Tools, Techniques, and Challenges with Building an Integrated Suite of Systems

Jay BallingerUC Systems Architectjayballinger@ucdavis.edu

Diana CoxPortfolio Managerdicox@ucdavis.edu

University of CaliforniaCenter of Excellence for Enterprise Risk Management Technology

Application

BIO

CBIS

CIS

EFR

FSTOP

LHAT

OHSS

RADiCAL

SIT

WASTe

Old-school

Vendor-supplied

Vendor-supplied

New generation

Vendor-supplied

New generation

Old-school

New generation

New generation

New generation

Application

BIO

CBIS

CIS

EFR

FSTOP

LHAT

OHSS

RADiCAL

SIT

WASTe

Old-school

Vendor-supplied

Vendor-supplied

New generation

Vendor-supplied

New generation

Old-school

New generation

New generation

New generation

The Mission

• Say NO to silos

• Think of the user experience

• Think of homogenous data

How we started

• Have a vision, have a champion

• Get buy-in from the bosses(but maybe surprise others)

• Start with two or three apps

Tools

• Automation – for data and testing

• Crowd-sourcing – show it off

• Scheduled demos – is it really working

Technical Problems

• Homogeneous data

Database links?Shipping data between data stores?Web services?Store and forward?

What should be shared, and what belongs to the application?

Technical Problems

• Homogeneous data

Which IDs to use for people, places, and things? Retroactive updates. Multiple updates streams, or Master Data Management?

Which System of Record?

Technical Problems

• User Experience

Responsive layouts.Color consistency.Icon consistency.Same paradigm.Root out duplicate data collection.Consistent data presentation.

Technical Problems

• User Experience

All access or white-list?User account types – worker, supervisor, admin

Messy data – people play multiple parts, have multiple roles

Technical Problems

• Philosophical Differences

Single-page design or round-trip?

Standardize on back-end technology(which helps with library and tool reuse)

Enemies

• Time

• Competing Priorities

• Refactor friction

Three realizations

• Have a vision

• Have a champion

• Don’t be afraid to refactor

End Result

• Never done

• Be willing to compromise

• Say NO to silos

Questions

• What didn’t I cover that you would like to know?