Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
tionsorconstraintsonthisproject,suchas“Ourcompanypolicyofusingonlyopensource
software when possible precludes commercial solution XYZ in this project.”
High-Level Design:
A brief overview of the design including how it works at a high
level.Thedesignprinciplesshouldbedescribedbutnotnecessarilytheimplementationde-
tails.
Detailed Design:
The full design, including diagrams, sample configuration files, al-
gorithms, and so on. This will be your full and detailed description of what you plan to
accomplish on this project.
Alternatives Considered:
A list of alternatives that were rejected, along with why they
wererejected.Someofthisinformationcouldhavebeenincludedinthe“Background”sec-
tion, but including it in a specific location quiets the critics.
Special Constraints:
Alistofspecialconstraintsregardingthingslikesecurity,auditing
controls, privacy, and so on. These are sometimes optional. Document things that are part
oftheprocessatyourcompany,suchasarchitecturalreview,compliancechecks,andsimil-
aractivities. Youcanlumpalloftheconstraints togetherinthissectionorincludeasection
for each of them. Any mandatory process for project review at your company should prob-
ably have its own section on your template.
The document may have many more sections, some of which may be optional. Here are
some sections that might be useful in a template:
•
Cost Projections:
The cost of the project—both initial capital and operational
costs, plus a forecast of the costs to keep the systems running.
•
Support Requirements:
Operational maintenance requirements. This ties into
Cost Projections, as support staff have salary and benefit costs, hardware and li-
censing have costs, and so on.
•
Schedule:
Timeline of which project events happen when, in relation to each other.
•
Security Concerns:
Special mention of issues regarding security related to the
project, such as protection of data.
•
Privacy and PII Concerns:
Special mention of issues regarding user privacy or
anonymity, including plans for handling personally identifiable information (PII)
in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.
•
Compliance Details:
Compliance and audit plans for meeting regulatory obliga-
tions under SOX, HIPPA, PCI, FISMA, or similar laws.
•
Launch Details:
Roll-out or launch operational details and requirements.
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