IT Architecture
Three layers of a firm’s IT architecture
Apps
Data
IT Infrastructure
firm’s digital plumbing used by all line functions
software programs that undergird the functionality of a hardware device
Where is your firm’s data stored?
It includes the networks through which data travels and apps are linked and the hardware on which apps run and store data
E.g. computers, tablets, servers, and storage devices
Their firm-wide arrangement
PC, smartphone, tablet, cash register, or other Internet-connected devices
Eg.: a thermostat, camera, or car systems
It has irreversible operational and strategic consequences
Three arrangements
Client-server architecture
Peer-to-peer architecture
Cloud architecture
None of App Architecture is optimal because every one of them involves tradeoffs.
Integrated firm-wide data is the foundation of IT-enabled automation of business processes and large-scale business analytics
Two causes
Fragmented across apps
Geographic dispersion
Replication
Partioning
Universal Translator
It translates between business-speak and technology-speak to foster a shared purpose
By transforming strategy-driven business priorities into matching IT assets, it provides a blueprint for executing business strategy
DNA
Imprints traits of IT systems, largely irreversible and influences how they can and cannot evolve
Its strategic consequences manifest long after its immediate operational consequences
The resulting choices can constrain strategic flexibility tomorrow
Good architecture
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Balances economical performance today and economical changeability later.
It fulfils today's requirements but plans for tomorrow's expectations.
It explains why some firms' IT is more adaptable archrivals' and some can harness new innovations faster.
Non-IT managers can help preserve enough of both.
Inside the Corporate IT Architecture Blackbox
Decomposes a firm’s IT portfolio into relatively autonomous IT assets
Facilitates integrating them so they behave as a cohesive whole