These three levels of information relate directly to the three levels of business functions in an enterprise. Ideally, the Systems Engineer should access a Function Chart (as prepared under EEM) which will act as a roadmap for the engineer when interviewing users. Consult the "Universal Enterprise Model" in EEM for details.

The type of business activity ultimately relates to the types of OBJECTS being managed or manipulated. Objects are the facts and events needed to run a business. Facts tend to deal with tangible entities, while events are intangible; some examples:

Each level of business activity will affect Objects differently; for example:

Another interesting characteristic of information is TIMING. Information is a perishable and dynamic commodity. It only has value at certain points in time. This is because business actions and decisions must be made in specific time frames. Information delivered in the wrong time frame will be meaningless and not useful. It therefore becomes imperative to define timing with a high degree of precision. Under ISEM, there are three time elements:

• FREQUENCY refers to how often the information is required. This is expressed by the number of occurrences within a time period. Some examples: 4N = Four times each minute 4M = Four times monthly 30H = Thirty times each hour 1Q = Once a quarter 2D = Twice daily 2Y = Twice a year 1W = Once a week R = Upon Request (anytime)

• OFFSET represents when the business process is to begin during the time frame. Some examples: 1D = First day (of a weekly process) 15D = Fifteenth day (of a monthly process) 2W = Second week (of a quarterly process) 365D = 365th day (of a yearly process)

  NOTE: There is no offset when the frequency is 'Upon Request' since information is needed at any moment in time.

• RESPONSE TIME is used to define the speed of the business process. Some examples: 5S = Five seconds 10N = Ten minutes 1H = One hour 2D = Two days

These aspects to information timing will ultimately dictate the speed by which data must be collected, stored and retrieved. Of the three timing elements, Frequency and Offset are perhaps the easiest for the user to define. The definition of Response Time may be left to the discretion of the Systems Engineer to interpret and define.

APPROACH

It is a popular myth in the computer industry that "Users do not know what they want." Users may not know PHYSICALLY how they want the information presented (the output media), but they definitely do know what information they want. It is System Engineering's responsibility to ask the right questions of the user. However, the questions should be more oriented to the essence of business information and less on its physical implementation (which will be determined later).

Fortunately, the attributes of information, as defined by ISEM, becomes a convenient way for gathering and organizing user information requirements. As Systems Engineering interviews User Management, they will consider:

• The LEVEL of information (Policy/Control/Operational).

• The OBJECTS managed or used (Facts and Events).

• The TIMING of the actions or decisions (Frequency/Offset/Response Time).

Systems Engineering will use these elements as the basis for developing the user's interview outline. During the information survey, Systems Engineering will need answers to the following types of questions:

1. What is the business purpose of the information? (What is to be achieved?).

2. What are the Objects being managed or operated? (What Facts and Events pertain to the user?)

3. Who will use the information and how? (What are the actions and/or business decisions?) (When you receive the information, what will you do with it?)

4. When and how often is the information needed? Why? (Frequency, Offset and Response Time).

5. What are the benefits of having this information?

6. What data is required? (Particularly generated data elements).

The "PRIDE" Information Requirement Worksheet makes a useful checklist for this type of questions. So much so, that users can complete the worksheet themselves.

The "PRIDE" Matrix Worksheet is also useful for organizing notes. For example, a matrix can be established showing time frames and objects. The information levels (P/C/O) can then be expressed in the cell coordinates; for example:

During the user interviews, it is important that Systems Engineering not comment about the ease or difficulty of obtaining the information. The engineer should not comment as to whether it is practical or not. The primary concern is to direct attention to capturing the business requirements for information. Feasibility will be considered in Activity F. Systems Engineering does a great deal of listening and searching for subtle variations or hidden requirements. The manager may ask for one thing and actually require something quite different.