Previous page: Ontario strategy aims to pin down I&IT metrics
White elephants
OPS has to strike the right balance between instilling a sense of urgency around legacy systems and tackling the issue within a manageable timeframe.
"We want to ensure we have a plan that allows us to renew the systems before we hit the point where we can't obtain spare parts," says Dowler. "Refreshing legacy systems can be costly and time-consuming, so we're looking to pursue a 10-year cycle for this, and the funds to extend, replace or convert systems will depend on the business case."
The idea is to develop a measured long-term plan that can be broken down and executed in annual chunks to ensure progress is made towards the end-goal, says Langhout.
"What I hear is that we can't treat legacy systems like Y2K. We can't go forward saying the sky is falling. It won't work twice. There are risk factors, but no drop-dead date."
OPS is currently taking inventory of legacy systems with different versions of major applications, and compiling a prioritized list that will feed into the fall's annual planning process.
The criteria to prioritize the systems most in need of attention are strictly technical, explains Langhout. "We aren't making judgements about the business value or looking at it from an application perspective," she says.
Instead, the guiding principles will target the standardization of tool sets needed around applications and interoperability.
"We want to have one standard .Net and Java environment. Whatever application is at the end should be built in one of those two, so it can be managed in a standard environment."
This is a practical way to move forward with a clear business justification, without getting bogged down in political wrangling, she says. "It's a neutral set of criteria about technology that's no longer supported. It's a way to get to some objective statement about what needs to be done.
"There may be lots of other cuts around why it's important to modernize legacy systems, but this one is totally within the purview of I&IT organizations."
Context for customization
However, the majority of government applications aren't currently standard. "Most of our applications are custom-built, so the idea is to shift to standard environments over time and on an opportunistic basis. The approach is to hew away at your risk profile to reduce risk over time," she says.
There are various approaches to execute this: Ripping and replacing systems, reworking the code or using service-oriented architecture (SOA). Decisions and budgets for these initiatives will need to be agreed, and decision-makers will need context around the decisions they'll have to make, adds Langhout.
"What we have to do is make compelling arguments for why these legacy system investments are required. We can't guarantee those at the other end will buy these arguments, but we guarantee we'll do the best we can to make the arguments. Part of the reason for having the I&IT piece integrated into the larger planning process is to position yourself for success in budgeting. It must be endorsed and supported by business areas as it's important to them and not just us."
Energy issues will also figure prominently in the plan, says Dowler. "We want to ensure we're proceeding in an environmentally responsible manner in energy management, selection of equipment, and asset disposal."
While OPS already has policies guiding the procurement of Energy Star equipment and ensuring power-saving practices are in place on the end-user side, an ambitious plan is afoot to achieve economies of scale by greening its data centres, says Langhout.
The Ontario government is planning to build three state-of-the-art green data centres with energy management and other "intelligent building" capabilities, she explains. Land has been purchased in Guelph for the first site, which is slated for completion around 2012.
To achieve green certification, the construction of the data centre will adhere to painstaking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards.
"There are thousands of sustainable design considerations, including how to control erosion of sedimentation, and use of non-volatile adhesives and low-emitting carpets and paints," she says.
The point is to centralize data centre gear scattered across the OPS into a few sustainable, energy-efficient environments. "We have multiple data centres today, with everything from real ones to servers under desks," she says.
"This is part of what we're doing in the infrastructure consolidation process. We had quite a process in the last while just trying to find all that stuff and ensuring it gets into more appropriate environments."
Continued: Business continuity and disaster recovery planning
Related content:
Q&A with Rob Dowler, Ontario Ministry of Government Services
Lost in space: Digital preservation for eternity
Ontario partners ITAC to ease procurement pain
Finding perspective amidst IT's green agenda
SOA at work: Ontario's common components
Building a project management culture
Q&A with Ron McKerlie
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