Architecture of Interoperable Information Systems

If enterprises or public administrations want to engage in automated business processes with other organizations, their IT systems must be able to work together, i.e. they need to be interoperable.

[1] It is independent from specific products or vendors but describes generically the different layers, views, relationships and technical means needed to efficiently establish interoperable information systems.

Architecture is defined as the “fundamental organization of a system, embodied in its components, their relationships to each other and the environment, and the principles governing its design and evolution”.

[3] Sinz defines an information system architecture as the building plan of an information system in the sense of a specification and documentation of its components and their relationships covering all relevant viewpoints as well as the constructions rules for the creation of the building plan.

The static part of the architecture builds on three orthogonal axes: Enterprise Dimensions, Levels of technical Granularity and Collaborative Views.

Apart from the construction aspect, thereby also a multi-dimensional interoperability description is provided, facilitating the synchronization of collaborating systems on each level.