Understanding Dependencies

Introduction

Dependencies are the foundation for a deeper understanding of your IT and business landscape. They show how systems, services, applications, data flows, and responsibilities are connected – both technically and organizationally. With Docusnap365, these dependencies can be systematically captured, documented, analyzed, and visualized.

Using Docusnap365 in the Context of “Understanding Dependencies”

Capturing and analyzing dependencies is a core capability in Docusnap365. It enables structured representation of technical, organizational, and business relationships and allows for evaluation of their impact. This makes Docusnap365 a central tool for IT transparency, risk assessment, business continuity, and compliance.

Objectives

Dependency documentation in Docusnap365 enables:

• Visualizing relationships between systems, services, and applications
• Logically linking business and IT structures, e.g. ERP → SAP → Server
• Clearly assigning responsibilities, e.g. Application ↔ Person
• Identifying critical paths and single points of failure
• Supporting audits and risk assessments

The focus is not only on technical infrastructure, but also on business processes, responsibilities, and integration-relevant objects.

Typical Use Cases

A typical scenario: A business service such as “ERP” depends on the application “SAP”, which is hosted on multiple servers. In addition, technical integration components (e.g., REST APIs) or information objects (e.g., customer data) can be directly assigned to the connections — creating a complete, contextual view.

Key Features

• Detailed classification of dependencies (e.g., “Depends on”, “Managed by”, “Owns”)
• Distinction between relationship types:
  • Hierarchical (Parent-Child)
  • Technical dependency
  • Associative relationship
• Visualization as diagram or table, with interaction options (expand, group, filter)
• Multi-selection of starting objects to analyze distributed relationships
• Export to Visio, Excel, or CSV
• Save views for reuse and comparison

Extension via Connection Objects

A new feature in Docusnap365 is the ability to place objects directly on a dependency, such as:

• A REST API as an interface between systems
• An information object describing processed data
• A contract or SLA as legal context for a connection

This turns the dependency itself into an information-carrying entity of high documentation value.