Gomez Fabian Winter- MIS311-HW5 1

Assignment 5

3. Why are architectural decisions difficult to change?

Architectural decisions are difficult to change because they often create dependencies on

specific approaches, services, vendors, or ways of thinking. These dependencies lock the

organization into the chosen architecture, making it challenging to switch to a different approach

or technology without significant effort and potential disruption to the system. Therefore, it is

crucial to carefully consider and make informed decisions about architecture, understanding the

long-term commitments and dependencies that come with them.

5. Name four components of enterprise architecture specified in TOGAF.

The four components of enterprise architecture specified in TOGAF are:

- Business architecture: This component deals with high-level decisions regarding the business,

including strategy, organizational structure, governance, and foundational business processes.

- Data architecture: This component focuses on the high-level structure and management of

organizational data.

- Application architecture: This component identifies the key organizational applications, their

interactions, and the way these applications support the foundational business processes.

- Technology architecture: This component specifies the foundational high-level decisions

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regarding the underlying infrastructure technology, including characteristics of technologies used

for data communication, storage, processing, system security, and more.

6. Explain the difference between functional and non-functional requirements using

examples.

From our textbook, the difference and an example are the following: Functional

requirements are the specific capabilities and features that a system must have in order to fulfill its

intended purpose. These requirements directly specify what the system should do and what tasks

it should be able to perform. Usually easy to define. For example, a functional requirement for an

e-commerce website could be that users should be able to add items to their shopping cart and

proceed to checkout.

On the other hand, non-functional requirements are related to the quality and characteristics of

how a system delivers its functional requirements. These requirements focus on aspects such as

usability, reliability, performance, supportability, and security. Non-functional requirements

specify how well the system serves its users from multiple perspectives. Usually, more difficult to

define. For example, non-functional requirements for the same e-commerce website could include:

- Usability: The website should have an user-friendly interface.

- Reliability: The website should be available and responsive at all times, with minimal downtime.

- Performance: The website should load quickly and handle a large number of concurrent users

without significant slowdowns.

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- Supportability: The website should be easy to maintain and update, with clear documentation

and support resources.

- Security: The website should protect user data and transactions, using encryption and secure

authentication methods.

In short, functional requirements define what the system should do, while non-functional

requirements define how well the system should do it and the quality of the user experience.

17. What types of services does the PaaS model make available for application

developers?

In our textbook the answer for this question is not explicitly mentioned, but in page 259,

Mueller (2018) provides an interesting comparison between various PaaS tools, which it further

categorizes as PaaS tool suites and PaaS suites. The former refers to PaaS tools offered by major

cloud providers as one element in their comprehensive set of cloud offerings (Amazon Web

Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Platform, and Salesforce

Platform). PaaS suites are integrated collections of PaaS capabilities, with a strong focus on

supporting the development organizations and improving their productivity; many of them are

known as no-code or low-code platforms. PaaS suites include Apprenda Cloud Platform, IBM

Cloud Platform, Mendix, Pivotal Cloud Foundry, Red Hat OpenShift, and SAP Cloud Platform.

The key takeaways from this comparison are that PaaS offerings of different types are available

from a rich variety of providers, it is essential to understand the detailed characteristics of the
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platform before an organization decides to use one, and the decision to commit to a PaaS platform

is not a trivial one—it may lead to a lengthy dependency on the vendor.

9-9

Consider the following case and identify any violations of non-functional requirements

using the FURPS+ categorization. State those requirements in the way they should have been

considered at the time when the system was designed and constructed.

A large department store chain maintains a wedding registry that is intended to allow

engaged couples to identify products from the store’s inventory as potential wedding gifts and also

allow wedding guests to select and purchase gifts to be shipped to a specific couple. From the

beginning, the system has suffered from problems that the users have complained about. Several

times, a particular gift intended for one couple has been shipped to another one for no identifiable

reason. Users have complained that after a product is selected from the inventory, it frequently

takes thirty seconds or more until it shows up in the list of items selected as gifts. Customers have

complained that the pricing that the system offers to them varies—at times seemingly randomly.

There is no way for the customers to search for a product by name; products can only be accessed

through a hierarchical list of categories. When the store wanted to expand its wedding registry to

other types of events (baptisms, bar/bat mitzvahs, and so on), they found out that the changes

would require a major programming effort at a cost that is close to half of the original investment.

In one particularly embarrassing episode, the system revealed the identities of gift givers to

anybody who was using the system.

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I was able to identify couple of violations of non-functional requirements using the

FURPS+ categorization. The requirements should have been considered at the time when the

system was designed and constructed.

1. Functionality:

The system should accurately match and ship gifts to the intended couple, without any mix-ups.

- The system should provide real-time updates, ensuring that selected items appear immediately

in the list of gifts.

- The system should consistently provide accurate and reliable pricing information to customers.

- The system should allow customers to search for products by name, providing a user-friendly

and efficient search functionality.

2. Usability:

- The system should protect the privacy of gift givers by not revealing their identities to

unauthorized users.

- The system should provide an intuitive and easy-to-use interface for both engaged couples and

wedding guests.

- The system should support multiple types of events (e.g., baptisms, bar/bat mitzvahs) without

requiring a major programming effort.

3. Reliability:

- The system should ensure the accurate and secure transmission of gift orders, without any

errors or mix-ups.
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- The system should have minimal downtime and be available for use by customers at all times.

4. Performance:

- The system should have fast response times, ensuring that selected items appear in the list of

gifts within a reasonable timeframe (e.g., a few seconds).

- The system should handle a large number of concurrent users without significant performance

degradation.

5. Supportability:

- The system should be easily maintainable and scalable to accommodate future changes and

expansions.

- The system should have proper error handling and logging mechanisms to facilitate

troubleshooting and debugging.

In conclusion, the violations of non-functional requirements in the given case include issues related

to functionality, usability, reliability, performance, and supportability. These requirements should

have been considered during the design and construction of the system to ensure a more

satisfactory user experience and avoid the mentioned problems.

9-10

A book publisher’s application portfolio consists of four applications with the following

characteristics:
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a. A modern, internally developed production support application that is capable of helping

authors and the publisher to use the same content as a foundation for products on multiple

platforms.

b. A significantly technically outdated author management application that the publisher

has developed over the past thirty years; it has become a truly strategic asset that helps the company

retain its most popular authors.

c. A recently rewritten, technically highly solid application for interfacing with printers in

the book production process; it is currently still useful but starting to lose its importance, as content

is increasingly delivered electronically.

d. A shipment support application originally developed for large warehouses to enable

efficient deliveries from the warehouse to campus bookstores; the application has not been

effectively maintained for years.

Evaluate these applications in terms of their technical quality and business value. Use the

TIME matrix (see Section 9.6.3) to illustrate the relative positioning of the applications. What

actions would you recommend for each?

Based on the section 9.6.3 in our textbook, we can evaluate the applications in terms of

their technical quality and business value using the TIME matrix. The TIME matrix is a tool used

to analyze the life-cycle status of various applications. It categorizes applications into four

quadrants based on their technical quality and business value:

1. Tolerate: Applications in this quadrant have low technical quality and low business value. They

are typically outdated and no longer provide significant value to the organization. In this case, the
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shipment support application falls into this category. It has not been effectively maintained for

years and is losing its importance. The recommended action for this application would be to retire

or replace it with a more efficient and up-to-date solution.

2. Invest: Applications in this quadrant have high technical quality but low business value. They

are considered strategically important and have the potential to provide significant value in the

future. The recently rewritten application for interfacing with printers falls into this category.

Although it is currently still useful, its importance is decreasing as content is increasingly delivered

electronically. The recommended action for this application would be to invest in enhancing its

functionality or finding new ways to leverage its technical capabilities to increase its business

value.

3. Migrate: Applications in this quadrant have low technical quality but high business value. They

are critical to the organization's operations but may require significant technical improvements.

The significantly outdated author management application falls into this category. It is a strategic

asset that helps the company retain its most popular authors, but its technical quality is lacking.

The recommended action for this application would be to migrate it to a more modern and

technically robust platform while preserving its business value.

4. Eliminate: Applications in this quadrant have high technical quality and high business value.

They are considered the organization's core applications and provide significant value with their

strong technical foundation. The modern, internally developed production support application falls

into this category. It is capable of helping authors and the publisher use the same content on
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multiple platforms, making it a valuable asset. The recommended action for this application would

be to continue investing in its maintenance and further development to ensure its continued

success.

By evaluating the applications using the TIME matrix, the recommended actions for each

application would be as follows:

a. Modern, internally developed production support application: Continue investing in

maintenance and further development.

b. Significantly outdated author management application: Migrate to a more modern and

technically robust platform.

c. Recently rewritten application for interfacing with printers: Invest in enhancing functionality or

finding new ways to leverage its technical capabilities.

d. Shipment support application: Retire or replace with a more efficient and up-to-date solution.