Technology Architecture

Technology Architecture

12. The technology architecture defines the nature of the hardware, software, and communications technology required to support the information and systems architectures. The components of a technology architecture include:

the nature, size, and distribution of the computer-processing facilities and associated workstations; the nature of the communications interconnections between the computer processing facilities; and the nature and type of applications development and systems software database management systems software (DBMS) office support systems software special purpose software to support analytical capabilities, text management, desktop publishing, etc.

13. The technology architecture provides the basis to:

select appropriate technology to support the systems architecture; guide acquisition of hardware, software, and communication facilities; and ensure integration and compatibility of component elements of the architecture

14. The elements of the technology architecture will be country specific. This paper, therefore, restricts itself to a discussion of the factors which need to be kept in mind while making technology choices.

(i) Application-Specific Factors

The technological requirements for the various systems modules described in the foregoing could vary quite significantly. Some of the application-specific factors that define the functional characteristics of the application system and determine the choice of information technology are:

the volume of data to be handled and the sizes of the databases required to be maintained; the volumes and rates of the transactions that take place against the databases and the numbers of concurrent users of the system; the volumes and frequency of the information flows between component parts of the system or with other systems modules; whether the information processing requirements are centralized to a single location or are distributed to a number of widely separated locations, and if the latter, how frequently the information maintained by the system is required to be aggregated at the center or referred to by other agencies of government; the type of data handled by the system: whether it is primarily alphanumeric or textual; and whether it pertains to a given time slice or, requires time series; the nature of output facilities required by the system: desktop publishing, graphics, report writing, and imaging; the nature of analytical facilities required, e.g., modeling, statistical analysis tools, etc.; and whether off-the-shelf software packages are available to assist in the implementation of the system.

The systems characteristics identified in Table 1 broadly define the information technology requirements of the systems modules. In general, the data volumes and transaction rates determine the computing power requirements at a particular node of the system and the degree of sophistication required in the database management software used. The larger data volumes and high transaction rates would generally require larger mainframe computers. However, the increasing power and sophistication now becoming available with microcomputers hooked up to networks has made the distinction less clear. High transaction rate systems with a large number of concurrent users require sophisticated database management software.

The data distribution profiles and the nature and frequency of information flows between component modules of the system or with other modules of the PFM network, determine the nature of the telecommunications facilities that will be required. The frequency of information flows between the nodes of the network determine whether the telecom link needs to be active all the time or whether information transfer at periodic intervals would suffice. Thus, for example, information systems to support tax administration would ideally have distributed processing facilities available at all important taxation centers, which would be connected with each other and with the center by telecommunications facilities. On the other hand, systems for fiscal planning or debt management, which are primarily operated by the MOF, would need only limited telecommunications access to other systems on the network.

Systems that handle large quantities of text information, as opposed to straight alphanumeric information, require special text-management software. Similarly, systems that require image processing capabilities have special hardware/software requirements. Systems that require special analytical or modeling tools, graphics, desktop publishing or report writing capabilities require the use of appropriate software for this purpose.

In general, it is advisable to opt for packaged software solutions where feasible. Packaged software can be acquired for systems with relatively standardized requirements. However, efforts should be made to ensure that the chosen software provides the core functionality required and that it is written in an environment (e.g., using fourth generation languages, application development tools and relational database management system) that makes it easy to add to and change its features. The use of these tools also increases application development productivity and provides easy-to-use facilities for end users. Systems with country-specific requirements may need to be custom developed. The cost and risks associated with such project are higher.

(ii) The Use of ''Open Systems Architecture"

Recent developments in the area of "open systems" are trying to ensure that hardware and software manufactured by several vendors that subscribe to this concept can be substituted for each other. Use of hardware/software that conform to open systems standards, therefore, adds tremendous flexibility in technology choices.

(iii) Software Portability

Some proprietary software packages are portable across several vendor platforms and across the whole range of hardware from micro-computers to mini-computers to mainframes. Portability of applications software to different hardware environments ensures that organizations are not locked into one proprietary line of hardware, and that applications that use this software can be scaled to different environments.