EA @ UCLan
Lucy Nelson
Project Manager
LIS Business Support
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Why EA?
• EA started to appear in JISC calls
• EA Foundations Programme Cohort 2
• Good development opportunity
• Makes sense
• Good community
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Understanding EA
EA is a methodology and set of tools and techniques used to manage
organisational change involving ICT, and can be used in combination with
ICT
Prince2, TOGAF and ITIL to help deliver a specific business and IT change
Prince2 business
projects.
What separates EA from other methodologies and tools is that it provides a
holistic and joined-up understanding of the business and supporting ICT:
making sure these two elements of any organisation – the business and
ICT – work together properly and are fully aligned, and that the latter –
the ICT – is led by the former – the business needs
needs.
The unique selling point of EA is that it allows you to understand the
relationships and dependencies between the layers that make up most
dependencies
organizations:
– Business layer vision, strategy, information, business processes
Business layer:
– Service / application layer data, services, applications
application layer:
– Technology layer: infrastructure and systems
Technology layer
IT divide
It forces you to break away from the typical business and IT divide and silo
silo
mentality. Ultimately EA ensures that the ICT is strategically directed.
mentality
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Structure at UCLan
• 35000 + staff and students
• Medium Term Strategy
• Information Strategy (finance, estates, employability, L&T,
Sustainability, HR, KTS, Student Experience, Information etc.)
• Information Strategy Group (ISP)
• ISP Review Group
• Business Cases
• PRINCE2 Methodology
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Strategic ICT Toolkit
• Developed through JISC project
• Self analysis of SICT maturity
• Completed with a range of Directors, Heads,
Deans, Associate Heads and Senior LIS
staff.
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Results
Maximu
Maturity Results Totals m Standard Maturity Ranges
Strategic Leadership 7 10 Operational 0 - 35
ICT Services 3 10
ICT Governance 5 10 Strategic 36 - 48
Comms and Engagement 4 10
Shared Services 6 10 Transformational 49 - 60
Enterprise Architecture 1 10
Maturity Total 27
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Issues raised
• SMT ability to communicate ICT effectively
• SMT awareness of ICT Governance
• General awareness of ICT i.e. shared services
• ICT governance and reporting not transparent
• Felt projects were ICT led
• ISP was not held accountable
• ISP had no decision making authority
• LIS perceived to be making decisions
• Poor communication about progress and
requirements from School
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My observations
• Not enough time
• People focus on their areas
• Not in my back yard
• Anything with significant ICT becomes LIS’s
– Perceived as IT led
– PM write business cases
– Deliver by hook or by crook
– Left with initiatives
– Try to please but get blamed
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Fitting EA into UCLan
• We have Information Strategy Panel
• We have centralised ICT
• We have Director of LIS in SMT (plus ear of
DVC)
• We use PRINCE2 / have Project Delivery
Group
• We have Medium Term Strategy and an
aligned information strategy
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Why do I think EA will help?
• Control spending
• Effective and efficient processes
• Flexibility
• Ensure processes and systems align
• Ensure processes meet the business need
• We need to ensure value in investments
• Change attitudes
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Trying to introduce EA
• 1st thoughts
– wont work unless its top down
– Needs a central not project based approach
• Barriers
– Reaction to perceived criticism (different story in
a safe environment)
– Change fatigue
– “we already do this” – Not seeing EA approach
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Initial activities
• Reports
• Presentations
• Recommendations
• Line management support
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EA “by Stealth”
• Taking an EA approach with projects
– Business led
– Process before system
– Service design review
– Bigger picture
• Bringing colleagues to EA events
• Running EA event at UCLan
• Review the ISP process through a JISC bid
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Projects using EA Approach
• Projects
– Transformations
• TISSUE
• Business Upgrade
• SharePoint4Collaboration
• School Admin Review
– Course Data
• Cross institutional change projects
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Day(s) in the life…
• Bids using EA approach
• Project Board
– Senior manager buy in to the approach
– Prevention of negative impact
• Engage the business
– Workshops : time < impact
• Drip feed / respond to complaints /grumbles -
“and that’s EA!”
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Impact
• Despite resistance…
– “Actively contribute to the reshaping of a more customer focussed
environment which exploits the potential for better integration across
service teams to provide a more streamlined academic support
package” – objective for all LIS Business Support staff
– “Effective and agile IT services and business solutions are essential
if we are to demonstrate the required responsiveness.” - ISP Brief
– “Continued improvement in streamlining and automating business
processes” – ISP brief
– New projects looking at improving and aligning processes
– Senior Managers discussing aligning projects at Directorate level
– Project executives asking projects to consider the bigger picture
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