Choosing technology
Choosing the right technology is a significant area of investment for developing and maintaining your service. Your choices affect the quality of your service.
Technical Architecture refers to the way technology, data and processes are structured to deliver efficient and secure public services.
Know what technology you need
- Decide what parts you need to run your service.
- Reuse before you buy or build. If possible, use existing government technology. Buy ready-made tools or build new ones only if needed. Reuse saves time and money.
- Keep costs low. Choose technology that works well but doesn’t cost too much. Make sure your team knows the full cost.
- Pick flexible technology. Make sure your service can change in the future, so you’re not stuck using the same tools or suppliers forever.
- Use cloud services when you can. This means using online tools for storage and software instead of physical computers.
- Plan for old technology. If your service needs to connect to older systems, make sure it can handle updates and changes.
- Be kind to the environment. Save energy and reduce waste by using cloud computing, and less paper.
Evidence of best practice
To meet best practice your project should produce:
- Technology Options Appraisal – evidence of data informed decision making based on risk, quality, cost and security
- Final architecture diagrams – data management plan, API (Application Programming Interface) management plan
- Technical Options Analysis Document
- Technical Key Decision Document
- Environmental Impact Assessment
- Environmental Impact Approach / Plan
- A Longlist of Technical Options
Examples of Technical Architecture
Technical Architecture:
- helps different types of technology work together with what you already have
- makes it easier to share information between systems
- shows a clear and simple plan for how your project’s technology is designed and used.
Enterprise Architecture is the big plan for all your computer systems. This ensures efficiency, security and alignment with your organisation’s IT policies. This is your organisation’s strategy that will inform all your other technology decisions.
Solution Architecture is the design of a specific system or project. It makes sure the individual solution works with your existing technology. An example is ScotAccount, a solution that lets you access different public services with one login.
Technology Architecture deals with hardware (computers and devices), software (programmes and applications) and networks (how things connect online). An example is the Scottish Government’s cloud platform. This chooses tools like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure to store and host data.
Security Architecture focuses on cybersecurity, encryption and who can see what on your system. An example is two factor authentication (2FA). This prevents activities like hacking, fraud and identity theft.
For more guidance contact your organisation’s technology team.
Further reading