Architectural design and

stakeholders

Information System Design Process

Teppo Saarenpää
Needs, objectives and requirements
• Essential in investigating the situation and planning operations:

• Definition of needs
• Definition of objectives
• Definition of requirements

• To describe the process, designer must know the factors and interactions in the operating
environment.
Definition of needs

• In the needs assessment, the existing situation is

mapped and modelled. E.g. what can be done with
existing systems, can the system be expanded, or does
a new one need to be purchased??
• The current situation and processes, as well as their
problems, must be identified and modelled.
• When mapping needs, the impact of information
systems on stakeholders, such as customers and
suppliers, should also be taken into account, even if the
need itself is not directly related to them.
• Identifying needs is usually not easy, as different
stakeholders have different needs that may be
conflicting or overlapping.
• Needs must be picked, evaluated and refined before
requirements can be made.
Definition of
objectives
• Answers the question of what is wanted from
the new information system and why it should
be acquired in the first place.
• An information system project should primarily
meet business objectives.
• For example, the goal may be to improve
customer satisfaction and increase market share.
• Concrete technical goals can be derived from
business objectives.
For example, in order to improve customer
satisfaction, the goal of information technology
can be defined as making the order-delivery
process more efficient
Definition of
requirements
• It is important to understand the whole range of
activities: how different needs are combined,
how the whole process works and what is the
role of the information system in the whole.
• Mapping the current state and identifying needs
also create a basis for modelling the target state
and its processes.
• Modelling should be done already at the
requirement specification stage, because the
earlier and better the needs can be identified
and described, the better the information system
will be able to respond to the needs.
• Requirements must also be prioritized so that
the system can be defined as functional as
possible.
Status of project work?

Client available?

Project group available?

Status report/booking list for guidance session in Teams

First draft must be ready next week before meetings

 • Architecture
Architectural design • The fundamental concepts or
characteristics of the system in its
environment, which govern its elements
and relationships, as well as the
principles of design and development

• Environment
• The context for setting all systemic
(SFS-ISO/IEC/IEEE impacts and determining the
15288:2020) circumstances surrounding them

• Design
• Defining architecture, system elements,
interfaces, and other properties of the
system or system elements
 • ” The purpose of the enterprise architecture
Enterprise description is to ensure that the development
of shared services is planned and
architecture comprehensive, and does not focus
unilaterally on technical development, but
takes into account the operations, the
information and information resources used
in the operations, the information systems
supporting the operations, and the technology
used to maintain the operations.”
(Vuokko, R., Mäkelä, M.,
Komulainen, J., Meriläinen, • ” The enterprise architecture description also
takes into account, for example, the objectives,
O.) strategies and standards guiding operations
at the principle level. In other words,
enterprise architecture is about the
comprehensive planning of the operating
model, operating process, information
resources and IT resources.”
Architecture description

• The architecture description shall identify those concerns that are

considered relevant to the architecture of the system of interest. The
following concerns should be considered and, if necessary, identified in
the description of the architecture:
• the purposes of the system
• suitability of the architecture for achieving the objectives of the
system
• feasibility of building and commissioning the system
• the potential risks and impacts of the system on its stakeholders
throughout its life cycle
• maintainability and development of the system

(SFS-ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2020)
Architecture modeling
• Logical and physical models such as:
• Functional model
• Prescriptive model (needs and requirements from acquirer side)
• Descriptive model (system’s behaviour, structure, interfaces etc.)
• Cognitive model (psychological and intellectual processes)
• Verification model (how to meet customer’s requirements and needs)

• Model-based systems design is the formal application of modeling to support system

requirements, architecture, design, analysis, verification, and qualification measures over the life
cycle

(ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023)
JHS 179 perspectives
• The architectural framework takes into account different perspectives when describing and
developing functional or technical solutions.
• The aim is to understand what kind of functional need and environment the new operating model
or solution is being developed for.

• Four perspectives included in the architectural description framework:

• Operational architecture
• Information architecture
• Information system architecture
• Technology architecture

(JHS 179)
Information system •
•
Information system services
Information system map
architecture • Architectural floor view
• Interaction between information
systems
• Information systems portfolio
(JHS 179) • Physical interfaces
• Logical interfaces
Questions in architectural design

What services does the organization provide to its customers?

Operational architecture What are the actors involved in the service and the interaction between them?
What are the core, support and control processes related to the service?

What kind of information flows are there between the actors? What legislation is

Information architecture the disclosure of data and the right of access based on?
What data is processed in the organisation?
In which data repositories is the data located?

What information system services and information systems are needed?

Information system architecture What kind of data flows move between information systems?
How information systems are utilised in different processes?
GAP-analysis
• GAP-analysis is a method that can be used, among other things, to compare and describe the
difference between the current state and the target state
• The analysis compares the current state and target state between processes and determines
whether there is a so-called “gaps" between the processes.
• With the help of the analysis, it is possible to define the steps by which the organization can
develop its operations from the current state towards the goals in a scheduled manner
• Through gap analyses, the differences are concretised and defined in more detail as development
measures
• Consider whether the benefits of a major process change and the risk factors caused by the
change are proportionate and manageable

(JHS 171)
Stakeholders
Stakeholders • An individual or organisation having
a right, interest, claim or interest in
the system or in its characteristics
that meet the needs and expectations
of the individual or entity.
• For example, end-users, end-use
organisations, supporters, developers,
(SFS-ISO/IEC/IEEE manufacturers, trainers,
administrators, suppliers, supplier
15288:2020) organisations and supervisory
authorities.
• Some stakeholders may have
interests that conflict with each other
or conflict with the purpose of the
system itself.
Stakeholders

(Stakeholder Map, Edward Freeman, 2010)

Purpose of the • The purpose of the stakeholder
chart is to identify the parties
stakeholder chart involved in the information
system
• Stakeholder documentation also
limits the user base of the system
• The stakeholder chart does not
consider what the services include
• The requirements for the
functions are described in more
detail as use cases
Business stakeholder chart

• Simple high-level chart

• Describe the key services offered by the system and the relationships with key stakeholders
• Sets boundaries for developed system
• Connections between stakeholders and business present information received from or provided to
stakeholders for the business

Stakeholder 1 System Stakeholder 2

Information Information
input output
Example stakeholder chart

Education
administration Teacher
Course offerings
Educational information

Reports Registration information

Authentication-
Curriculum
Information query
Student system Token
Student data administration
Registrations
and cancellations

Registration Performance data

situation

Learning
system
Course
accounting
PESTEL-analysis
• Identify external factors affecting the organization/business/project

Influencing What/how affects your operations? How do you act in the long run?
factor
Political

Economical

Society

Technological

Environment

Legal
 • The case of a fictitious private medical
Lesson assignment 4 centre. The company is acquiring an
electronic patient information system with
a pre-integrated appointment booking
system and financial management system.
In addition to its own staff, the clinic
employs some extra persons.
• The company's management has asked you
to clarify the following documents
describing the target state in connection
with the acquisition of the information
system:

• stakeholder chart
• PESTEL-analysis

• Groups 30 min
Weekly assignments 3
• Multiple choice questions in It’sLearning
• Answer multiple choice questions. There may be more than one correct answer per questions.
False answers award minus points. Individual performance. Deadline by 7.2.

• Project assignment checkpoint

• Make an appointment for a review with the teacher with your project group
• A meeting with the client has already taken place?
• Return the first draft of the project work, i.e. the development plan, to the group's channel in
Teams.
Further reading for those interested...
• Itälä, T., Mykkänen, J., Virkanen, H., Tiihonen, T., Hiekkanen, K., Luukkonen, I., Sammelvuo, I., Melleri, I. & Han, Y. 2012.
Kokonaisarkkitehtuurin ja palveluarkkitehtuurin menetelmät ja välineet.
https://erepo.uef.fi/bitstream/handle/123456789/11337/urn_isbn_978-952-61-0723-3.pdf
• JUHTA - Julkisen hallinnon tietohallinnon neuvottelukunta. 2012. JHS 152 Prosessien kuvaaminen.
https://www.suomidigi.fi/ohjeet-ja-tuki/jhs-suositukset/jhs-152-prosessien-kuvaaminen
• Stevens. 2022. Guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK).
https://www.sebokwiki.org/wiki/Guide_to_the_Systems_Engineering_Body_of_Knowledge_(SEBoK)
• Vuokko, R., Mäkelä, M., Komulainen, J., Meriläinen, O. 2011. Terveydenhuollon toimintaprosessit : Terveydenhuollon yleiset
prosessit ja niiden tarkennukset. https://www.julkari.fi/handle/10024/80351
• ISO/IEC/IEEE ISO 42010:2020. Software, systems and enterprise — Architecture description. Helsinki, Suomen
Standardisoimisliitto SFS ry. https://turkuamk.finna.fi, SFS Online.