Authors: Steven Jewell Assistant Director IT and e-government Tel: ; Paul Fleming Systems Architect

Transcription

1 IT SYSTEMS REPORT SYSTEMS INTERFACES AND INTEGRATION ITEM 8 AUDIT COMMITTEE 28 MARCH 2012 Authors: Steven Jewell Assistant Director IT and e-government Tel: ; Paul Fleming Systems Architect Purpose: To further advise the committee on systems interfacing and integration work showing recent progress, the direction of travel and the improvements in information management anticipated to result. Background: This report is a follow up to the report submitted to the Audit Committee in September The original report was prepared after an audit report identified weaknesses in the interfaces and business processes relating to one aspect of miscellaneous income management within Building Control. The report describes the investigative work that has been carried out since the last committee. It goes on the set out the framework for documenting and managing interfaces and provides examples of the insight that this approach will bring. The report also identifies how new interfaces and changes to existing ones will be managed in the future. This has particular relevance to the deployment of the ICT Architecture for Public Access which will depend heavily on integration between systems. 1 Recommendation(s) That the Audit Committee notes the progress made to date regarding the analysis and further development of IT systems interfaces and that the direction of travel is satisfactory as assessed jointly by the IT and Internal Audit services. That the Audit Committee also notes the additional work that has been undertaken to refine the documentation and understanding of the current interfaces including: The further investigation of the processes for handling income for Building Control; Plans to implement a central repository documenting all system interfaces and control mechanisms; Continued support for the EDRMS and LLPG projects/programmes as key enablers for integration between systems; Continued support for the self service portal to provide a platform for consistent and comprehensive citizen access; Continued consideration of the Data Protection implications new and existing interfaces. AC, ITEM 8 28 March 2012 PAGE 1

2 2 Issues 2.1 Issues - Building Control The original internal audit concern related to the processing of un-invoiced income. This is a small proportion of income received where money is provided at the point of application but the full detail of the services to be provided are not yet known. The service has implemented manual processes that ensure that the application reference details are linked to the money that is received. This has been further refined to use a standard input spreadsheet via the SAP hub that allows data to be cut and pasted from Uniform and thus reduce data entry errors. The previous report recommended investigation of an option to automate this process by producing an output report in the same format as the SAP hub input spreadsheet. The Application Rationalisation project was about to start at the time of the last report. This has now been completed and the recommendations have been approved by CLT. One key recommendation was to produce a business case for migrating the IDOX Uniform application (used for Development Management and Building Control) to the Civica APP application (already used for Environmental Health and Trading Standards). The business case will include all aspects of income management and control in scope. Consequently it is recommended that the process for income management in Building Control remains as it is for the short term. If the migration to APP is progressed then new automated processes will be implemented. If Uniform is retained then the option to automate the current process will be revisited. 2.2 Catalogue the System Interfaces The previous report provided high level details of the system interfaces that are in place and the controls used to manage them. Since that report was produced the information held has been supplemented by adding additional information about each interface and the creation of an online register that can be viewed by all ICT staff and system owners. The data to be recorded about each interface includes is set out in a template attached at Appendix 1. Detailed system maps setting out the systems interfacing arrangements are continuing to be documented and are available as background papers. 2.3 Joint Assessment of Systems Interfacing IT and internal Audit (Integrity and Control Assessment) The Internal Audit service has been briefed on this report and engaged in discussions about the work being undertaken. This has been done in order to ensure a joined up process in reviewing the integrity of the interfacing and in taking a view of the direction of travel. Accordingly the view from the Internal Audit Service is The assessment has provided assurance regarding both the efficiency and effectiveness of interfaces for Council systems and their related business processes and helps to drive further improvement in the short to medium term. 2.4 Issues Use of Asset and Configuration Management for ongoing management of interfaces The ICT programme within Working Better Together includes a sub project to implement a comprehensive IT Service Management and Asset management solution. This will provide the end to end processes for managing service AC, ITEM 8 28 March 2012 PAGE 2

3 incidents and problems using the industry recognised and OGC backed ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) methods and processes. A key factor in successful IT Service Management and central to ITIL is the use of a comprehensive Configuration Management database (CMDB) which holds details of the IT assets that are in place and how they are being used. The project will result in the replacement of the current IT help desk solution with a new fully ITIL aligned Service Desk system. The existing collection of manual and semi-automated list of assets will be replaced with an integrated asset management database. In some cases the infrastructure and operational management systems will provide automated feeds into the asset management database e.g. if a new virtual server is added then the details of the server configuration and performance will be passed directly to the CMDB. The project has produced a specification of the business requirements which explicitly includes documenting and reporting on interfaces and system integration. It will also link to the catalogue of system integration that has been produced (see section 2.2). 2.5 Progress Overview on New Systems integrations and Interfaces The ICT Client is actively engaged in supporting various business areas in the implementation of new systems interfaces as part of service improvement projects. This includes: Linking the employee database to the new employee and manager self service solution from SAP; Continued development of the Adult Social Care systems to provide improved end to end charging and billing processes; Integration between the children s social care system and the pupil records solution to facilitate a single view of a child ; Reviewing the flow of financial transactions from parking services to corporate Income Management System; Automating the update of address details form the corporate land and property gazetteer (LLPG) to a variety of operational systems that rely on accurate address data; Development of the ICT Architecture for Public Access to support the wide range of integration and interface requirements needed to deliver an improved multi-channel service for citizens. 2.6 Issues Evaluation of interfaces and integrations for new systems The ICT Client team have ensured that integration options are considered when current systems are due for upgrade or contract renewal. This has put the council in a strong position to make use of the standard integration options for the majority of its key applications. A new Technical Architecture Board has been constituted that reports to the Corporate ICT Board. This brings together the technical experts across the organisation and provides oversight and governance of new projects and ICT services. This group has the technical knowledge, understanding and awareness to identify and evaluate the integration requirements and implications of ICT AC, ITEM 8 28 March 2012 PAGE 3

4 projects. It will ensure that the technical solutions chosen are consistent with the Council s strategic aims whilst maintaining compliance with existing policies (eg security / Government code of connection). 3 Implications 3.1 Policy The analysis and documentation of systems interfaces is aligned to and consistent with the Council s ICT Strategy and also as updated in the MTFP report in December 2011 The ICT Client team is closely engaged with the Public Access Transformation programme to ensure that the ICT Architecture delivers the range and level of integration and interfaces required by the Public Access strategy. 3.2 Resources and Risks The ICT Client team has worked with the business owners to ensure that supported interface tools have been included when renewing application support contracts. (A list of the current interface tools was included in the previous report.) In the previous report it was identified that Connector Software is being steadily licensed and acquired. No additional resources are anticipated to be required at this time; however this area remains under review and new funding needs may emerge during 2012/13. The introduction of an IT Asset and Configuration management system will provide a valuable, consolidated and reliable source of information of the system interfaces in use. Y Capital Y Revenue N Accommodation Y IT Y Medium Term Plan Y Asset Management 3.3 Legal None. Other Implications None Y Equalities / Diversity Y Sustainability N Human Rights Y E-Government y Stakeholders Y Crime and Disorder AC, ITEM 8 28 March 2012 PAGE 4

5 Background Papers Interface Catalogue IT Systems Integration Across Children and Families Public Access Strategy ICT Strategy AC, ITEM 8 28 March 2012 PAGE 5

6 APPENDIX 1 Template of Data Being Recorded on System interfaces Data Item Description Comment Source Application the creates the data This is linked to the central applications register Target Application that receives the data This is linked to the central applications register Function Business function of the specific interface Environment Where does the interface operate Live / Test / Development Method The technical method used to transfer the data Eg file transfer, web services Frequency How often does the interface operate Eg on demand for online interfaces, hours, daily, monthly or annually Volume Financial Value Impact Level Business Value Controls Notes How many transactions are included each time the interface is run Estimated annual value of financial transactions processed through this interface The impact level assessment for the data being transferred How important is this interface to the services concerned What methods are used to manage the interface process Any additional information Eg 1 for online interfaces or many 1,000 s for one off batch interfaces Allows interfaces to be sorted by total financial impact Uses the Government standard IL definitions (eg IL0 = public domain) High (business critical), Medium, Low Postman is used to control the majority of file transfers; control reports are used for some systems to ensure that all relevant data has been transferred AC, ITEM 8 28 March 2012 PAGE 6

7 GLOSSARY Term Civica APP CMDB Connector Description APP is software supplied by Civica and used in MKC for a range of services including Environmental Health and Trading Standards Configuration Management Database repository of IT asset and service data Software that allows data to pass between two or more software systems used to provide automated interfaces EDRMS Electronic Document and Records Management System core system for holding scanned images of paper documents and other electronic records IDOX Uniform ITIL LLPG OGC SAP SAP Hub Uniform is software supplied by IDOX and used in MKC for Development Management, Building Control and Planning Enforcement IT Infrastructure Library industry standard for IT service management Local Land and Property Gazetteer MKC central repository and official source of address data Office of Government Commerce body responsible for government procurement best practice including project management and service management Core Finance and HR system used within MKC Operational service to receive and process data onto SAP AC, ITEM 8 28 March 2012 PAGE 7