Towards an Enterprise Architecture for Wits In the

Towards an Enterprise Architecture for Wits In the context of the new Student Information System programme Academic Information Management System Prof Derek W. Keats Deputy Vice Chancellor (Knowledge & Information Management) The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg http: //kim. wits. ac. za derek. keats@wits. ac. za

Brief history Mainframe → oracle Financial austerity “Saving the institution” This is NOT about Oracle! Not even Oracle Student System. . .

Confronting our brutal facts Wits currently has very little governance regarding implementation of IT supported processes, IT projects, or IT acquisition within the various silos of the institution This results in Mismatch between institutional process and IT tools Mismatch between expectations within institutional silos and what we can support Data islands, data amoebae, data corruption 'Projects' that slip through the cracks Operations managed as projects Projects managed as operations Wasting of financial and human resources

- Introduce Enterprise architecture (EA) - EA simplification for the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg - Starting EA with the academic information management system programme

Enterprise architecture defines the nature of what we call the operations (the business) of the institution the information necessary to operate the institution the technologies necessary to support the institution's operations, the change processes necessary for implementing new processes and technologies in response to the changing needs of the institution he T te tb x k o o w ie v

Traditional enterprise Architecture needs adaptation to higher education

Community engagement Research Teaching-andlearning What is the institution? Management and administration Governance

esearch R Te Man age C e o ng mm ag u em nity en t ac lea hing rn -an ing d- Reality for many institutions? men t an d ad mini stra tion Go ance vern

esearch R Te Man age C e o ng mm ag u em nity en t ac lea hing rn -an ing d- Reality for many institutions? men t an d ad mini stra tion Go ance vern

Knowledge & Information Management Advancement Finance Student Administration HR Research Academic Silos in the institution (Wits)

Knowledge & Information Management Advancement Finance Student Administration HR Research Academic Silos in the institution e-Learning application

Knowledge & Information Management Advancement Finance Student Administration HR Research Academic Silos in the institution e-Learning application

Knowledge & Information Management Advancement Finance Student Administration HR Research Academic Silos in the institution e-Learning

Knowledge & Information Management Advancement Finance Student Administration HR Research Academic Silos in the institution Research

Knowledge & Information Management Advancement Finance Student Administration HR Research Academic Silos in the institution Student registration system (AIMS programme)

Federated system Autonomous Research Federated Faculty administration Centralized Central administration

Wits Enterprise Researchers Science Commerce, Law and Management Health Sciences Engineering & the Built Environment Humanities

For the Wits, EA defines Architecture of institutional processes Including their federated & uncertain components Processes and governance mechanisms for integration across silos In line with existing governance mechanisms Aligned to the institution, not the other way around Application architecture aligned to our aspirations as a top higher education institution Including leveraging our own potential for innovation (TIPS) Technology architecture that is aligned to the

Aligning en riv hd rc a e es R Hi gh l ev el & 21 st Century challenges and opportunities sc ar ce sk ills tual c telle In t men e hiev ac Stra s Financial strength ne rship Transformation Engagement Infrastructure & environment Performance Enterprise tegic part Knowledge and Information contributing to WITS 2010 and beyond

Aligning 21 st Century challenges and opportunities sc ar ce sk ills tual c telle In t men e hiev ac Stra s Financial strength ne rship Transformation Engagement Infrastructure & environment Performance Enterprise tegic part Knowledge and Information contributing to WITS 2010 and beyond Attitude R ev el & e dg a e es gh l le ow hd rc Skills Kn en riv Hi

Agile EA Agile methodologies

EA as steps or concurrent channels Executive and management buy-in to the concept Development of EA strategy Alignment to institutional vision and strategy Build EA into organization and governance Provide for monitoring mechanisms e. g. Maturity model and scorecard Create and align roles and responsibilities Marketing and communications plan Implementation through programmes and

Se na Vice Chancellor ICT Council VCO & SET (Strategic ICT board) te Re fer en ce Strategy Capital investment Programmes Ad mi n Ins titu DVC: KIM Registrar tio na l ICT Institutional Process Programme manager Projects Pro gra bo mm ard e DRAFT Project office Project manager Application architect Project teams Implementation Operations Operational unit IT infrastructure Application support Service centre

Programme A group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to achieve benefits and control not available by managing them individually Sanghera, P. 2008. Fundamentals of Effective Program Management: A Process Approach Based on the Global Standard. J. Ross Publishing Inc, 356 pp. A system that manages the life cycle of students within Wits is too big to be treated as a project, there are many projects within it Many of the initiatives that will address academic computing are also programme scale

Institutional Benefits and Objectives Programme board Programme manager Programme Project Project manager

This is just an example

Which approach? Oracle Student System New system Time

Which approach User interface User interface Services layer Oracle SS New system

Alignment of strategy and capability Institution Strategy Enterprise Architecture Capability Information Technology Stakeholder discussions and interviews: gain stakeholder buy-in and understanding; counter strongly held views and positions that can incapacitate initiatives On-going process of communication Building capability in line with strategy Program / Project management Process analysis / design Technical skills Communication

Some legacy challenges affected Data integrity Institutional process & application alignment Agile end user interface design Directionality of IT expenditure Synergy Vendor Lock-in and inflexible processes Long-term (future proofing our IT systems) Support for the core business of Wits!

Key questions How do we develop, support and enable academic and research computing that fosters agility and innovation and creates synergy among research computing infrastructure? What is a sensible subset of what is possible?

Pervasive technologies Research funds Financing Shared Internet Core Network Wireless Configuration Common infrastructure & standards Cloud computing Data centre Research specialised Faculties & schools Admin shared Elearning shared e. Learning Research shared e. Research Student ownership Student computers Labs Mobility Staff computers

Academic & research support Create an academic and research computing section in CNS Manager, project manager, admin support funded centrally Services provided by additional staff based on costrecovery Technical cost recovery e. g. shared hosting solutions

Next steps Development of EA strategy Alignment to institutional vision and strategy Mapping of EA roles to institutional roles (e. g. Enterprise Architect → DVC: KIM) Mapping of EA governance to University governance Design technical and application architecture Academic computing opportunities and business model The need for programme management of the academic information management system makes this urgent

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