Enterprise Architecture - Ohio's IT Optimization

Editor's Notes

• #2: Thank you for joining us this evening as we present a Proposed Enterprise Architecture & IT Engagement Model for the Infrastructure & Environment Line of Business for the State of Ohio. Presenting tonight are the members of the Red Team, including Dustin Brown, Chuck Carter, Karen DuBoiS, Nikki Jenkins and I’m Becca Werth. I will now turn it over to Chuck Carter.
• #4: Source: State of Ohio Multi-Agency Advisory Council (MAC), 12/14/12
• #5: Source: State of Ohio Multi-Agency Advisory Council (MAC), 12/14/12
• #6: Source: State of Ohio Multi-Agency Advisory Council (MAC), 12/14/12 Improve the IT business decision-making process. • Free-up agencies to focus on their primary mission and core competencies. • Leverage savings to innovate, modernize, and continually upgrade through the reinvestment of funds. • Provide enhanced solutions delivery to both internal customers and the citizenry of the State. • Improve security of the State’s mission critical systems and constituent information. • Standardize technology use, procurement, and contracting. • Effective use of IT professionals. • Align enterprise applications with business goals.
• #7: Source: State of Ohio Multi-Agency Advisory Council (MAC), 12/14/12
• #10: Introduce the concept of the Coordination Operating Model Hand off to Karen
• #11: Enterprise architecture is the organizing logic for business processes and IT infrastructure , reflecting the integration and standardization requirements of a company’s operating model. The enterprise architecture provides a view of a company’s customers, processes, systems, and technologies so that individual projects can build capabilities.
• #13: We began designing the core diagram by identifying the key shared customers. The shared customers are the most critical part of the Coordination Enterprise Architecture. Ohio citizens are inherently customers of each line of business. This can be broken down into a number of smaller groups. Whether you live in the city or on the farm, own a small or large business – you come in contact with more than one of the lines of business represented here. In addition, all government levels – local, county, state, and federal as well as specific government agencies and advocacy groups are customers. Recreational enthusiasts – if you own or rent a boat, go hunting, enjoy one of Ohio’s amusement parks or State Fair, or enjoy camping at one of the State Parks– you’re a customer. I mentioned boats – also automobile owners, motorcyclists, bike riders, those using transit transportation – even the Amish in their buggies are customers. Another key customer group is the engineering and architecture firms. Our coordination model selection is designed to enable the lines of business within Infrastructure and Environment to deliver value to all of these customers.
• #14: The key data that we feel should be shared across the line of businesses includes: project management data, general project information, permit/registration information, purchasing, accounting and HR information. Communication, Safety Study Results and Grant information round our the information that we have identified that should be shared.
• #15: Technology plays an important role by connecting the department in the Infrastructure and Environment line of business. Data creates a bridge linking the customers to the data and process owners to the shared data and customers. Using different technology will give access in new ways to the customers to access data or processes a way to access a shared set of data. This will lead to savings to the line of business by standardizing technology and maintenance costs for future projects.
• #16: When evaluation Infrastructure and Environment our team discovered the unique business processes needed to carry out the mission of each department. With the coordination core processes are mostly independent. They can be customized to the needs of the department independently, this gives them flexibility to maintain uniqueness required. The processes will gain access to the shared data through the technology deployed by the line of business.
• #17: Business Silos architecture:– where companies look to maximize individual business unit needs or functional need Standardized Technology architecture:– providing IT efficiencies through technology standardization and, in most cases, increased centralization of technology management Optimized Core architecture:– which provides companywide data and process standardization as appropriate for the operating model Business Modularity architecture:– where companies manage and reuse loosely coupled IT-enabled business process components to preserve global standards while enabling local differences As Enterprise Architecture matures a long term goal should be a shift to the Optimized core maturity level, currently Ohio IT has some characteristics of both business silos and standardized technology. We recommend not skipping a step but finishing moving the Enterprise Archeture through Standardization technology. Standardization is key at this level. Decrease costs of 15% in IT maintenance costs Hand off to Becca
• #18: Thanks Dustin! Let’s take a look at the IT Engagement Model. The IT engagement model is made up of three components: IT Governance, in the top green box, Project Management in the bottom box and Linking Mechanisms, represented by the arrow in the middle. The state of Ohio overall has an IT investment decision making group called the Technology Board. For the Infrastructure & Environment line of business, MaryBeth Parisi from the EPA is assigned to represent the group. For this presentation, we will talk about the engagement model specific to the Infrastructure & Environment line of business, not for entire state.
• #19: IT Governance begins with key decision areas. There are five key decision areas in IT that need to be governed. They are IT principles, enterprise architecture, IT Infrastructure, Business Needs & Project Deliverables and IT Investment & Prioritization. Next we will review our proposed decision rights matrix for each of these five key decision areas for the Infrastructure & Environment Line of Business.
• #20: We propose the following decision matrix for the Infrastructure & Environment line of business. This is a RACI matrix, indicating who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each decision area. The accountable parties represented in the matrix are The Agency CIO. This is the CIO dedicated to the Infrastructure & Environment LOB. They are the main contact for IT. They will serve as the business IT relationship manager and they are accountable for the IT Principles, Architecture and Infrastructure. Next are the Department Leads. Each of the six departments in the Infrastructure & Environment LOB will have an identified Lead. The lead will represent their department for IT governance and IT planning purposes. Next is a new group we propose called the LOB Technology Board. This board includes the Agency CIO, Department Leads, Manager of the Architecture Team and Portfolio Mangers from the Project Success Center. The Architecture Team is a new team dedicated to the Infrastructure & Environment LOB. They are responsible for the Enterprise Architecture for I&E LOB. Last on the list is the Project Success Center (PSC). This is the State’s project management office. We will review the PSC in a later slide. Next, we’ll look at the Accountability Framework proposed to hold these accountable parties to their decisions. DON’T SAY: Current department leads are: Agriculture – David Daniels Division of Natural Resources – James Zehringer Division of Transportation – Jerry Wray Environmental Protection Agency – Craig Butler Ohio Facilities Construction Commission – Richard Hickman Ohio Turnpike - Jerry N. Hruby
• #21: The proposed accountability framework includes several components – the LOB Technology Board, Business Cases and Post Implementation Reviews. The LOB Technology Board will support the prioritization activities, communication of the architecture and ensure that projects meet the needs of the business. We recommend that each project that is presented to the LOB Technology Board have a complete business case including the benefits, estimates and ROI. Then, six months after the completion of a project, the project manager and project sponsor will be responsible for completing a Post Implementation Review (PIR). They will compare the benefits and costs provided in the business case to the actual cost and benefits realized from the new solution. The PIRs will be review by the LOB Technology Board. The LOB Technology Board will be responsible for ensuring that PIRs are completed in a timely manner. We’ll next look at the 2nd component of IT Governance – Project Management.
• #22: The State of Ohio already has a Project Management Office called the Project Success Center (PSC). If they are not already doing so, we recommend that the Project Success Center follow PMI’s PMBOK methodology and best practices. We also recommend that the Project Success Center supports the Infrastructure & Environment LOB by ensuring that key deliverables are produced and gates are followed for every project. The project manager and department sponsor should be included in gate reviews. We’ll next take a look at the 3rd component of IT Governance – the Linking Mechanisms. DON’T SAY The deliverables and documentation should include a scope definition, requirements, design, project plan, testing results and implementation plan. Gates will be held at the completion of each of these deliverables: scope, requirements, design and implementation plan.
• #23: There are three different types of Linking Mechanisms within IT Governance – Architecture, Business and Alignment. Architecture Linking Mechanisms include the Architecture Team, the Review Board and the Exception Process for handling situations that do not follow the Enterprise Architecture policies. We recommend that an Architecture Team be formed that is dedicated to the Infrastructure & Environment line of business. This team will create the policies, review board and exception process. They will be actively involved in reviewing proposed projects. Business Linking Mechanisms ensure the linkage of IT projects to the Line of Business strategy. These mechanisms ensure that project goals match the business goals. The LOB Technology Board will be responsible for ensuring projects that are approved are aligned with business strategy. Another mechanism that will be used is Project Sponsors. Each project will have a sponsor from the department assigned who will ensure that the project continues to stay aligned to the business goals. Alignment Linking Mechanisms work between IT and the LOB with the goal of ensuring ongoing communication and understanding between IT and the LOB. In a coordination model, this is an important linking mechanism. While the business linkages are more focused at the project level, alignment linkages provide a more general focus on overall business/IT relationships. Project management practices are one way to accomplish alignment linkage. As already discussed, we recommend that the Infrastructure & Environment Line of Business utilize the State’s Project Success Center. Metrics are another great alignment mechanism. Metrics can be tracked to ensure that the projects delivered meet the stated objectives and satisfy the business needs. As already discussed, Post Implementation Reviews are also recommended to ensure that projects have met their original goals. And now I’ll hand it over to Nikki to discuss Growth in the Coordination Operating Model.
• #24: Thank you, Becca! Experts in the field describe opportunities for “profitable growth” through implementation of the coordination operating model. I’d like to talk to you about some growth opportunities specific to the State of Ohio Infrastructure & Environment line of business with that model in place. By leveraging IT infrastructure to share data across unique businesses, we will present opportunities to maximize efficiencies and cross-sell goods and services to customers across departments. Let’s look at a business person who applies for a frozen food license through the Department of Agriculture. If that company would like to transport those frozen goods in a refrigerated truck, they will then have to apply for that license through the Department of Transportation. What if the applicant goes to the Department of Transportation and is able to say, “All of my data should be on file. I need to register my truck.” One less form. Less data entry by the state. Improved quality. Improved customer experience. A win-win! If the departments within the line of business have access to each other’s data, there are obvious customer service enhancements opportunities. Picture a day where a vendor selling fishing licenses could see in their system whether or not the purchaser owns a boat whose registration needs renewed. The vendor could at a minimum remind the purchaser of the need to renew and offer him or her direction on how to do so. This would likely even increase the compliance with boat registration without the follow-up the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Similarly, when a vehicle owner registers their automobile with the Ohio Department of Transportation, it would be nice to see whether they have a boat that needs its registration renewed and subsequently whether they need a fishing license. While it may be a more long-term goal, sharing data across departments presents the possibility of understanding shared customer needs from a holistic perspective. Today, there is no way to know outside of manual data aggregation what customers are asking for across the Infrastructure & Environment line of business. How can the state know whether there is an overlap of dairy license customers and water well inspection requestors? Is there a way to determine if there is a significant number of customers renewing hunting, fishing, boating, and truck licenses/registrations annually to see if a package deal would be useful? Are there plant health customers of the Department of Agriculture who also request data from the soil conservation division of the DNR? Compiling data at the line of business level will allow decision makers to make strategic decisions for the benefit of both the state and its customers. Implementation of the coordination model means there is no need to standardize processes among the individual departments. Each of them will continue to be able to make process decisions autonomously in order to support innovation and independent growth while still reaping the benefits of shared benefits I outlined previously. Next, I will review the Enterprise Architecture Framework Chuck briefly discussed earlier but as a recap of our presentation.
• #25: This diagram depicts the Enterprise Architecture we have laid out for the State of Ohio’s Infrastructure and Environment Line of Business. If you look in the top box of the diagram, recall these are strategic initiatives. I have listed strategic initiatives currently in play by some of the departments of the line of business. In accordance with the framework laid out by the Center for Information Systems Research, we allowed strategic initiatives to establish the priorities in our foundation for delivery. In our foundation for execution, we determined the core and shared processes of the departments and an IT infrastructure that would support those processes. This foundation serves two primary purposes: It feeds into the formation of future strategic business initiatives. The foundation both provides inputs to and is shaped by the IT Engagement Model In our IT engagement model, we defined guidelines for IT governance, project management, and linking mechanisms to ensure the Line of Business has alignment between IT and the business as well coordination across multiple organizational levels. The coordination operating model has a direct impact on the Enterprise Architecture and can be considered a primary driver of the architecture along with the engagement model. Finally, the Enterprise Architecture does not dictate the strategic initiatives but certainly has an influence on and helps define the limits of the initiatives. The business is certainly free to set out to achieve strategic initiatives not supported by the Enterprise Architecture but will have to fund the updates to the architecture that are required. To complete our presentation, I’d like to go back now to the IT Optimization Goals to ensure our proposal achieves those goals.
• #26: Increased efficiency: The proposal allows agencies to focus on their primary mission and core competencies by centralizing the shared processes. Cost savings: By centralizing shared functions, the line of business will see a reduction in cost. Increased shared solutions: Centralization of common processes will provide an overall increased shared solution to both the state and its customers. Improved security: Centralization of the State’s critical systems and constituent information will allow the state to protect the data and systems in a way that may be cost-prohibitive and difficult to accomplish when distributed. Increased standardization: Moving core processes to a common platform will increase the standardization of technology being used by the state, its procurement processes and vendors, and contracting of resources to support those processes. Reduce duplication, redundancy, and complexity: By reducing the number of IT professionals and the number of applications required to support the departments within the line of business, there will be a reduction in the duplication of effort to build and use the systems, a reduction in the redundancy of applications/hardware/network requirements, and a reduction of the complexity of support required to maintain them.
• #27: I would like to take a brief moment to summarize The Red Team’s findings and recommendations. The Infrastructure & Environment line of business should implement the coordination IT Operating Model to best allow the necessary autonomy among the departments and the ability to share data where appropriate. This operating model is can be successfully implemented given the proposed Enterprise Architecture. The line of business should implement IT Governance through the formation of a new Technology Board comprised of key members of the LOB. They should also govern project management through the use of the existing Project Success Center. Lastly, to create linkage among IT and business perspectives across the enterprise, business unit, and project team levels, the line of business should create a new Architecture Review Team, ensure communication between IT and business, and monitor and measure performance against an established set of project metrics.
• #28: On behalf of the Red Team, I would like to thank you for your time and participation in our presentation and open the floor to any remaining questions you may have.