RPA as ArchProduct, Episode 1
Table of contents
TYPICAL FUNCTIONAL ARCHITECTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION
• Product catalog of the organization
• Channel – a technological opportunity to interact with the client
• Functional decomposition of the organization
• Typical functional architecture of a bank
Purpose and application, consumers
Reference Applied Architecture as ArchProduct (RPA as ArchProduct) is positioned as an architectural product useful for organizations undergoing mergers/acquisitions. When a tool is needed that allows for a quick analysis of the IT landscape of the acquired organization, identifying bottlenecks and problem areas, and creating a roadmap for achieving the target state.
On the other hand, the architectural product can be used as a tool for auditing and describing the current IT architecture in the organization. As well as forming a target vision of the IT landscape, presenting the target and transitive IT architecture for the transition period of achieving the target state. The use of reference approaches and developments will reduce the time and improve the quality of the IT architecture being developed in the organization.
RPA as an ArchProduct is applicable as an effective tool for supporting management decision-making on issues of compliance with the requirements of the digital transformation strategy in an organization. Including aspects of technological sovereignty, non-targeted development and decommissioning of systems, due to consolidated reference experience in these areas and the possibility of reusing accumulated knowledge by other companies.
For solution providers, RPA as an ArchProduct may be of interest as a source of information on digitalization needs and solutions offered by vendors for various functional areas – assessing the level of digital maturity of the industry and market coverage (market mapping) with commercial products.
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General concept
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The general concept of RPA as an ArchProduct involves the use of the following tools, catalogs and methods for making architectural decisions:
Target application architecture (channels, products, architectural layers, functional decomposition into functional areas and business functions) – we will talk about this in the article;
A catalog of technological products (packaging functions depending on the needs for the application and technological levels), a product card as a single place for recording key decisions on the product in terms of functionality, IT architecture and operation – we will talk about this in the next series of articles;
The methodology for selecting solutions for the catalog of technological products, the criteria model for evaluating software products for inclusion in the catalog of technological products – we will tell you about it in the next series of articles.
Typical functional architecture of the organization
Product catalog of the organization
The organization's product catalog is formed jointly with the business and is presented in terms of segments:
Retail business (products for individuals);
Corporate business (products for small and medium businesses, products for corporate investment business).
A product (for a bank) is a logically complete, legally permissible sequence of operations carried out in order to satisfy the needs of the bank's clients. And also to ensure the conditions for the implementation of such a sequence of operations and bringing the bank interest and/or commission income, or creating potential conditions for receiving income.
An example of a product catalog for a retail bank is presented at Figure 3for corporate business on Figure 4.
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Channel is a technological opportunity for interaction with the client
Channels are an important technological component, a way for an organization to interact with clients, partners and employees in the processes of attraction, sales and customer service.
The following main types of channels are distinguished:
Remote service channels – digital channels;
Affiliate channels – interaction through the user interface or API;
Self-service devices – ATM, self-service kiosks;
Points of sale are the workplace of a front office employee.
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Using channels allows you to assess the possibilities of bringing key products and services to existing channels – “Omnichannel”. Conduct an analysis in terms of digitalization of sales and customer service, assess lost profits, for example, if the product is not presented in all possible channels.
Functional decomposition of the organization
Functional decomposition of an organization involves division into architectural layers and functional areas.
A functional area is viewed as a collection of several closely related business functions required to achieve specific business goals within an organization.
The architectural layer describes the structure of the organization's activities with the division of functional areas into layers:
Front layer — a layer of IT architecture associated with direct interaction with clients through channels. Any technical failure directly affects the client;
Serving layer — a layer of IT architecture associated with the support of the front layer. The front and service layers form a business core specific to the business of a certain organization and contain functions that define this business. Credit conveyor and processing — for banks, accounting and registration systems — for insurance, leasing and factoring companies. All this requires specialized information systems;
Support layer — an IT architecture layer that is not specific to a particular type of business and can be unified for different commercial organizations. The functions of this layer are necessary for any commercial organization, regardless of its specific area of activity.
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Typical functional architecture of a bank
The typical functional architecture of a bank describes the reference functional architecture of a typical bank and can be used as a basis for verifying the current and constructing the target application architecture.
The typical functional architecture of the bank is presented in Figure 7 and contains the following main components.
Typical bank products:
• Products for individuals;
• Products for legal entities (small and medium businesses, corporate investment business).Channels:
• Remote service channels;
• Self-service devices;
• Points of sale;
• Affiliate channels.Functional decomposition of the bank into functional areas with assignment to a specific architectural layer.
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Conclusion
In this article we have considered the general concept and main possibilities of using the reference application architecture as an ArchProduct.
We examined in more detail the approaches to functional decomposition in an organization and the possibilities of reusing the reference functional architecture of a typical bank.
In the next article we will consider an equally interesting topic of using a catalog of technological products and a criteria-based evaluation model.
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