Phase 2 requires considerable participation by User Management. Interviews are required to properly define business functions and to specify "objects" and information requirements.  

METHODOLOGY NAVIGATION

Depending on the magnitude of the enterprise, this phase can either be executed for the entire enterprise or, as is more common, for a specific area (e.g., Marketing, Administration, Manufacturing, etc.). This breaks the project work into smaller, more manageable pieces. In other words, it is not unusual for an EEM project to branch from Phase 1 to parallel Phase 2's. This decision is left to the discretion of the Project Manager who must judge the project's complexity.

Typically, the Project Manager will establish a relationship between an EEM Phase 2 and a major FE "business function." This is implemented by the project/phase key. For example:

Following Phase 2, the EEM project will proceed to Phase 3, "Physical Enterprise Analysis." Again, depending on the scope of the project and enterprise, there may be either one Phase 3 or parallel Phase 3's which will correspond with the various Phase 2's.  

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Understanding logical business functions can be a very abstract concept for some people to comprehend. People tend to assimilate physical structures, such as jobs/positions, more readily than logical structures. It is the Enterprise Engineer's responsibility to clarify this when interviewing users and executives. In fact, it is probably easier for the user to explain the physical organization structure first and then let the Enterprise Engineer interpret the business functions.

As a review of the key concepts pertaining to this phase, the Enterprise Engineer must remember the fundamental attributes of a business function: Business Functions...

• are a scope of responsibilities that define "what" is to be accomplished and "why"; not "who" and "how."

• rely on other functions to form a whole enterprise.

• can be separated into three high-level basic areas in any enterprise:
  1. produce/generate income
  2. administer resources
  3. produce product/service

• denote the three basic levels of activity in an enterprise (Policy, Control and Operations). The three levels can be charted as a hierarchy that shows superior/subordinate/lateral functional relationships.

• deal with objects and require information. Each function has at least one "object" that it must deal with or manage.

• communicate through information systems.

• require certain skills.

• are implemented by positions.

For a complete description of these key concepts, please refer to the narrative as provided in the methodology section: Understanding Functions.  

DESCRIPTION OF PHASE ACTIVITIES

Activity A - Detail Estimate & Schedule

Enterprise Engineering prepares a Detail estimate and schedule for the activities of the phase, which is reviewed with Project Management for approval.

Activity B - Interview Management

Enterprise Engineering conducts interviews with Executive Management and User Management to determine areas of responsibilities and actions/decisions that are made within that area. Also, discussed are the "objects" and information requirements that are used to operate and manage the enterprise, along with a description of the external enterprises that influence actions/decisions.

Activity C - Prepare Functional Model

Enterprise Engineering prepares a logical model of the enterprise using functions. Each function defines a scope of activity with specific responsibilities to be performed. In essence, the function defines "What" must occur and "Why"; however, it does not specify "How" (which is what systems are used for). The functions are organized into a hierarchical model denoting the areas of responsibility, the three basic levels of activity in the enterprise (Policy, Control and Operational), and dependencies between functions. The functional model (Function Charts and Profiles) is reviewed with User Management to verify the functions and with Quality Assurance to substantiate compliance with definition standards.

Activity D - Prepare Objects & Requirements

Enterprise Engineering defines the "objects" (which are represented using logical files) and Information Requirements for each function. Data Engineering provides assistance in locating existing objects and establishing new ones. At this stage, a basic definition of the object is all that is required. Additional descriptions about the object, using a comprehensive data model, will be defined in succeeding DBEM projects. Each requirement is analyzed to determine what existing Information Systems, if any, are used to implement the requirement. Both the objects and the information requirements are attached to pertinent functions.

Activity E - Prepare Functional Matrices

Enterprise Engineering prepares a series of matrices which show the relationships between functions, systems, objects and information requirements. These matrices will be reviewed by management for accuracy during the phase review.

Activity F - Prepare Functional Skills

Enterprise Engineering defines the skills required to perform each function. These skills will be used for performing an organization analysis in the succeeding phase.

Activity G - Update Project Plan

Project Management reviews and revises as required the Project Plan along with the Order-of-Magnitude estimate and schedule for the remainder of the project.

Project Management and Enterprise Engineering then assemble the deliverables resulting from the phase and packages them into a single phase review document which is evaluated by Quality Assurance prior to conducting the formal phase review with management.

Activity H - Phase 2 Review

Project Management conducts a formal review of the Phase 2 deliverables with Information Resource Management, User Management, Executive Management, and Enterprise Resource Management. At this time, management will review the formal Phase 2 "Logical Enterprise Study" consisting of:

• Phase Cover Page
• Function Chart
• Function Profile Report
• Enterprise/Function Matrix
• Function/Object Matrix
• Enterprise-Function/Object Matrix
• Enterprise-Function/Information Matrix
• Information Requirements
• Function/Skill Matrix
• Project Plan
• Project Estimate/Schedule Recap
• Phase Review Checklist