Week 5 The Measurement of Internal Benefit within SA government

In the group project, we are about to give a recommendation of method which is used to measuring the internal benefit of the government. The internal benefit is generated from the SEPO program, which is a navigation website of the SA government.

(http://www.sa.gov.au/)

After taking this task, I am wondering the purpose of this recommendation. After contacting the employees in SA government, I know that the recommendation will be used as a reference when other similar websites is planned to be setup. However, when we focus on the navigation website, which is mentioned as “Single Entry Point” (SEPO) by SA government, we are really confused by the definition of “internal benefit”, which could have many proper definitions. Therefore, we have to choose at first. Since the project is from the EA, we want to apply EA methods in analyzing the internal benefits. In the following paragraphs, I want to discuss these one by one:

Figure.1 Website of SA government

The purpose of recommendation/Client’s demand

1.       Measuring the internal benefits of SEPO

2.       Measuring the current situation of SEPO

3.       Provide a methodology of measuring the internal benefits.

The definition of “internal benefit”

“Internal benefit” is actually a very general concept, which could be view in many ways. After searching “internal benefit” on wiki, I found it does not exist. However, “internal improvements” is a similar one, which describe the infrastructure improvement in America in 1800s. When it comes to “benefit”, it is easy for us to think about something like money or revenue. As a public service website, it would be improper if we define “benefits” that way. Therefore, “benefits” could carry more meanings:

1.       The saved cost (time, workforce, money and so on)

2.       The increased efficiency (public service online)

3.       The increased satisfaction in public service

Granted that we could specify the “internal benefit” into the concepts above, it is still hard to measure it since these three concepts are still general for us to quantify them. Therefore, it necessary for us to introduce some methods to make a standard based on the reality.

The method of measurement

With the development of IT consulting industry, hundreds of consulting tools have already been developed to discuss different situations. After comparing tools, like BCG Matrix, Stakeholder Analysis, Internal-external matrix and internal factor evaluation matrix, I though it may be a good idea to introduce internal factor evaluation matrix to have through understanding of the current situation of SEPO program in SA Government.

What is internal factor evaluation matrix (IFE)? And how can we establish IFE in SA gov?

Internal factor evaluation matrix is a tool which is initially used to evaluate internal elements within a company. It describes the positive and negative effects of an enterprise, which is essential to the enterprise’s development in the future. When it comes to our group project, I want to use the IFE matrix to list all the result if SA government does not have SEPO program.

To establish an IFE matrix, five steps below needs to be followed:

(Assumption: SA government does not introduce SEPO program)

1.       List all the essential factors in the internal analysis. 10~20 internal factors should be found, including the pros and cons.

2.       A weigh is added for every factor. The weigh should range from 0.0 (insignificant) to 1.0 (significant). The weight reflects the extents that some factor affects the government.

3.       Rate for each factor. 1 indicates major weakness. 2 points means minor weakness. 3 points means minor advantages. 4 points means important advantage.

4.       Multiply the weight of each factor by its rating.

5.       Sum all the weighted scores. We can get the total weighted score.

IFE could help us in two ways: First, we could have a through thinking about the whole SEPO. Second, the value of each factor will be evaluated. In IFE matrix, more details will be given to the aspects such as the saved cost, the increased efficiency and the increased satisfaction in public service. After completing IFE matrix, we would further our research in the added value brought by SEPO.

                      Figure 2 IFE matrix sample

[Reference 1]

http://wiki.mbalib.com/wiki/%E5%86%85%E9%83%A8%E5%9B%A0%E7%B4%A0%E8%AF%84%E4%BB%B7%E7%9F%A9%E9%98%B5]

Week 4: EA Frameworks

There are many different EA frameworks in use today. How popular are they? Are companies interested in using frameworks?

How do you impress management about the ROI of an EA initiative?

Write about any other EA activities you engaged in the week.

Among many different EA frameworks of nowadays, there are four of them which have the most popularity: Zachman Framework, TOGAF, FEA, and Gartner.

The Zachman Framework, which consists of two dimensional classification matrix based on six basic questions (Why, How, What, Who, Where and When), provides a formal and highly structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise. It is much more like a methodology that leads architect designer to think about enterprise architecture.

The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) is a framework, which provides a comprehensive approach for designing, planning, implementing, and governing an enterprise information architecture. Nowadays, The Open Group has grown to be a global consortium that enables the achievement of business goals by designing IT standards.

The Federal Enterprise Architecture could provide a common methodology for information technology acquisition, use and disposal in the Federal government. It provides several models for reference, such as PRM, BRM, SRM, DRM and TRM. Since the U.S Government may be the most complex organization in the world, the FEA could also be applied into many other cases for its advantages in many areas.

Gartner

Gartner is one of the most famous IT research and consulting organizations in the world. It believes that if the architect designer brings together three constituents together, which are business owners, information specialists, and the technology implementers and unify them behind a common vision that drives business value, the EA would success.  

Considering the demand of companies and advantages of EA frameworks, we could find that those frameworks have been widely applied in designing enterprise architecture and grow with the development of complexity in enterprises’ business. Take MedAMore as an example, with MAM’s business expansion, it purchased three regional chains and came across IT problems. These IT problems could be classified into two categories:

1.       The requirement of changing some modules in the system due to the development of business.

2.       The delay of file transfer because of the regional difference.

The company realized the difficulties in dealing with those problems and sought for solution by applying EA framework. Supposed that these problems are solved by using EA framework, the return of investment would reflect in following areas:

1.       With more regional chains, IT would keep supporting business development.

2.       The reduction of payments in operating the company.

3.       The increase efficiency in running IT system and business process.