Information Framework (IFW)

Information FrameWork (IFW) is an enterprise architecture framework, populated with a comprehensive set of banking-specific business models. It was developed by Roger Evernden as an alternative to the Zachman Framework. The banking-specific business models represent the best practices in banking and are a natural extension to the Component Business Model.

The Information FrameWork (IFW) has built upon the ideas presented by Zachman. However, the objectives and scope of IFW are broader than that of the original Zachman framework. IFW is described and compared with the original Zachman structure, showing the evolution, changes, and rationale behind the changes based on experiences from within the financial services industry. Since 1992 Information FrameWork (IFW) has provided the architectural foundation and framework for a set of models developed to support agile, component-based IT systems. Although these models were aimed primarily for the Banking, Finance, and Securities industry sector within IBM, the ideas and principles behind the architecture and the model have much wider applicability.

The Information Framework (IFW) has become part of what is commonly known as the Industry Models. The IBM Industry Models are used primarily for the development of internal company standards and provide an overall integration layer across an organization's existing and future IT investments. With their strong business and IT orientation, IBM Industry Models are designed to be customized to reflect the precise needs of every company using them. Hence, every company will have its own customized industry-specific version of IBM's data, process and service models, allowing them to represent areas that are unique to their business and constitute competitive advantage. In addition, the models can be easily augmented to embrace industry extensions, jurisdiction, and company-specific extensions easily.

The Industry Models (IFW) has products for the following industries:

• Banking and Financial Markets (Data, Process, Services),
• Insurance (Data, Process, Services),
• Healthcare (Data),
• Telecommunications (Data),
• Retail (Data).

While in some markets IBM Industry Models have become de facto standards, their purpose is not to standardize at the level of an industry, but to provide the basis for defining corporate standards. IBM's approach is to facilitate or embody the most important industry standards, which are most often data models or messaging formats. Architectural elements in the IBM Industry Models are data models, process models, and service models.