Architecture Review and Technology Roadmap
The Problem
Our client had developed two different web interfaces for their industry-leading back-end integration software. These interfaces were based on two different architectures, and each was deployed separately for a different customer. They soon realized the potential efficiencies that a unified, standards-based architecture would provide: customization for each customer would amount to a marginal cost of extending the system, rather than an entire restructuring.
Our client needed to engage an experienced web application development partner to lead the effort. They turned to The Jonah Group. Jonah would need to survey the state of the existing system, evolve a new n-tier standards-based architecture appropriate to the company's future business strategy, and provide a detailed rationale for the proposed approach.
Our Responsibilities
- Problem analysis
- Source code analysis
- Architecture review
- Create overall system design for standards-based architecture
- Software methodology training
- Creation of a detailed summary report
- Presentation of findings to both technical and business audiences within the company, in a series of short seminars
The Solution
Jonah allocated an experienced senior resource to perform the analysis. In the first few days, interviews with technical staff, team leaders, and members of the business executive were conducted to first understand the system, and to zero in on both strategic and technical problem areas.
Within this framework, a source code analysis of 2 representative transactions within the system was performed in an attempt to uncover general areas for improvement of the architechture.
Throughout the discovery, Jonah uncovered a number of technical and process-related changes that would lead to a better system, including:
- Formal documentation of requirements and technical designs
- Mapping of software components to appropriate tiers within the system
- Abstraction of component choices from technology choices
- Choosing technologies based on both appropriateness and staff capability
Throughout the engagement, Jonah delivered two findings presentations, tailored to the different audiences within the company. In addition, Jonah's software methodology specialist was brought in to give a presentation on the role of methodology in the creation of flexible, extensible architectures.
Unique Challenges, Solved.
- Jonah elucidated the questions that the organization needed to ask themselves before making any decisions about the design of the new architecture, and provided a structured framework around which this could be achieved.
- The categorization of the client's technology platform - as having elements of both a programming product and a programming system - clarified the company's direction with respect to this offering.
- A flexible, standards-based architecture based on open technologies was proposed, within the context of an appropriate evolution of the company's existing systems. New components were proposed where the evolution of legacy components would have been detrimental.
- Jonah responded capably to questions from a diverse group of stakeholders, rationalizing the concerns of each and mediating an important dialogue between them.
- Questions? Ready to move your project forward? We'd be happy to discuss a solution for your needs. Contact Us to find out more.
