Scenario
Please read this scenario prior to answering the question
Independent insurance brokers that work with ArchiSurance have complained of difficulty in communicating with salespeople and other personnel at ArchiSurance. They have said that email is too clumsy and slow for working on urgent deals, people do not always answer their mobile phones, and it is difficult to tell whether an individual is available. They have also complained that it is too time-consuming for them to manage their commission payments using an older web application that requires them to print out and mail forms for making some routine changes, and also does not work on many mobile devices. Some brokers have said that it is easier to do business with ArchiSurance competitors that provide easy-to-use mobile applications for both general communication and commission management. In fact, the ArchiSurance Vice President of Sales and Chief Marketing Officer have both expressed concern about reports from the ArchiSurance market research department that the company is gradually losing market share withsome of the same brokers that have been complaining. These executives are also concerned that ArchiSurance may not meet the targets for revenue growth.
Upon hearing about these issues, the ArchiSurance Chief Information Officer (CIO) hired a consultant to design a new mobile infrastructure for broker interaction. This infrastructure is required to enable easier communication with ArchiSurance brokers in order to help the company increase its market share with each of them and consequently attain its targets for revenue growth. In order to ensure that the new infrastructure would meet these goals, the CIO told the consultant that the new infrastructure must make it easy for ArchiSurance to develop and deploy applications and content for its brokers. It must provide federated authentication and an encrypted communication channel as well as instant messaging and presence services.
The new mobile broker interaction infrastructure architecture includes a number of system software components. A secure reverse proxy authenticates users and provides an encrypted channel to communicate with them. The proxy uses a service provided by directory server software to authenticate users. The directory server communicates with the ArchiSurance federation server, which in turn communicates with peer federation servers hosted by trusted brokerage organizations. Once the user is authenticated, the ArchiSurance broker portal uses the ArchiSurance web content management system to assemble authorized and relevant content for each broker. In order to provide presence services, a unified communications (UC) server exchanges information with the directory server and an instant messaging server.
All of these components are hosted on a single physical hardware platform hosting a virtualized server infrastructure. The server infrastructure is connected to a converged local area network (LAN), which is also connected to a commercial wide area network (WAN) over which ArchiSurance communicates with its brokers.
Refer to the Scenario
The solution delivery team for broker interaction would like to get a clearer idea of the motivations behind this solution as they plan a second release. You must model the stakeholders, drivers, assessments and goals that shape this strategic initiative. You must also show the relationships between these motivational elements.
Which answer provides the most complete and accurate model?
Scenario
Please read this scenario prior to answering the question
ArchiSurance senior management; board members, customers and major stockholders have long been concerned about disaster resiliency in light of the company's heavy reliance on a single data center. The data center is located in an area that is prone to flooding and earthquakes, according to expert assessments done by consultants retained for this purpose. In addition, the data center is located under a busy cafeteria, and water occasionally leaks through its ceiling.
To address these problems, ArchiSurance has developed a plan to move from its current data center to a pair of ready-to-use data centers in separate cities. The data center move is designed to reduce the risk of business interruption, reduce both planned and unplanned downtime for critical applications, and reassure ArchiSurance stakeholders. However, a number of limitations make the planned transition to the new data centers particularly challenging. A number of critical ArchiSurance applications cannot be offline for more than an hour, and any downtime for these application must only occur in certain four-hour windows each weekend. Also, the move cannot occur during quarterly or year-end closing periods in order to avoid interrupting critical processing. Fulfillment of these specific type of requirements will reduce the risk of business interruption from the data center move activities themselves.
ArchiSurance management has therefore planned a multi-phase data center transformation program. All of the activities in each phase are necessary to ensure a progression of stable and fully functional data center configurations. The first phase consists of detailed scheduling and planning to produce a comprehensive transformation plan that meets ArchiSurance timing and scheduling requirements. During the second phase, ArchiSurance is to contract for the hardware and software required for the new datacenters, as well for refunds for the hardware and software to be returned from the current data center once it is shut down. During the third phase, the new data centers are to be set up, and the new hardware and software are to be tested in parallel with what is already in production. The actual transition between the old and new data centers occurs in the fourth phase, and the fifth phase involves shutting down and dismantling the old data center, and returning its hardware and software for contracted refunds. Phases two through five are each to be initiated when specific conditions are met in the previous phase.
Refer to the Scenario
The head of IT has asked you to help her explain why ArchiSurance decided to transform its data center infrastructure. You must model the stakeholders, the motivations, and the influencing relationships between these motivations. You must also model the specific goals realized by the data center transformation program and the limitations within which this program must operate.
Which answer provides the best explanation?
Scenario
Please read this scenario prior to answering the question
The ArchiSuranceTo Go mobile consumer solution is increasingly important to ArchiSurance, which uses it to sell and renew insurance products, provide customer service, enable accurate and convenient home recordkeeping, and capture and process claims. The solution consists of three components. The Consultant lets customers review their existing coverage, and update it based on common life events, such as getting a new car, moving into a new home, or having a family member move in or out. If necessary, they can speak or chat with a customer service representative. The Home Manager helps customers photograph and catalogue their valuable possessions in order to support the filing of accurate claims in case of loss or damage. The Claim Manager enables customers to quickly file a claim for loss or damage to an insured auto, home or possession. It enables customers to describe the incident by referencing information captured with the Consultant and the Home Manager applications. In addition, it allows the customer to add photographs, audio, video and text to support a claim, submit the claim, and monitor its progress.
The ArchiSurancetoGo components rely on a number of application services hosted by ArchiSurance. The first is an Auto Identification and Description (AID) service that the Consultant uses to validate and complete auto information entered by customers. The second service, Home Identification and Description (HID) performs the same function for home information, and is used by the Home Manager. The Consultant also uses the Virtual Agent service to guide customers as they select coverage options, the Payment Processor service to arrange premium payments, and the Coverage Activator service to generate policies and put them in force.
ArchiSurance to Go also relies on a number of infrastructure services. The Home Manager uses a Multimedia Repository service to store and retrieve information about insured homes. The Claim Manager also uses this service for claim information entered by customers. All three components of ArchiSuranceTo Go use a Personal Security service to register and authenticate customers, and to manage their profiles.
Each application service is realized by an application component with the same name. Also, each infrastructure service is realized by a system software environment with the same name. ArchiSurance hosts both the application components and system software environments in a virtual ized server pool within its data center. Each service has its own virtual server. Each server is connected to a data center network (DCN) which in turn connects to a commercial wide area network (WAN).
Refer to the Scenario
The new head of IT infrastructure would like a better understanding of the applications used by ArchiSurance to Go mobile solution and the hosting infrastructure that supports these applications.
Which answer provides the best description of the applications and their underlying infrastructure? (Please note that it is not necessary to model the networks).