In my district, our Technology Department area of expertise is in computer engineering and repair. The district administrator that leads the department is part-time Supervisor of Instruction and part-time Technology Director. Under this position is one Computer Engineer, one Computer Engineer Assistant and three Computer Repair/Networkers. There currently isn’t any personnel with a primary duty of systems applications. Therefore, I would outline all the tasks that need to be completed before clarifying and unifying these systems.
The outline will then be presented to all district and site administrators from every department, along with providing an overview of the benefits of establishing an Applications Architecture (AA) to ensure that all the applications currently in place are supporting the district’s vision and cost effective. They will be asked to participate in the AA Committee or appoint a representative who is knowledgeable in the applications in place in their department.
Once the AA Committee is formed the first task will be to create an inventory of all the application systems, detailing their purpose, role, department use and cost in dollars and personnel. Upon completion of the inventory, the focus will be in identifying duplication of services, relevancy and necessity between all the existing applications. Prioritizing the list is the next step. Application will need to be prioritized based on the level of necessity and importance.
At this point in time, district leaders will be able to make well-informed decisions on application systems to maximize their use. With an Application Architecture in place, work can begin on developing interoperability and single sign-ons, so that systems can work together and facilitate the exchange of information.
It is a time and labor extensive process; however, it will yield progress that would otherwise not be possible.
The outline will then be presented to all district and site administrators from every department, along with providing an overview of the benefits of establishing an Applications Architecture (AA) to ensure that all the applications currently in place are supporting the district’s vision and cost effective. They will be asked to participate in the AA Committee or appoint a representative who is knowledgeable in the applications in place in their department.
Once the AA Committee is formed the first task will be to create an inventory of all the application systems, detailing their purpose, role, department use and cost in dollars and personnel. Upon completion of the inventory, the focus will be in identifying duplication of services, relevancy and necessity between all the existing applications. Prioritizing the list is the next step. Application will need to be prioritized based on the level of necessity and importance.
At this point in time, district leaders will be able to make well-informed decisions on application systems to maximize their use. With an Application Architecture in place, work can begin on developing interoperability and single sign-ons, so that systems can work together and facilitate the exchange of information.
It is a time and labor extensive process; however, it will yield progress that would otherwise not be possible.