Principle 1

Centralized Governance for Technology Acquisitions

Statement

Information Technology Services (ITS) will assess all new technology-related initiatives which acquire or provide data from authoritative sources to ensure their compliance with Enterprise Architecture (EA) principles.

Rationale

• A common assessment process developed and maintained by ITS will ensure that all proposed changes and projects are business-driven and that they align with strategic goals, as well as the principles, best practices, and standards defined and documented in the ITS’s EA.
• It will ensure that individual subsidiary change proposals are optimized from the global University perspective, rather than from only a departmental or project perspective.
• Assessments should be conducted via collaborative partnerships between ITS and corresponding functional owners to ensure that there is alignment between technology and the administrative and/or academic unit(s).
• Unnecessary redundancy will be decreased.
• Technology that is based on a common framework will provide a greater opportunity for information collaboration and process efficiency.

Implications

• The Architecture Review Board will continue to validate adherence to technology assessment framework and its corresponding change management initiative processes.
• The Architecture Review Board will monitor all initiatives' progress and measure implementation effectiveness and the ongoing benefits derived from the change.
• The Architecture Review Board will establish resources, maintain a centralized program management office and develop procedures and processes to support its use.
• Significant technology acquisitions should be viewed as “University-wide” changes; with enterprise requirements accounted for. 
• Processes will need to be created to streamline technology reviews.