Enterprise Information Assessment Solution Offering

From MIKE2.0 Methodology

This Solution Offering currently receives Major Coverage in the MIKE2.0 Methodology. Most required activities are provided through the Overall Implementation Guide and SAFE Architecture, but some Activities are still missing and there are only a few Supporting Assets. In summary, aspects of the Solution Offering can be used but it cannot be used as a whole.

Introduction

The Enterprise Information Assessment Solution Offering provides an approach for measuring information quality and corresponding information value. It is primarily an assessment of the current-state but also provides recommendations on the benefits of moving to an improved future state. Enabling techniques include conducting an Information Maturity Assessment, measuring information value, deriving the corresponding economic benefits of increased information maturity and defining an information-driven business case. The assessment techniques in this solution offering can be applied to a single system or on a larger scale across the organization.

Executive Summary

Solution Offering Purpose

This is a Core Solution Offering. Core Solution Offerings bring together all assets in MIKE2.0 relevant to solving a specific business and technology problem. Many of these assets may already exist and as the suite is built out over time, assets can be progressively added to an Offering.

A Core Solution Offering contains all the elements required to define and deliver a go-to-market offering. It can use a combination of open, shared and private assets.

Solution Offering Relationship Overview

This Solution Offering is part of the Information Management Strategy, Arcitecture and Governance Offering Group

MIKE2.0 Solution Offerings provide a detailed and holistic way of addressing specific problems. MIKE2.0 Solution Offerings can be mapped directly to the Phases and Activities of the MIKE2.0 Overall Implementation Guide, providing additional content to help understand the overall approach. The MIKE2.0 Overall Implementation Guide explains the relationships between the Phases, Activities and Tasks of the overall methodology as well as how the Supporting Assets tie to the overall methodology and MIKE2.0 Solutions. Users of the MIKE2.0 Methodology should always start with the Overall Implementation Guide and the MIKE2.0 Usage Model as a starting point for projects.

Solution Offering Definition

The Enterprise Information Assessment Solution Offering is a large-scale assessment of an organisation's information assets. This offering focuses on:

• Defining an overall model of information assets across the enterprise
• Assessing the value of information assets
• Understanding the root causes of data quality issues and inefficiencies with managing information assest
• Measuring the quality of information assets

Relationship to Solution Capabilities

The MIKE2.0 Enterprise Information Assessment Solution Offering for is quite focused, primarily focused on a current-state assessment. It uses a limited number of activities from the Overall Implementation Guide and only a few architectural components are required.

Relationship to Enterprise Views

The Enterprise Information Assessment is solely about the concept of Information Development. It provides the ability to access structured data and unstructured content and also to bring this information together in a single, integrated view of the value of an organisation's information assets.

Mapping to the Information Governance Framework

A few activities common to the Information Governance Solution Offering are used as part of this solution offering. Those activities are mostly associated with conducting a current-state assessment and defining target metrics.

Mapping to the SAFE Architecture Framework

For an Enterprise Information Assessment programme, the focus is primarily related to assessing what already exists. Key components include:

• Data Investigation is the key architectural component and is used to quantitatively assess data quality issues
• A metadata repository is also useful for storing target artifacts determined in the investigative process
• A conceptual data model that includes mastering rules is defined at the overall enterprise level

Mapping to the Overall Implementation Guide

The appropriate Usage Model shows the recommended activities for this solution offering. Users of MIKE2.0 should review each activity as a starting point to see if they are required based on the scope of the project requirements. Shown below are the most important activities for the programme and how they relate to the overall approach.

Phase 1 - Business Assessment and Strategy Definition Blueprint

Overall Business Strategy for Information Development

The Overall Business Strategy for Information Development defines the overall set of strategic information requirements. It may be useful for the Enterprise Information Assessment to define the scope of the programme.

Organisational QuickScan for Information Development

The Organisational QuickScan for Information Development is used to gain an overview of the current-state environment. This is the first pass in assessing the overall information and infrastructure technology environment, as well as the staff and organisational models that support its management.

Future State Vision for Information Management

The Future State Vision for Information Management defines the conceptual vision for Information Management that ties to strategic requirements. Although the Enterprise Information Assessment is focused on current-state, this activity can be helpful for setting context and may be conducted if an information management strategy has not been conducted.

Return on Investment of Information Assets

The Return on Investment of Information Assets activity is used to determine current cost of information assets, projected expenditures as part of a planned information management engagement and the return on the investment. It would also bring in competitive analysis information that would be incorporated into the benefit model. This model would be applied at a enterprise level as part of this solution offering.

Phase 2 - Technology Assessment and Selection Blueprint

Metadata Driven Architecture

The Metadata Driven Architecture activity can be useful for an Information Assessment to provide a target meta-model in which assets are populated as part of the analysis. The assessment should be conducted against this metadata artifacts such as domain values, transformation rules and business rules.

Phase 3 - Information Management Roadmap and Foundation Activities

Software Development Readiness

The Software Development Readiness activity may be needed to ensure the approporiate assessment technology is in place, such as a Data Profiling tool.

Detailed Business Requirements

Detailed Business Requirements may be conducted to scope the work of the specific assessment project. These detailed requirements need only be defined at the level of detail required to support the assessment.

Business Scope for Improved Data Governance

The Business Scope for Improved Data Governance may be applied to help assess Information at an Enteprise level by focusing the initiative against the Key Data Elements (KDEs). The KDEs are the most important individual attributes across the organisation and should be the priority scope for an information assessment.

Enterprise Information Architecture

The Enterprise Information Architecture may be assessed and/or defined as part of the Enterprise Information Assessment. It is a comprehensive model that shows the overlaps of information across the organisation and its corresponding mastering rules.

Root Cause Analysis of Data Governance Issues

The Root Cause Analysis of Data Governance Issues is used to uncover the source of issues with data that may leads to quality problems, lack of efficiency or system inflexibility. It is the process aspect of the information assessment that complements the actual analysis of the data itself

Data Governance Metrics

Data Governance Metrics may be defined as part of an Information Assessment to provide targets for the Key Data Elements. As these metrics are future-state focused they are not always defined as part of an assessment.

Data Profiling

Along with the Root Cause Analysis which defined process scope, Data Profiling is one of the most of important activities of the Enterprise Information Assessment. Data Profiling looks in detail at actual production data to identify quality issues, business rules and overlaps in information assets.

Mapping to Supporting Assets

Logical Architecture, Design and Development Best Practices

• Detailed Financial Models for Assessing Information Value
• Enterprise Information Architecture Modelling Techniques
• Techniques to integrate structured data and unstructured content

Relationships to other Solution Offerings

The Data Investigation and Re-Engineering Solution Offering

Extending the Open Methodology through Solution Offerings

Listed below are proposed extensions to the Overall Implementation Guide to meet the requirements for this Solution Offering:

Potential Activity Changes

Return on Investment of Information Assets

This activity is still under development and is a proposed activity. For this Solution Offering it is particularly important as a means of defining a detailed valuation model to information assets and whether the proposed investment will yield returns.

Metadata Driven Architecture

This activity should be extended at a task level or through supporting assets to explicitly state how this approach can provide value as part of an assessment process.

Enterprise Information Architecture

Need a way to relate structured data to unstructured content across the organisation