Case Study
Leverage Quantitative Decision-Making to Evaluate Integration Readiness
Technology
Client
U.S. Bank Cooperative
Services
Data & Systems Architecture, Enterprise & Solutions Architecture
Project Overview
The Client faced significant institutional challenges stemming from a lack of architectural documentation, data, and processes, and required tactical support to develop its integration architecture capabilities. RP constructed a suite of artifacts to facilitate architecture guidance and assessment, including a library of principles to govern development, a series of diagrams to capture current / future state designs, pattern selection flowcharts to assist developer decision-making, and a framework to evaluate system quality & integration readiness. These artifacts enabled the Client to identify areas of architectural risk, implement data-driven decision-making processes and consensus development, and incorporate architectural considerations throughout the bank’s functions
Solution
- Reference Point deployed a team of subject matter experts and experienced consultants with targeted expertise in data and systems architecture. The team collaborated with Client architects to build a database of system and interface metadata underpinning a consistent, templated suite of architecture diagrams which detailed the change cadence to be effected by the software replacement.
- RP tailored its Multi-factor Decision Framework to score systems across weighted dimensions which were defined to align with both industry best practice and the Client-specific environment. The framework allowed for assessment and visualization of architectural quality and integration readiness, providing a quantitative mechanism for summarizing diverse qualitative perspectives.
- RP also developed transition state scenarios for the staggered migration of systems onto the new loan servicing platform.
Impact
- Through data collection, document review, and framework-based systems analysis, Reference Point was able to help the Client identify areas of high risk early in the mainframe modernization program.
- The Client formally adopted artifacts collaboratively created with Reference Point to provide quantitative assessments across future initiatives and to incorporate architectural considerations and industry best practice across the bank.
- Reference Point shifted the Client towards a data-driven culture by setting precedent for formal documentation, architecture assessment, and pattern selection logic for developers. These changes helped formalize consensus formation across the bank’s architecture functions.
- The artifacts provided a foundation for the Client’s emerging Enterprise and Solution Architecture practice as stage gates across the bank’s change initiatives and the transition state diagrams and architectural quality frameworks supported efficient reporting to C-suite executives
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