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

ICT Design Documents

Having completed the process documents in Chapter 7, we are now ready to turn to ICT infrastructure design documents. These are based on the process gap analysis between as-is and to-be documents (discussed in Chapter 7). The ICT design documents start with what we call working documents. Working documents are good tools for the business analyst, ICT engineer, user, manager, and all other stakeholders to review the functionalities that will be implemented. Once the working documents are agreed to, the actual design documents can be completed. Gaining consensus on the working documents increases the likelihood that the project will succeed. In this chapter we will review best practices for completing the ICT working document and the ICT design documents. Gaining a consensus among the appropriate groups of stakeholders on these documents is the purview of the business analyst.

ICT documentation supports and explains business process models and is produced at a high level suitable for discussion with ICT engineers. This should result in a refinement of the infrastructure before it is built, and eventually in actual implementation. The business analyst is not expected to have the technical background of an ICT engineer but must possess an understanding of the technologies and functionalities they believe need to be implemented and also have the business acumen necessary to understand why they are being implemented. In short, the business analyst must possess a ...