Enterprise Architecture at

Curtin University

Maureen Murray

Why did we need it?

Good ideas acted on independently Duplication of projects and

infrastructure “Solutions” rather than strategies No common standards Projects not connected to what we

were doing IT driven

How will we use it?

Investment decisions Evaluation and prioritisation of

projects Design and development of systems

and infrastructure Evaluation and acquisition Management and use of assets,

including data

The architecture provides a framework for:

How did we go about it?

Developed and agreed a framework Did lots of research, developed from

first principles Guiding principle was “How are we

going to use it?” Added detail to the framework Kept it simple, limited detail Already had lots of stuff

Challenges

Resources Hard to get IT people involved Hard to get IT staff to “abstract” Hard to justify our approach Hard to get people to contribute

Curtin’s Enterprise Architecture Framework

Business Context Guidelines and Design Principles Enterprise Information Architecture Systems Architecture Technical Architecture

States the business strategy, the services provided by the university and the information required to meet the objectives of the university Strategic PlansDefines how information is used and managed through its lifecycle to support the business

Defines the systems that store and manage the information

Defines the infrastructure required to support the systems and the business

CHANGE

Staff Students

Community Policy/LegislationEmerging Technology

Social Climate Economic ClimateCompetition

AlumniProspective Students

Research Collaborators

Technical Architecture

Systems Architecture

Information Architecture

Business Context

IndustryPartners

Business Context

Business Guidelines and Principles Business Environment ICT Strategies to Meet Business

Objectives Business Architecture

Business ArchitectureClients

Students, Staff, Alumni, Prospective Students, Research Collaborators, Partners, Community, Industry, Vendors/Suppliers

Security and Identity M

anagement

Governance

Business Services

Data and Integration Layer

Student Information

Procurement Information

Facilities Information

Learning Information

Scholarly Information

Identity Information

Research Information

Finance Information

Staff Information

Client Relationship Information

Marketing Information

ICT Support Information

User Interface

WebsitesPortalApplications PublicationsFace-to-Face CorrespondenceMobile

Devices

Research & Development Learning

Support

Payroll

Staff Management

Teaching Support

ProcurementFinancial

ManagementRelationship Management

Information ServiceFacilities

Management

CommunicationMarketing &

Public Relations

Planning

ICT Support

Student Support

ICT Enterprise Guidelines and Design Principles

Information systems for business needs Shared access Defined authoritative sources Secure information Proven standards and technology Lifecycle cost Agility Allow exceptions sometimes

Enterprise Information Architecture

Information Guidelines and Principles Classification and Categorisation Unstructured Content Structured Data

Information Management Strategy

Unstructured Content

Web Pages

Email Store

Document Repositories

Content ManagementMetadata Management

Taxonomy

User InterfacesInform

ation Quality processes / standards

Business Processes, Reporting, Business IntelligenceC

ollaboration

Enterprise Search

Analytics

Security

Structured Data

DB

DBData Files

Data warehouse

Data QualityData and System Integration

Information Integration

Systems Architecture

Objectives of the architecture Business Systems and Services Recommended Architecture

N-tier Web services and web enabled Standards for integration/interoperability SOA

Business Systems and Services

Security and Identity M

anagement

Governance

Data and Integration Layer

Student Information

Procurement Information

Facilities Information

Learning Information

Scholarly Information

Identity Information

Research Information

Finance Information

Staff Information

Client Relationship Information

Marketing Information

ICT Support Information

Business Services

Software Systems

Research SystemsFinance

SystemStudent Systems

Learning Management

Systems

Management Reporting System

Marketing and CRM Systems

Library Systems

Human Resources SystemsPurchasing

Systems

Facilities Management

Systems

Communication SystemsPlanning

Systems

ICT Service Management

Systems

Productivity Software

Research & Development Learning

Support

Payroll

Staff Management

Teaching Support

ProcurementFinancial

ManagementRelationship Management

Information ServiceFacilities

Management

CommunicationMarketing &

Public Relations

Planning

ICT Support

Student Support

Technical Architecture Objectives of the architecture Key technology strategies to achieve

objectives Recommended Architecture

Virtualisation Advanced use of storage technology Use of clustered commodity servers Capacity management

Appendix containing more technical information

Technical Architecture

Technology life Cycle Planning

Capacity P

lanning and Measurem

ent

Compute Services and Capabilties

Virtualisation and Clustering Services

Hosting, Operating Systems Support and Services

Middleware and Database Support and Services

Applications and Systems Services

Network and Operations (computer room) Services

IMS Storage Services (FIBRE channel, iSCSI, NAS)

SAN Management Services and capabilities

Security and A

ccess

Policy/ C

ompliance/ G

overnance and Process

Tech

nolo

gy a

rchi

tect

ure

User Interface (desktop, web browser, mobile device)

Tier 1 Servers

Tier 2 Servers

Tier 3 ServersAging

Aging

SANDisaster recovery/Remote mirroring/capacity on Demand

Agile Switch/DR of Applications between Nodes

Security and IMP

hysical Security

Governance and A

uditUser Interfaces

Authentication, authorisationBusiness processes and policies

Software SystemsLimit access through menu system

Authentication/Access controlsAnti-spam, anti-virus

Data LayerFirewall

EncryptionFile management

Database privilegesAuditing

Server LayerAccess Controls

Antivirus/Patch managementBusiness Continuity/Disaster Recovery/High Availability

Storage LayerBackup regimeAccess controls

NetworkSecure protocols/VPN/Vlans

Firewall/Intrusion Detection SystemsContent filtering/monitoring

Identity Management

Where to from here?

Need to develop a governance framework

Distribute it widely and educate the university

Start using it and see if it works Identify the next steps in further

development of the architecture

What did we learn??

Need to develop an information management strategy

Technical areas need to focus on services rather than technologies

Don’t document for the sake of it It will never be finished!!