Enterprise Architecture: FinCorp
Assessment Details:
In this assessment, students are required to write a report. The report covers the topics covered ULO-2, ULO-5 and ULO-6 from week 1 to week 10 inclusive. The students need to study the lectures slides and the chapters associated for the weekly lecture along with the tutorial material. The aim of this report is to assess the students’ understanding of the key concepts of the topics explained from week 1 to week 10. The report will be submitted to moodle.
Report 2
FinCorp is a mid-size financial company. A couple of years ago FinCorp decided to establish a full-fledged EA practice to accommodate with the growing problems around non-transparency of its IT investments and poor business and IT alignment in general. In order to boost its EA initiative, the company decided to purchase a specialized software tool for enterprise architecture. For this purpose, its IT leaders studied the available offerings on the EA tool market, contacted most promising vendors, organized meetings with vendor representatives and listened to their presentations. As a result, FinCorp had selected and acquired a rather powerful and expensive tool for enterprise architecture from a well-known vendor. Then, the company had installed and configured the tool, established a central repository for storing architectural information and sent its architecture team to a special training supplied by the tool vendor. After the training, architects had documented most areas of the organizational IT landscape and associated business processes in the EA repository and started to update this information to keep it current. Architects were also impressed with the modeling, visualization and analytical capabilities offered by their new EA tool.
However, FinCorp’s CIO is pretty skeptical towards the chosen EA tool. He believes that the company is only wasting money on the tool as it is essentially nothing more than a sophisticated repository of current-state information. Furthermore, the tool is used by only 4-5 people in the entire organization (all architects), does not facilitate informed decision-making among business stakeholders in any sense and does not contribute to achieving the original objectives of the EA initiative to improve business and IT alignment.
Write a report with 2000 word count that would be presented to FinCorp’s CIO that would address the CIO concerns on the following:
1. The core concepts of data and information architecture and how the newly implemented EA is the best option for FinCorp.
2. In your report discuss how the news installed specialized software tool for enterprise architecture would support continuity plans in the context of EA
3. In your report discuss the role of audit and compliance standards in EA and how the newly implemented software tool would facilitate informed decision-making among business stakeholders in FinCorp.
4. Discuss how the newly installed tool would contribute to achieving the original objectives of the EA initiative to improve business and IT alignment.
What to Submit
Submit one DOC or DOCX file to the OLS course site online submission portal for this course.
Submit this file with Portfolio.
Please name this file as Your ID_Report2.DOC or Your ID_ Report2.DOCX.
Marking Criteria and Rubric: The assessment will be marked out of 100% and will be weighted 30% of the total unit mark
| Marking Criteria | Not satisfactory | Satisfactory | Good | Very Good | Excellent | |
| (0-49%) of the | (50-64%) of the | (65-74%) of the | (75-84%) of the | (85-100%) of the | ||
| criterion mark) | criterion mark | criterion mark | criterion mark | criterion mark | ||
| The core concepts of | Not identifying the core | the core concepts of | Most of the core | All the core concepts of | All the core concepts | |
| data and information | concepts of data and | data and information | concepts of data and | data and information | are clearly identified, | |
| architecture and how | information | architecture are | information | architecture are | provided excellent | |
| the newly | architecture and how | identified very briefly, | architecture are | identified, provides very | solutions and EA very | |
| implemented EA is | the newly implemented | but details missing, | identified, provide good | good solutions, | clearly | |
| the best option for | EA is the best option for | briefly examine the EA | solutions, examine the | examines the EA clearly | ||
| FinCorp. (25 marks) | FinCorp, provided | EA but major points are | ||||
| solution is very weak | missing | |||||
| and poorly examine the | ||||||
| core concepts | ||||||
| Continuity plans in | Continuity plans in the | Continuity plans in the | Continuity plans in the | Shows sound | Shows full knowledge | |
| the context of EA (20 | context of EA is not | context of EA is | context of EA is | knowledge on | on Continuity plans in | |
| marks ) | identified properly, | identified but details | identified adequately, | Continuity plans in the | the context of EA | |
| some information | missing. | discussion presented in | context of EA | identification, | ||
| missing | detail, briefly examine | comparison presented | ||||
| the relation of EA | in detail, very | |||||
| comprehensively | ||||||
| examine the relation of | ||||||
| EA | ||||||
| Role of audit and | Role of audit and | Role of audit and | Role of audit and | Comprehensive analysis | Comprehensive analysis | |
| compliance | compliance standards in compliance standards in | compliance standards in of Role of audit and | of situation Role of | |||
| standards in EA and | EA and how the newly | EA and how the newly | EA and how the newly | compliance standards in | audit and compliance | |
| how the newly | implemented software | implemented software | implemented software | EA and how the newly | standards in EA and | |
| implemented | tool would facilitate | tool would facilitate | tool would facilitate | implemented software | how the newly | |
| software tool would | informed decision- | informed decision- | informed decision- | tool would facilitate | implemented software | |
| facilitate informed | making among business | making among business | making among business | informed decision- | tool would facilitate | |
| decision-making | stakeholders in FinCorp. | stakeholders in FinCorp | stakeholders in FinCorp | making among business | informed decision- | |
| among business | are not identified and | are identified properly, | are properly discussed | stakeholders in FinCorp | making among business | |
| stakeholders in | discussed. | but missing points | and presented. | and Provide correct | stakeholders in FinCorp | |
| FinCorp. | solutions with | and Provide correct | ||||
| (25 marks) | explanation. | solutions with excellent | ||||
| explanation. | ||||||
| Discuss how the | Poorly discussion of the | Good discussion of the | Good discussion of the | Excellent discussion of | Excellent discussion of | |
| newly installed tool | newly installed tool | newly installed tool | newly installed tool | the newly installed tool | the newly installed tool | |
| would contribute to | would contribute to | would contribute to | would contribute to | would contribute to | would contribute to | |
| achieving the original | achieving the original | achieving the original | achieving the original | achieving the original | achieving the original | |
| objectives of the EA | objectives of the EA | objectives of the EA | objectives of the EA | objectives of the EA | objectives of the EA | |
| initiative to improve | initiative to improve | initiative to improve | initiative to improve | initiative to improve | initiative to improve | |
| business and IT | business and IT | business and IT | business and IT | business and IT | business and IT | |
| alignment. (25 | alignment | alignment but with | alignment | alignment | alignment and with | |
| marks) | missing details | excellent explanations | ||||
| Report Presentation | Work generally does | Many departures from | Report format is | Report format is at least | Report format is |
| Style and Writing | not follow the required | the required | generally consistent | 80% consistent | consistent throughout |
| (5 marks) | professional report | professional report | throughout including | throughout including | including heading |
| format. | format. | heading styles, fonts, | heading styles, fonts, | styles, fonts, margins, | |
| margins, white space, | margins, white space, | white space, etc. | |||
| etc. | etc. | ||||
