SRSWP is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering built on shared infrastructure; utilizing a service-oriented architecture (SOA) to enable software-as-a-service (SaaS) products.

The components of the platform provide modularity, scalability, and security for all applications running on it. This set of components are loosely coupled modules running independent of each other, and communicate via the use of massively-versioned web services. This design provides benefits such as:

1. Reduced time to market for projects by allowing projects to avoid the costs and complexity associated with developing or managing any of the shared resources.
2. Reduced capital expenditures by consolidating infrastructure costs including reduced overhead for setup and maintenance of hardware, software, and administrative staff.
3. Improved overall competitiveness in a changing global economy by enabling rapid, agile development of projects.

zVision defines the strategy for, and implementation of, a cloud computing platform for the SRS Engineering Department. It is the shift from providing individual applications to providing and supporting a platform. It encourages loose coupling between modules so they can be developed quickly and individually. By supporting a set of public APIs, modules can be updated and deployed without breaking contracts between other modules. It relies on an automated build system to provide continuous integration and testing. It provides direct feedback on developer behavior through the new Gamification system.

zVision values are defined as:

1. Over Communication: In a global organization, communication is key to ensure that information is shared widely and often; it supports transparency, helping the entire organization understand what is going on within and between teams.
2. Empowered Teams: Teams are more productive when they are in control of their own destiny. They are quick to solve problems and can easily adjust to feature priorities.
3. Continuous Integration: Regular builds and running of both unit tests and product acceptance tests (PATs) help to identify problems early and resolve them quickly.
4. Delivering Customer Value Early: New features and fixes are deployed quickly and regularly as part of the Service Oriented Architecture.

Communication between modules is strengthened by following zVision principles:

1. All services must be re-usable.
2. All services must be consumer-agnostic.
3. All services must be cacheable.
4. All services must be based around re-usable concepts (not database tables or UI elements).
5. All services must be as efficient as possible.