Information Technology Bulletin
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Governor's Office of Administration/Office for Information Technology
ITB Number: ITB-APP001
ITB Title: Business Solutions Center of Excellence (BSCoE)
Issued by: Deputy Secretary for Information Technology
Date Issued: July 22, 2005 Date Revised: October 25, 2010
Domain: Application
Discipline: Application Development
Technology Area: Application Development
Revision History Description:
Date:
10/25/2010 ITB Refresh
Abstract:
The purpose of this Information Technology Bulletin (ITB) is to establish the Business
Solutions Center of Excellence (BSCoE). BSCoE has been established to reduce
development and maintenance costs and improve security and services utilizing
Commonwealth-wide assets and resources. An additional benefit is the reduction in
complexity of business processes through the delivery of standardized business
processes, procedures, tools, and methodologies.
BSCoE employs a service-oriented approach to applying technology to solve business
problems through the effective utilization of standard development technologies and
practices to deliver reusable business services. This is achieved by the
establishment of the Pennsylvania Enterprise Asset Repository (PEAR). PEAR is a
repository that consists of enterprise standards, best practices, software engineering
artifacts, business and technical services including reusable software assets. For
more information see ITB-INF002 Design-Time Metadata Repository Standards.
The core application development services offered by BSCoE include:
Best practices, patterns, templates, and sample artifacts for application
development;
Microsoft .NET and Java framework recommendations that provide basic
services such as database access and cryptography;
BSCoE Software Engineering Process (SEP), a collection of process assets that
standardize and expedite the software development process; and
PEAR, a Commonwealth-wide reuse and metadata repository.
Microsoft .NET, Java Frameworks, and BSCoE SEP are not static in nature. Rather,
these asset collections profit over time from organic growth through agency
contributions. Agencies are strongly encouraged to submit both process and
technology assets for incorporation into PEAR.
The BSCoE Information Portal (BIP) is the mechanism for submitting changes,
making requests, accessing the development frameworks, SEP, and current
capabilities and resources of BSCoE. The BIP can be accessed at
www.bscoe.state.pa.us.
ITB-APP001 - Business Solutions Center of Excellence – Page 1 of 3
BSCoE is not solely a coding effort; it is a different approach to the way in which the
Commonwealth fulfills business needs. It embodies the development of a Service
Oriented Architecture (SOA) that looks at each of the business elements as services,
breaking down the development of new solutions into building blocks that can be
reused in many applications. It requires a disciplined approach to business
requirements gathering, design, development, change control, quality assurance,
deployment, and maintenance. BSCoE provides business solutions faster, at lower
cost, and with greater reliability and flexibility. It promotes cross agency
development efforts and fosters a common approach to training and education for all
development teams. BSCoE provides uniformity of approach, process, and results,
allowing projects to leverage the broad pool of resources and assets that currently
exist within the Commonwealth.
The BSCoE standards provide guidance to agencies as they plan for new application
development projects or make significant investments in existing applications.
The Technology Life Cycle Classifications document provides definitions for each of
the Life Cycle Classifications associated with the above product standards.
In addition, application development standards and best practices to ensure effective
reuse, ease of maintenance, extensibility, performance, interoperability, and quality
are defined as part of BSCoE.
The main objectives of this policy are to:
Provide a uniform approach to application development;
Reduce costs for application development and support;
Decrease time to production for applications;
Enhance and promote standardization;
Increase quality of application development artifacts;
Reduce redundancy;
Provide a developed set of core technologies; and
Provide a standard approach to application development training and
utilization of resources.
General:
This ITB applies to all departments, boards, commissions and councils under the
governor's jurisdiction (agencies). Agencies not under the governor's jurisdiction are
encouraged to follow this policy to ensure they develop and implement applications
that facilitate enterprise-wide interoperability and standardization.
Policy:
Beginning July 1, 2007, all new application development projects or significant
modifications to existing applications executed by Commonwealth agencies and/or
contractors delivering IT services to the Commonwealth are to utilize BSCoE for the
following:
Incorporate BSCoE software components in their application. PEAR is the
repository of approved components;
Make use of the standards, templates, and practices defined in the BSCoE
Software Engineering Process. Refer to the BSCoE Information Portal (BIP) at
www.bscoe.state.pa.us for the most current information;
ITB-APP001 - Business Solutions Center of Excellence – Page 2 of 3
Obtain mentoring and training from BSCoE, beginning at project inception,
directly or through the agency’s Local Center of Excellence; and
Identify and create any architecturally significant and reusable software services
and other assets and contribute, through BSCoE, to the Commonwealth reusable
asset repository.
Note: The agency and BSCoE may mutually agree to develop the reusable
asset in a variety of ways including: developed by the agency and submitted
for reuse with or without support from the agency; developed and supported
by BSCoE; or developed by the agency and later transferred
support/maintenance to BSCoE. BSCoE can be contacted at ra-
bscoe@state.pa.us.
Major revisions to existing applications that are not using the current standards will
be reviewed as part of the IT Procurement Review Process to determine if the
investment warrants a change in standards at that time.
IT projects related to application development will be subject to review prior to
inception for compliance with this standard through a review by Communities of
Practice (CoP).
Refresh Schedule:
All content in this ITB is subject to periodic review and possible revision, or upon
request by the Enterprise Architecture Standards Committee (EASC).
Exemption from This Policy:
In the event an agency chooses to seek an exemption, for reasons such as
the need to comply with requirements for a federally mandated system, a
request for waiver may be submitted via the Community of Practice
Procurement and Architectural Review (COPPAR) process. Requests are to be
entered into the COPPAR Tool located at WWW.COPPAR.STATE.PA.US.
Agency CIO approval is required. Contact your agency CoP Planner for
further details or assistance.
Questions:
Questions regarding this policy are to be directed to ra-oaitb@state.pa.us.
References:
ITB-INF002: Design-Time Metadata Repository Standards
ITB-APP001 - Business Solutions Center of Excellence – Page 3 of 3