levels of detail during each step along the way. This approach is known as a top-down approach. The top-down approach allows us to focus on the specific areas of interest without the distraction of details that are irrelevant for the level that we’re studying. In this way, a system architect can analyze and study the IT system as a whole, encapsulating the computer systems, software systems, network architecture, and Web architecture that represent components, and focusing instead on the large picture: the purpose of each componentandtherequirementsfortheinterfacesandlinkagesthatconnectandintegrate them. With the IT system architecture firmly established, we can consider the individual business functions, computer systems, and networks that will link them together. For IT system analysis, this is often sufficient, at least superficially, assuming that the system architects actually understand the conditions and constraints imposed by details at the lower levels.