Untitled

• Systems Integration and Architecture is the topic of the presentation, intended for IT224.
• The presentation is dated February 5th, 2025 and given by Ulrich Lee Uy from USTP - CITC.

Topics Covered

• Introduction to SIA
• System Architecture Frameworks
• Key Terminologies in SIA
• Understanding Organizations
• Project Life Cycle
• SDLC

System Integration

• A process of combining different subsystems or components into a single system that functions as a whole.
• Subsystems or components can be hardware, software, or a combination of both.
• It is important because it allows different systems to work together; this increases efficiency and reduces costs.
• It involves bringing together different components or subsystems into a single system.
• It ensures that all subsystems work together seamlessly and effectively.
• System Integration is critical to the success of any complex system.

Data Warehousing in System Integration

• Data from various sources such as CRM, Billing, ERP, and Flat Files go through ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) to a Data Warehouse.
• Data Warehousing: Extract, Transform and Load processes lead to Visualization, Reporting and Business Intelligence.

System Architecture

• System design includes its structure, behavior, and functionality.
• It is crucial because it determines the system's performance, scalability, and maintainability.
• System architecture reduces development costs, improves reliability, and ensures that the system meets its requirements.
• Overall design of a system.
• Describes the structure and behavior of the system.
• Includes the hardware, software, and other components of the system.

Client Server Architecture

• Client: Phone, PC and Laptop
• Server: Sends response and receives requests through a network.

Importance of System Integration and Architecture

• These help ensure systems are reliable, scalable, and maintainable.
• Without proper integration, systems can suffer from compatibility issues, leading to reduced efficiency and increased costs.
• Without proper architecture, systems can become unmanageable, making maintenance and upgrades difficult.
• It ensures that the system meets the requirements of the stakeholders.
• It improves the reliability and efficiency of the system.
• It enables better communication and collaboration among team members.
• It reduces the risk of project failure and costly rework.

Key Components of a System Architecture

• Hardware: physical components of the system.
• Software: programs and applications that run on the system.
• Communication protocols: rules for exchanging data between components.
• Data storage: where the system stores and retrieves data.
• Security: measures to protect the system from unauthorized access.

Types of System Integration

• Vertical integration: involves integrating systems at different levels of the same hierarchy, like hardware and software components.
• Horizontal integration: involves integrating systems at the same level of the hierarchy, like integrating different software applications.
• Hybrid integration: involves integrating systems at different levels of the hierarchy and may use different technologies.

System Architecture Frameworks

• This helps to design a system's architecture.
• Frameworks includes Zachman Framework, EA, TOGAF, and DoDAF.
• These provide a structured approach to designing a system's architecture and helps ensure that all aspects of the system are considered.

Key Terminologies in SIA

• System: An array of components designed to accomplish a particular objective according to plan.
• System Integration: The combination of inter-related elements to achieve a common objective(s).
• System Architecture: The architecture of a system defines its high-level structure, exposing its gross organization as a collection of interacting components.
• Elements needed to model a software architecture: Components, Connectors, Systems, Properties, and Styles.
• Systems Thinking: A way of understanding an entity in terms of its purpose, involving three steps.

Three Major Steps in Systems Thinking

• Identify a containing whole (system) of which the thing to be explained is a part.
• Explain the behavior or properties of the containing whole.
• Explain the behavior or properties of the thing to be explained in terms of its role(s) or function(s) within its containing whole (Ackoff, 1981).
• Application Programming Interface (API): A set of protocols, routines, and tools for building software and applications, specifying how different software components should interact with each other.
• Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA): A design pattern that organizes software components into services that can be accessed by other components through well-defined interfaces.
• Microservices Architecture: A variant of SOA that emphasizes building small, independent services that can be deployed and scaled independently.
• Enterprise Service Bus (ESB): A middleware infrastructure that enables communication and integration between disparate software applications and services.
• Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM): A type of middleware that supports the exchange of messages between different software components, providing reliable and asynchronous communication.
• Enterprise Application Integration (EAI): The process of integrating multiple applications and systems within an organization to achieve seamless data exchange and workflow automation.
• Business Process Management (BPM): Practice of analyzing and improving business processes to increase efficiency, productivity, and agility.
• Cloud Computing: A model for delivering computing resources (e.g., servers, storage, databases, software, and analytics) over the internet on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Understanding Organizations

• Basic Organizational Structures: structure refers to the way an organization arranges its lines of authority, communications, and tasks to achieve its objectives.
• The functional structure is a hierarchical arrangement of employees by functional areas (accounting, marketing, engineering, etc.). Each area is led by a manager who reports to a higher-level manager and is best suited for large organizations with defined tasks. The divisional structure is where the company is divided into smaller, self-contained units with their functional areas and a divisional manager responsible for all aspects of the division.
• Suited for geographically dispersed companies.
• The matrix structure is a hybrid structure that combines the functional and divisional structures, with employees organized into teams or projects that are cross-functional and cross-divisional.
• Communication flows vertically and horizontally within the team.
• This structure is best suited for complex projects.
• The teams are put together based on the number of members needed to produce the product or complete the project, assuring the right members are chosen to participate in the project.
• Formal organization can be analyzed using 4 frames: Structural, Human Resources, Political and Symbolic.

What is a Project?

• A temporary endeavor undertaken to accomplish a unique product or service.

Attributes of Projects

• Unique purpose.

• Temporary.

• Requires resources, often from various areas.

• Has a primary sponsor and/or customer.

• Involves uncertainty.

• Projects come from problems, opportunities, and directives which is always subject to one or more constraints. Problems: Undesirable situations that prevent the business from achieving its purpose, goals, and objectives which is discovering issues from existing information systems.

• Opportunities: Chance to improve business by creating system with increasing its revenue, diminishing negative costs.

• Directives: New requirements that are imposed by management, government, or some external influence by mandates.

• Projects must operate in a broad organizational environment.

• Project managers need to take a holistic or systems view of a project and understand how it is situated within the larger organization.

Project Stakeholders

• Stakeholders: the people involved in or affected by project activities.
• Stakeholders: the project sponsor and project team, support staff, customers, users, suppliers, opponents of the project.
• Project managers must take time to identify, understand, and manage relationships with all project stakeholders.
• Senior executives are very important stakeholders.
• According to the Standish Group's report, the following items help IT projects succeed, in order of importance: Executive support, User involvement, Experienced project manager, Clear business objectives, Minimized scope, Standard software infrastructure, Firm basic requirements, Formal methodology and Reliable estimates.

Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle

• A project life cycle is a collection of project phases and varies by project or industry.
• General phases: Concept, development, implementation, and support phases.
• Phases of the Project Life Cycle: Project Feasibility and Project Acquisition.

Example of Project Life Cycle

• Project Initiation: defined and authorized, feasibility study, goals and objectives of the project are established, the project manager is appointed, and the project team is assembled.

• Project Planning:Detailed project plan is created, project plan scope, timeline, the budget, and the resources required.

• Project Execution: performing of plans, the project team implements the plan that was created.

• Project Monitoring and Control: ensuring that the project it's progressing according to plan and project manager and the team track the project's progress.

• Project Closure: project is closed out after the manager and the team conduct a post-project review to evaluate the success of the project, lessons learned are documented.

• Products also have product life cycles.

• The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a framework for describing the phases involved in developing and maintaining information systems.

• SDLC Systems development projects can follow predictive models: the scope project can be clearly articulated and the schedule and cost can be predicted with Adaptive models.

• Adaptive models: projects are mission driven and component based, using time-based cycles to meet target dates.

• Predictive Life Cycle Models:

  • The waterfall model has linear stages of systems development and support.
  • The spiral model shows that software is developed using an iterative.
  • Spiral approach and the incremental release model provides for progressive development of operational software.
  • The prototyping model is used for developing prototypes to clarify user requirements.
  • The RAD model is used to produce systems quickly without sacrificing quality.

• Adaptic Life Cycle Models:

  • Extreme Programming (XP): Developers program in pairs and must write the tests for their own code,XP teams include developers, managers, and users.
  • Scrum: A sprint lasts normally in thirty days, teams meet every day after for a short meeting, called a scrum, to decide what to accomplish that day.
  • It also best works for object oriented technology projects and requires strong leadership to coordinate the work.
  • The project life cycle applies to all projects, regardless of used products.
  • Product life cycle models vary considerably based on nature of product.
  • Large IT systems are developed as a series of projects.
  • Project management is done in all of the product life cycle phases.
  • A project should pass through project phases in order to continue on to the next. Management reviews: phase exits and kill points evaluating project progress and evaluating organization and goals.

SDLC

• Identifying problems, opportunities, objectives.
• Determining information requirements.
• Analyzing system needs.
• Designing the recommended system.
• Developing and documenting software.
• Testing and maintaining the system.
• Implementing and evaluating the system.