Architecture Services

 

Enterprise Architecture

Enterprise Architecture - A Governance Framework: Part I - Embedding Architecture into the Organization

While the dimensions of defining an enterprise architecture model - business, information, application and technical - have been fairly well established over the last few years, there is much less clarity on how to govern enterprise architecture. Our experience indicates... that governance is not only more difficult to get right, but also determines the impact of the architecture team to a far greater degree. We describe and manage this governance along six dimensions.

Enterprise Architecture - A Governance Framework: Part II - Making Enterprise Architecture Work within the Organization

We examine why making enterprise architecture work means more than just developing the right content. It requires a defined governance framework, which is the key to effective enterprise architecture. Infosys' governance framework helps organizations... assess their performance and chart a continuous improvement course that deepens the impact of their EA program and ensures that it delivers the promised business value.

Over-Engineering Enterprise Architecture and Business Competitiveness

Evolving models such as outsourcing and collaboration and an increasing number of mergers and acquisitions have made planning the corporate IT landscape more challenging and competitive. While technology is helping businesses become more competitive,... businesses are now more demanding than ever before. Enterprises that lack an agile IT infrastructure may well bid farewell to global markets.

This article appeared in the SETLabs Briefings on 'Enterprise Architecture & Business Competitiveness' (Oct-Dec, 2004). Performance Engineering and Enhancement

Performance Review of COTS-Based System Architecture

Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software creates software systems to address business requirements quickly and cost-effectively. The time and money saved on development is wasted if the evaluation of the... system is deferred, which leads to performance issues. To manage these issues, Infosys' experts propose a review of the architecture from a performance perspective. It will identify and resolve performance issues early in the lifecycle. This white paper covers critical areas of COTS-based systems that must be reviewed in such an exercise.

Recommendations for Performance Benchmarking

Performance benchmarking of applications, prior to deployment, is growing in importance. This paper covers recommendations and best practices that can be adopted for performance benchmarking.

Performance Engineering and Global Software Development

The need to achieve system performance in a way that reduces risk and improves cost-effectiveness and time-to-market for performance-critical systems is one of the principal goals of IS organizations. It requires a holistic and quantitative approach to performance,... without compromising on other system qualities such as flexibility, maintainability, reliability and usability. Infosys has put into practice such an approach by combining practices in performance engineering with client delivery experience. Adapted to ensure collaboration among globally distributed application development teams, it combines performance modeling with benchmarking, tuning and optimization to deliver high-performance systems.

Maximizing Returns on IT Investment with End-to-End Performance Management

Companies, in their quest to enhance operational efficiency, develop additional functionality through customizations and new product deployments. This results in development and deployment of application silos and at times, additions to hardware.... Such additions lead to unmanageable application / infrastructure with little focus on performance. We propose an end-to-end focus on performance management to maximize returns on existing investments by optimizing IT infrastructure.

Should Performance be an Integral Part of the SDLC?

Poorly performing IT applications are bleeding companies by up to US$ 60 billion a year. Diagnosing, fine-tuning and fixing poorly performing applications is both a science and an art that can produce great dividends.

This article appeared in the SETLabs Briefings on 'Enterprise IT Perspectives' (Oct - Dec, 2006).

Enterprise Application Performance Management: An End-to-End Perspective

Performance management of enterprise applications is the key to maximizing returns on IT investment. With rapidly evolving technology, continued improvements in performance management and establishing baseline metrics is important to the sustenance of key infrastructure elements.

This article appeared in the SETLabs Briefings on 'Enterprise IT Perspectives' (Oct - Dec, 2006).

Designing Global Applications: Requirements and Challenges

This paper explores various business drivers for globalization and examines the nature of globalization requirements for software products and applications. It discusses the typical globalization challenges that must be addressed before building global applications. Service Oriented Architecture

SOA: The Missing Link between Enterprise Architecture and Solution Architecture

Enterprise architecture (EA) ensures business-IT alignment. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) bridges the gap between business and IT through well defined, business aligned services...

The objectives of EA and SOA are quite similar. However, while EA is a framework that covers all dimensions of enterprise IT architecture, SOA provides an architectural strategy that uses the concept of a 'service' as the underpinning business-IT alignment entity. This article highlights the dependencies between an EA framework and an SOA strategy from an artifact point of view.

This article appeared in the SETLabs Briefings on 'Implementing Service Oriented Architecture' (Apr - Jun, 2007).

SOA: A Perspective on Implementation Risks

Enterprises are gravitating towards service-oriented architecture (SOA) to re-design their IT for the future. As with all other technologies, the adoption of SOA involves risks. These risks often manifest themselves during an SOA solution implementation and... arise primarily due to insufficient detailing in the design of the SOA. This paper identifies some of the risks across different viewpoints of an overall SOA-based enterprise architecture. Awareness of these risks can help designers and architects adopt appropriate measures to continuously evaluate and mitigate them.

Manage SOA Transformation Effectively with a Technology Competency Center

As SOA momentum is picking up in the industry, more and more companies are adopting SOA on a large scale. As companies focus on real-world implementations, they are realizing there are impediments to a successful SOA adoption and growth.... SOA is not just about integration at a platform or an application level, it is a cultural change within the organization about how traditional business-IT interaction happens and a paradigm shift from IT as a 'technology provider' to IT as a 'business enabler'.

This article appeared in the SETLabs Briefings on 'Service Oriented Architecture' (Jan - Mar, 2007).

Adopting Service-Oriented Architecture Increases the Flexibility of Your Enterprise

Information technology systems used to last for a long time. Organization restructuring was uncommon, as business did not demand it. But with ever-shrinking business cycles, IT must quickly adapt to changing business needs. Present-day IT systems must be built to change... and organizational structure and culture must reflect this change for efficiency. The modern-day enterprise demands its resources - technology, people and processes - should be plug-and-play ready to help it to become an agile enterprise.

This paper discusses how Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) enables flexibility in the enterprise, leading to quicker adoption of business opportunities and consequently, increased revenues.

Service-Oriented Architecture: Look Beyond the Myths to Succeed

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) has been on the IT industry's radar as it offers the promise of a flexible IT architecture. However, certain misconceptions persist about SOA and skepticism about its effectiveness is widespread.... This paper debunks some of the misconceptions and suggests steps for successful SOA implementation.