Information Architecture Impact Analysis

Applications

• Used to compare and contrast the differences between the information architectures before and after redesign or reengineering.
• Determines the relevant areas of the architecture that need to be addressed during implementation of the solutions.

1. Compare the previous data architecture to the new data architecture.
2. Compare the previous activity architecture to the new activity architecture.
3. Compare the various involvement matrices of business functions, entity types, and organization before and after the changes.
4. Determine actions required, as part of implementation planning.

After the activity work flow has been reengineered, a list of information requirements should have been documented. From this list, apply the Entity Relationship Diagramming technique and an appropriate Process Modeling technique to produce a future- oriented information architecture. Compare this new architecture with the representation of the current situation. Alternatively, from the list of information requirements, take a copy of the current data and activity models, and add and delete entity types and activities, as required, to support the new reengineered environment. For example, if one reengineered solution deals with the elimination of invoices and payment to vendors upon receipt of materials, the current activity model should be adjusted to reflect the new way of paying vendors and the current data model should be updated to reflect the elimination of invoices.

Typically, a number of activities are eliminated, and information requirements change, as a result of reengineering. In addition, the process of invention (which is at the core of reengineering) often creates new activities to support improved customer satisfaction, improved operations, or new business initiatives and ventures. These changes must be reflected in the information architecture.

The differences between the activities, data, the interaction between the two, and the organizations that will be effected by the changes will help determine the priority and course of implementing process redesign or reengineering. After the information architecture is analyzed and updated through the application of this technique, the business systems architecture (systems and databases) and the technical architecture (hardware, software, networks, and communications) should also be analyzed for impact. Current systems and databases also need to be reviewed to determine transitions options.

Based on each of these analyses, identify actions which need to be built into the implementation strategy and plan.

Example