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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?

paul
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  • This... is a very big problem. It's almost certainly too broad to be answered in its entirety in an SF answer. Could you chunk it down a little into more manageable pieces as separate questions? – womble Nov 10 '15 at 11:43
  • @womble - as a new question or modify this one? what is better? – paul Nov 10 '15 at 12:01
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    Given there's no answers on here yet, I'd recommend reducing the scope of this one somewhat, and then anything that doesn't fit in the scope of that question, ask a separate one. – womble Nov 10 '15 at 12:04
  • `As time goes by it is easy to forget what connects where so` - It sounds like you're in some serious need of documentation and possibly a "run" book. I'd suggest starting with that. – joeqwerty Nov 10 '15 at 14:25
  • @joeqwerty - documentation is fine if it is up-to-date and part of a process. What is a 'run' book? – paul Nov 10 '15 at 15:30
  • We faced similar problems in refactoring of old code and maintenance of internal web services. The solution we came up to was to analyze application logs where present and insert usage logs where missing – nrc Nov 10 '15 at 18:23

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