1. Integrated University Information Systems Thomas Kudrass Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (Germany) ICEIS 2006 Paphos, Cyprus May 2006

2. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 2 2 2 Outline 1. Motivation: Why Integration? 2. Sample Business Process 3. Requirements Analysis 4. Sample Environment (HTWK Leipzig) 5. Design of a Target Architecture 6. Current and future work

3. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 3 3 3 Why Integration? Today´s information systems characterized by Interoperability Examples – Health Care IS Electronic Medical File – Integration of ERP and office software Example: SAP + MS Office – Integration of DMS and CMS Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Why not in universities?

4. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 4 4 4 Motivation am 20.09.2005: „Akademische Servicewüste“ Datenchaos zwingt Unis in die Knie! Academic service desert. Data chaos pushes down universities!

5. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 5 5 5 Requirements at a first glance Autonomy of faculties / departments  no global services (e.g., email addresses) Modularization of study courses  avalanche of data: exams, prerequisites, scheduling of lessons and exams IT strategy for teaching and administration  centralization at the university New innovative systems  online services  better information quality Student as customer (paying fees)  increased requirements to the organization

6. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 6 6 6 Current State at German Universities IT usage at German universities – historically grown system environments – loosely integrated systems – incomplete support of business processes – mainly support of organization-specific tasks – administration and academic stuff separate No standards – HIS software widespread, no default software at German universities – No document standards for data exchange

7. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 7 7 7 New IT Requirements at Universities Bologna Process – Modularization of study courses – Introduction of consecutive study courses Development of IT Technologies → Evolution of the IT system environment at university New Software Systems for Education – E-Learning Systems (authoring systems, LMS) – Digital Libraries (e.g., Master Theses) – Evaluation (E-Questionnaires & Voting) – Proprietary software (e.g., PLANet, jexam) – Extended functionality of commercial university software (HIS) – OpenSource Systems (Stud.IP)

8. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 8 8 8 Integrated Information Management Overall IT Concept for University Administration (Source: Department of Science, Bavaria, 20001) Characteristics: – Unique data input at the primary data source – Cross-media processing of the data – End-to-end support of business processes Either evolution of existing systems or introduction of an integrated system Evolutionary approach bases on integration of systems at a data level

9. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 9 9 9 Outline 1. Motivation: Why Integration? 2. Sample Business Process 3. Requirements Analysis 4. Sample Environment (HTWK Leipzig) 5. Design of a Target Architecture 6. Current and future work

10. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 10 Sample Scenario (Current State) Introducing a new course Request to exam board accepted Create new subject Publish in the course list Add it to the course catalog Web Admin Department Head of the Study Course Exam Office Department Professor PLANet LaTex, HTML Word yes

11. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 11 Sample Scenario (Current State) - 2- Create new course # of participants > n Create new course Scheduling & Planning University Administration Exam Office Department LIPS Admin E-Learning HIS-POS Enrollment Participant List Capture participants Participant List Professor S-PLUS yes

12. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 12 Sample Scenario (Current State) - 3- Evaluation Create new course Publish exam results Exam Office Department Eleva Evaluation Officer Edit exam results yes HIS-POS Examination List Exam Office Department no End

13. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 13 Outline 1. Motivation: Why Integration? 2. Sample Business Process 3. Requirements Analysis 4. Sample Environment (HTWK Leipzig) 5. Design of a Target Architecture 6. Current and future work

14. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 14 Perspectives of Integration E-Learning Platform with portal characteristics – Ubiquituous access to relevant information and services Centralized identity management New service and infrastructure offerings for students Coupling with systems of the university administration Combining information from different sources Publication and distribution of course materials and documents (theses)

15. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 15 Students Advanced Training Participants Cooperation Partners Companies Governmental Department University Employee Relationship Management (ERM) Management Information System (MIS) Information Management Universities EmployeesProfessorsStaff Student Relationship Management (SRM) Supply Chain Management (SCM) Users and Components of an Integrated University System

16. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 16 Benefits of Integration: Example E-Learning Integration of all component systems required 3 Aspects – online-enrollment w/o links to the administrative system  co-operation with the existing HIS software – separate editors  connection to existing authoring systems – collection of documents (project reports, theses)  integration of digital libraries and other archives

17. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 17 Requirements (1) Communication – dynamic definition of groups (e.g., mailing lists) – active notification (push) vs. publication (pull) ? Content Management and Publishing – access to many documents: master theses, work placement reports, experience reports from abroad – presentation of the course catalogue (different channels and formats) e-learning system brochure (PDF) web appearance of the departmen – HTML output in commercial system ?

18. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 18 Requirements (2) Self-Service Functions – e.g., online enrollment, registration for examination – definition of platform-independent interfaces Combination of heterogeneous databases for Information Extraction – example: individual timetable = enrollment (HIS) + course schedule (S-PLUS) Reporting and Statistics – required by university management / supervisory body (department), e.g., teaching repor – integration of digital information (course evaluation by e-voting and polls)

19. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 19 Requirements (3) Security and Data Protection – centralized rights management (definition of user groups), using directory services – some groups only useful at the level of a single application (e.g., proficiency levels virtual courses) – uniform identity management single sign-on (SSO) user provisioning – data protection person-related data differentiate services in the internet vs. intranet (e.g., students‘ work placement reports)

20. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 20 Requirements (4) Management of Industrial Partner Relationships – DB for internships in the region – DB sponsors and cooperation partners / contacts Alumni Relationships

21. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 21 Outline 1. Motivation: Why Integration? 2. Sample Business Process 3. Requirements Analysis 4. Sample Environment (HTWK Leipzig) 5. Design of a Target Architecture 6. Current and future work

22. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 22 IT Environment at HTWK Administrative Systems HIS (Hochschul-Informationssystem) – SOS: Management of Student Master Data – POS: Management of Examinations – ZUL: Admissions – LSF: Publication of Course Information – QIS: Self-Service Functions – ISY: Statistics S-PLUS (Course Scheduling System) PLANet (proprietary extension to S-PLUS) Online-Enrollment System

23. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 23 Innovative Applications at HTWK LIPS: E-Learning System – LMS on top of ZODB (Zope Object Database) – authoring system C4K Eleva: Online Course Evaluation University Knowledge Online Digiboard Usage of Smartcard Technology Web Pages – manual maintenance (HTML) – heterogeneuous presentation styles – additional information islands: e.g. department calendar (MySQL

24. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 24 Outline 1. Motivation: Why Integration? 2. Sample Business Process 3. Requirements Analysis 4. Sample Environment (HTWK Leipzig) 5. Design of a Target Architecture 6. Current and future work

25. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 25 Application-to-Application (A2A) Spaghetti Architecture [Source: Pezzini, Gartner Research]

26. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 26 Common View Application View Application View Transform Design Time Modeling of integration scenarios among the applications by a central representation instead of point-to-point approach Hub-and-Spoke Technology App2 App1 Spoke Spoke HUB JMS XML Runtime The adapters communicate with a hub to propagate events to other adapters. Adapters are responsible for the execution of the transformation. AV CVCV AV

27. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 27 Platform: OracleAS InterConnect App2 App1 Adapter Metadata XML Graphical Design Tool “ Common View ” Metadata Transformation Adapter Content-driven Routing Publish/Subscribe Request/Reply (asynchronous, synchronous) Extensible / SDKs AQ XDK Application View Application View Common View

28. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 28 Idea: Generic Data Service Project-Independent Logical Access Layer Extensible Set of Physical Data Source Types Decoupling of Business Logic and Data Layer Access to the Generic Data Service – instead of the Data Source

29. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 29 Layered Architecture Business Logic Generic Data Service Data Access Layer O r a c l e S Q L P L / S Q L - A P I L D A P W e b S e r v i c e - Framework Presentation Layer

30. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 30 Integration Goals Preserve Global Consistency (Deal With Redundancy) Avoid Unneccessary Data Maintenance Reduction of Manual Activities by Update Propagation Combining of Data to Implement New Functionalities, e.g.: – Generation of Teaching Reports – Generation Personalized Schedules

31. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 31 Sample: University Master Data PLANetPLANet DigiboardDigiboard LIPSLIPS VIRPRAKVIRPRAK OnlinePublishingOnlinePublishing HISHIS S-PLUSS-PLUS Digital Library ElevaEleva

32. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 32 Web service WSWS WSWS WSWS WSWS Maintenance of Master Data Back End Application Back End Application LIPSLIPS ElevaEleva HISHIS S/PLUSS/PLUS Transport Layer Master Data Pool Study Courses Courses Departments Web service Master Data Hub

33. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 33 The Way to Application Integration: Business Processes Business Process Analysis Runtime Engine Integration Broker App. 1 Business Rules EAI/ Technical Rules Process OutputInput EAI/ Technical Rules App. 2App. 3 Quelle: nach Gartner

34. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 34 Analysis of Business Processes Identification of Primary Data Sources (Master) – Informations systems in central administration and the departments Data Extraction for New Applications – E-Learning System – Metadata for Digital Library – Web Content Management System Loose Coupling of Systems Modelling using ARIS Toolset (IDS Scheer) – Integrate different views: Organization, Data, Functions, Processes

35. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 35 Outline 1. Motivation: Why Integration? 2. Sample Business Process 3. Requirements Analysis 4. Sample Environment (HTWK Leipzig) 5. Design of a Target Architecture 6. Current and future work

36. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 36 Summary Incremental Integration Approach Development of Generic Data Services = Building Blocks for Web Presentations – guarantees consistent data usage – prerequisite for better reporting Services as Process Steps in Workflows Task: Definition of Standards for Data Exchange (cf. similar effort in E-Government) Important: Overall IT Strategy for University

37. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 37 Current & Future Work „Virtuelles Praktikantenamt“ (Administration of Obligatory Work Placements) – Linking to HIS system admission information student master data Evaluation of Integration Software – OracleAS InterConnect (part of the future Oracle Fusion middleware) – Cache Ensemble (Integration Suite) Modelling and Implementation of Reconciliation Processes for Master Data using Middleware – HIS LIPS HIS PLANet

38. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 38 Last Slide Questions ? Comments ? Further Ideas ?

39. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 39 Additional Slides

40. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 40 Basic Terms of Integration EAI: Enterprise Application Integration – cooperation of heterogeneous applications (E)II: (Enterprise) Information Integration – virtual distributed database system (federated database) Integration Levels – interface integration – data integration – function integration (via API) – process integration Coupling Degrees – loosely vs.tightly coupled systems

41. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 41 EAI Architectures Application-to-Application (Point-to-Point) Bus Architecture Hub & Spoke Architecture Business Processes Service-oriented Architecture (SOA)

42. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 42 Bus Architecture Publish-Subscribe Forward the Messages to the Subscriber Usage: Dissemination of Identical Mass Data – 1 producer - n consumers – n producers – 1 consumer Data-oriented Integration Service Bus Services sender and receiver distributed subscribe publish

43. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 43 Hub & Spoke Architektur Hub: Controls and monitors the data exchange Business Rules in Workflow Separation of – System-specific connectors (to connect local systems at technical level) – Workflows (map the business logic) Advantages: – supports process-oriented approach – simpler implementation than bus architecture – suited for complex data dissemination – integration of legacy systems beyond organization borders Disadvantages – central hub can become the „bottleneck“

44. © Thomas Kudrass, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, ICEIS 2006 44 App1: S-PLUS App3: HIS App2: PLANet App4: ELEVA Hub Common View Enterprise Service Bus AV  CV XML Services Client-Applikationen (z.B. Personalisierter Stundenplan, Lehrbericht) Zielarchitektur eines Hochschul- Informationssystems Kombination aus Bus und Hub&Spoke