System Development Project - Goals, Objectives, and Key Components

Project Purpose

Use the following sections to describe why a new system is being developed or why an existing system is undergoing a significant modification. Identify the goals, and objectives of the new system

Identify the fundamental purpose of this project (e.g., create a brand-new system, replace an existing system, or significantly alter an existing system).

Briefly describe the goals and objectives of the new or modified system. Clearly state the problem that will be solved.

Provide a succinct description of the proposed system. Sections 5 and 6 will describe the proposed system in more detail.

Describe the scope of the proposed system. This subsection should clearly identify the boundaries of the proposed system.

Briefly identify and describe the processes that the proposed system will support. Please note that this section should not describe the processes in extreme detail. 

Briefly describe the high-level business and user requirements for the system. The purpose of this subsection is to provide enough requirements information to inform the proposed technical design. Detailed requirements should be in the “Business Requirements Document Template” from Task 1 instead of this document.

Use the following sections to describe the standards, assumptions, constraints, and design goals that influence the technical design of the proposed system.

Explain the relevant content management system (CMS), government, and industry standards that govern the technical design.

Describe any assumptions or dependencies regarding the system and its use.

Describe any limitations or constraints that have a significant impact on the design of the system.

Describe any goals, guidelines, principles, or priorities that guide the technical design.

High-Level Operational Requirements and Characteristics

Use the following sections to describe the operational requirements and technical design of the proposed system.

Using the table below, identify the user community for the proposed system and the key characteristics that will influence the technical design.

Table 1: User Community Description

User Group Description/Expected Use of System Type

(Federal Employee, Contractor) Geographic Location Network Profile

(LAN, WAN, External) Total Users Concurrent Users

<Description/Expected Use of System>

<Description/Expected Use of System>

<Description/Expected Use of System>

Include the complete table of nonfunctional requirements from Section 5.2 of the “Business Requirements Document Template” from Task 1.

ID Requirements

Provide a high-level overview of how system functionality will be allocated to logical subsystems or components. This section should identify the logical user groups, application components, data components, and interfacing systems. Using the information in Section 4.2 of the “Business Requirements Document Template” from Task 1, create a diagram that illustrates the collaboration and interaction between the major components. Identify any relevant design patterns or reuse relevant to the design, then insert diagram here:

System Goals and Objectives

In the table below, identify the alternatives considered for the overall architecture. For example, discuss any decision-making around building a brand-new system versus enhancing an existing system. This alternatives discussion is intended to differentiate between the fundamental options for designing a technical solution. If more detailed alternatives analysis was completed for specific architectural layers, discuss those in one of the following subsections.

Table 2: Alternatives Considered for the Overall Architecture

Alternative Description Pros Cons Preferred Alternative? Rationale

Using the table below, describe the application components in the architecture diagram above. If you considered alternatives around a particular application component, discuss them in this subsection.

Table 3: Description of Application Components

Diagram ID Application Component Description

(Business Process Supported, Purpose of Component) Type

(Identify both (1) Operational or Analytical and (2) Batch or Online) Strategy

(Build, Buy, Reuse, Rewrite) Alternatives Pros Cons Preferred Alternative

Describe the information components required to support the system. Start by identifying and describing the conceptual data entities relevant for the system. These should be the highest-level information categories for the system (e.g., claims, provider, beneficiary, clinical data.) This is not intended to be a complete logical or physical data model.

Using the matrix in the table below, describe the information required for the system. If you considered alternatives around a particular information component, discuss them in this subsection.

Table 4: Description of Information Components

Diagram ID Conceptual Information (Entity) Description Type of Data Store (Transactional or Analytical) System of Record?

(Does this system or another system serve as system or record for information?) Data Acquisition Approach

(e.g., User Data Entry, Interface) Alternatives Pros Cons Preferred Alternative

Not required for performance assessment.

Instructions: Describe the anticipated infrastructure that will be required to support the application and information architecture. At this point in the project, focus on describing the technology architecture at a high level only.

Instructions: Identify the target platform expected for the system (e.g., mainframe, mid-tier, other).

Identify the target hosting for the system (e.g., electronic data capture, business data capture, other).

Identify network connectivity requirements for the system (e.g., internet, extranet).

Describe the modes that the system will operate in.

Describe the anticipated security and privacy architecture. The purpose of this discussion is to identify the general approach to security to ensure that proper controls will be implemented into the system. This is not intended to be a detailed security design.

Instructions: Describe the basic user authentication approach to verify user identity before allowing access to the system. For example, will the system use the identity access control system (IACS) single-sign-on solution?

Instructions: Describe the anticipated approach for authorizing users to perform functional activity once logged into the system.

Based on the business risks and the nature of the information, identify if there are any anticipated needs to encrypt the data.

Use the following section to analyze the proposed system by prioritizing risks from the DREAD analysis.

Prioritize and describe the top five risks that the preferred alternative presents. For each risk, describe if it will be mitigated or accepted, and justify your decision.