Our IT department has around 90 people. We manage systems and create applications. The systems are of varying size from SAP to Lotus Notes to Tivoli Access Manager (TAM).
Increasingly, the applications we create connect to these systems via web services, LDAP queries etc.
As time goes by it is easy to forget what connects where so, that when changes are made, service connections can become disrupted.
Example:
The TAM system contains an LDAP with user information including which applications they are authorised to view. An unrelated application fetches this user information to build a dynamic web-based menu containing personalised links.
The TAM crew are told to tighten their security and so close all the ports. They have long forgotten about the mini web app that builds its menu every night. The next morning the production boss is in a rage because his people cannot start their applications because the menu is half empty.
Question
What kind of systems could be introduced to help remind all concerned which services are in use?