ICT Infrastructure Management - Assignment Example

Insurance Australia Group assignment Your name Subject Date Question 1: Reasons for the development of an enterprise-wide Architecture system (Sparx Systems) at IAG There are various ICT infrastructure issues that the ICT management team at the Insurance Australia Group (IAG) considered relevant when they decided to undertake the development of an enterprise-wide Architecture within Insurance Australia Group (IAG). The reason for this project was that the ICT management team wanted to have an objective of operating from a single point of truth concerning the design and dependencies between technology components. In order to achieve this objective, they had to overcome these challenges, The Insurance Australia Group didn’t have the proper tools in capturing system designs, The tools used previously at Insurance Australia Group failed to centralize and share artifacts between models, Due to various reasons such as copy and paste, people having their own separate copies, the file based designs quickly became outdated and this proved a challenge that required the development of an enterprise-wide Architecture within the Insurance Australia Group In addition there was no consistence in the look and feel of diagrams. This was aggravated by the use of substandard stencils or templates. The main goal of the implementation of the enterprise-wide Architecture project within the Insurance Australia Group was to eliminate the effort in synchronizing stores and consequently improve reusability and collaboration between projects. This was to be realized by having the stores leaded their artifacts directly into a project workspace within the central database. The final process will oversee the IAG building an interlinked picture of the entire systems environment in order to facilitate more than just re-use and consolidation. When this will effectively done, it will see the IAG operation being able to use the information to perform impact assessment on change and this will particularly help in identifying the dependent systems and end users. QUESTION 2: Relevant ICT governance framework(s) for the development of the ICT infrastructure architecture for IAG Although this case study does not refer to the use of any ICT governance framework in the IAG project, if I were to be engaged as a consultant for the project, I would recommend the COBIT frame work as an ICT governance framework for the project. COBIT would be very relevant to the development of the ICT infrastructure architecture for IAG. The reason for this is that COBIT framework will be able to meet the entire project’s aim of being able to improve reusability and collaboration between projects. COBIT is able to come up with solutions to meet the above discussed challenges. According to Ribeiro & Gomes (2009), COBIT is a tool that can be used in various types of organizations including insurance organizations like IAG. This is because the tool presents effective various indicators that include all areas of information communication that can be used for information governance. The aim of using COBIT is to ensure that information technology is fully incorporated in organizational activities and at the same time helps the organization to achieve its strategic objectives of the organization. Why use COBIT framework? According to Information Technology Governance Institute (2007), COBIT is a tool that supports performance measurements which is very important for information technology governance. The tool set and monitors the measurable objectives of what the information technology processes need to deliver and provides a clear guide on how to deliver the required outcome. Cobit helps in information technology governance as it focuses on: Strategic alignment: This area focuses on providing a linkage between a business and Information technology plans. It aligns the information technology operation with the operation of the organization. This is through defining, maintaining and validating the information technology value proposition. Value delivery: This area focuses area ensures that the system software provides the required service to the organization. The system should be able to provide benefits that are in line with the organization strategy. This is possible through the inclusion and information goals and strategies in the overall strategy of the organization. Resource management: This area focuses on ensuring that the resources of the organizations are utilized to its optimum level. The aim is to ensure that the resources in the organization are properly managed and that they are applied in the most productive way. Risk management: This area focuses on the identifying the organizational potential threats. It also brings out the requirements of that an organization needs to meet avoid risks. It also analyses the risks and brings out the responsibilities of the organization regarding risks. Performance measurement: This area ensures that the implementation of the strategy is on course by monitoring strategy implementation, ensuring that the project is completed, the resources are fully utilized and that the also process performance and delivery. The justification of using COBIT as an ICT Governance Framework COBIT as an implementation tool if used to implement the system can prove to be a very efficient tool. If well implemented, COBIT can ensure that IAG achieve the information technology related risk management controls. This is with the realization that the application of well-organized, effective and efficient risk management tool is critical to the success of the organisation operations. Successful implementation of the IAG information system should be done using the COBIT approach and in the process, important components software implementation namely the controls will be implemented. Analysis and Recommendations for the implementation of the development of an enterprise-wide Architecture within Insurance Australia Group (IAG) It is recommended that the project evaluation be designed at an early stage of implementation. The reason for this is that in many occasions the method of evaluating the performance of a new system is considered later into the implementation stage (Gerrit & Harry, 2006). This result in organizations rejecting the solution due to the losses incurred in the process. The COBIT framework should be utilized in the initial system implementation stage. This will help encourage the monitoring during the project initiation. Further, it is recommended that an equal amount of consideration be given to both the system and the users. The system developers should factor in the users of the applications for them to produce systems that offer practical and user-friendly solutions. According to (Herbst et.al (1999), the product users who are the end users of the product are the key to the success of any IT solution. The developer and implementation team should work together to ensure that the users accepts the presented solution. The users are urged to learn and apply the system to provide solutions may be challenged by the lack of mutual understanding between the implementer and the users. The users have to embrace the benefits and realized the solution the software aims at providing. Thus can only be achieved by effective communications which have to be developed and maintained throughout the implementation process. This makes the enterprise-wide Architecture system the right system to enable the effectiveness of the project. ICT today is the means to networking and therefore having the right ICT infrastructure is. In addition, good IT infrastructure also ensures that there are no cases of loss of data and at the same time makes computing easy. QUESTION 3: The ICT management team on the technical, semantic and organizational aspects of interoperability in this project The achievement of high levels of interoperability is a key requirement of enterprise-wide systems. The ICT management team has considered the complex issues of interoperability at IAG. It has effectively addressed the technical, semantic and organizational aspects of interoperability in this project. Technical According to Kajimoto (2012), to be able to manage risks when implementing software, it is important to incorporate information technology scorecard approach together with the COBIT framework. During the initial implementation of the Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, the single shared view was taken into consideration by the Management. This has enabled the IAG staff to have one place to search for information on applications, databases and technology infrastructure. It contains most of the information that ICT staff at IAG requires to perform their work. Sematic Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect has enabled the effective Standardized Work Practices at IAG to be operational. This is through the adoption of a shared technology which enables process improvement and better working practices which is distinct from uniform utilization of legacy modeling tools across the group. However, the management has ensured that there is discipline of the people using it as a tool is only good as the will and discipline of the people using it. The management has also installed a management mandate and backing through reviews which ensure greater tool utilization. Organizational IAG aim was to eliminate the effort in synchronizing stores and consequently improve reusability and collaboration between projects. The information strategy through the system should hence aim at achieving this when implemented. It is at this stage that the risks involved are examined by the IAG management committee to be able to advise the management on the advantages of incorporating the project in the organization. The project implementation must be aligned with the vision and mission statement of the organization. The system can only be an asset to the organization if it helps the organization to achieve its vision and mission. The team has to determine the goals of the system to organization and at the same time ensure that they are in line with the organization goals. The ICT management team has ensured benefits of a single technology that meets the needs of everyone at IAG. The organizational information technology needs that were implemented were broken down into great detail. After the system installation, the IAG will build an interlinked picture of the entire systems environment to facilitate the re-use and consolidation of information between projects. This eventually will help the operation teams to use the information to perform impact assessment on the project change. Conclusion In conclusion, the operational l team at IAG need to learn to use the system within a short time to allow them achieves efficiency in their operations. A good ICT system when implemented will make sure that the right decisions are made and will include an accountability framework. This will ensure that good behavior of the staff is encouraged while using IT. The framework will also ensure that the parties affected will have ease using the new technology. The proposal will be analyzed in ICT governance that will ensure that the right party makes the decisions; decisions made are good and effective as well as ensuring that the project will be monitored. COBIT as the preferred ICT governance ensures that the plan will be implemented. This will be done by harmonizing the organization’s strategy, the IT governance framework, and goals of the organization. List of references Gerrit V. and Harry B. (2006). Business architecture: A new paradigm to relate business Strategy to ICT C Springer Science+Business Media. Netherlands: LLC Herbst et.al (1999) Evaluating computerized health information systems: hardware, software and human ware: experiences from the Northern Province, South Africa. Journal of public Health Medicine. Vol 21, No.3, pp. 305-310. IT Governance Institute (2007) Cobit 4.1. USA: SACA Ribeiro., J & Gomes R. (2009) governance using COBIT implemented in a high public educational institution – a case study. Computing and computational intelligence VENKATRAMAN, S. (2010). A Framework for ICT Security Policy Management. 29-40. Read More