Data requirements for "How will IT failure impact our business?"

The business question How will IT failure impact our business? provides a high-level end-to-end view of your IT technology landscape. This offers insight to which business capabilities will fail if servers and applications go offline.

MM_HowWillITFailureImpactOurBusiness 

To have meaningful data for the business question How will IT failure impact our business?, you must capture the following information about the business capabilities, applications, physical servers, virtual servers, and locations relevant for this business question in your company.

Class Attribute Mandatory Explanation

Business Capability

Level ID

The hierarchical number of the business capability in the business capability hierarchy. For example: 1, 1.1, 1.1.1, 1.2, 1.2.1, etc.

Name

x

The business capability's name.

Parent Business Capability

The parent business capability in the business capability hierarchy.

Business Relevance

Indicates how relevant the business capability is for the business:

  • Mission Critical: The business capability is crucial to the organization's business and therefore essential to the accomplishment of the vision, goals and objectives.
  • Business Evolving: The business capability responds to internal and external change and helps to support the necessary steps to transition the organization's business.
  • Business Enabling: The business capability is currently core to the business of the organization and describes what currently exists in the business.
  • Business Operating: The business capability is not unique to the business but does provide the support required to operate the business. Because it is not unique to the business, it does not constitute a core business capability.

Application

Name

x

The application name.

Version

x

The version number for the application. It is recommended that you document major and minor release versions (<MajorVersion.MinorVersion>).

Start Date

x

The start date is the date when the application is actively used.

End Date

x

The end date is the date when the application is no longer used.

Object State

x

Describes the use of the application in the real word. This can be understood as the operational status of the application. Possible values are:

  • Plan: The application is proposed to be used and still in the stages of planning and building.
  • Active: The application is currently being used. The active period begins with the application's start date and stops with the end date.
  • Retired: The application is no longer used.

The object state should be changed from Plan to Active once the application's start date is reached. It should be changed to Retired when the application's end data is reached.

Status

x

Specifies the approval status of an application and determines whether or not the application can be edited or deleted. Possible values are:

  • Draft: The application has only mandatory data defined.
  • Under Review: The application is documented and being reviewed. An application with this release status cannot be deleted.
  • Approved: The application has been approved by the responsible stakeholders. An application cannot be deleted when it has an approved release status. An application with this release status cannot be deleted.
  • Data imported: The data regarding this application has been imported from an external system. Additional changes may be required to improve the data quality. An application with this release status can be deleted.
  • Trash: The application is no longer valid and can be deleted.

Architecture Type

The architecture type of the application: Possible values are:

  • Client-Server: The application divides tasks or workloads between the providers and consumers of a resource or service.
  • Cloud-Based: The application runs on SaaS cloud environments. The cloud infrastructure could be local or remote to the organization.
  • Distributed: The application runs on multiple computers within a network. The network boundary can extend from private intranets to public clouds.
  • External Webpage: The application is an external resource represented through a web link.
  • Mainframe: The application is used by large organizations to carry out critical processing tasks such as bulk processing of data, transactions, planning or statistical activities.
  • Stand-Alone: The application is a self-contained application that does not rely on external entities to complete a task.
  • Unknown: The architecture type has not yet been assessed.

Authentication

The authentication method used for the application.

  • Autonomous: The application supports autonomous methods such as Direct Autonomous Authentication (DAA) for authentication. This can be carried out through mobile or remote authentication systems.
  • Basic Access: The applications support basic authentication based on a username and password. Protocols and layers such as HTTPS, SSL. or TLS could be used to enhance security, but these are not mandatory.
  • Multi-Factor: The application requires more than one method of authentication from independent verification sources to verify the transactional identity.
  • Multi-Factor & SSO: The application supports both multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO) authentication methods.
  • No Authentication: The application does not support authentication.
  • Single Sign-On: The application supports the use of a single ID and password to gain access to several related or unrelated systems.
  • Unknown: The authentication mode has not yet been assessed.

Development Type

The application development type.

  • Bespoke: The application was created specifically to address a unique use case.
  • COTS - Configured: A commercial off-the-shelf application that has been configured or supports configuration to fulfill the requirements of the enterprise and is fully supported and upgrade-stable.
  • COTS - Customized: A commercial off-the-shelf application that is customized or contains organization-specific code/programming to suit the requirements of the enterprise.
  • Unknown: The application development type has not yet been assessed.

Recommendation

The strategic recommendation regarding future investment for the application. Possible values are:

  • Tolerate: Invest in the application.
  • Invest: Consider the application as a migration candidate.
  • Migrate: Sundown the application.
  • Eliminate: Discontinue the application.

Virtual Server

Name

The virtual server's name.

Version

x

The version number for the virtual server.

Start Date

x

The start date is the date when the virtual server is actively used.

End Date

x

The end date is the date when the virtual server is no longer used.

Object State

x

Describes the use of the virtual server in the real word. This can be understood as the operational status of the virtual server. Possible values are:

  • Plan: The virtual server is proposed to be used and still in the stages of planning and building.
  • Active: The virtual server is currently and used now.
  • Retired: The virtual server is no longer used.

Status

x

Specifies the approval status of a virtual server and determines whether or not the vitual server can be edited or deleted. Possible values are:

  • Draft: The virtual server has only mandatory data defined.
  • Under Review: The virtual server is documented and being reviewed.
  • Approved: The virtual server has been approved by the responsible stakeholders.
  • Data imported: The data regarding this virtual server has been imported from an external system. Additional changes may be required to improve the data quality.
  • Trash: The virtual server is no longer valid and can be deleted.

Server Type

Specifieds whether the server is an application server, Web server, mail server, FTP server, collaboration server, or another type of server.

Physical Server

The physical server that the virtual server runs on.

Physical Server

Name

x

The physical server's name

Version

x

The version number for the physical server.

Start Date

x

The start date is the date when the physical server is actively used.

End Date

x

The end date is the date when the physical server is no longer used.

Object State

x

Describes the use of the physical server in the real word. This can be understood as the operational status of the physical server. Possible values are:

  • Plan: The physical server is proposed to be used and still in the stages of planning and building.
  • Active: The physical server is currently and used now.
  • Retired: The physical server is no longer used.

Status

x

Specifies the approval status of a physical server and determines whether or not the physical server can be edited or deleted. Possible values are:

  • Draft: The physical server has only mandatory data defined.
  • Under Review: The physical server is documented and being reviewed.
  • Approved: The physical server has been approved by the responsible stakeholders.
  • Data imported: The data regarding this physical server has been imported from an external system. Additional changes may be required to improve the data quality.
  • Trash: The physical server is no longer valid and can be deleted.

Location

The location where the physical server is deployed.

Location

Name

x

The location's name.

Parent Location

The parent location indicates where a location can be found and serves as the full location name.