02/12/00 E-Business Architecture
John TullisDePaul [email protected]
E-business solutions allow an organization to leverage web technologies to re-engineer business processes, enhance communications and lower organizational boundaries with their customers and shareholders (across the Internet), employees and stakeholders (across the corporate Intranet) and its vendors suppliers and partners (across its Extranet)
e-business Solutions
E-business Architectures leverage web technologies to implement mission critical e-business applications. These architectures use clients that have small footprints to access services provided by resource managers and accessed across a strong and reliable network. These clients can be browsers running on PCs or network devices, PDAs, Cell Phones and other Pervasive Computing devices.
e-business Architecture
Thin Client e-business architectures that support these solutions are based upon web technologies across a network
e-business Architecture
CharacteristicsThin - Small FootprintPortableOS IndependentProtocol Independent
CharacteristicsControl Logical Unit of WorkReusable ComponentsProtocol Independent
Presentation Application Services
Client
CharacteristicsReuse Legacy CodePlatform Specific CodeProtocol Independent
Resource Managers
Resource Manager
Resource ManagerApplication Service
ResponsibilitiesPresent data to usersValidate Input dataVerify data types (valid dates,
valid numeric and alpha data etc.)Use appropriate Application
Services to access and update data
ResponsibilitiesPerform Business Logic (Calculations,
Edits, Business Rules)Access data from Resource ManagersPerform Distributed TransactionsEncapsulate Business constructs
ResponsibilitiesStore and Retrieve data from
data sources.Perform sorting, filtering and
selective data retrievalEliminate any platform
dependent issues such as data types, field misuse etc.
Application Service
Application Service
Client/Server Architectures Thin Client Architectures
Reach Within a Department or Enterprise Across Departments, Enterprises, Geographic and
National borders
Architecture Topology Deployed using a 2-tier, 3-tier or n-tier architec-
ture
Deployed using thin client architecture with clients
connected to n backend tiers
Client Hardware Deployed on client workstations that are typi-
cally personal computers
Deployed on workstations that could be PCs, Net-
work Computers, PDAs, VRUs, and Set top
devices
Server Hardware One or more servers connected to backend
applications
One or more web servers with additional compo-
nents such as web application servers added as
needed
Network LAN or WAN based LAN, WAN, Private Virtual Networks, Internet,
Leased Lines and Dial-up connections
Standards Typically proprietary technologies such as Vis-
ual Basic and Powerbuilder
Open Technologies
Programming Model Processing is split between client and server.
Clients use an event driven programming
model and manage session state
Most of the processing is done by the server. The
clients use an event driven programming model
but the session state is managed by the server
Number of Users In the 10s of users, 100s for large scale appli-
cations
Difficult to predict – could be in the 100s, 1000s or
millions based on the success of the web site
e-business Architecture Characteristics
The e-business architecture is more than just a collection of technologies and products. It consists of several architectural models and is much like a city plan in that it defines blueprint that will meet current and future needs of a diverse user population and will adapt to changing business and technology requirements.
e-business ArchitectureDefinition
The key elements that help influence an e-business architecture include:
The overall e-business Strategy of the organization
Business Drivers such as Time to Market, One-to-one customer service etc.
The Current IT Environment IT Vision, Objectives and Strategies Organizational Constraints – Staff,
Budgets, Risk Tolerance etc. New and Emerging Technologies
e-business ArchitectureKey Influencers
Business Vision,
Objectives and Strategies
IT Vision, Objectives and
Strategies
Existing IT Environment
New and Emerging
Technologies
E-business Architecture
Phase n - DeliverableUser Interface
Information Architecture
Content Management
Functional Model
Operational Model
Data Architecture
Security Architecture
Systems Management Architecture
Phase 2 DeliverableUser Interface
Information Architecture
Content Management
Functional Model
Operational Model
Data Architecture
Security Architecture
Systems Management Architecture
Phase 1 DeliverableUser Interface
Information Architecture
Content Management
Functional Model
Data Architecture
Security Architecture
Systems Management Architecture
User Interface
Information ArchitectureContent Management
Functional Model
Data Architecture
Security Architecture
Systems Management Model
IndividualTasks (screen or set of screens)
Business Functions
e-business Architecture Models
Operational/Systems Mgt. Architecture
Security Architecture
FunctionalArchitecture
DigitalBranding
&UI
Design
InformationArchitecture
Co
nte
nt
Man
agem
ent
Dat
a A
rch
itec
ture
How do you manageand administer theinfrastructureand the application
What are the security and privacyRequirements for theinfrastructureand application
Developing a new brand or extending a strong brand to the online environment
Creating the look and feel of the e-businessSolution
What informationneeds to be madeavailable, towhom, and how?
Where is theinformation stored, how is it accessed andhow is data integritymaintained?
What types of content, how is it maintained, published anddistributed
What is theBusinessfunctionality thatneeds to beprovided by the solution?
Digital Branding• The key components of the Digital
Branding effort include:
Developing an online Brand
Extending a strong brand across multiple channels – paper, print, media and the Internet
Developing guidelines for representing the brand across the web
User Interface & Usability
• The key components of the Usability: Site navigation Experience with screen
interaction Impact of personalization Human interface factors (color,
size, font, etc.) Use case modeling impact
Information Architecture
The key questions that are addressed by an information architecture are: What data are made available to users? Who are the users who can accesses the information? What roles do these users play when they access the
information? What do they need the information for? – Understand the
context How do they access the information? – Browser, PDA, GUI,
VRU etc. The Information Architecture drives how data and information
are stored and accessed within the e-business solution
Content Management
ContentManagement
ContentCreation
ContentPublishing
ContentDistribution
The key questions that need to be addressed by the content management architecture are:
Identify types of content
Who owns and manages the content?
Expiration date for the content
The process and the workflows needed to manage the content
How is the content developed and published
How is the content distributed
the structure and modularity of the software components (both application and technical)
interactions between components, including protocols
the interfaces provided by components, and their usage
dynamic behavior, expressed as collaborations between components
Functional Architecture
The Functional Architecture should focus on describing the function of the IT system and is primarily concerned with:
Data Architecture
what data needs will be accessed ? why is the data accessed ? where is the data located ? what is the currency of the data ? how will we maintain data integrity ? what is the data relationship between data displayed &
stored? how can we provide round the clock availability when
the backend systems and databases are not available on a 24x7 basis?
The Data Architecture includes a thorough analysis of:
Security Architecture
Authentication
Privacy
InformationIntegrity
Nonrepudiation
PKI
IntrusionImmunity
BoundaryServer
PolicyManager
Firewalls, proxies and other services to protect the application
Encryption Services needed to ensure the integrity of the information
Services required to allow the information to hold up in a court of law
Establish adequate privacy requirements and guidelines for the application
Virus detection and protection, spam filters etc.
Public Key InfrastructureServices
Services to validate you are who you say you are
Systems Management Architecture
all the nodes within the architecture manageable from local and remote locations based on standards and extensible to support new technologies include support for systems administration, systems
management, and software configuration management
The Systems Management Aspect should cover:
Systems Management Architecture
representing network organization (hardware platforms, locations, topology, etc.)
what runs where - where software and data are ‘placed’ on this network
satisfying the Non-Functional requirements of the system (performance, availability, security, etc.)
the management and operation of the IT system (capacity planning, software distribution, backup and recovery)
The Operational Aspect’s focus is on describing the operation of the IT system and is primarily concerned with: