System design and consulting services for the financial industry
1. Service overview
1.1. Service description
The system design and consulting service for the financial industry provides system solution consulting and design. This service is designed for financial enterprises that are innovating their business models, migrating platform-level systems, or moving legacy systems to the cloud. The service includes business architecture design, application architecture design, technical architecture design, and implementation guidance. The Alibaba Cloud New Finance delivery expert team provides an overall design and implementation path for your business systems. The team uses design thinking, the microservices model, and a platform-based approach. They combine Alibaba Cloud products and technologies to add business value. This prepares you for a fast and smooth cloud migration, which is the first step toward your digital transformation.
The system design and consulting service includes two sub-services. You can purchase them based on your business needs:
Basic consulting service
For a single-scenario system, the design and consulting service includes the following items. A single-scenario system is defined as a system that supports one user type, up to three core business models, involves no more than two business departments, and integrates with no more than five internal and external systems.
Service Catalog | Service description |
System goal breakdown | Confirms and breaks down system goals through interviews with core project stakeholders and goal-breakdown workshops. This provides actionable guidance for the design and delivery phases. |
Current state review and requirements analysis | Assesses the current situation, pain points, and core needs by conducting interviews with various roles, such as business departments, technical departments, management teams, and user representatives. Identifies opportunities through workshops with technical and business roles. |
Business solution design/confirmation | Designs the high-level business solution based on your current situation using design thinking and referencing best practices. |
Development standard alignment | Designs and promotes development standards based on your existing technical standards, the project status, and product selections. |
Application architecture design | Designs the application architecture based on the business solution to guide technical implementation. Uses domain-driven design principles to perform strategic and tactical domain modeling to guide microservice decomposition. During the consulting phase, the domain model is primarily at the L2 level. |
Microservice decomposition | Designs microservices and defines their boundaries based on the domain and technical implementation. |
Technical architecture design | Designs the technical architecture and provides product selection recommendations based on your preferences. This design includes key technical topics. |
System integration solution design | Designs an integration map that includes internal and external integration scenarios and provides integration solution guidance for each scenario. |
DevOps standards design | Designs DevOps standards for configuration management, branch policies, and performance measurement. |
Test strategy design | Designs a layered test strategy to guide the delivery process. |
Team structure and collaboration model recommendations | Recommends a delivery team structure, role responsibilities, and a collaboration model for the project delivery phase based on an iterative agile delivery approach. |
Solution handover | Explains the design and hands over the solution to the core members of the subsequent delivery team. |
Supplemental consulting service
The workload may increase based on the business, integration, and organizational complexity of the target system. You can add person-days based on the pre-sales assessment.
For each additional user type or business model beyond the scope of the basic service, you must purchase one supplemental package.
The supplemental service items are the same as those in the basic service.
Service Catalog | Service description |
System goal breakdown | Confirms and breaks down system goals through interviews with core project stakeholders and goal-breakdown workshops. This provides actionable guidance for the design and delivery phases. |
Current state review and requirements analysis | Assesses the current situation, pain points, and core needs by conducting interviews with various roles, such as business departments, technical departments, management teams, and user representatives. Identifies opportunities through workshops with technical and business roles. |
Business solution design/confirmation | Designs the high-level business solution based on your current situation using design thinking and referencing best practices. |
Development standard alignment | Designs and promotes development standards based on your existing technical standards, the project status, and product selections. |
Application architecture design | Designs the application architecture based on the business solution to guide technical implementation. Uses domain-driven design principles to perform strategic and tactical domain modeling to guide microservice decomposition. During the consulting phase, the domain model is primarily at the L2 level. |
Microservice decomposition | Designs microservices and defines their boundaries based on the domain and technical implementation. |
Technical architecture design | Designs the technical architecture and provides product selection recommendations based on your preferences. This design includes key technical topics. |
Data model design | Designs the data model and data architecture for key business domains. |
System integration solution design | Designs an integration map that includes internal and external integration scenarios and provides integration solution guidance for each scenario. |
DevOps standards design | Designs DevOps standards for configuration management, branch policies, and performance measurement. |
Test strategy design | Designs a layered test strategy to guide the delivery process. |
Team structure and collaboration model recommendations | Recommends a delivery team structure, role responsibilities, and a collaboration model for the project delivery phase based on an iterative agile delivery approach. |
Solution handover | Explains the design and hands over the solution to the core members of the subsequent delivery team. |
Any work or solutions not defined in this Statement of Work (SOW) are outside the scope of this project.
2. Service scope
The system design and consulting service includes the following items:
Current-state analysis: Assesses the current business status, technical status, and digital maturity of the team using surveys, interviews, and workshops. The assessment conclusions are delivered as a PPT report. This analysis determines the business boundaries, integration status, technical status, pain points, and opportunities for the target system design.
Goal breakdown: Aligns on project goals through interviews or workshops. The goals are then broken down to form standards that guide the overall design.
Overall business system design: Uses design thinking to design and validate system features, producing a feature map and a feature checklist.
Application architecture design: Designs the domain model through service blueprint workshops and event storming workshops, producing a domain model map and a microservice map.
Technical architecture design: Designs the technical architecture and deployment architecture as needed. This includes selecting technical products, such as gateways, microservice frameworks, various middleware, databases, and Tracing Analysis. The deployment architecture may include clusters, same-city active-standby, same-city active-active, or active geo-redundancy, depending on disaster recovery requirements.
Standards design: Designs implementation standards for this project as a reference for the implementation phase, based on your overall implementation standards. These standards include requirements management standards, coding standards, microservice administration standards, DevOps standards design, test strategy, and showcase standards.
Delivery team structure and work style recommendations.
This service does not include the following items:
High-fidelity prototypes of the business system.
User story requirements (high-level and low-level design documents).
Deliverables at the level of a runnable product or executable code.
Party A will not restrict the service method, allowing Party B to conduct detailed research and design a consulting plan on-site or remotely based on the project's needs, and produce the final results.
Alibaba Cloud's responsibility for providing technical documentation is limited to its official documentation, cloud architecture designs, and system solution designs.
Party B is not responsible for the implementation or maintenance of Party A's business system during the planning, architecture design, migration, or application procedure.
Alibaba Cloud does not provide technical support for issues that are external to the Alibaba Cloud platform, such as those related to third-party software and applications.
Implementation tasks performed after the consultation and architectural solution design, such as application delivery and data migration, are not covered by the basic service package or the add-on service package.
Any deliverables outside the defined scope. The service is limited to the service period and terminates upon expiration.
As part of its services, Alibaba Cloud is not responsible for implementation tasks such as application deployment, application code modification, data modification, or data migration.
Party B is not responsible for any project delays caused by Party A.
3. Prerequisites
You must request this service at least 15 business days in advance. This allows Alibaba Cloud to assess your business goals and schedule feasibility, and to confirm whether to accept the service request.
During the consulting process, you must provide sufficient information and ensure that personnel in relevant roles participate in the analysis and workshops.
During the consulting process, you must participate in phased solution validation to ensure the overall solution direction is aligned.
You must promptly provide Alibaba Cloud with all necessary and reasonable documents, information, data, charts, and required system permissions and remote access channels to enable Alibaba Cloud to provide the service. All these materials are subject to the confidentiality clauses of this agreement. You agree that all information you have disclosed or will disclose to Alibaba Cloud is true, accurate, and not misleading.
Alibaba Cloud provides delivery services for this project during normal business hours: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (UTC+8), Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.
During the project implementation period, both parties will use mutually agreed-upon communication methods. The project managers of both parties are responsible for transmitting the written information required for this project. Communication methods may include DingTalk, the Internet, fax, or email.
All project deliverables are in Simplified Chinese, and the working language is Chinese. All deliverables are submitted as electronic copies in Microsoft Office formats, such as PPT, Word, Excel, and Visio.
Party A and Party B shall perform the project work according to the agreed-upon work plan, resource plan, and system-defined start and end dates. If an iteration release for Party A's business systems is delayed, the project schedule will be postponed accordingly, and Party B shall not be held responsible for the delay.
If third parties are involved, you and Alibaba Cloud are each responsible for signing contracts with your respective third parties. Alibaba Cloud is not responsible for the actions of your other subcontractors or vendors (except for Alibaba Cloud's subcontractors), nor for any delays they cause. You are not responsible for the actions of Alibaba Cloud's other subcontractors or vendors (except for your subcontractors), nor for any delays they cause.
Neither party is liable for any special, incidental, or indirect damages or consequential economic losses (including lost profits or savings) under this agreement, even if the party has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
4. Division of responsibilities
4.1. Customer and Alibaba Cloud
For the duration of this service, both parties will agree upon and confirm the specific business goals and scope.
The following figure shows the responsibility division interface.
Key: R-Responsible: Executes the task. A-Accountable: Owns the task. C-Consulted: Provides input. I-Informed: Is kept up-to-date on progress. S-Support: Supports the person who is Responsible.
Service type | Phase | Task name | Task details | Customer | Alibaba Cloud |
System design and consulting service | Current-state analysis | Goal breakdown | Align on project goals with core project members through workshops. Break down the vision and goals and present them in a Business Model Canvas or Lean Value Tree format. | A/S/C/I | R/I |
Business status analysis | Review current business models and processes through interviews and service blueprint workshops. Identify pain points and opportunities at the system design level. | A/S/C/I | R/I | ||
Technical status analysis | Review the current enterprise-wide digital product map, target system technical architecture, and integration map through interviews and service blueprint workshops. | A/S/C/I | R/I | ||
Solution design | System feature design | Design and validate features around business processes. | A/S/C/I | R/I | |
Application architecture design | Organize event storming workshops to identify domain events and define domain models. Ensure the relative validity of the model identification through business process simulation workshops. | A/S/C/I | R/I | ||
Technical architecture design | Microservice architecture design | A/S/C/I | R/I | ||
Data model design | Design the data model and data architecture for key business domains. | A/S/C/I | R/I | ||
Integration architecture design | Identify internal and external system integration points. Create integration solution design guidance for different scenarios. Design core APIs for core integration scenarios. | A/S/C/I | R/I | ||
DevOps standards design | Identify areas for optimization based on the current DevOps status. Formulate recommendations for branch policies, automated deployment, and continuous integration. | A/S/C/I | R/I | ||
Test standards design | Design a test strategy based on the current situation and available resources. Formulate test standards to guide development. | A/S/C/I | R/I | ||
Solution handover | Solution presentation | Present the solution to the core members of the delivery team. | A/R/I | S/C/I | |
Introduction to core work methods | Provide a training course on work methods, such as domain-driven design and service blueprints, for core members of the delivery team. The course is a one-time introductory presentation. | A/R/I | S/C/I |
4.1.1. Customer
You must designate a project manager with appropriate skills and experience as the primary contact for communication with Alibaba Cloud. This person will be directly responsible for planning, coordinating, supervising, and controlling the project implementation, along with escalating issues and risks. They must also have full authority to make decisions on all aspects of this project on your behalf.
Based on the project situation, your project manager must coordinate resources from all parties to participate in key activities, such as analysis and phased solution validation.
You must cooperate with Alibaba Cloud in the current-state analysis of the system to be transformed by providing reasonable documents, information, data, charts, and the necessary system permissions and remote access channels.
4.1.2. Alibaba Cloud
Alibaba Cloud will assign an experienced project manager to perform project management, assemble and manage the Alibaba Cloud project team members, and communicate with your project manager.
Alibaba Cloud will assign several business and technical architects with industry experience and relevant project experience to conduct the current-state analysis and solution design.
Work with the client to hand over the solution and provide an explanation.
4.1.3. Completion criteria
The system design solution is complete and has been confirmed by you.
All deliverables have been produced.
5. Service SLA
This is a consulting-only service. The service is provided remotely or on-site as needed until completion.
This service does not include Operations and Maintenance (O&M) tasks after completion. The service ends upon completion.
6. Service process
Consulting service process
Pre-sales communication → Place an order on the official website → Project preparation → Current-state analysis → Solution design and validation → Solution acceptance → Project acceptance
7. Acceptance criteria
7.1. Acceptance checklist
No. | Delivery phase | Delivery detail | Deliverable | Deliverable type |
1 | Current-state analysis phase | System vision and goal breakdown | Business Model Canvas or Lean Value Tree | Document |
2 | Business status analysis | Analysis and Assessment Report As-Is Service Blueprint | ||
3 | Technical status analysis | |||
4 | Solution design phase | System feature design | System Feature Checklist System Feature Map | |
5 | Application architecture design | Domain Model Map | ||
6 | Data model design | Integration Solution Design Microservice Map Core Data Model Technical Architecture Design | Document | |
Technical architecture design | ||||
7 | Standards design | Test Standards Microservice API Design Standards Microservice Development Guide Coding Standards DevOps Standards | ||
8 | Solution handover | Solution presentation | ||
9 | Introduction to work methods |
7.2. Acceptance standards
During project delivery, Alibaba Cloud provides business system consulting and design services and produces an overall design solution. Key information is recorded in documents. Therefore, for document-type deliverables, acceptance should focus on the substantive content of the documents. You must confirm that the content submitted by Alibaba Cloud meets the requirements agreed upon by both parties in the contract and the SOW.
If your business process requires internal reviews before Alibaba Cloud submits deliverables, you must complete the necessary internal reviews in a timely manner before the agreed-upon acceptance time.
After the document content is reviewed, if modifications are needed, Alibaba Cloud will make the changes and then submit them to you for acceptance. Your designated representative will confirm receipt. Acceptance is confirmed by clicking the acceptance confirmation button on the Alibaba Cloud service system page.
The system design solution must meet the requirement description specified in the contract.
7.3. Acceptance plan
In accordance with the following acceptance plan, Party A will accept the project deliverables for each phase as specified in the '7.1 Acceptance Sub-item Checklist'.
Acceptance plan for system design and consulting services for the financial industry
No. | Acceptance milestone | Acceptance content | Sign of acceptance completion |
1 | Current-state analysis complete | Business Model Canvas or Lean Value Tree, As-Is Service Blueprint, Analysis and Assessment Report | Alibaba Cloud has submitted the deliverables, and the deliverables meet the scope and content of the requirements agreed upon by both parties in the contract. |
2 | Business system feature design complete | System Feature Map System Feature Checklist | Alibaba Cloud has submitted the deliverables, and the deliverables meet the scope and content of the requirements agreed upon by both parties in the contract. |
3 | Overall architecture design complete | Domain Model Map Microservice Map System Architecture Design Integration Solution Design Microservice API Design Standards Microservice Development Guide Coding Standards DevOps Standards Test Standards | Alibaba Cloud has submitted the deliverables, and the deliverables meet the scope and content of the requirements agreed upon by both parties in the contract. |
7.4. Acceptance responsibilities of both parties
After Alibaba Cloud submits a deliverable, you have five business days to verify that it meets the requirement description. If it meets the description, your designated representative must notify Alibaba Cloud of acceptance in the manner specified in the '7.2 Acceptance standards' section. This marks the completion of the deliverable acceptance. If you do not respond within five business days, the deliverable is considered reviewed and accepted.
If your designated representative provides a written notice of discrepancies within these five business days, Alibaba Cloud will respond within 10 business days. A discrepancy is any aspect that does not meet the requirement description. Alibaba Cloud's response will explain how the discrepancies will be handled and provide a timeline for modification. Both parties must agree on the handling method and timeline. If the discrepancies can be resolved without affecting the original project schedule, Alibaba Cloud will resubmit the modified deliverable as agreed. You must then verify the deliverable within five business days and provide written confirmation of acceptance. If you again submit a written notice that the deliverable still has discrepancies, both parties will discuss the issue within three business days of Alibaba Cloud receiving the notice and agree on how to resolve them.
If Party B does not receive a written notice of non-conformities from Party A within 5 working days after delivery, the deliverables are deemed reviewed and accepted by Party A.
You must carefully review any work products and deliverables submitted by Alibaba Cloud and are responsible for the subsequent production implementation. If you have already used a deliverable in a production environment or for business-related activities, it is considered accepted.
After a deliverable is accepted or considered accepted, the services provided by Alibaba Cloud under this SOW are considered accepted, and Alibaba Cloud's obligations under this SOW are considered fulfilled.
If work cannot proceed as planned for reasons attributable to you, the project milestone dates will be extended accordingly.
8. Completion sign-off
The service is considered complete when the implementation ends and you have completed the acceptance process.