Concept: Functional Area Analysis |
Procedure for describing the functional architecture of a business. The result is a description that includes functional units of the business, the services the units offer and require, and the relationships between the functional units.
Relationships
Related Elements | Business Subsystem (or Business Service Interface) Functional Area Model
Main Description
Introduction Functional Area Analysis uses a partitioning of the business, such as a functionally-based organizational model, as a starting point or input. Business domains (such as "Marketing and Customer Management") first are identified. These are further decomposed into sub-domains and ultimately into functional areas (such as "Customer Service"). Further analysis, such as business use case analysis and/or business process definition, can be used to identify (1) the services each functional area offers and requires and (2) the required relationships between the functional areas. To explain the concept of business domain, consider the following simplified example: What the Business is selling? -- Products Domain To whom the Business is selling and how to improve it? -- Customer Relationship Management and Marketing Domain When and how to sell? -- Sales Management Domain How to Manage the Business? -- Business Administration Domain Functional Area Analysis begins by creating summary descriptions that identify the major high level functional responsibilities of each domain. Next, each domain is decomposed into smaller, more discrete, functional areas. Each functional area is described in terms of the specific functions it is responsible for, as well as functions it depends on during collaborations with other functional areas. So, the taxonomy of the result of a Functional Area Analysis might be as follows: As each functional area is being analyzed and described in terms of its functions, it is also analyzed in the larger context of its relationships to other functional areas (that is, the interactions and collaborations among functional areas are identified). A final step is to identify one or more candidate subsystems (or business service interfaces) for each functional area, to aggregate business functions with strong affinity. In many cases there will be a one-to-one relationship between a functional area and its functional aggregations. If multiple aggregations could be required, this is an indication that the functional area might need to be reassessed, split into one or more additional functional areas, each taking on a subset of the original functional area's functions.
More Information
Concepts | Business Subsystem (or Business Service Interface)
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