Are you developing an Information Technology Application? Then what should be included in your application and why? In this chapter, you will find the answers to these questions.
What Is An Information Technology (IT) Application?
An Information Technology (IT) application is a software program, process, or service that enhances an organization’s competitive advantage by enabling the organization to operate more efficiently and effectively.
The organization must determine the level of the application to be delivered as part of the application. For example, the organization can decide to deliver a new release of their current application, an entirely new application, or a patch for an existing application.
What Is Included in an Information Technology Application?
An Information Technology (IT) application includes:
- The business process it supports.
- IT components and the architecture that support the business process.
- The documentation to define and maintain the business process
- Test plans and test cases to validate the operation of the business process.
Business Process
The business process is documented in a Business Process Description (BPD), which should be available in your project planning documentation. The BPD should define how your business operates today, not how you plan for it to operate. Therefore, a change management strategy is critical to ensure that any changes do not disrupt your existing operations.
IT Components and Architecture
Documentation for each IT component and architecture component is held within a Component Design Document (CDD). Each CDD should have a unique identifier, which is used to identify each design document when they are used to generate production documents. Such as a Request for Change (RFC) or a Request for Proposal (RFP). The CDD should include:
An overview of what the component does, its dependencies on other components, its key interfaces to other components, its operating environment, performance requirements, recovery requirements, security requirements, recovery strategy in case of failure, future enhancements planned, and any specific requirements for configuration management.
The documentation to define and maintain the business process.
Architecture Design Documents (ADDs) are used to further define the architecture of a system. ADDs describe how the components interact with each other and how they are configured. ADDs should address:
- The relationship between the business process and the IT components and architecture.
- Business Processes, Components, and Scenarios
- Which business process is supported by which IT components and architecture.
- The business scenarios that a component or a scenario supports.
Business scenarios describe how a component or scenario is used in a business process. For example, one business scenario may be “Invoicing”, another may be “Order Placement”. You should identify all of the business processes supported by your IT components and architecture to ensure that you do not miss any scenarios when testing your system.
Test Plans and Test Cases
Test plans are used to define the tests that will be performed for a component or scenario. Also, Test Cases contain the detailed instructions that are used to carry out the tests. This should be derived from business scenarios to ensure that you test all possible combinations of business scenarios when testing your system.
To Conclude
If you are developing an application, then the project should be delivering one or more business processes, IT components to support the business process, and documentation to define and maintain the business process. You should identify all of the components and scenarios within your business process. Test plans and test cases should use business scenarios to ensure that you test all possible combinations of business scenarios when testing your system.
