The WCA framework summarizes the elements any business professional should look at when analyzing an existing or potential system in an organization. The framework says that the system is much more than just technology. Instead, the system is actually a work system consisting of a business process performed by human participants using information and technology. Unless the purpose of the analysis is to improve the way the system operates internally without changing anything about what it produces or why it exists, the analysis of the system needs to include the product it produces and the customers it serves. The following diagram summarizes the framework:

The customer is whoever receives and uses the product of the work system. This may be an external customer, a customer for the organization's product, or it may be an internal customer inside the organization.

The product is the combination of physical things, information, and service that the work system produces for the customer. The work system exists to produce the product for the customer.

The business process is the set of work steps that are performed within the work system. These steps may be precisely defined in some situations or relatively unstructured in others.

The participants are people who perform the work steps in the business process. The same business process might be performed with different degrees of success depending on the skills, training, and interests of the participants.

The information is the information used by the participants to perform their work. Some of the information may be computerized, but other important information may never be captured on a computer.

The technology is the hardware, software, and other tools and resources used by the participants in doing their work.