A Case Study: Developing an Architectural Design Description for the Technology– Communications Engineering Viewpoint

This paper presents a case study of the experience of a technical architecture team, the TA-CE Team, when developing an architectural design description (ADD) for an IT system focused on the communications engineering views of the technology viewpoint. The project charter and requirements for the assignments of the TA-CE Team project are based on a real-world initiative to improve electronic collaboration within a global tier-one automotive enterprise and with its global partners. The improved infrastructure had to support thousands of employees in engineering and manufacturing scattered around North America and Japan. The team assignments performed by the TA-CE Team formed part of the requirements of a course on IT Systems Architecture in a Doctorate of Management in Information Technology. The TA-CE Team project conducted the architectural project concurrently with four other team projects focused on the application, information and business systems, quality of service, and enterprise security viewpoints, respectively. The case study outlines the approach followed to develop the ADD, and includes the principles that guided the project architectural, architecture framework, process model and methodology. The paper concludes with a discussion of the project findings and the value of an industry-sponsored learning experience.