SIAM - Service Integration Accountability Model

#EA #definition #Methods

SIAM - Service Integration Accountability Model

Definition/Purpose

A Service Integration Accountability Model (SIAM) is a diagram that shows how services are integrated in order to deliver the final deliverable to the end client. The power it provides is that it illustrates the required horizontal accountability relationships between service providers in the delivery of services. It illustrates the inter-relationships of services, their providers and the party role consuming the service. It will show how the output of one service is the input of another service. Horizontal accountability describes the relationship that a service provider has to target group members for the provision of the service’s output.

Description

A SIAM is an analytical tool that:

  • Ensures that the final valued service output meets the target group needs and identifies all intermediate outputs and the services producing them so as to ensure the highest possible degree of enterprise performance in producing the final outputs.
  • Enables the business designer to confirm that all the necessary services (along with appropriate service outputs for accomplishing the service objectives) have been identified.
  • Aids in setting the context for forming service level agreements (SLA) between service providers. The model supports the determination of who the provider of the services will be. It can also be used to make explicit and identify the nature of the accountability (i.e., formal agreement such as a SLA or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or informal agreement such as a handshake).
  • Provides the basis for workflow modelling. It can be translated using a straightforward procedure into models showing work and material flow used in other methodologies, e.g. RUP use cases and activity diagrams. It ensures consistent and levelled process integration across all organizational boundaries.

Types

There are two forms of the model: Service Integration Model (SIM) and Service Integration and Accountability Model (SIAM).

  • A SIM portrays the linkage between services and output types, without reference to organization structure or physical locations. The services can range from very abstract (e.g. Channel Service) to very specific (e.g. Ontario Driver License Counter Channel Service). This is a representation of the “service value chain” and aligns with the industry-accepted concept of “supply chain management”. The output from one service represents an input that supports an essential process or processes in another service. Moving “upstream” in the value chain results in more granular inputs and the model provides the basis for an SOA strategy.
  • A SIAM portrays all the information of a SIM plus the organizational assignments for services. The services and output types must be defined with sufficient specificity to assign each service in the model to an organization. See Service Integration and Accountability Model artifact examples: SIAM example.pdf, and Amazon SIAM.pdf.

Benefit

Provides a representation of services and the accountability for providing required inputs.

Risk

Without a clear understanding of points of accountability, the instruments for formalizing that accountability (e.g., SLA, Contract, etc.) may be overlooked.

  • Using the SIAM effectively requires modelling performance of various services in order to determine horizontal accountabilities.
  • Services need to be profiled.
  • Business Functions and/or processes are not represented on the SIAM model. The SIAM portrays only accountability relationships with external service providers and clients.
  • A service that provides its service output to another service in general should provide it to two or more services. While this may generally be the case, it does not always hold true.
  • If a service depicted on a SIAM is in scope for the project, then a Service Profile must be created. If a service depicted on a SIAM is not in the project’s scope and has been included in the SIAM to set context, then a Service artefact must be created.
  • Each service contains all the processes required to produce its output.

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