Building the “Next Generation” Enterprise Application Portal

John (Barry) F. Walsh Director, University Information Systems

James Thomas Manager, Systems Integration Team

Copyright, James Thomas & John F. Walsh, 2001. This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

Attribution• Jim Gorman, University at Buffalo• Michael Handberg, PwC• Bob Kvavik, U. of Minnesota• Carl Jacobson, U. of Delaware• Randy Ebeling, U. Texas, Austin• Ed Lightfoot, U. Washington• Howard Strauss & Dave Koehler, Princeton• Lev Gonick, California State Univ. - Monterey

Bay

Outline

• Why an enterprise portal?

• Getting started

• “Next Generation” portals

• OneStart demo

• Q & A

Why do we need a portal?

What are the problems we are trying to solve?• Broadening base of information “consumers” – Students,

faculty, staff and service providers• Aging and disparate information systems that lack

integration and flexibility• Lack of a “global” vision for the institution• Systems too complex for majority of end-users• Expectations in the Age of Dis-intermediation• Dealing with non-traditional campus communities in

traditional ways

Why do we need a portal?

May 1998 - IT Strategic Plan for IU http://www.indiana.edu/~ovpit/strategic/

• Action 37: Common Interface to administrative systems

• Action 38: Thin client and multi-tiered architectures

• Action 44: User-centered design

Why do we need a portal?

March 2000 JAD Session • Sticky Authentication • 24 X 7 and remote availability• Role-based “one stop” shopping• Emphasis on self-service • User-centered design• Enterprise Application Integration • Personalized desktop

Why do we need a portal?

It’s all about better service for….Students• Improved communication with faculty• Online access to course offerings,

registration, grades, financial aid, bursar bill, class schedules,etc

• Online access to groups of interest – sports, social, community service, etc

• A virtual campus community• Integrate personal life with academic life

Why do we need a portal?

It’s all about better service for….Faculty• Improved communication with students• Course management tools• Online advising• Research tools and services• Collaboration tools

Why do we need a portal?

It’s all about better service for….Staff• Improved efficiency and business processes• Better decision-making – access to better

information, collaborative, and interactive• Remote access and extended hours to work

desktop• Portal provides self-service for simple repetitive

tasks allowing staff to focus on more value-added functions resolving “real” problems

What is an enterprise portal?

• A web-based application consisting of a unified front-end to an integrated set of services which together provide easy access to information, applications, and people.

• The end-user community may consist of anyone with business or activities to conduct with your institution – faculty, staff, students, alums, prospective students, vendors, etc.

• A completely user-centered environment offering a broad set of services with the intent of developing life-long campus citizens. (“Cradle to Endowment” – Bob Kvavik, Univ. of Minnesota)

Getting started

• Communicate vision across the enterprise• Establish clear and detailed plan of action• Engage students, faculty, and staff• Create process for prioritization• Plan for iterative development to avoid

“analysis paralysis” and to allow application to evolve over time.

• In short, get started!

Best Practices

10. Identify and address policy issues with regard to privacy, advertising, E-commerce, and ownership

9. Develop a comprehensive content management strategy 8. Implement an integrated workflow solution7. Conduct frequent usability and accessibility testing 6. Define interoperability standards5. Plan and develop an institutional directory4. Assume an iterative development process 3. Have only one enterprise portal2. Obtain a shared vision across the enterprise including your

students1. HAVE FUN!!

Why call it “next generation”?

• Not just an information portal• Flexible and responsive to change• Distributed model for service and content

providers• Component-based design (CBD) approach • Shared component/service infrastructure

(including Workflow) – EDEN

OneStart & EDENOneStartC

ustomized

Personalized

Adaptable

Desktop

Application Delivered

HR

MS

SIS

FIS

IUIE

Other

Other Content

EDEN

Channels

Services

Workflow

Record Keeping

Security

Users Application

Services

Applications

User Interface

Infrastructure

CBD Benefits

A CBD approach gives you...

• agility

• a repository

• layered replacement

• rapid development

• reduced complexity

• improved quality

Development Evolution

“We’re no longer developers, we’re integrators”, Dave Koehler, Princeton

OneStart Environment

• DBMS - Oracle 8.1.7 Enterprise Edition

• OS - AIX 4.3.3 on IBM RS6000

• App Server – Currently evaluating IBM Websphere 4.0 (J2EE) and others

• Web Servers - Apache: 10 IBM B50’s

• LDAP Server for Directory Service

• Kerberos Servers for Authentication

Demo

Guest Login available at

http://onestart.iu.edu

Visit our project site for more info

http://www.indiana.edu/~onestart/project/

OneStart.iu.edu

Want to talk portals?

jthomas@indiana.edu

walsh@indiana.edu

Portal References

• Looney and Lyman, “Portals in Higher Education”, Educause Review, July/August 2000, http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm00/articles004/looney.pdf

• Phifer, G, “Best Practices in Deploying Enterprise Portals”, Gartner Group Report, 24 July 2000, http://gartner3.gartnerweb.com/public/static/hotc/hc00091248.html

• Eisler, David L, “The Portal’s Progress: A Gateway for Access, Information, and Learning Communities, Syllabus Magazine,September 2000, http://www.syllabus.com/syllabusmagazine/sept00_fea.html

• Frazee, James P, “Charting a Smooth Course for Portal Development”, Educause Quarterly, Number 3, 2001, http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0134.pdf

• Steinbrenner, Karin, “Unlocking ERP’s with Portals”, Educause Quarterly, Number 3, 2001, http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0137.pdf

Portal References

• “A Business Person’s Guide to Enterprise Portal Terms and Business Impacts”, CIO, http://www.cio.com/sponsors/portalswhitepaper.pdf

• Comparison of Vendor Features – http://wcts.whitman.edu/portals/vendorcomparison.htm

• JA – SIG Consortium – http://www.ja-sig-org/