Summary of the NICS ICT Strategy

Delivery anD innovation Division Summary of the NICS ICT Strategy Background In 2005 the NI eGovernment Unit, on behalf of the NICS, commissioned Gartner to produce an ICT Strategy (ICTS) for the NICS. The objective for the assignment was to develop an ICTS for the NICS which could be used as the blueprint for the delivery of future ICT services. In doing so it set out the IT Vision and defines the key technology principles and policies for the next 3-5 years within the NICS. Gartner believed that the ICT strategy should define the mission critical technologies that could be used as the basic building blocks and processes for the deployment of NICS systems. As such the ICT strategy will provide the computing foundation for the data and applications architecture required to support the objectives of the NICS Departments. The ICTS was developed based on the information gathered from the NICS Departments by Gartner, through the baseline questionnaires, workshops and individual interviews. The resulting ICTS has taken an holistic view of NICS ICT architecture, providing the NICS with a overarching technical architecture which will deliver benefits such as the use of common standards, improved resilience and cost effectiveness across the organisation, while still awarding Departments sufficient flexibility to develop their own IT Architectures to meet their own business needs. The Architecture Elements Gartner have defined the infrastructure architecture as a series of elements. The architecture elements are based on market leading standards, technologies and suppliers to: • minimise risk of enforced change, • maximise business solutions available from Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and • maximise interoperability and flexibility. Within the workshops for each architecture element Gartner defined the industry position, recorded the NICS current technology baselines, identified the mainstream technologies, agreed the NICS technology retirement targets, recommended containment targets, and identified any emerging technologies that the NICS should be monitoring. Delivery anD innovation Division Below is a summary of the architecture elements within the NICS ICT Strategy: 1. Desktops and laptops • The current NICS desktop portfolio is too diverse. • NICS should be consolidating its desktops based upon a 2-vendor strategy, which Gartner believe is best practise and which will give NICS the lowest overall Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). 2. Desktop/Laptop Operating Systems • At present the NICS has a variety of Operating Systems in use. NICS should plan to retire all pre-XP versions of Windows on its PCs. • Microsoft Longhorn/Vista will be of critical importance to NICS for both PCs and Servers and therefore NICS should track developments carefully. 3. Servers • The Strategic server operating systems will be Windows Server and Linux. Linux server deployments should be selective e.g. for DNS and Web Servers. • Gartner believe that NICS should be consolidating its servers based upon a 2-vendor strategy, which they believe is best practise and will give NICS the lowest overall TCO. 4. Personal productivity • The NICS currently has 2 messaging and e-mail client systems, IBM Lotus and Microsoft Exchange/Outlook solutions, both of which are considered to be market leaders. Gartner recommended that there should be a business case produced in order to decide which of the two solutions should be selected as the strategic product for the NICS. • The NICS needs to consolidate to one version of Microsoft Office. • Both IBM and Microsoft are investing considerable R&D effort into Collaborative Working solutions. At present Gartner believes Lotus applications will remain mainstream for certain NICS departments but NICS should watch this market. • There has been considerable industry hype about open-source versions of Office as a ‘free’ alternative to Microsoft Office; Gartner’s recommendation is that NICS watch the market carefully. Delivery anD innovation Division 5. Database • The NICS Database portfolio is too diverse and is in need of consolidation. • The NICS Database strategy is based on Microsoft SQL/Server which Gartner fully supports given the NICS baseline and current skill-sets. SQL/Server remains a market-leading database solution, particularly for typical NICS departmental applications. • It is anticipated that Oracle will also remain a mainstream RDBMS for NICS, particularly for larger NICS-wide applications that may be deployed in future. • Neither MS Access nor Lotus Notes are Relational Database Management Systems, but Gartner fully supports the ongoing use these within NICS provided that policies are written (and enforced) to clearly define their use. • Gartner recommends that each department should review its portfolio of Access applications and based on clear policies, decide on whether to leave as is, retire or port the data to SQL/ Server with an Access front-end only. 6. Application Development • The current portfolio of Application Development tools and languages in use within NICS includes a range of disparate technologies (and in some cases obsolete technologies) and are in need of replacement or consolidation. • The NICS Application Development strategy is based on Microsoft Visual Studio for .NET and the Visual Basic and C# languages from Microsoft. Gartner fully supports this decision given the NICS baseline and current development skill-sets. Gartner believe that Visual Studio, Visual Basic and C# will remain market-leading development tools for the foreseeable future, particularly for typical NICS departmental application requirements. • A viable future alternative to the Microsoft Application Development strategy might come in time from the Open Source movement. The Eclipse development framework may develop into a viable alternative for NICS over time. • Gartner fully supports the ongoing use within NICS of Lotus Notes for the development of simple, collaborative and forms-centric applications within or across departments; however typical departmental or NICS-wide applications would typically be based upon a packaged solution or developed using Visual Studio. Delivery anD innovation Division 7. Integration technologies • At present, NICS have limited requirements for Integration Technologies but Gartner believe that over time, as NICS becomes more ‘joined up’ in its approach to citizens and services, these tools will become more commonplace for application-to-application integration. • At present, NICS main use of Integration Broker technology is through the mandated use of the Government Gateway Accelerator (GGA). The GGA is based on strong industry standards such as XML, HTTP and SOAP Departmental Interface Servers (DIS) are based on Microsoft . technologies such as Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server and Microsoft BizTalk is used as the messaging middleware. • NICS should ensure that all its future integration technologies are based on integration standards and best practice. 8. LAN, WAN, Networking • The Broadband Aggregation project will have far-reaching consequences for networking within NICS. Gartner understands that the project scope covers the provision of Network Services i.e. an IP-based service covering all NICS locations providing video, voice and data. The technology adopted will depend upon the chosen service provider. • The LAN and WAN Networking baseline represents a ‘healthy’ set of NICS ICT elements. The various NICS networking teams have already moved onto a sound basis of strong marketleading technologies and standards that can already be considered to be mainstream and/or strategic for NICS. • The main change over the planning horizon will be the migration of the current ATM network to MPLS, managed either by NICS or a third party network service provider. • Voice Over IP (VOIP) is already being piloted in one ISU and is under consideration as a potential solution for Workplace 2010. Gartner would still consider this technology as being emerging and would advise NICS to watch the market carefully. 9. Wireless and mobile Networking • Various mobile and remote solutions are in place or being piloted within NICS today. However the whole area of wireless and mobile technology is moving incredibly fast and NICS should consider the deployment of solutions in this area as tactical only. Delivery anD innovation Division 10. Internet Technologies • Web development services are mainly delivered centrally. The solutions, technologies and standards employed can already be considered as mainstream and/or strategic for NICS. • NICS are taking a ‘best of breed’ approach, with separate ‘point’ solutions for Web Content Management, Document Management and Workflow. The main omission from this ‘bestof-breed’ solution set is a strategic Portal product that must be supported by a NICS Portal Strategy; Gartner believe this Portal Strategy will be a vital part of providing better Multi-Channel access, Customer Orientation and support the theme of “Service Excellence” to citizens. • The downside for NICS of this ‘best of breed’ approach for Internet services is the difficulty of integrating the various elements together. The workshop highlighted current or anticipated difficulties integrating strategic products with the NICS EDRMS solution. Gartner would recommend the formation of an Integration Competency Centre (ICC) which is a central resource designated to tackle these complex integration issues. 11. Security • While boundary security is provided centrally, NICS have taken a Departmental approach to Security as indicated by the diverse and comprehensive list of Firewall, Anti-Virus and Intrusion Prevention products listed in the baseline. The rationale for firewalls at the departmental level was explained, but Gartner believes that during the SSC planning NICS should revisit Firewall requirements. • At the Security workshop it was clear that no NICS-wide decision for strategic security solutions would be agreed by the attendees and only one Retirement Target and one Containment Target was agreed. • Overall it was agreed that NICS should decide upon 2 Anti-Virus products and a minimum of 2 Firewall products. Gartner recommend that the planning and decision for this consolidation takes place as part of the Shared Service Centre planning exercise. Delivery anD innovation Division 12. Systems Management Help Desk, Backup/Restore, System Monitoring, Software Distribution, Patch Management, Asset Management, Web. • NICS have taken a Departmental approach to Systems Management as indicated by the diverse and comprehensive list of products listed in the various baselines. • Moving to the Shared Service Centre environment there will be a major opportunity for simplification and consolidation. • Gartner recommend that the planning and product portfolio decision for Systems Management place as part of the Shared Service Centre planning exercise. Gartner believe that a ‘best of breed’ point solution approach will still be valid for NICS. • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity for business applications has been addressed by only one department where a dual-site/data synchronisation approach has been implemented. This appears to be fit-for-purpose for current usage but in the Shared Services environment a holistic review of DR/BCP should be carried out to determine the appropriate solution. Delivery anD innovation Division The key recommendations falling out of the NICS ICT Strategy can be summarised as follows 1. Due to the high level of change that is facing NICS staff as a result of the numerous concurrent major initiatives underway at present it is recommended that the NICS invest time and effort in creating an overall NICS Business Change Plan (including ICT activities) for the next 3-5 years. It is recommended that the NICS create an Applications Architecture for Workplace Applications that describes the various applications and services, where they overlap, how they integrate and defining the preferred solutions for each element. It is also recommended that NICS should identify other common NICS application families where disparate tools and approaches exist that might benefit from NICS-wide standards and solutions e.g. Analytics/Statistical/Business Intelligence tools. For the Shared Service Centre to succeed NICS must plan for hosting these applications in-house in the longer term and for the SSC to be the custodian of all NICS data. NICS must produce a business case to identify a single strategic solution for messaging and e-mail. NICS must develop a Portal Strategy to include Intranet as well as Extranet (citizen-facing) services. The strategy should include recommendations for a strategic Portal product. NICS must develop policies for the use of Access, Notes and SQL/Server applications. It is recommended that the NICS procurement department adopts the principles of a two-vendor strategy for desktops, laptops and servers. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Delivery anD innovation Division Key recommendations (continued) 9. It is recommended that NICS review the use of niche products in relation to integration technologies. 10. It is recommended that all NICS departments carry out a review of their application portfolio. A brief review of each departmental application should be completed and using the axes of application business value and application technical quality to make decisions as to whether to retire, replace, contain/maintain or enhance. 11. NICS should create the following three small (1-2 people) new central IT functions with a remit to operate across the whole of NICS: i. Strategy and planning - to be the custodians of the ICT Strategy going forward ii. Emerging technology (R&D) - to watch out for and work with emerging technologies iii. Integration competency centre - to assist NICS in joining its applications together Shared Service Centre planning must continue as quickly as possible but must ensure that the following elements are included in scope: • Systems Management tools • Security tools • Storage/SAN/Backup and Recovery • Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning 12. Delivery anD innovation Division The Current Position The NICS ICT Strategy was endorsed by the eGovernment Board in November 2005. The Delivery and Innovation Division within DFP have been appointed custodians of the strategy. With the recent establishment of a NICS ICT Strategy and Planning team, work has started on the achieving the recommendations set out in the ICTS. If your require further information about the NICS ICT Strategy please contact: John McKernan Head of Enterprise Design Authority & CTO Delivery & Innovation Division Room 423 4th Floor Dundonald House Belfast BT4 3SB Tel: (028) 90524359 Fiona Brashaw Enterprise Design Authority Delivery & Innovation Division Room 429 4th Floor Dundonald House Belfast BT4 3SB Tel: (028) 90765833