CCFIT > Calendar & Minutes > 1998-2003 Minutes > April 1, 2002 AdC3 Minutes

Agenda

1. Approval of March Minutes
2. DaFIS Transaction Processing Application Rewrite
3. Enterprise Directory Services Pre-Feasibility Study
4. Summary of Technology Project Proposals for ITPB Consideration

Minutes

Excused: Lorraine Beaman, John Bruno, Janet Hamilton, John Meyer, Kathi Sylva, and Randy Moory.

Absent: Joseph Calger, and Barry Klein.

Guests: Bill Cooper, Bill Grabert, and Sandra Stewart.

Staff to the Councils: Julie Saylor, and Babette Schmitt.

I. Approval of March Minutes - Chair Smiley

Council approved the March minutes as submitted.

Mike Allred, Associate Vice Chancellor for Financial Services, announced that the DaFIS team is planning a rewrite of the DaFIS Transaction Processing (TP) application, from its current Uniface client/server architecture to a new "N-tier" architecture using Java (J2EE). Allred explained that a number of factors have led to this rewrite, including the fact that Compuware, the company that owns the Uniface software, does not plan to continue to develop Uniface past its current version. Along with this technical rewrite, the TPII Project includes some redesign of business processes based on an analysis of users' needs. Allred noted that the Office of Administration has identified existing funds to cover this 24-month project and to hire two senior system architects. Therefore no funding request will be brought forward for Council's consideration.

Assistant Vice Provost Shelby summarized the review of this project submitted by Randy Moory, staff to Council (see Review of DaFIS TP Application Rewrite). The report's main recommendation is for Council to support the proposed rewrite of the DaFIS Transaction Processing application. The report, however, also notes that the proposed architecture, though consistent with current campus standards, is not totally consistent with the New Business Architecture vision of providing access to all services through the enterprise portal and of ensuring single sign-on for major applications. The review also points out that additional time and resources should be allocated to the design and analysis phase so as to avoid potentially significant risks and ensure the successful completion of the project.

Council's discussion of this item focused on the following points:

• The relevance of this project to the New Business Architecture initiative. Allred explained that the rewrite is intended to be in alignment with the NBA vision. It will not be performed by the NBA Technology Development Team, but by members of the Office of Administration, Information and Educational Technology, and others.
• Input from the DaFIS Customer Advisory Team. Allred noted that the CAT has been consulted about this project. The new application will be built so it is flexible and can be expanded to meet changing customer and business needs.
• Impact on users. Allred mentioned that the new application will look different to users, but it is not expected to require extensive training.
• Comparable experiences at other campuses. Allred noted that the DaFIS team has been in contact with a number of universities, looking for opportunities to collaborate on the development of a Java-based rewrite of DaFIS (the TP application was originally designed for Indiana University and has been adopted by several campuses).

Dave Shelby, Assistant Vice Provost for Information and Educational Technology (IET), provided highlights from the pre-feasibility study developed by the Enterprise Directory Project Team. Shelby noted that the New Business Architecture Technology Development Team, Implementation Workgroup, and Steering Committee all agree that this project is critical to the campus technology infrastructure and to the development of an enterprise portal for UC Davis. With this project, the campus will develop a new, centralized way of providing authorization, authentication, and personalization, three major components that will help integrate, streamline, and Web-enable services as envisioned by the NBA initiative.

Currently, identity and person information for campus affiliates is stored in a number of systems, with varying levels of data consistency, accuracy, and integrity. Shelby noted that the current situation could be described as nothing more than a rudimentary phone directory, with a number of limitations (from security issues to various authorization schemes, and separate workflow infrastructures) that create barriers for accessing and sharing information. The Enterprise Directory Services Project Team proposes to address this situation by developing a centralized person registry (to maintain unique identifiers for all UC Davis affiliates) and an enterprise directory (with additional information that will make it possible to provide authentication, authorization, and workflow services). Shelby noted that, to successfully complete this project, the team will need to work closely with all appropriate campus groups and individuals to conceptualize, develop, implement, and maintain the registry and directory. The pre-feasibility study proposes a phased roll-out, starting with a major administrative system like DaFIS. The document also identifies critical success factors, project risks, a financial analysis, and a preliminary project plan (see Pre-feasibility Study). Shelby encouraged Council members to review the pre-feasibility study and share it with individuals in their organizations.

Council's discussion of this item focused on the following:

• Projections on cost and time savings. Shelby indicated that the pre-feasibility study features a section outlining anticipated returns on investment, including reduced administrative costs, enhanced productivity, reduced support costs, and increased security. With this project, the financial burden will be transferred from individual departments to a centralized model.
• Coordination with the Office of the President. Shelby explained that the Enterprise Directory Project Team will maintain strong connections with UCOP throughout the duration of the project. The Office of the President has been discussing the need for person registry services for years. UC Davis may be far enough along in the development of those services that the Office of the President might select our campus to pilot NBA middleware.
• Campus involvement. One Council member asked about plans for involving non-technical members of the campus community. Shelby replied that, starting with the project initiation stage, the project team will work closely with all major computing system owners, business units, and others to identify subject matter experts and involve them in the definition of person records to be kept. Other groups, such as the Technology Infrastructure Forum, are also being consulted regularly.

Dave Shelby, Assistant Vice Provost for Information and Educational Technology, presented a tentative list of technology projects that may come forward to AC4 for funding purposes. Council noted that the list was very helpful. There was some discussion that a few items on the list are not expected to result in budget requests (e.g., DaFIS enhancement project).

Chair Smiley asked that the list be updated monthly and that it distinguish more clearly those projects that will result in budget requests from those that are not expected to. Council staff Julie Saylor and Randy Moory were identified as the co-owners of the list. Saylor will update the list to reflect funding sources for each project. Moory will ensure that new technology projects are added to, or removed from, the list, as appropriate.