Enterprise Information Systems Architecture (ISA)Modeling Roadmap
Definitions
ISA domains & levels
ISA analysis techniques
Review questions
Definition 0: Information Systems Architecture in Enterprise Architecture
• ISA partly stems from and partly overlaps with Business Architecture
• The main contact point are Business Processes (BP)
• Indeed most requirements for ISA come from BP, e.g. what transactions and reports the information systems should process
• Therefore most requirements analysis techniques cover both BP and information analysis
2
Definition 1 : User Requirements (UR)
• ISA is based on User Requirements (UR) • UR reflect the needs of the users on three main
domains, namely • the interface of the users with a computer system
• the information the users handle
• the logic / rules and the flow of activities the users perform
• UR are a higher abstraction level of systems / processing requirements that are usually described by UML
Definition 3: User Needs (UN)
• “User Needs” (UN) are what users should get from a system• “User requirements” (UR) describe what the system should do
(hopefully consistently with needs) regardless its implementation
• There are some critical points in UN– Seldom users know what they want and even less frequently know
how to represent it in a useful form for software development – Therefore :
• Needs should be elicited i.e. the user should be guided to express his/her own view of needs
• Requirements should be obtained by transforming and/ or mapping of the user’s view in a systems analysis view
• Requirements should be compared against a best practice or reference model
• We call this approach «Functional analysis»
Definition 4: Functional Analysis (FA)
• Analysis: – Identification of the structure of an object or of a statement through the
decomposition of an object in smaller parts according to a predefined rule = structure
– Origin of term: it dates back to the “Analytica Priora”, where Aristotle introduces syllogistic method, argues for correctness, and discusses inductive inference.
• Information system: a system of functions that collect, process, store and distribute information
• Function: – An activity with an outcome – Example in Information Systems: “read”
• Functional analysis of information systems: – Scope: defines the functions of an information system according to a given
model – Purpose: defines what the system should do (i.e. the functions) regardless
the implementation technology
Definition 2 : Requirements analysis (Wikipedia 2012)
• In systems engineering and software engineering, encompasses those tasks that go into determining the needs or conditions to meet for a new or altered product, taking account of the possibly conflicting requirements of the various stakeholders, such as beneficiaries or users.
• It is an early stage in the more general activity of requirements engineering which encompasses all activities concerned with eliciting, analyzing, documenting, validating and managing software or system requirements.
• Requirements analysis is critical to the success of a systems or software project.
• Requirements should be documented, actionable, measurable, testable, traceable, related to identified business needs or opportunities, and defined to a level of detail sufficient for system design.
Enterprise Information Systems Architecture (ISA)Modeling Roadmap
Definitions
ISA domains & levels
ISA analysis techniques
Review questions
ISA modelling levels
Layer Target Notations Explanation
ASLAggregate StrategicLayer
Aggregate needs
List / Grid Needs are aggregate and expressed by simple notations, as grids or lists
RSLRich Semantic Layer
Detailed needs
Diagrams Specification languages
Needs are detailed and expressed by diagramsRSL is conceptual and neglects the implementation of requirements
SEI Software Engineering Interface
Software Diagrams Specification & programming languages
Transforms RSL into a notation targeting software engineersIn most cases such notation is executable.
ISA modelling domains
Domain Explanation Information Describes the structure and properties of the
information the system shall use (database) Process (workflow) Describes the workflow of the business
processes and related execution rulesUser interface Describes the user interface, through which
information is distributed to (or collected from) users.
The analysis should cover the aspects of the system the users perceive, that we term as “domains”.
ISA modelling grid
Analysis Layer
Analysis Domain
Information Business functions User Interface
ASL Business Information Models
Business models (e.g. financial mathematical models; KPI) Stakeholder / Goal
Oriented Conceptual Models
ESL Conceptual Information Models
UML & BPMN (flow intensive systems)
SEI Implementation Frameworks / Platforms
Implementation Frameworks / Platforms
GUI Implementation Frameworks/ Platforms
Enterprise Information Systems Architecture (ISA)Modeling Roadmap
Definitions
ISA domains & levels
ISA analysis techniques
Review questions
ASL / information: SIRE
• SIRE (Strategic Information Requirements Elicitation) is a catalog of the information domains of an enterprise.
• It uses a grid model, where information domains are layered into information levels, namely 1. master information
2. event information
3. analytic information
• Developed in University of Pavia (2008)
Information Domain
Information Level
Master Event Analysis
Domain 1
……
Domain n
Analysis Layer
Analysis DomainInformation Process User
Interface ASLRSMSEI
ASL / Process: GEF
• GEF (General Enterprise Framework) lists the activities of business processes (BP) at the respective layers: 1. Planning (e.g. Sales Planning)2. Execution (Proposal and
Selling tasks)3. Monitoring to check execution
workflow (where is the order of Mr. Smith?)
4. Control to appraise actual results (are we on budget?)
5. Information, to manage information collection, storage and distribution
• Developed in University of Pavia (2012)
Analysis Layer
Analysis DomainInformation Process User
Interface ASLRSMSEI
Layer Business Process Process 1 Process
…Process N
Planning Execution Monitoring Control Information
RSM / Information: ER & DFM
• ER (Entity Relationship) – Models information at a
conceptual level
– Not for analytic information
– Developed by Chen (1976)
• DFM (Dimensional Fact Model) – Models analytic information by
a specific notation.
– It is a conceptual technique
– Developed in University of Bologna (1998)
Analysis Layer
Analysis DomainInformation Process User
Interface ASLRSMSEI
RSM / Process: BPM & UML
• BPMN (Business Process Management Notation)– Models the flow of business
processes. – Typically a BPMN flow details a
GEF quadrant.
• UML-EP (Unified Modeling Language with the Erikson Penker estension) – It is a business oriented
extension of UML, – It adds models to represent the
flow of a Business Process – It supports the elicitation of Use
Cases and Candidate Database Entities
Analysis Layer
Analysis DomainInformation Process User
Interface ASLRSMSEI
RSM / User Interface : GOA
Analysis Layer
Analysis DomainInformation Process User
Interface ASLRSMSEI
• GOA (Goal Oriented Analysis) – The analyst identifies the
goals of each user class and the actions implied on the system
– Actions are candidate use cases
– It is a conceptual technique
– Developed in Politecnico di Milano (2004)
SEI level Analysis
Layer Analysis Domain
Information Process User Interface
ASLRSMSEI
• SEI (Software Engineering Interface) is the final transformation stage, into which conceptual notations are transformed into executable languages.
• Various modeling techniques – BPEL (Business Process
Executive Language) for workflow implementation
– UML (Unified Modeling Language) for object oriented development (Class Diagrams & Use Cases)
– Relational model for databases and data warehouses
Commerciale
Direttore Produzione
Calcola FabbisogniLordi
Calcolo CapacitàNecessaria Buy
Calcolo CapacitàNecessaria Make
Carica Previsioni
Conferma QuoteOrdinate
Imposta Previsioni
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Enterprise Information Systems Architecture (ISA)Modeling Roadmap
Definitions
ISA domains & levels
ISA analysis techniques
Review questions
Review questions
• Preliminary definitions – May an individual i belong to different classes A, B, C ? In which
case yes and in which not?– Consider a simple class e.g. a Volkswagen Golf
• What is an individual of Volkswagen Golf class?• What is a specialization of Volkswagen Golf?• Is Volkswagen Golf an aggregation of Engine, Car-body etc.?
– Describe the overall model taxonomy– Describe constructions types and interpretation of Model M*– Could you define a Model richer then M?
• Modeling grid – Which are the differences between User Needs and User
Requirements?– Define Levels and Domains of Functional Analysis in terms of
• Objectives • Modeling Level
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