Designing information technology architectures: a cost-oriented methodology

Abstract

This paper proposes a design methodology of information technology architectures tying organizational requirements to technical choices and costs. The primary goal is to provide a structured support for the selection of the minimum-cost architecture satisfying given organizational requirements. Previous empirical studies have attempted absolute cost comparisons of different architectural solutions, primarily relying on the expertise of practitioners and a priori beliefs, but have rarely taken into account the impact of organizational requirements on costs. Requirements are modelled as information processes, composed of tasks exchanging information and characterized by varying levels of computational complexity. Different architectural distributions of presentation, computation and data management applications are compared. The cost implications of organizational requirements for processing intensity, communication intensity and networking are analysed. The results show a relationship between structural features of information processes and architectural costs and indicate how architectural design should be based on organizational as well as technology considerations.