Enterprise Architecture

Ohio Department of Education

Following the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines

Emily Gedert, Norma Hawker, Ryan McClay,and Colleen Stapleton

Muskingum University

INFR-516

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Introduction

Enterprise architecture strategy (EAS) is a plan to align an organization’s

information technology (IT) with its particular strategy. As such, enterprise architecture

is a key function of the executive domain and critical for the creation of value from IT

resources. This document will propose an EAS for the Ohio Department of Education

as a method of maximizing the effectiveness of the Department’s delivery of services to

the administrators, educators, students, and general public of the state of Ohio.

The main purpose for our proposed EAS is to improve overall performance,

value, and service within the Department’s 5 Centers. A successful enterprise

architecture must be built by using three key disciplines set forth in this document.

These are 1) the definition of the operating model, 2) development of an enterprise

architecture core diagram to guide the alignment with that operating model, and 3) an IT

engagement model.

What is a foundation for execution? According to Jeanne Ross, David Robertson,

Peter Weill, it is defined as the “IT infrastructure and digitized business processes

automating a company’s core capabilities.” It starts out simply and then starts growing

by encompassing transaction processes and business capabilities. An effective

foundation depends on tight alignment between business objectives and IT capabilities.

It is important that the strategy is clear enough to act upon. IT needs to become an

asset and it needs to help shape future strategic opportunities (Ross, Robertson &

Weill, 2006)

Traditional IT development approaches do not create a foundation for execution.

Effective foundations of execution must master three key disciplines: an operating

model, enterprise architecture, and an IT engagement model. Companies and

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organizations with a solid foundation had higher profitability, faster time to market, and

lower IT costs (Ross, Robertson & Weill, 2006).

Enterprise architecture (EA) is one of the most powerful management

approaches that can be used by an organization. It is used to assist with the project

level, problem solution and for big business decisions and to implement efficient and

effective transformation efforts supporting the organization (Ross, Robertson & Weill,

2006).

We will explore the definition of an operating model, explain our development of

an enterprise architecture core diagram and explain our IT engagement model for the

Ohio Department of Education. We believe this will be beneficial for the ODE because it

will allow them to become more organized and better fit to continue into the future. We

have spent countless hours researching the best possible solutions for the ODE and

believe that our findings will help the ODE in the long run and help to lower costs and

benefit the organization in countless ways.

Overall Organizational Structure

ODE is operated under 5 separate “business units” or in their terms “Centers”.

These centers are:

The Center for Curriculum and Assessments

The Center for the Teaching Profession

The Center for Accountability and Continuous Improvement

The Center for Student Support and Education Options

Operations

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Each of these centers provides different services to the ODE stakeholders or in

the case of Operations, both internal ODE stakeholders and external stakeholders as

this is the IT arm of ODE.

The other four centers are split into two divisions as is evidenced in the

organizational chart in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Ohio Department of Education Organizational Chart as of 8/10/2012 (Abbr.)

Operating Model

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has a diverse and complicated

mission. They serve students, parents, educators, administrators, and the general

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public. One way to see this complexity is to examine ODE’s visible interactions with

their stakeholders. Some high level interactions are:

1. Disbursement of state and federal funds to Local Education Authorities (LEAs).

2. Production of LEA report cards as an aggregation of testing, attendance,

adequate-yearly-progress (AYP), value-add and other performance measures

3. Manages teacher and administrator licensure, preparation, and quality control.

4. Provides numerous educational support services such as transportation,

curriculum support and testing materials, finance, literacy, professional

development, safety, health, and nutrition along with special education programs.

5. Oversees the vocational training programs of the system of Career and

Technical Centers (CTCs)

6. Acts as the regulatory arm of the state legislature.

7. Collects data through its system of Information Technology Centers (ITCs)

into its Education Management Information System (EMIS).

8. Operates the Ohio School for the Deaf and the Ohio School for the Blind.

The five Department centers are responsible for delivering these services to the

ODE stakeholders. However, the business process standardization and integration

among these centers is very low and overall ODE currently operations in a

diversification operating model.

ODE’s mission is complicated by legislative restrictions on what data ODE is

permitted to have access to. This is because ODE data must be siloed based on

legislative requirements surrounding security. For example, student identifiable

information is not permitted to be held at ODE and therefore must be held by

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intermediate organizations or external companies. Ohio Revised Code (ORC)

§3301.0714 states, “the guidelines shall prohibit the reporting under this section of a

student’s name, address, and social security number to the state board of education or

the department of education.” Because of this, ODE accomplishes its oversight by

leveraging the Statewide Student Identifier (SSID) through a contracted agreement with

IBM.

The individual school districts have control over how they track their student data,

but they must report that data in aggregate form to ODE via a system of Information

Technology Centers (ITCs). The difficulties with this system have been highlighted in

recent allegations of false attendance reporting by school districts. As a further

illustration of the diversity and complexity, ODE is responsible for administering the

GED (General Equivalency Diploma), but the actual Adult Basic and Literacy Education

Programs (ABLE) are administered by the Ohio Board of Regents.

Due to this complexity and accompanying legislative requirements it does not

appear that the various divisions of ODE have highly integrated processes. This is

evidenced by the diversity of data sources provided on the aggregated Local Education

Authorities (LEA) report cards. Additionally, the offices or “departments” in each of the

business units appear to act independent of each other and even within a center.

Stakeholder interactions require manual cross-notification if multiple offices are involved

even within the same center.

As a whole, there is little in the way of business process standardization due to

the differences in office roles. Some standardization is evident in the ODE Security

Application for Enterprise (SAFE) accounts that require that all new Web applications

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requiring security and have been released since May 2003 can be accessed through

the SAFE portal. The SAFE sign-up procedure is automated and authenticates users by

leveraging real-time Ohio driver license and Ohio identification data. In some respects

the integration with the department of transportation represents a greater degree of

integration than ODE illustrates in their own department. While, there is some

standardization on the Identity and Access Management portion of the ODE technology

portfolio, but there is no other integration of data to promote further integration at this

time.

After our research, we recommend that ODE work towards a Coordination

Operating Model and better integrate their business processes. This will help ODE to

utilize information technology to better meet their needs by operating more efficiently.

Additionally, this model will establish a foundation for operational excellence and

organization within the ODE. We suggest that ODE have high integration and low

standardization. This combination will allow the business units to share resources, data

and communicate more effectively, while maintaining their independent status, as

departments to facilitate their functions. It is highly unlikely that ODE would be able to

move to a focus of both higher integration and standardization that would be required by

a unification model due to its diverse nature. In order to accomplish this

recommendation, legislative changes will be necessary to loosen the Ohio Revised

Code (ORC) restrictions on ODE’s access to data. This would enable ODE to create

appropriate databases that would permit alignment and coordination of business

processes and greatly improve ODE’s interaction with its stakeholders. These have

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been proposed recently by the Auditor of State during that office’s investigation into

improper attendance reporting.

Enterprise Architecture

The coordination operating model outlines to what general degree processes are

integrated and standardized across the Department’s centers. In contrast, the

enterprise architecture delineates the key processes, systems, and data composing the

core of the Department’s operations. An enterprise architecture core diagram, as seen

in Figure 2, can be used to direct the consistent digitization of those processes. The

core diagram should be used to help direct strategy within the Department so that it can

consistently apply the Coordination operating model and execute on initiatives.

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Figure 2. Ohio Department of Education, Enterprise Architecture Core Diagram for a Coordination Operation Model.

Supporting Information

The availability of information to all core business units a top priority, the

Coordination Model is the best choice for optimal IT function. It will allow for responding

to future service requests in a more efficient manner while, at the same time, reducing

business and technological risk. This is possible by having access to multiple sources of

data and information, available to all of ODE, and its main customers, which are the

Administrators, Educators and Families.

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In dealing with customer data, ODE uses aggregated student data, but they

currently aren't allowed to have personally identifiable student data. Within the new IIS,

information such as student records and Common Core State Standard Lessons will be

easily shared and accessible to all schools and ODE. Ohio’s licensure, certification,

performance data on educators, report cards, finances, and other school level metrics

for administrators, testing data are shared within ODE’s portal technology. ODE uses

SAFE Log In and launched the Security Application for Enterprise (SAFE) Web portal in

May, 2003. SAFE is a Web Portal and a "single sign on" software security solution for

ODE customers. A recent upgrade has made the user interface easier to navigate.

(Ohio Department of Education, 2012)

All new Web applications that require security and have been released since May

2003 can be accessed through the SAFE portal. The SAFE sign-up procedure is

automated and authenticates users by leveraging real-time Ohio driver license and Ohio

identification data.(Ohio Department of Education, 2012) The STARS Professional

Development & Technical Assistance Systems application allows school administrators

to communicate financial funding/planning to ODE and get approval for

spending/budgeting. It also serves as the communication piece for schools going

through CIP (Continuous Improvement Process).

This whole revolution in processes was started over 2 years with the Rate the

Top initiative created by the Federal government, and Ohio decided to participate. Every

school was given a chance to join in, and receive funds to help them transition to using

the Common Core State Standards, and raise test scores. The transition has been a

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four year process, and will be completed in 2014. That is when the IIS will be online and

operational.

All new Web applications that require security can be accessed through the

SAFE portal. The SAFE sign-up procedure is automated and authenticates users by

leveraging real-time Ohio driver license and Ohio identification data. The STARS

Professional Development & Technical Assistance Systems application allows school

administrators to communicate financial funding/planning to ODE and get approval for

spending/budgeting. It also serves as the communication piece for schools going

through CIP (Continuous Improvement Process). Ohio’s licensure, certification,

performance data on educators, report cards, finances, and other school level metrics

for administrators, testing data are all shared within ODE’s portal technology (Ohio

Department of Education, 2012).

With a look to the future, we see the potential for national sharing and

collaboration with a Shared Learning Infrastructure, and a Learning Registry. We also

see an opportunity for upgrading from a K-12 data warehouse to a P-20 system. This is

especially advantageous with the possibility of the Ohio Board of Regents joining the

Ohio Department of Education in the near future.

IT Engagement Model

We would propose some new management structures to ensure IT governance

is effective within ODE. This would involve three new constructs with the following

membership:

Senior Management Committee (SMC):

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Associate Superintendent (Division of Learning)

Associate Superintendent (Division of Accountability and Quality Schools)

COO

CIO

Deputy Superintendent/Acting Superintendent

Center IT Coordination Committee (CICC)

CIO, 2 Division executives, and 4 Center executive directors

Departmental Project Management Office (DPMO)

Rotating membership among each of the division heads with a minimum of 1 per center.

These three constructs along with the CIO have roles as indicated in the

following IT governance matrix. The 4 roles of Decide, Consult, Recommend, and Notify

are representing active participation. The “Decider” is ultimately accountable for the

decisions that they make. The “Consultant” role should be considered a subject matter

expert and be active in the decision making process. The “Recommender” would be the

point of making informed and well-articulated recommendations to the group is

Deciding. Notify is more than just “to be notified”, but rather involves a curiosity and

obligation on the indicated party to be “in-the-know” about that particular topic.

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ODE IT

Governance

(Proposed)

IT Principles Enterprise

Architecture

IT

Infrastructure

Business

Needs &

Project

Deliverables

IT Investment

and

Prioritization

Senior

Management

Committee

(SMC)

Decide Notify Notify Notify Decide

Department

Project

Management

Office (DPMO)

Notify Consult Notify Decide Identify

Center IT

Coordination

Committee

(CICC)

Recommend Decide Recommend Recommend Notify

CIO Consult Recommend Decide Consult Consult

Accountability Framework Narrative

IT Principles are determined by the Senior Management Committee.

Accountability for alignment with those IT principles can be made by the PMO when the

projects are chartered. The PMO will undergo an initial appraisal of the proposed

project even if the SMC has already approved it. The PMO has the right to kick a

project back to the SMC if it finds it out of alignment with its understanding of the IT

principles and the enterprise architecture. Ultimately, the SMC is accountable for its

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effectiveness in setting the IT principles to the State Superintendent which is hired and

accountable to the quasi-elected body of the State Board of Education.

Incentives will be given to the SMC to check that the goals of the Enterprise

Architecture will fall into one of three categories. 1) Nearly Achieved 2) Fully Achieved

3) Exceeded. If they do not meet one of these categories, the CICC will be notified and

actions to meet the goals will be visited. However, the CIO is also able to make a good

recommendation based upon the knowledge they have of the business and the DPMO

has the “consult” job because they are also very knowledgeable in the business and IT

areas and can help to make an informed decision.

The CIO is ultimately in charge of the IT infrastructure because he/she is the sole

person in charge of what type of infrastructure should be made for the ODE. However, it

is important that the CICC also has the ability to recommend to the CIO since they

would be very knowledgeable in this area of the ODE and their input should definitely be

part of the final decision that the CIO makes. An operating level agreement (OLA) is a

way that the performance can be monitored. An OLA emphasizes that the service levels

are being taken care of and ensuring that the service is acceptable throughout the

infrastructure. This is less formal than a Service Level Agreement (SLA), but just as

important. Another important metric is the cost of IT. Although ODE currently has

achieved substantial reductions in their use of virtualization technologies, these costs

should continue to be measured. Ultimately, the success of the CIO’s ability to continue

to reduce costs is an important evaluation metric.

The DPMO is ultimately accountable for its decisions regarding delivery of

business needs and project deliverables. The CICC as the ultimate recommender to

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the DPMO and ultimately accountable for the enterprise architecture should be given

enforcement authority to change, discontinue or grant an exception to the enterprise

architecture. As members of the CICC, the division heads are in the project

management process and can provide direct feedback to the DPMO as to its

effectiveness in meeting the needs of their respective divisions. Effectiveness, as

determined by the division heads, should be tracked over time.

For IT Investment and prioritization the senior management committee office

decide on portfolio management. The committee considers the potential value to the

business and the project. They also anticipate the business’ ability to effectively

implement projects. The SMC is also forced to be held accountable for IT costs by

higher governance.

Project Methodology

A new position of Director of the PMO will be assigned to handle disseminating

the new Project Management process (within a Coordination Model) among the

individual Center Managers (Curriculum & Assessment, Teacher Profession,

Accountability & Continuous Improvement, Student Support and Education Options).

This will make sure there is regulated, two-way communication and reinforce high-level

governance decisions. PM’s will meet with the Director of the PMO once a month to

ensure goals are being met, progress is being made and identify needs for senior

management intervention. In continuing existing PM practices, all PM’s will have a

Project Management Professional (PMP) certification and use PMBOK standards for

project execution.

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Linking Mechanisms

There will be three new linkage mechanisms installed into the ODE IT

governance process.

A new structure of 5 Center level CIOs should be created to ensure business

alignment. These CIOs will report directly to the enterprise CIO. Their responsibility

would be to ensure that the projects within their respective centers are achieving not

only the greatest value, but also are aligned with the overall ODE strategy set by the

SMC.

As a way to maintain a linkage between the enterprise architecture and the

project disciplines, we are recommending that an enterprise architecture specialist be

assigned to each and every project. They will be under the direction of the DPMO, but

also directly report to the 5 Center CIOs. The lines of reporting are important for

enforcing enterprise architecture standards, but also for assisting the Center CIOs in

their business alignment processes.

Finally, to ensure value is being gained from IT projects, the center CIO under

which a project is being implemented will be involved in a 3 stage review of every

project. This CIO will review each project charter; conduct a mid-project review, and

also a post implementation review which will be reported up to the CICC. The DMPO is

responsible for keeping the project on time and in budget, but the CICC is responsible

for evaluating if the business case used for the project delivered on its stated goals.

Conclusion

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Enterprise architecture (EA) is one of the most powerful management

approaches that can be used by an organization to help keep the IT projects focused on

the company’s’ overall strategy for the business. The Coordination Model is the best

model for ODE. That model offers the greatest integration and leverages the largest

amount of data available within the Department. This will promote operational efficiency,

improve citizen services relationships, provide strategic agility and produce service

leadership

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