IS Vision

Background

Case for Action

Vision Statement

Strategies

Principles of Operation

This is a vision for Administrative Information Services at the University of Texas Houston Health Science Center.  The Background section describes some important trends in computing which impact our situation at the UT-H.  The Case for Action lists several important factors which add up to a need for change.  The Vision Statement describes how administrative information services should look five plus years from now.  The Strategies section lists several strategies which will be deployed over the next two years to facilitate the vision.
 

Background
There is no doubt that over the last 15 years since the personal computer entered the marketplace that the role of information services organizations which serve institutions such as ours has changed.  This does not necessarily mean that what these organizations does has changed but their influence over the deployment of technology and their percentage of the total information technology effort has dropped radically.  Not surprisingly, this decline parallels the decline in mainframes, which are the platform of choice for large information services organizations.

Since information services organizations are so closely identified with the technology which they support, it's useful to examine the reasons for the decline of mainframe computing in order to understand the impact on information services organizations.  Personal computers offered several advantages over mainframes:

• Personal computers were generally simpler to use.  There was no need for computer 'experts'.
• Personal computers offered a superior (graphical) user interface.
• Personal computers put powerful data manipulation capabilities in the hands of the people who needed them (Lotus, DBase, etc.).
• Personal computers were relatively inexpensive and could easily be purchased within departmental budgets.
• Personal computers could be deployed quickly.

The result was that most information services organizations either ignored or attempted to stifle personal computing because it was inappropriate for their own application.  What they failed to recognize was that it was very appropriate for their end user's application.  As the capabilities of PC's grew, particularly with the emergence of LAN's, the impact on the institution of personal computing technology approached, and in some cases surpassed, that of the information services organization.  However, typically there is minimal infrastructure to support this new environment which has now become mission critical.

The situation that information services organizations find themselves in is a direct result of the ability (or perceived ability) of the new PC/LAN technology to meet end users needs more quickly, easily and efficiently.  Information services organizations must redefine themselves to bring value added service to this new environment without eliminating the advantages which made PC/LAN technology desirable in the first place.  This must be done while the organization addresses the delivery of services which legacy systems provide either through continued operation or transitioning to new technology.  Further complicating the situation is the fact that PC/LAN technology can be extraordinarily complex.  The integration of a multitude of hardware and software vendors makes implementation and support a labor intensive task for a team of expensive specialists.  This is contributing to a slowdown in the implementation of new technology for mission critical applications but has left most IT departments with responsibility for two very different computing environments.
 

Case for Action
Environmental and technological changes drive the need for changes within Information Services.

• Cultural changes within the UT-H and Administration and Finance focus on empowering individuals, facilitating a flexible working environment and removing centralized control.  In the past information technology has facilitated centralized control but now it will be used to empower employees and increase flexibility in work location, scope and time.
• Administration & Finance will lead the UT-H in continuous improvement (CI) and process simplification although similar efforts will expand into other areas.  CI and process simplification rely heavily on information technology for results.
• Mainframe technology and information management techniques have matured over the last forty years.  PC's and LAN technology will make the same trip over less than half that amount of time.  We have some guideposts to help us with the transition but we have less time to actually make the trip.
• New information technology is changing rapidly.  There are no sure bets.  We must understand and anticipate the risk of venturing into new technological territory.  However, to delay is to risk technological obsolescence in an environment in which competitiveness is increasingly defined by the rapid deployment of new technologies.
• The days of one or two primary vendors are gone for a very long time.  The typical computing environment will be complicated by products and services provided by multiple vendors.
• The new technology is radically different from old technology and requires extensive training to understand.  Both end users and IS professionals will have to receive training to effectively apply and use these new technologies.  Technological expertise will become critical for success in the empowered, skilled generalist workplace.
• However, the high-tech desktop will exceed the capabilities of many workers requiring intensive on-site support to overcome a steep learning curve.
• The empowered worker with sophisticated technology will be required to do more analytical tasks in addition to existing assignments.  Time and resource constraints can only be relieved through radical restructuring of associated processes.  The introduction of new processes and technology will stretch the capabilities and patience of employees.
• The existing paradigm of where computing resources reside has changed.  It is no longer assumed that computing resources must be centralized.  Computing resources will be located where it is most appropriate.  The key determinants of location will be functionality, cost and accessibility.
• The competition from new technology vendors for scarce IT dollars will drive some mainframe software and hardware vendors from the marketplace.  AMS is one of those who abandoned their mainframe system customers for more lucrative markets.
• The pace of changes to PC/LAN technology will decelerate as the installed base grows in size and capabilities thereby limiting the ability of the marketplace to absorb new technology.  In other words, new legacy systems are being built using new technology.
• The PC/LAN environment will ultimately match the mainframe environment for reliability, availability and serviceability.  However, as this occurs, the price of new technology will also go up.  Mainframe technology prices will head down.  Those technology decisions which are made based on cost may favor mainframe based solutions.
• The mainframe will be re-engineered to be a 'LAN in a Box'.  This solution will give the look and feel of the PC/LAN environment but will probably be supported centrally.
• The capabilities of PC/LAN based software already has delivered more power to end users than mainframe software.  End users will continue to improve their capabilities to address their own needs without COBOL programmers.
• Programmer productivity will be addressed by moving into the more productive PC/LAN environment.  However, the primary impact to productivity will be that a new legion of 'programmers' from end user departments will be enlisted to develop and/or implement their own applications.
• Images, voice and video will become 'data' to be processed, stored and transmitted just as alphanumeric information is now.
• All information technology devices including voice, data and video will become more portable and access to networks will become ubiquitous.
• The year 2000 will require either extensive program changes or replacement of existing administrative software.
• Access to data on the administrative systems is limited by the lack of availability of user friendly software on the mainframe platform.
• State and UT System level initiatives will preempt local priorities.

• The focus of Information Services will change from processing and storing data to transmitting and storing data.  Networking will become a key technology for Information Services to understand and provide.  It must be reliable, accessible and functional.
• The primary focus of Information Services will be on planning, implementing and operating the information technology infrastructure and assisting end-users in implementing applications which meet their needs.
• Customers will become more self-sufficient doing more processing on the desktop or in the department.
• Information Services will be the systems integrator and central data repository for administrative applications of technology.  As such it will have a significant role in developing standards which will facilitate integration without stifling functionality.
• Information Services will rely on central administrative 'process owners' to represent the interests of the ultimate customer in the schools.
• IS will facilitate the transfer of data and associated responsibilities to the schools and departments through the deployment of technology which makes this transfer customer-driven.  This will allow schools and departments to customize applications to meet their specific requirements.
• Information Services will expand its knowledge of the business processes to provide consulting services in the application of technology.
• Information Services will have the expertise to deliver the technology which is most appropriate to the application.  Mainframe solutions will not be the de facto standard.
• COBOL programming will become a smaller and smaller portion of our work.  Higher level languages will be used where appropriate.
• Information Services has the responsibility to upgrade or replace obsolete technology while continuing to support it.  Legacy systems must be evaluated.
• Information Services will do research and development in new technologies to introduce them into the environment in a coordinated manner.
• Information Services will become a source for information on information technologies.
• Information Services will counsel executive management on the efficient use of information technologies.
• Information Services will play a large role in training end users and supporting them in using their core applications.
• Information Services will offer consulting to end users on information management techniques and practices such as project management, security, data integrity, performance management and planning, software selection and implementation, and vendor relations.  In addition, Information Services will provide these same functions for support of the information technology infrastructure.
• Information Services is currently organized along technical specialties which make sense in the mainframe environment.  The new Information Services organization will support a wider spectrum of technologies with multi-disciplinary teams.

• Emphasize training IS staff in new technologies.
• Retain student systems in their current state.  Expand access through the implementation of the EPOS voice response system and web technology.
• Evaluate BPPS and TUFIMS in light of their substantial Year 2000 problems.  Options include outsourcing, replacement with another package and conversion to handle the year 2000.  Seek funding and redeploy resources as necessary to address the problem.
• Data currently warehoused in BPPS, TUFIMS and student systems will continue to be migrated into more sophisticated server-based databases which support user-friendly tools.
• Integrate process simplification into major technology projects through the application of re-engineering and continuous improvement techniques.  Analyze business processes and look for opportunities to apply workflow tools to improve these processes.
• Complete the implementation of the campus wide telephone system.
• Promote end-user self-sufficiency by defining PC/LAN support.
• Implement remote access to LAN based services.
• Expand the use of all forms of electronic commerce as opportunities to remove human intervention and simplify processes.
• Evaluate and deploy, as appropriate, web-enabled applications and interfaces.
• Support for text and image data on the administrative World Wide Web server will be expanded.
• Evaluate opportunities to replace existing systems or subsystems with new technology as systems fail to meet customer expectations or become insupportable.
• Explore multimedia technologies for the desktop.  Expand the usage to include the access to reports, images, compound documents, voice and video.
• Continue research and development into new technologies which have both a short and long term payback and deploy when stable and reliable.
• Implement new systems or subsystems on most appropriate technology.  An appropriately configured mainframe continues to be a viable part of our enterprise computing environment.

Increase the stability of the technology infrastructure through the implementation of hardware, software and management techniques.

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agb - Last updated 05/01/98