Ais Master Plan 2007

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Section 1 Introduction

In early 2006, the Administrative Information Systems Strategic Planning Committee chargedAIS 1, a unit of Information Technology Services, to develop a Master Plan for administrativeinformation systems at Penn State. The committee envisioned a framework for how futureadministrative information systems will be identified, prioritized, funded, developed, andmanaged to serve as the foundation to support Penn States administrative information systemscommunity needs over the coming decades.

This plan continues Penn States long-standing vision that administrative information systemsare developed collaboratively to best serve the needs of Penn States stakeholder communities,including students, faculty and staff at colleges, central offices and administrative offices acrossall campuses. As technology changes and opportunities arise to re-engineer or replace enterpriseor departmental systems, the collaboration outlined in the Master Plan will ensure that the bestdevelopment and deployment choices are made to serve the broad Penn State community.

Starting with the Master Plan, the administrative information systems community willperiodically update/develop an integrated Administrative Information Systems Strategic Plan.That current integrated plan will coordinate administrative information systems initiatives withthe current individual unit strategic plans to provide consistent information and universitydirection as part of Penn States on-going strategic planning process.

1 AIS is the abbreviation for Administrative Information Services, a Unit of Information Technology Services (ITS)


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Section 2 Vision

University Vision The University Vision, Mission and Strategic Goals represent the guidingpurpose and ideals which the University embraces. This Master Plan is designed to serve thatcompelling set of expectations. Some strategies for the administrative information systemscommunity that support the six goals stated in Penn States 2006-2007 through 2007-2008University Strategic Plan include:

Continue to evolve our classroom support systems like Angel so that the faculty havemore time to devote to enhancing academic excellence and the students educationalexperiences are enriched. (Goals 1 and 2)

Become more responsive to students by aligning student information across units toprovide enhanced student services at a lower average cost. (Goals 4 and 6)

Use modern technologies to improve efficiencies of the administrative informationsystems and reduce costs while improving the delivery of services. (Goals 4 and 6)

Continue to evolve our administrative information systems to increase flexibility andagility to meet the information needs of the University without increasing costs. (Goal 6)

Administrative Information Systems Vision The administrative information systems environment envisioned for the future builds on the existing strengths of our community: 2

The governance model will permit the review and prioritization, from a University wideperspective, of all enterprise administrative information systems development projects.

Administrative information systems personnel resources from units and departments will

be aligned collaboratively to develop the applications, systems, and services that aredeemed to have the highest priority and value to Penn State as a whole.

The process for sharing technical knowledge, tools and techniques among the variousadministrative information systems developers will be broadened and enhanced.

The University will make available and manage an appropriate number of hardenedlocations for the administrative information systems infrastructure; i.e., servers, storage,and networking controls. This will permit options for more economical universityinvestments in facilities and support personnel for both normal operation and for disasterrecovery.

Applications will be designed so that users will easily be able to find and use services thatare grouped by function regardless of where the department providing the applicationfalls within the University organizational structure.

2 The administrative information systems vision was developed and documented in the paper entitled, The Future Direction of Administrative

Information Systems at Penn State, completed in December 2005.


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Section 3 Key Principles

Principle 1: Improving the effectiveness of system development and maintenance Penn States enterprise administrative information systems development environment is a hybridwhere responsibility for development and maintenance of central systems is distributed amongmultiple offices. Improving the effectiveness of this process requires the harmonization of governance and our development activities, better coordinating our resources, and establishing acollaborative community of developers.

Principle 2: Encouraging collaboration and partnerships while maintaining unitautonomy There are several characteristics of Penn States enterprise-level administrativesystems environment that influence how we should approach improving our effectiveness in thedevelopment and maintenance of administrative information systems. These characteristicsinclude:

The three modes of responsibility for systems Penn State develops and maintainsenterprise-level administrative systems in three basic ways:

Hybrid Systems such as the eLion enterprise system are the responsibility of bothcentral and/or distributed staff. AIS The eSteward enterprise system is an example of a system for which the AIS

staff is responsible. Individual unit responsibility One example is the Employee Self-Service

Information Center (ESSIC) enterprise system which is the responsibility of distributed staff in the Office of Human Resources.

Unit autonomy While supporting the hybrid model of responsibility, individual unitsstill maintain autonomy over their resources.

Community Continual strengthening our community of enterprise-level administrativeinformation systems developers is absolutely necessary for optimizing inter-unitcollaboration, sharing of information, and other resources.

Data and application interoperability As technology continues to advance, we will beable to expand the breadth and depth of system interaction and our ability to collaborateacross the University.

Principle 3: Prioritizing needs through an active governance process It is critical that thegovernance actively set priorities for enterprise administrative information systems and support

collaboration. To assure the highest value to the University, the governance will: Provide strategic planning oversight; Collaboratively select and prioritize major projects; Encourage the efficient use of resources for specific projects; and Promote the sharing of resources among all units responsible for major projects.


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Principle 4: Improving efficiency and technical discipline The implementation of common tools and techniques, project management procedures, and technology infrastructurewill support inter-unit collaboration, consistency and technical discipline as well as provide forcost-effective solutions.

Common tools and techniques Enterprise administrative information systems developers will use open standards-

based development tools and deploy their applications in an environment based on theAIS Open Standards Strategy. (Originally published September 2003)

The tools and techniques used will evolve as appropriate in the future. The University will support continuous and pervasive professional development for

programming and project management professionals. Data and systems supported by individuals and units should be made known to other

units and departments and shared as appropriate.

Project management AIS will make available project managers for the major enterprise administrative

information system projects. AIS will provide a standard project management methodology and templates that can

be used across the administrative information systems community. AIS will provide a training roadmap for departments to use in developing common

leadership skills in their project management staff.

Technology infrastructure The University is committed to remain current in the use of modern technology as

appropriate for enterprise-wide administrative information systems. The University will pursue consolidation of infrastructure where appropriate and

when agreed to.

Principle 5: Enhancing security and privacy protection In the face of growing andemerging threats, the need to be proactive in providing system security and privacy of personalinformation is dramatically increasing. To support these requirements, all enterprise systemswill conform to the current best practices as defined by the University.

The University will pursue uniform security standards for both facilities andapplications. Administrative information systems will conform to these standards.

The use of common security procedures will make it easier and more routine tointerface various enterprise-level administrative information systems.


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Section 4 Governance

The governance structure for administrative information systems at Penn State was initiallyestablished in 1999 and modified in December, 2005 3. This structure will continue to evolve andserve the community well into the future.

The Executive Sponsors for administrative information systems are Penn States Provostand Executive Vice President; and the Senior Vice President for Finance and Business -Treasurer.

The Administrative Information Systems Strategic Planning Committee sets strategicgoals and provides oversight of related strategic plans and funding requests.

The Administrative Information Systems Steering Committee provides direction andpriority to initiatives and activities related to the development and deployment of enterprise information systems.

The Administrative Information Systems Advisory Committee identifies and promotesstrategic initiatives within the administrative information systems community. Thiscommittee plays a pivotal role in the identification, review and development of administrative information systems initiatives and projects of strategic importance to theUniversity.

The Administrative Information Systems Operations Committee is an informationtechnology (IT) management and/senior technologist committee consisting of managersand senior IT staff members who control the IT resources of their respectiveunit/department or heavily influence related areas.

Section 5 Conclusion

This Master Plan will ensure that as opportunities arise to re-engineer or replace enterprise ordepartmental systems that the best development and deployment choices are made to serve thebroad Penn State community. It will also improve the University administrative informationsystems communitys ability to meet the goals of the University Strategic Plan throughcollaboration. Achieving improved efficiencies in the delivery of services while controllingadministrative costs can only be achieved through focused planning and management of information technology efforts using standards, processes, collaboration and an established andactive governance structure.

3 The administrative information systems vision was developed and documented in the paper entitled , The Future Direction of Administrative

Information Systems at Penn State , completed in December 2005.


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Appendix A Master Plan Definitions

AIS (Administrative Information Services) The ITS unit that is responsible for providing a comprehensive, integrated set of administrative computing solutions that will enable theUniversity to transform and improve the way we conduct commerce, provide customer service,and support research, teaching, and outreach.

Administrative information systems Those software applications that assist in themanagement of business and student related activities. The scope of these applications may varyfrom exclusively departmental to enterprise wide.

Departmental system Those software applications that are used within a department toaddress data or transaction requirements within the department. This includes those systemsstemming from law, regulation or University policy or procedure for which no other departmentuses the software (for example, tracking of scientific misconduct by the Office of ResearchProtections). These applications are generally hosted by the benefiting department. Multipledepartments may use a given system and it could still be considered departmental if, either:

1. The department(s) hosts a separate instance of the software irrespective of whether theneed is departmentally or externally driven.

2. The departments share the software (for instance, web-enabled software) and databasebut the use of the software is based exclusively on departmental needs (in contrast toexternal requirements of law, regulation or University policy or process).

Disaster recovery The system architecture, procedures and plans that are used to restore fulloperation of both essential and non-essential administrative systems in the aftermath of acatastrophe.

Enterprise system Those software applications that may be used throughout the University toaddress data or transaction requirements stemming from law, regulation or University policy orprocedure. These applications may be hosted by central information technology units (AIS),central non-information technology units (for instance, the registrars or bursars offices), orindividual departments. In general these applications will be used by two or more departmentsand share a database infrastructure (that is, each unit using the software does not run a separateinstance).

Open standards Publicly available definitions for software languages, formats and interfacesthat are royalty free. An open standard may or may not be approved by a governing body.Commercially developed software may adopt and conform to open standards. However, the useof open standards does not imply that such software is free. The use of open standards generally

lessens the dependence on proprietary software and those vendors providing proprietary softwaresolutions.

Proprietary Restrictions placed on property. In the case of software, these restrictionsgenerally focus on allowable use and copying.

Documents

Ais Master Plan 2007