How to Future Proof your Enterprise Revenue Applicationsprojects Revenue Solutions, Inc. Mission Statement “Assist revenue agencies to maximize collections, increase compliance,

©2012 Revenue Solutions, Inc.

ITS Evolution How to Future Proof your Enterprise Revenue Applications

Presentation for:

Federation of Tax Administrators – Technology Conference August 2012

2 ©2012 Revenue Solutions, Inc.

Agenda

Introductions Technical Debt Components to Consider Techniques for Future Proofing


Introductions

Bruce Baur – CTO of Revenue Solutions, Inc. – Leads product and technology direction – 22 years as industry consultant – Integrated tax system and compliance data

warehouse experience


Incorporated in May 1996 Headquartered in Pembroke, MA with Solution

Center in Roseville, CA Dedicated exclusively to providing products &

services to Tax, Labor and CSE agencies Deep tax administration domain expertise,

system integration and business acumen. Professionals with over 1000 combined years of revenue systems consulting

Software Solutions for Integrated Tax and Integrated Compliance Management including RSI’s Revenue Premier® COTS product

Committed to client partnerships in delivery of projects

Revenue Solutions, Inc.

Mission Statement “Assist revenue agencies to maximize collections, increase compliance, improve customer service and streamline operations through the use of enabling technologies, in particular, integrated compliance management solutions.”

www.RevenueSolutionsInc.com


Technical Debt

Ongoing build up of deferred architectural or application capability

Minimum payments All going to interest (serve the debt) Plan for 5 year

cycle, not 5 month Cost of Deferral of

known work


Technical Debt Causes

Quick and Dirty Changes – Often performed by heroes – No time for peer reviews – Slam it in

Leads to.. – Code corrupts data – Erroneous letters mailed – Data fix programs – Fix it again – Eventual need for system replacement


Technical Debt Causes (cont’d)

Triage the Triage – Reduce focus of what should be done to only a

fraction, thereby postponing full resolution – Task switching – Continuous estimation – Limited forward thinking/planning

Lack of Standards – Not enforcing reviews of code and

enterprise standards contributes to technical debt

– No models or patterns to follow


Technical Debt Observed

How is Technical Debt Costly? – Learning curve for new staff – Ability to refactor – Time to market for new changes, maintenance – Leads to eventual full system replacement

Consistency Improves Quality – Consistent patterns reduce defects – Testing the pattern/template once

versus each unique module – Changes to the template can affect

broad change (leveraged code)


Some Solutions

Ways to reduce the debt – Don’t make minimum payments

Clean as you go Create a checklist – you touch it you fix it right

– Put your refund check toward the debt Create a cleanup cycle in each release or planning year

– Pay with cash Plan for 5 year cycle not 5 month cycle

– Don’t put off until later what you will do anyway and spin your wheels on workarounds


State of the Industry

Trends – Cloud, SaaS, COTS – Virtualization – Services Oriented Architecture

Assume Change – Even with what taxes or services the agency is

responsible for, merging of agencies Configuring – Not coding Pressure to do More with Less Open and extensible

– Software, Database


How do I Adapt?

Give yourself options Isolate

– Frequently changing components – Risky/fragile components – Third party evolutions

Plan for change, Minimize technical debt Protect yourself

– High maintenance/upgrade charges – Product turnover

Extend/Diminish 10-15 year replacement cycle


Enterprise Components to Consider

Layers – Database – Security – Imaging – Content management – Document

Composition – Business Rules

– Workflow – GUI – Application Server – Browsers – Visualization


Future Proofing Techniques

Techniques – Use Third Party components where commodity – Build Adapters – Consider Localization – Leverage Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) – Rely upon Work Item Management – Investigate Legacy Source Transformation – Implement Service-oriented Architecture – Exploit Business Rules – Deploy COTS or SAAS for Enterprise Applications


Use Third Party Solutions

Allows best in breed – pick and choose what works

Innovations occur independently with dedicated focus from vendor

Competition increases capability and reduces cost

Open source community Spend knowledge capital on Revenue

Administration


Third Party Software Considerations

Perform Risk Assessment Mainstream or fringe player Vendor turnover, competition Mergers & Acquisitions Pricing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)


Build Adapters

Abstraction - Externalizes and isolates component

Encapsulation - Provides standard application interface

Integration - Reduces time to plug in new component


Consider Localization

Provides multiple language support Can be used for country specific or domain

specific purposes


Leverage Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

Creates flexibility between Enterprise applications and other systems

Reduces risk of tightly coupled systems Mediates and centralizes integration


Rely Upon Work Item Management

Enables Management of all agency work – Track inventories – Track cycle time – Track productivity by worker – Manage and plan resources

Single Case System across functions Embedded Workflow (with data and BRMS support) Provide Screens/Images necessary

for resolution Integrated approval rules/Business Process

Management tools


Investigate Legacy Source Transformation

Leverages existing in house components Translates from one programming language or

platform to another Allows reuse of legacy software assets within

new platform – COBOL to Java – COBOL to C#.NET – DB2 to Oracle – BMS Map to ASP.NET


Implement Service-Oriented Architecture

Services Catalog exposes many functions/APIs for agencies to exploit or share – Enables access to re-use or clone/modify

functions to modify/add new business functions

Modern SOA design, interoperability, loose coupling, abstraction, autonomous, discoverable – Enables cross-platform, real-time communication – Enables integration of the agency’s system more

easily with other internal and external systems


Exploit Business Rules Management System (BRMS)

Externalizes business logic into Rules Allows language-neutral repository Documents processes and policies Reduces instances of misinterpreted

requirements Provides better visibility into applications Increases governance, visibility into policies

and rules Documents rules in single repository which is

important as employees retire


Deploy COTS/SaaS for Enterprise Applications

Leverages third party vendor partner for application innovation and maintenance

Frees staff to focus on Revenue Administration rather than system maintenance

IT Staff and business community Configure changes into COTS, not develop ground up software


Conclusion

Manage Technical Debt and Align Business Goals

Factor in the Downstream Cost of Deferrals Leverage Future Proofing Techniques to adapt

more quickly and reduce IT spend Future Proofing Reduces need for Replacement


Questions

Bruce Baur Revenue Solutions, Inc. 888-826-1324 ext. 204 [email protected]