event? 

Events detect threats and opportunities and alert those who can act on the information. It is repetitive & happens often such as credit checks, new user, etc. It involves using IT systems to monitor a business process for events that matter such as a low stock alert in a warehouse and it automatically alerts the people best equipped to handle the issue.

6. What is a service?

 A Service contains a set of related commands that can be reused, it is more like a software product than they are a coding project. to approve customer. They must appeal to the broad audience.

 7.What emerging technologies can companies can use to increase performance and utilise their infrastructure more effectively?

 a. Virtualisation-a framework of dividing the resources of a computer into multiple execution environments

b. Virtual machines- type of computer application used to create a presentation of more than one operating system from within one computer. 

c. Grid computing- an aggregation of geographically dispersed computing, storage, and network resources, coordinated to deliver improved performance, higher quality of service, better utilization and easier access to data.