Where should IT spend its time and effort in a Commercial Off Shelf (COTS) environment? Keeping the network up is critical, and the more we move to the cloud, the more important this will be. I am keeping the servers in good order. By in order, I mean supported releases, patched at the/s and database levels. Security is critical and is a task for everyone. All the ransomware attacks lately, and the target-rich data stored in government, makes this process well known and addressed by everyone. So what is missing? A typical IT department has: - Cio - political manager - Second in command - functional manager - managers - manages groups like project management office (PMO), applications, help desk - Business system analyst - works in PMO and dealer with business process. level 2 support - security administrator - training and monitoring for attacks - Network specialist - keeps the switches, fiber, and servers working. Part of level 3 support - help desk - level 1 support, creates tickets and solves user issues - Applications - they make the applications, handle level 3 support - Database Administrator - training and` monitoring data and databases. Part of level 3 support. These roles are significantly under-defined because I want you to get the idea of the concept. Again, what is missing? COTS vendors usually don't want you to touch the system they sold you. I highly suggest you change this process and require a data dictionary and entity-relationship diagrams as part of your purchase. You will need it if you solve the missing link. The missing link handling interfacing between applications via some form of extract, transform and load (ETL or ELT) and can also be in the form of an Application program interface (API). Interfacing if the connector between vendors, applications, or even the tool to talk to other cities, villages, township, state, and federal government. For corporations, this is company-to-company communication. The interface framework needs to be fast, flexible, scheduled, monitored, reported on, and able to handle various technologies in a repeatable manner. Yes, repeatable, easily. I jokingly say your lowest common denominator should be able to use a tool. Also, your team should be able to stand up an interface within a few hours, not weeks. I have looked into tools for this, and they are out there. They are getting better, and yes, we have a long way to go. Tools for this in the running are SSIS (failing a bit in speed), Azure Data Factory (seems to be replacing SSIS), and the newcomer to this space, Mulesoft. Mulesoft I have not used but am looking into, and its design is promising. It warrants further review and comparison to Azure Data Factory. No matter the toolset you select, you should have a small team to own this type of process. This interface team will keep your costs in check. Help build standards for processing interface requests. The goal here a scalable and repeatable process. A team with tools will help reduce the turnaround and not pay vendors for custom interfaces. But this will require them also to be involved in purchasing RFP processes. I have been pushing to change our purchasing process to account for the significant gaps, possibly weed out the junk products, fully use your data, and protect it. The changes must account for an interface framework and standards. For example, the file format must be something like primary key, human lookup data like name and address, or date of birth followed by the value. With this, you can request the vendor to accept this as a requirement on the RFP. Your remote vendor is given the exact detailed specification as in here is our standard format. No custom coding is required, your staff can continue there normal busy days. If you change vendors, here is our format. This is simple, but requires planning. Let's make your databases fast, secure, and more reliable?
