You are here: Home / IT Policies / Infrastructure and Enterprise Architecture Standard

Infrastructure and Enterprise Architecture Standard

Purpose

This document describes applicable standards and guidelines for the University’s Information Technology Infrastructure and Enterprise Architecture.

Standard

Infrastructure Management

The university’s central division of Information Technologies will responsibly manage our IT infrastructure with an ongoing focus and commitment to:

  • Alignment of IT resources to strategic university goals and the academic mission of the institution
  • Reduction of ongoing operating costs
  • Optimization of university technology assets
  • Maximization of service
  • Improvements in IT risk management and mitigation
  • Improvements in change management
  • Improvements in technology service delivery
  • Improvements in network capabilities and capacity
  • Integration of emerging technologies
  • Compliance with federally and state mandated network architecture and security requirements as well as industry best practices.

Enterprise Architecture

Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a method or framework for developing, implementing, and revising organization-focused IT guidance.  The resulting guidance describes how the University can best use technology and proven practices to improve the way it supports both the academic mission of the university and enhanced business processing, while simultaneously addressing alignment, optimization and improvements in regard to IT infrastructure management.

EA does not start with technology, but rather a strategic framework based in the core mission and goals of the University.   To that end, the UMW presidentially appointed Information Technologies Advisory Committee (ITAC) has just begun an IT strategic planning process per UMW’s Strategic Plan Objective 5.E, which states:

“Develop an iterative two to five year comprehensive information technology plan and estimated cost for UMW’s Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Dahlgren campuses that is aligned with the institution’s overall strategic plan and operational budget.”

The ITAC has targeted an IT Strategic Plan completion date of November 2011.

While the IT Strategic Plan will inform and prioritize overall technology projects and initiatives at the university, there are basic EA tenants that will direct the general approach to these projects and initiatives.

The University adheres to the the Commonwealth of Virginia Enterprise Architecture (EA) definitions and requirements in ITRM Standard EA225-06, as follows:

Strategic:

This technology is considered a strategic component of the Commonwealth‘s Enterprise Architecture. Strategic technologies define the desired, “to be”, state of the Commonwealth. Before any updated or new Strategic technology can be deployed, appropriate operational and performance reviews must take place, to include the following:

  • Perform the appropriate testing
  • Establish the needed technical support
  • Follow a formal Change Management process
  • Develop any required images
  • Obtain the appropriate operational reviews and approvals
  • Assess impact on business processes
  • Assess training needs

Emerging:

This technology requires additional evaluation in government and university settings. This technology may be used for evaluative or pilot testing deployments or in a higher education research environment. Any use, deployment or procurement of this technology beyond higher education research environments requires an approved Commonwealth Enterprise Architecture Exception. The results of an evaluation or pilot test deployment should be submitted to VITA‘s Policy, Practice and Architecture Division for consideration in the next review of the Enterprise Architecture for that technology.

Transitional/Contained:

This technology is not consistent with the Commonwealth‘s Enterprise Architecture strategic direction. Agencies may use this technology only as a transitional strategy for moving to a strategic technology. Agencies currently using this technology should migrate to a strategic technology as soon as practical. A migration or replacement plan should be included as part of the Agency‘s IT Strategic Plan. New deployments or procurements of this technology require an approved Commonwealth Enterprise Architecture Exception.

Obsolescent/Rejected:

This technology may be waning in use and support and is not consistent with the Commonwealth‘s Enterprise Architecture strategic direction. The university may use this technology only as a transitional strategy for moving to a strategic technology. Any such in-use technology should migrate to a strategic technology as soon as practical. A migration or replacement plan should be included as part of the university’s IT Strategic Plan. New deployments or procurements of this technology require an approved Commonwealth Enterprise Architecture Exception.

++++++++++++++

VITA’s ITRM Standard EA225-06 includes Technology Component Standard Tables.  These tables categorize technology, per the above technology “stages” (emerging, obsolete, etc.), in each of seven (7) technical domain areas.  For each of the seven domains listed below, VITA provides acceptable (strategic) and unacceptable (obsolete/rejected) technology lists, along with guidance regarding emerging and transitional/contained technology, software, and tools.

Technology Component Standard Tables are provided for each of the following domain areas:

Applications Domain – Systems Design, Application Acquisition, Development and Software Languages and Platforms, Software Engineering

Database Domain – Databases and other data access methods

Information Domain – Reporting, Data Management, Business Intelligence

Integration Domain – Database integration, message integration, middleware, etc.

Networking and Telecommunications Domain – Facilities infrastructure, etc.

Platform Domain – Personal computing, servers, desktop productivity tools

The university complies with the VITA ITRM EA225-06 standard, except where specific higher education exclusions are listed.

RELATED DOCUMENTS:

VITA ITRM EA225-06 http://www.vita.virginia.gov/uploadedFiles/Library/EAStandard225-06.pdf

APPROVAL AND REVISIONS

Approved March 2, 2011 by Vice President for Information Technologies & CIO