Business Intelligence Applied: Implementing an Effective Information and Communications Technology Infrastructure

Business-Driven Infrastructure Design

An Introduction to Business-Driven Infrastructure Design

While the topic of business-driven infrastructure design is covered in detail in Chapter 9, it is introduced here so the reader has a context for the remaining chapters.

Assuming that a particular project has been selected for funding, the concept of value management must be carried into the initial analysis phase, through the design and implementation phases, and into the postimplementation phase (see Exhibit 1.2). These phases are summarized here and discussed in detail in Chapter 9. A value management–based approach to ICT infrastructure building consists of these phases:

• Analysis phase. This phase facilitates an understanding of the company and the industry for which the ICT infrastructure is being implemented, in effect setting the stage for ICT infrastructure integration with the organization's business strategy. The major outputs of the analysis phase include extensive research about the organization and its competitors, as well as a list of ICT-enabled objectives and a gap analysis. It is also critical to ensure during the analysis phase that the ICT resources being deployed fully support the strategic direction of the organization. A number of analytical documents, including value search models and the setting of project objectives, should be created during this phase; these documents will provide the basis for the actual design.
• Design phase. During this phase, all ...