An architecture of any kind of complex man-made system, such as a cathedral or an office park, describes the overall structure of the system: its major components and how those components interrelate.
The architecture of a business information system can be defined as the infrastructure and interfaces that enable system components (such as hardware, software and network communications) to work together to accomplish the system’s purpose. The architecture is defined for the system as a whole, rather than for each of its components. In fact, the infrastructure and interface standards are usually shared among multiple systems. For example, all the web-based systems in an organization, whether Internet or intranet, might share the same architecture.
Generally, the system architecture is imposed on a project team by the organization’s Information Systems (IS) department. Depending on the needs of the business system, the project team may request changes to the architecture, which are then typically implemented by a separate architecture team led by the organization’s systems architect described in Chapter 3.
Sometimes, a new architecture is needed. This typically happens when an organization decides to use technology in a novel way to take advantage of a business opportunity. In such cases, a new architecture may be developed at the same time, or slightly ahead of, the business information system. A brand-new architecture can carry tremendous risks and should only be undertaken after careful consideration by the systems architect.
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