Abstract
Information systems collect, process, store, and output information for the benefit of their stakeholders. They range in scale from a simple smart phone to the world wide web. An architecture of an information system represents a high-level view of a specific facet of the system. An important view of the information system is provided by its information architecture that allows stakeholders visualize transfer of information among system components. Evaluation of complexity of this information architecture gives stakeholders a means of selecting the best architecture from an information standpoint. In this paper we propose to use fractal dimension as a means of evaluating complexity of information architecture of systems. Fractals are recurring patterns at multiple scales and fractals can be evaluated by means of their dimensions. In this paper, we model the information architecture as a fractal, compute its dimension, and determine its complexity. We develop the theory for fractal complexity evaluation, propose algorithms for practical application, and apply them to evaluate complexity of architectures.
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Subramanian, N. (2011). Evaluating Complexity of Information System Architecture Using Fractals. In: Salinesi, C., Pastor, O. (eds) Advanced Information Systems Engineering Workshops. CAiSE 2011. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 83. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22056-2_34
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22056-2_34
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