Are my Information System Deliverables equal to artifacts that that can be organized by the Zachman Framework?
Yes and No. For those of you unfamiliar with the Zachman Framework, visit its website… http://www.zachmanframework.com/
Let’s see what columns I have covered with my deliverables:
Data Model is “what”.
Business Process Model is “how”.
Use Cases may also be “how”, and also partially “who”.
Events of the Business Process Model are “when”.
Business Rules are “why”.
That leaves “where”, which may need to be stated explicitly when multiple business locations are involved; this may require a requirements deliverable for an information systems network.
From a Zachman perspective, my deliverables may be seen as weak in the “when” and “who” columns. I am usually comfortable with these areas as they are, as “when” and especially “who” are often found more in systems design then system requirements. Overall, if you have read my earlier posts, you will notice that the words “what” and “how” have a different meaning from Zachman when describing Information System Requirements (what), versus Information Systems Design (how).
You can also see that some of my deliverables would be considered as row 2 artifacts, while others are row 3. If you feel the need to provide artifacts for both rows, so much the better; if not, I think my deliverables, plus a location/network deliverable, will usually suffice for defining a complete set of Information System Requirements.
Now, I do say this in the context of being a Business Analyst responsible for defining Information Systems Requirements, without expecting there to be an overall Architecture in place. If you are lucky enough to be working in an environment that does provide an overall Architecture, I humbly submit my favourite deliverables as candidates for use as architectural artifacts.
