DEVELOPING IT COMPLIANCE PROGRAM: Vision, Architecture and Plan of Action for a Life-Cycle Concept
The use of Information Technology in today’s corporates and social organization is something that one cannot escape. Information Technology systems in organizations and corporations have played a critical role in ensuring that the activities of the organization flow in an organized manner. As organizations and corporates strive to create Information Technology compliance programs, they should strive to create IT programs that follow the laid down procedures and standards for optimal utilization of the Information Technology program. Organizations and corporates should strive to achieve a C and E program. The C and E program is an information technology program that achieves the ethical and competence requirements of any given Information Technology programs. The success of any given Information Technology project is determined by the developer’s ability to define the vision, architecture and the plan of action for the projects life cycle.
The vision of the IT compliance program
The vision of an Information Technology compliance program set out what the program is intended to achieve. Setting a clear vision of for the Information Technology compliance program is essential in the initial stages of development. The IT compliance program developers need to establish a vision that is in line with the purpose of the program. For instance, when developing an IT compliance program of storing students’ data, the vision should aim at making the IT compliance program as easy as possible to feed, retrieve and make the students’ data as secure as possible. Developing and communicating the vision of the IT compliance program allows a room for the developers to focus on the project enabling them to develop a quality and efficient to use program. Understanding the vision allows the developers to make any necessary changes to the program to optimize the Information Technology compliance program when it is finally completed. Furthermore, the vision for the Information Technology compliance project creates a room for the actual planning and mobilization of the necessary resources, so that the project can be developed without any hic-ups.
The architecture of the IT compliance program
The architecture of an information technology compliance program is the art of developing a design for the information technology compliance program before the program is developed. The purpose of architecture is developing the IT compliance programs is to make sure that the programs are in line with the organizational mission, vision and the available resources. The IT architectures are required to develop an IT compliance program framework that will be able to solve the organizational issues without the organization incurring an enormous amount of finances in maintaining the program. In developing the architectural framework for an Information Technology compliance program, the program developers undertake three basic levels of development, for the IT compliance program to meet its intended purpose. The IT compliance programs architectural levels are;
- Conceptual level
- Logical level
- Physical level
Conceptual level
Among the three levels of Information technology architecture, the conceptual level is regarded as the most essential level. Such is because the level provides the architectures with the ability to determine and establish a relationship between the various key concepts of the information technology structural model. In this level, the IT architectures do not focus on how the key concepts of the structural model work, but instead establish the essential relationship between the key concepts of the Information technology structural model.
Creating the structural model of the IT program is this abstract level is essential since it allows the development of a concise and clear image of the organization. Modelling in this level aligns the IT compliance program with the organizational image and its strategic goals. The conceptual framework architects developers focus on depicting the fundamental concepts only. In the process, the architects can bring together valuable agendas as well as the inclusion of all the stakeholders which allows the architects to develop the structural model according to the organizational needs and abilities.
Logical level
The logical level of designing the architectural structure of an information technology compliant program is concerned with the use of logical and function information, to highlight how a solution works. The logical level is very important to the architectures since it allows them to develop the IT compliant program both at the high and low levels. Depending on the requirements of the IT structural model, the architects can be able to determine whether to use the high or low levels to meet the goals of the IT compliant program. In this level, the architects develop the IT compliant program diagram which they can present to the organizational management and the stakeholders for views on what they may need to be adjusted. In this level, the architects can be able to demonstrate the effect of the program design on the organizational needs. Once the IT structural model is approved by the organization management and the stakeholders, the architects proceed to the final level of developing an architecture for an information technology compliant program.
Physical level
In the information technology architecture development, the physical level is considered to be less obstructive hence there is need to make the structure detailed. The physical level is concerned with the inclusion of specific technical assumptions, data representations and also specific products. The structure of the IT compliant program is detailed in this process because the structure is in the final phase of development and it is intended for real-life implementation and use. The final structure in this phase is intended to act as a guide for the people who will be tasked with the implementation of the IT compliant program. In this level, the architects establish the end-to-end solutions that integrate all the domains which are the business, infrastructure, applications and data. The integration of the domains is important to the management team and shareholders since it establishes a procedure through which the risks and budget issues can be identified and acted upon before they become severe.
Plan of action for the project’s life cycle
A project life cycle refers to the process that takes place from the start of the project until the completion of the project. A project life cycle is made up of four essential stages. They include;
- Initiation
- Planning
- Implementation
- Closure
Initiation
During the initiation stage, the purpose of the project is established from the needs that arise within the organization. The identification of the projects need can arise as a result of a business opportunity or even a threat. Once the need for the project is identified, the necessary consultations are made to allow the project to proceed to the next stage of its life cycle.
Planning
The planning stage involves identifying the necessary resources to enable the actualization of the project. In this life cycle stage, the team developing the programs comes up with a list of everything that needs to be done so that the program can solve the issue identified. Resources and tasks of the project are identified in this phase and also the strategic procedures of producing the resources for the project. After the identification of the tasks and resources, the project manager proceeds to create a plan for the next life cycle of the project and activate the plan.
Implementation
Once the resources for the project are identified and the plan is there, the next phase is the implementation of the project. In this phase, the plan developed by the project manager is activated for the action course of action to take place and establish the project. While the project is being implemented, continuous examination of the process is conducted to identify the things that need to be changed for a quality final product. After every stage of the project implementation, there needs to a report that highlights how the progress of the project is. Then implementing individuals should make sure that each stage achieves the desired outcome before proceeding to the next stage.
Closing phase
The closing phase is the final stage of a project’s life cycle. The closing stage involves the unveiling of the final product and making sure that the project can meet the desired goals. During this stage, the maintenance frequency of the project is established to ensure that it will provide the desired objectives throughout.