Introduction

Valentinos is a matchmarking service provicer in UK and has its presence in the market since
1976. although they have been very successful as a "personal introduction agency", they are in
continuous worry about their market share, operating cost, retroactive IT systems and constant
profitability.

the valentinos personal introductions Agency is a well-established company with over 8 million
single men and women in the UK between the ages of 18 abd 64, and often living without the
opportunity to meet potential partners, the company has been very successful. however the
managment of the organization have expressed a growing concern that is being felt regarding
the 10 year old computer systems that are currently beind relied upon and the negative affect
that such outdated systems are having on the companies' competitive advantage and market
share within the UK. This essay will therefore seek to assess the value and importance of the
computer system with regards to the competitive advantage of the company, the company
culture, and the overall productivity of the organization.

The Market

there are over 8 million single men and women in UK between the age group of 18 and 70000
new applications each year. below are the market-segmentation which valentinos is/should be
targeting at:

- Demographic: solitary survivors (includes workforce and retired and bachelor stage
( young single people not living at home )

- Geographic : mainly people who are situated in the city

- psychographic : people who are leading an unsocial stressful life and majorly looking for
permanent long tearm relationships to fill the void.

-social grade: A (higher managerial ), B (intermediate managerial), C (supervisory,

clerical ),D (skilled manual workers)

- behavioral : 45 % i-gen (internet generation ) and 55 % traditional/old school

valentino's services and revenue

valentino's provide its members matchmaking service up to compatible matches for an an

annual subscription fee of £150 and subsequent matches with a fee of £5 as and when
requested by its members.

other features include access to online website maintained by third part vendor where members
profile will be lised with further background information like page written by themselves,
photographs and links to their homepage elsewhere on the internet.

valentino has excellent customer care support with over 25 phone lines and many qualified
personnel to attend to customer queries and advise them over telephone, post and emaill.

The management

The essay will approach this quiestion firstly evaluting the strategic position of the company both
internally, through the use of a SWOT analysis, and externally relative to it's competitors and
various other contingent factors to competivie advantage through the consideration of porter's 5
forces analysis model (porter, 2008). the essay will then proceed to directly discuss the effects
that the computer system has upon the valuentions organization culture and productivity levels
before finally assessing if and how the computer system has provided the company with a
competitive advantage such that some clear recommendations can be put forward to the
companies managing director regarding their future strategic outlook and potential options.
1. Business Modeling for Valentinos: Mission Statement, Business Realisation plan using a
Balanced Business Scorecard, SWOT analysis, PESTLE Analysis and Porters 5 Forces Analysis (20
marks) – about 4 A4 pages

Missition statement

valentinos is a "personal introduction agency" helps you start off on the right track. valentinos
will guide you into meet new people (friendship, love, marriage or if you are just looking into
meeting new people) valentinos creates an effective intro for single/ unattached men and
women to meet while respecting their right to privacy and confidentiality

balanced business scorecard

a balanced scorecard is a strategic alignment system that is generally used for alignment of
business and IT strategies within an organization. The existence of an architectural framework
for the entire enterprise does not guarantee that the architectural motivational abstraction
artifacts are aligned with the business and IT strategies of the enterprise. In order to avoid
situations of inefficient and ineffective business processes, it is important to use an alignment
mechanism. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a strategic planning and management system that
is used extensively in industry and business to align business activities to the vision and strategy
of the organization, improve internal and external communications, and monitor organization
performance against strategic goals With time and with its usefulness, BSC has arguably become
the most successful and widely used business standard that organizations adopt to achieve
strategic alignment.

financial

objectives measures

- increase client applications - Application /Year

- increase profitability - Revenue

- decrease cost - operating cost

customer

objectives measures

- on time delivery of post and email - customer statisfaction index

- increase market share - market share

- low registration fees - number of customer/month

internal

objectives measures

- improve Technology - investment in technology/year

- improve advertising - average number of days for delivery

- introduction list to clients - performance audit score

- reduct time in sending

Innovation

objectives measures

- build online user friendly - number of website visitors

- user friendly system - number of applications/month

- open new braches - customer satisfaction index

- Experienced staff

SWOT analysis

for small businesses, it is important to analyze all situations carefully before taking any
decision.that way, there will be fewer chances of making mistakes and designing strategies that
won't work. to help these businesses, several analytical tools are avilable, one of them being the
SWOT analysis.

This SWOT analysis is used to list down favorable and unfavorable factors that go against a
particular situation. SWOT analyzes strengths, weaknesses, opportunites and threats that are
associated with a situation by considering all the internal and external aspects of the business
and market. this way, business managers can understand whether a situation has enough
aspects in its favor and ultimately worth being pursued.

this assessment technique jas a remarkable track record of success, providing almost accurate
and ectremely helpful insights to a business resources.

valentinos current postion (SWOT analysis)

the SWOT analysis below highlights a number of salient factors that must be considered on
evaluating the compaines strategic postion with regards to any possible threats or opportunities
that may arise and its ability to take advantage or overcome these factors. Below details are
provided the SWOT analysis of the Valentinos

Strengths

- The Valentino's company and brand has been long established, and has exhibited consistent
reputable integrity in its operations which is a highly salient factor in the decision making
processes of potential consumers

- There long established presence in the market also means that they have strong links with
various suppliers such as with advertisements on public transport or in newspapers

- The company also inhabit the market position of the price leader which makes them well
positioned to take advantage of the growing number of price savvy and/or price conscious UK
consumers and trends within the UK population whereby more people are spending more time
at home and are unable to find the time to go out and socialize

- Valentino's unique combination of high technology and personal touch through the direct
contact phone support services, has been critical in making the Valentino's Personal
Introductions Agency a global industry leader

- Valentino also holds the largest database of members which means that any potential client
would have the greatest likelihood of meeting somebody when choosing Valentino over other
industry rivals

- Integrity and safety of customers with its guidelines and policies

- personal touch efficient people at customer service right from guiding, matchmaking, dating
advice to mailing and answering queries. emphasis on people over technology

Weaknesses

- The company database used an old version of oracle and an old matching program that is
poorly documented and is poorly understood by the companies' current IT staff that are
struggling to maintain it.
- If this is left to continue then this will most likely lead to performance problems in the near
future, which will no doubt be observable to the client base and result in a decrease in market
share.

- Perhaps the biggest concern would be the accidental loss or release of private information and
the subsequent sullying of the companies valuable reputation

- new applications cannot be filed online in this internet age.

- difficulty in maintaining the system by IT staff and poor documentation of system leads to
delays in solving client's request.

- no dating agency is allowed to access police or local authority records due to constraints of
data protection Act.

- new applications cannot be filed online in this internet age

Opportunities

- The growing UK population proportions of university graduates indicates that a growing

number of people in the UK will find themselves in busy careers, as is similarly described of the
companies' common clientele demographics (BBC News, 2007, Euro-monitor, 2010b).

- The number of people using the internet, particularly within the age demographics commonly
served by the Valentino agency, nearly doubled over the period 2000- 2007. (Euromonitor,
2010c)

- New avenues for advertisements and promotions such as internet sites that receive a high
amount of traffic or mutually beneficial links with other web-based businesses such as online
clothes retailers.

- more application registrations since clients don't have time to personally search for life
partners.

- building an excellent user friendly website enabling clients to create and host their own profiles
online. creating profiles and hosting should be chargeable service.

- open more branches in UK for proper personal guidance by staff

Threats

- The companies position as a price leader is a highly vulnerable one as existing competitors/
industry rivals or perhaps substitutes may choose to challenge this price dominance which can
either result in a price war or the competitive obsolescence of the Valentinos Personal
Introductions Agency

- The companies' position as a leader in terms of technology may also be placed under threat by
any highly resourced rivals or new industry entrants, and such an instance could result in a
devastating loss in market share

- The companies' highly valuable and hard earned reputation for safety, ethics, privacy and
integrity could be threatened by poor control over their computer systems and data bases.

- dummy or fake client profiles.

summary

As the table (above) illustrates, there are a number of salient opportunities and threats facing
the Valentinos company and there is also a number of highly impingent strengths and
weaknesses held by the company that play an important role in determining its ability to
manoeuvre and navigate through the various external trends and factors that are presented in
the Porter's 5 forces analysis.

Firstly, with regards to Valentino's industry presence, it can be noted that the company and
brand has been very long established within the market and that over the years Valentinos has
proven its high standards of ethics, integrity, and accountability in terms of the safety of its
clientele and the controlled protection of their personal information. This is a highly
advantageous and beneficial factor for the company as it appeals to the client's and potential
clients most highly regarded concerns (safety, privacy and control). However, the threat of
sullying this reputation through some kind of error in the computer systems could be hugely
damaging for the company in terms of competitive advantage.

The companies' long-established position within the industry has also allowed it to attain strong
links with networks of clients and suppliers of advertising spaces such as on public transport and
in Newspapers. With regards to the companies' network of clients, it can be noted that it has the
largest database of people out of all industry rivals and therefore offers clients the greatest
likelihood of achieving a positive result. Moreover, although the companies competitive position
as an market price leader is a highly vulnerable one, generally speaking, it is also highly
competitive in terms of its service which has been exhibited as being highly personal while also
being very comprehensive, flexible, and efficient.

With regards to the future outlook of the company, from an internal perspective, Valentinos is
well poised to take advantage of the growing young professional demographics and the growing
number of Internet users. However, its position as a market leader could be threatened either by
the event of a lapse in their computer systems that would compromise their integrity and
reputation, or by a new market entrant or highly resourced rival that supersedes Valentinos in
terms of technological resources. Nevertheless, new avenues for promotion and advertisement
on the internet (e.g. online retail sites and other such high traffic addresses) could be utilized by
the Valentinos company in order to further expand upon their market dominance or simply seek
more effective and price efficient means of promotion.

Porters five forces model (An external view of Valentinos' competitive

position)
Existing competition Between Firms

The Personal Introduction industry is one that is highly populated with market competitors of
different sizes some operating country wide while others differentiate and focus on specific
geographical areas or demographic groups. competition within this industry however, appears to
rest upon the visible integrity of industry rivals which can be attained through membership to
official standards associations and through the strength of promotional campaigns:

Barriers to Entry & The Threat of New Entrants

Due to a growing number of illegitimate companies and a growing concern regarding privacy and
integrity an official third party association (the Association of British Introduction Agencies) has
been created at the instigation of the office of fair trading to the industry as a regulator such that
legitimate organizations can gain membership and subsequently accreditation and evidence of
its integrity and high standards, as they must follow a set code of practice in order to be
accepted for membership.

This is therefore a point of rivalry within the industry. This is also in existence to offset the threat
of the media and social representation of the industry in general, with common perceptions that
it is wholly illegitimate and unethical or that it does not help Nevertheless, such associations
create a barrier for entry to new industry entrants and this is making the market less dense and
more clustered, with companies such as Valentinos occupying increasingly secure and defensible
positions within the market and exerting greater dominance with their public familiarity and
visibility through the strength of their promotional campaigns. The industry is performing well
and experiencing steady market growth, thus, the market will grow more attractive to new
entrants and as such the threat increases.

The Threat of Substitutes

Specialised Personal Introduction Agencies such as Valentinos are under threat from a number of
substitutes as the market continues to grow and become increasingly attractive as a financial
investment.

Firstly, Newspapers and other business with the means of reaching large quantities of people are
beginning to seek entry into the online dating market, most notably the Guardian has diversified
so as to include an online dating section 'Soulmates' within its website so as to offer a more
select data base of clients Social networking sites could also be considered as a more indirect
threat as they are becoming massively popular and also have all of the prerequisite resources
and capabilities for online dating operations and have already began to introduce applications
through which online dating is possible

Power of Buyers

Although there is a growing interest in online dating and personal introduction forums and the
market is showing encouraging growth, there is a large number of industry rivals competing
fiercely for market share currently and as such the power of buyers is very strong. Nevertheless,
this is offset somewhat by the great amount of differentiation of industry rivals.

Power of Suppliers

The power of suppliers is also very great due, again, to the quantity of competitors present
within the industry and more so due to the generally applicable nature of the supplier
businesses such as web-designers and companies renting advertising space and promotional
opportunities who are open to bids from businesses in practically any industry.

2. Develop various Project Initiation Products (15 marks) – about 2 A4

pages

Develop various Project Initiation products

1. Identification of IS/IT project

The Valentinos system consists of a website that forms the interface to the customers and staff
that operates and manages it. The newly developed system would consist of user friendly and
attractive interface with a strong matchmaking algorithm that forms the heart of the system. It’s
the algorithm that makes the results accurate and suitable as desired by the customers. The
system would be able to perform functions that are listed below.
 ·0 Register clients online.

·1 Verify payment details and receive payments.

·2 Fill client questionnaire form.

·3 Modify client’s profile.

·4 Store client details and requirements in a database.

·5 Run matching algorithm to generate best suitable introduction list.

·6 Display, email and print the list online.

·7 Design and host clients profile on the internet (Paid Service).

·8 Avoid unauthorized login and modifications.

The system would be developed using following developing tools and technologies:

·9 Scripting will be done using PHP, HTML and AJAX for interfaces and ORACLE will be used
as a database.

·10 Another version of the website can be accessed via mobile phones and will be using XML
and WML (Wireless Markup Language).

·11 Security will be provided by using encryption algorithms.

·12 Payments will be secured by a secure payment gateway.

Project Vision Statement

for people who are looking for relationship or friendship we 'valentinos' make things easy and
possible for them. valentinos is a 'computerised personal introduction Agency' that can be
operated via a website that enables our client to regiter, search other member's profiles and
make payments. not only this we even provide personal advice to our clients to how to manage
their first date, handle relationship problems and guide them in selecting their life partners. our
system generates intrdoction lists and emails it to our clients. Also our staff ready to help always
available to sort issues 24x7 for you.

Scope Diagram
Potential Benefits and Costs

Benefits

Tangible benefits

·13 Reduction in staff costs

·14 Fewer staff required since all work will be done online. Staff required just for guiding the
clients and solving queries.

·15 Increased revenue since everyone can access the system through website and register
them.

·16 Introduction lists are generated online. No need to send letters thus saves money.

·17 Since introduction lists will be generated in a short period of time, there will be an
increase in the request for generating next paid introduction list. This increases the
revenue.

·18 Additional income can be generated by allowing clients to create and host their own
profiles

Intangible benefits

·19 Fast, reliable and easy to access both by clients as well as staff.

·20 Registration can be done online, so no need to meet the staff personally which saves
clients time.

Costs

·21 Setup costs

·22 Servers
·23 Additional Computers

·24 Software Development

·25 Website Development

·26 Staff Training

Operational Costs
• Salaries of staff involved in development.

• Software maintenance

• Hardware maintenance

• Hardware Support

3. Produce a Requirements Catalogue (15 marks) – about 3 A4 pages

Requirement Catalogue
Functional Requirements

Name Description

Registration Create a new entry for the client in the database. Fill
questionnaire. Receive membership payment after
verification of address.

Fill Questionnaire Client answers number of questions regarding himself and

the type of person he/she is looking for.

Receive Membership Fee After registration and verification of clients address £150 are
automatically deducted from clients credit card or account if
payment is done through cheque and account is activated

Edit Profile Client can edit his details and requirements and mode of
contact

View/ Print Payment Invoice Client can view and print the invoice or the receipt generated
for further reference

Generate Matches After opening account, client can start generating introduction
lists whenever required

View Introduction Lists The introduction list generated can be printed so the client
can contact the listed members if the member is found to be
suitable.

Receive £150 payment Client would have to pay £5 for generating the lists after the
 first free one.

Query Staff If the client finds any difficulty in using the system he/she can
contact the staff member through email or telephone by
searching the nearest Valentino branch.

Non functional Requirements

1) Availability -

The new valentions website or the system can be accessed from any part of the
world. But only those people who reside in UK countries would be able to register.
The client or the staff should be able to access the system 24 hours a day, seven days
a week.

2) Usability: - Both the staff and client should be able to use the system.

• User Interface: - Same interface should be made available to staff and client. But
access privileges should vary depending on login id.

• Error messages should be displayed wherever appropriate. Eg. During logging, cannot
debit from credit card if cards limit has exceeded.

• Confirmation messages should be displayed to confirm user action. Eg. During

payment card number, name and expiry should be displayed again back to client, while
editing details of client.

• Online Help: - The system should have this facility to help users if they are not able to
understand the system or have some problem related to the system. Eg. Contacting the
staff by email or telephone in case of login problems or reading system guidelines.

3) Performance Requirements:-

• Response Time: - The time in displaying the web page should not be more than 15
seconds. If the system takes more than 15 seconds, a message saying system busy
should be displayed.

• If the user is not using the system for more than 5 minutes then he should
automatically be logged off.

• Degradation under Overload Conditions: - The system should display ‘System Busy-
 Wait for few seconds’ messages if it enters an overload state. At a time around 10,000
users should be able to access the system.

4) Security:

• The system should allow passwords that consist of mix match of characters and
numbers. i.e. strong password.

• System should notify the users to change their passwords every 3-4 weeks.

• In case of password recovery client id and email id of the client should be verified and
the new password should be emailed to the clients email id.

• To ensure that authorized clients are allowed to edit profiles and settings of their
account.

Detailed Requirement Description

1. functional requirment : - Receive membership payment

- To able to debit membership fee from clients credit card and generate payment

non-functional requirement

- availability -

- respones time-

- security -

benefits

comments

2. functional requirment : generate matches

- to able to generate matches depending on the clients requirements

non-functional requirement

- availability -

- respones time-
 - security -

benefits

comments

4. Produce a Use Case model of the required system (10 marks) -

about 3 A4 pages

The actor involved in the system are as follows:

1 ) client : users are ones who registers theirself with the system and requests introduction lists.

2) staff : they guide their client during problem situations. They even provide advice related to
love, dating, etc..

3) computer system : this forms the most important part of the system. Client and staff are in
continuous contat with the system. It accepts payment, generates matches using a unique
matching algorithm and displays it to the client.

Description of use case model

- The client first enters their personal details, fills the questionnaire form that describes their
characteristics is looking for in their partner.

- he/she makes pays the memberships fee of £150 through his/her credit card.
- after the payment has been received the system emails the login details to the client.

- the system matches the requirements of the client with those of the others stored in the
database to find a relevent match.

- The system matches the requirements of the client with those of the others stored in the
database to find a relevant match.

- the first list of introduction is then generated. The client can view or print the list.

- the client can modify their requirement lisy anytime in future.

- if the client is not satisfied with the list he/she can generate another set of introduction list by
making an additional payment of £5 each new list.

- The introduction list consists of six introductions. The client can view members profile and if
found suitable contact that person vie the contact details provided as par the list.

- if the generated list contains less than six introductions, the subsequent list is generated for
free.

- client can query the valentino staff if they find some problem with the system.

Detailed description of a use case

use case view/print additional inroduction list

Goal in context Client requests additional introduction lists by

paying extra £5
Level Client
Preconditions Client has logged into the system
Success End Condition Payment is deducted from credit card but no
list is generated
Primary, secondary actors Client
Trigger Client requests introduction lists
Description
Step Action
1 Client enters his login ID and password and logs into the system
2 System authenticates Client and allows access to his/her account
3 Client requests system to generate introduction list
4 System checks client’s record and allows free listing if in his/her previous
attempt client received less than six matches or system notifies client to pay
£5 for the listing
5 In the case client is requested to pay £5 each listing
6 Client enters credit card details
7 System verifies credit card and debits £5 from card
8 After receiving payment, system runs an algorithm to search for members
whose characteristics or requirements are matched with those of the client
9 The list is then displayed on the website in the clients account
10 If the client is not satisfied with the list, he/she can generate another list by
paying additional amount repeat 5-9
11 Client can then view and print the list online and contact the members if
he/she finds them suitable to his/her requirements

5. Produce a Class Model of the required system (10 marks) –

about 2 A4 pages
clarifications

the payment mode (cheque payment ) shown in the model takes time. The cheque needs to be
deposited first by the employees after that client would receive his login details by post. This
process may take 5-7 woking days. So it’s slow process compared to registering online.

Assumptions

- in above class model the login ID and password allocation is not shows. We need to assume
that while online registration the client enters his email id. This email id is the only source
through which the client can remain in contact with the valentinos system. During signup client
receives his login id and password via email. Any kind of error reports or generated introduction
lists are mailed to the client. If the client forgets his password, he /she can click in the ‘forget
password’ link on the website and recover his password through email.

- there is a cheque payment shown in the model, payment can be done by cheque also. After the
cheque gets cleared and the payment is credited in valentinos account, client will receive an
email or a letter specifying the login id and passwords.

- address verification of client is not shown in the above model. We need to assume that the
address verification is done by employees by accessing the client details.

Included and excluded in the model

- in the above class model staff or valentino employees can be included. In case if the client
wants to register with valentino he can do so by manually filling the application form and
submitting it to the employee. The employee then enters the detail manually in the system.

- a payment gateway could have been included in the model. The payment gateway varifies the
credit card details for security purposes.

- the cheque payment mode could have been excluded. If a client wants to register but doesn’t
have a credit card but have got internet connection then he/she can select this payment mode.
In this mode the client fills his details and the questionnaire form but makes the payment by
cheque via post. He/she won’t be allowed access to the system untill the cheque is deposited in
valentinos bank account. After the cheque is cleared, a staff member will send a mail to the
client stating clients login details after which he/she could access their account.
6. Consider the soft, human stakeholder aspects of this project
(10 marks) – about 3 A4 pages

rich picture

Description
The rich picture above provides a cartoon representation of the complex system. It is
used to identify and locate problem situations occurring in system at the pre-analysis
stage. Problems detected at this stage can then be avoided or overcome in the later
development or implementation phase.

Client
- The use of website saved clients time. He no longer has to personally go and meet the
staff for registration and inquiry purposes since everything can be done online by just
clicking a button

- For clients who don’t know to use the internet or don’t have internet connection or an
email id they still can register with Valentino. Valentino experienced staff is always ready
to help them. Registration can also be done by visiting a branch and personally filling all
the data in forms

- Clients can visit or call staff for help when the internet connection is down or the
valentinos system is overloaded with work load

- If the client doesn’t find the introductions interesting or suitable for him then still he
can generate a new list

- In case when the client forgets his password, he can generate a new one just
authenticating him to the system. If there is no internet connectivity or if the system is
slow he can call staff and generate a new password.

Staff

- There is no more work left for the staff. They are required on few instances only when
the system is down or some one gives a telephone call for a query or a client wants to
register manually.

- Since there is no work left. Staff can now concentrate on advising clients with
managing their first dates, relationships, marriage suggestions, etc

- Staff members are happy that their shelves are no more loaded with papers and files

- Staff members would be worried about their job security

- Staff members would be under pressure only when the system is down or there are too many
telephone calls

IT Support Staf

- IT support people are the ones who maintain the entire system

- During system failures or slow down, the support staff needs to read and follow the
documentation report to avoid system failure

- Every small problem needs to be documented

- They should backup database every week to prevent loosing it during major failures as this
system is nothing without its databas

http://www.irma-international.org/viewtitle/33023/

7. a) Critically explain the benefits of using the Zachman Framework.

Many organization are interested in building their enterprise architecture

using the zachman framwork. They hope to solve the problems of
misalignment between business processes and information systems along
with gaining a desired level of interoperability and flexibility in their IT
environment. However, in most cases the zachman framework remains as a
conceptual framework more than a pragmatic one. This causes a serious
doubt as to whether the enterprise could satisfy the motivations of
employing the zachman framework.

The chapter has provided the detailed description of the proposed framework
along with its implementation details and application. It has also provided
evaluation of the proposed framework and thus,

benefits of using the Zachman Framework

The Zachman framework of architecture is the most popular framework in

the area of enterprise architecture. It is also considered a basic for many
other frameworks developed after the zachman framework such as federal
enterprise architecture which was formerly known as the framework for
information system architecture, has proven quite valuable for ( zachman,
J.A, 1999)

- improving the communications within the information system community

- placing a wide variety of tools methodologies in relation to on another.
- understating the reasons for developing any architectural representation
- understanding the risks of not developing any architectural representation
- rethinking the classic approach of “application development process”.

Weaknesses of Zachman frameworks

although the zachman framework is amongst the most popular frameworks

of architectures in the field of enterprise architecture but it has some
drawbacks which researchers have shown concern for in the past. The
zachman framework is very generic and can over simplify some of the
enterprise issues such as its business performance and behavior, although it
takes into consideration decision support systems, analytical processing and
data exploration. Since the framework is firmly constrained using rigorous
formal rules which govern the framework’s integrity some difficulties appear
in building up architectures if a full coverage on the framework is intended.

Zachman framework has three major problems:

- a lack of methodology covering all the aspects of the frameworks

- a lack of repository storing the framework in accordance with the integrity
rules.
- lack of a popular modeling notation for all of the framework’s columns.

https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1028&context=techmasters

.
b) Draw the Zachman Framework and populate it with the appropriate
content from the Valentino Case Study (20 marks)

Zachman Framework of Architecture

J. A. Zachman, who is recognized internationally as an expert on Enterprise Architecture,

introduced a well-defined framework of architecture having strong and logical connection
between business processes, organization strategies and enterprise architectures. This is
considered to be one of the major origins of the field of Enterprise Architecture. Zachman
describes the aim of this framework as an architecture that represents the information
systems’ artifacts, providing a means of ensuring that standards for creating the
information environment exist and they are approximately integrated. This framework
was first introduced by Zachman in 1987 and was called Information Systems
Architecture Framework which then was extended in 1992. Zachman Framework is
typically depicted as a 6x6 matrix in which the architecture is described using two
independent aspects, rows represent the 30 different audience perspective used to view a
business, and the columns represent the various communication interrogatives which
apply to each perspective of the business.
Zachman Framework ( Valentino)

Data Function Network People Time Motivation

(What) (How) (where) (Who) (When) (Why)
Scope Goal of Core Business List of Events : List of
(Contextual business business location : important valentine’s business
Planner) analysis: process : UK organizatio day, goals/
SWOT, project ns: accounting Strategies
PESTEL scope , stakeholder year
rich s, single uk
picture citizens
Business Data Business Business Work flow Project Business
Model model : process Logistics model plans Plan
(Conceptual ) Class model : System
Diagram, use case
scope diagram
diagram
System Logical System Logical Job Processing Business
model Data architectu model of description structure Role
(logical Model : re model : system Model :
Designer) Entity activity implement functional
relationshi diagram ation requiremen
p diagram t
Technology Physical Technolo Technolog Physical Control Rule
model Data / gy design y expression Structure : Design
(physical Class model: Architectur of work sequence
Builder ) Model detail e: flow (UI) – diagram
activity component prototypes
diagram diagram
Detailed Data Programs: Network Implement Definition Rule
Representatio Definition C# code Architectur ation of UI: of Specificati
ns (out -of- s e: sequence interrupts on
context ) deploymen diagram and
t diagrams machine
cycles
Functioning Usable Working Functionin Deployed Implement Working
Enterprise Data Function : g UI ed Strategy
program hardware/s schedule
being run oftware

The following perspectives are depicted by different rows in zachman

framework.

- scope (planner’s perspective) – the planner is concerned with defining the

context for the enterprise including specifying its scope.

- business model (owner’s perspective ) - the owner is interested in modeling

the enterprise using business modeling techniques yielding business
deliverable

- system model (designer’s perspective ) - the designer had to ensure that

enterprise is so modeled that it fulfills the owner’s expectations. It’s tries to
logically model the IT environment

- Technology model ( builder’s perspective )- the builder is responsible for

assembling and managing the various components of the system. The logical
design models developed by the designer are mapped onto technology
dependent design models to give rise to physical models.

- Detailed Representations – the subcontractor has to manufacture out – of –

context components for meeting the builder’s expectations. It’s responsible
for the detailed implementation models

- Functioning Enterprise – this includes the real working enterprise.

Columns of the Zachman Framework provide focus on each of the
perspective while keeping others constant.

-Data (What?) – this column answers the question, ‘What are the important
things that the enterprise is dealing with?’ It gives the material composition
of the object, the bill-of-materials for enterprises, the data models
-Function (How?) – the question, ‘How does it run?’ is answered by the function column.

-Network (Where?) – this aspect is concerned with the geographic locations where the
enterprise’s activities are distributed.

-People (Who?) – it tries to answer the question, ‘Who does what work?’ So this aspect
describes who all are involved in the business and what are their functions

-Time (When?) – this aspect tries to answer the question, ‘When do things happen
relative to one another?’ It describes the effects of time on the enterprise’s business.

-Motivation (Why?) – the question, ‘Why the enterprise does what it does?’ is answered
by this aspect.

benefits of using the Zachman Framework

The Zachman framework of architecture is the most popular framework in

the area of enterprise architecture. It is also considered a basic for many
other frameworks developed after the zachman framework such as federal
enterprise architecture which was formerly known as the framework for
information system architecture, has proven quite valuable for ( zachman,
J.A, 1999)

- Readily available documentation for the enterprise

- Ability to unify and integrate business processes and date across the
enterprise
- Increased business agility by lowering the complexity barrier
- Reduced solution delivery time and development costs by maximising
reuse of enterprise models
- Ability to create and maintain a common vision of the future shared by
both the business and IT communities.

-improving the communications within the information system community

- placing a wide variety of tools methodologies in relation to on another.
- understating the reasons for developing any architectural representation
- understanding the risks of not developing any architectural representation
- rethinking the classic approach of “application development process”.
Weaknesses of Zachman frameworks

although the zachman framework is amongst the most popular frameworks

of architectures in the field of enterprise architecture but it has some
drawbacks which researchers have shown concern for in the past. The
zachman framework is very generic and can over simplify some of the
enterprise issues such as its business performance and behavior, although it
takes into consideration decision support systems, analytical processing and
data exploration. Since the framework is firmly constrained using rigorous
formal rules which govern the framework’s integrity some difficulties appear
in building up architectures if a full coverage on the framework is intended.

Zachman framework has three major problems:

- a lack of methodology covering all the aspects of the frameworks

- a lack of repository storing the framework in accordance with the integrity
rules.
- lack of a popular modeling notation for all of the framework’s columns.