Information Systems Architecture (ISA)
The Information Systems Architecture of an organization is a common framework, within which different kinds of individual information systems play their respective roles and interact with one another. It n is a framework for structuring and co-ordinating
- the subsystems and components of the individual information system applications;
- the interaction between different information system applications;
- the subsystems and components of the information system infrastructure;
- the interaction between the applications and the infrastructure.
For example, information system architecture may define
- a standard functional structure for the
subsystems and components of a certain application type, e.g. a statistical survey application;
- standard interfaces for interactions and data exchange between different types of subsystems or components;
- standard interfaces for human interactions with information systems;
- standard interfaces for interactions and data exchange with external information systems;
- services to be provided by the information system infrastructure;
- standard hardware, software, and data components to be used.