In the fast-paced, evolving enterprise environment, there is a need to integrate systems, whether with recently acquired organizations or with the latest off-the-shelf technology. The challenge seems insurmountable without some formalized approaches, tools, techniques, and best practices to support the effort. During this capstone project class, you will select a manageable systems integration project so that you will have practice with all phases of the systems integration process, from determining enterprise integration requirements through the final implementation planning.
Project Selection
The first step will be to select an enterprise as the target for your systems integration capstone project, along with a list of the major systems to be integrated within the target organization. This project will be used as the basis for each of the assignments throughout the course and should conform to the following guidelines:
Nontrivial: The selected enterprise should be large enough to reflect the need to integrate systems.
Domain knowledge: You should be familiar enough with the organization to allow you to focus on its system's integration needs.
Select an enterprise that fits these requirements, and submit your proposal to your instructor before proceeding further with the assignments in the course. Approval should be sought within the first few days of the course. Your instructor will tell you how to submit this proposal and what notification will be given for project approval.
Assignment Guidelines
For the assignments in this course, you will be developing a comprehensive Systems Integration Design Proposal as your capstone project. Your first task in this process will be to select an enterprise to use as the basis of your project. You will also create the shell document for the final capstone project deliverable, which you will be working on during each unit. As you proceed through each project phase, you will add content to each section of the final document to gradually complete the final project delivery. Appropriate research should be conducted to support the analysis in your report, and assumptions may be made when necessary.
Requirements Specifications
Enterprise System Integration Analysis
Systems Integration Approach Evaluation and Selection
Proposed System Integration Components Architecture
Implementation Framework
System Integration Implementation Plan
New Content
Project Information
Provide a brief description of the enterprise (can be hypothetical) where the system integration design proposal has the potential of being adopted.
Describe the overall project objectives.
List the business or technical needs that will be met by the project.
List the major components of the project (major systems that will be integrated).
This list may change after further analysis is completed.
List the boundaries of the project (what the project will not address).
Material can be taken from the approved proposal that you submitted.
Be sure that this project is approved by the instructor.
Capstone Project Plan
This contains the work breakdown structure (WBS) for all of the tasks that will be required to complete the capstone project.
Determine the start and completion dates (within the course's start and end dates).
List other resources that are required to complete the project.
System Integration Best Practices
Based on what you learned during completion of the Discussion Board activity, identify best practice areas you will cover in your project.