1. Using reference models to drive business transformation in the HE sector Dr Samia Oussena Thames Valley University

2. Enterprise information system design Evolution from a centralised mainframe applications to a services oriented architecture Understanding the business process and aligning the development or the procurement of services to support the business process

3. Business modelling as a transformation tool Business process involve workflow management Formalising is a shared way of understanding the way the things work Process model help support of the quality management system

4. COVARM project The COVARM project sets out to contribute a reference model for a Course Validation service to become a component of the JISC eFramework Programme.

5. Project Consortium Thames Valley University (Lead partner) Prof. Balbir Barn Dr Samia Oussena Dan Sparks University of Manchester Dr Hilary Dexter Dr Jim Petch Manchester Metropolitan University Dr Mark Stubbs Staffordshire University Prof. Mark Stiles Dr Jennifer Ealing and Hammersmith West London College Satwant Deol

6. Course validation process as a value creation process

7. Reference Model A reference model is based on a small number of unifying concepts An abstraction of the key concepts, their relationships, and their interfaces both to each other and to the external environment. A reference model may be used as a basis for education and for explaining standards to a non-specialist can be viewed as a framework for comparing architectures and operations of existing and future systems.

8. Reference model A framework can be used for specifying requirements and benchmarks in procurements or development of systems The codification of interface structure will also encourage the development of software tools to enable the development of software tools that conform to the reference model

9. COVARM approach Fundamentals Model based approach using UML (1.5 and 2.0) Application and adaptation of software engineering methods – component based development and Rational Unified Process Iterative Stages

10. Method principles Principles Grounded Case Study Approach - 4 case studies - review by an independent HEI - compare against survey results Business process based functional Information Model data UML end to end Model driven Adapted web services development method Component based

11. Stages

12. Business process characteristics modelled Stages Roles Objects and their flow – instances of docs produced Events – something that triggers a set of activities Collaborations – activities executed by two or more roles Activities Constraints Specific activities to support eLearning Life-cycle / states of objects – Programme Interfaces with other enterprise information systems Reference Docs – e.g. strategy docs

13. Process model example

14. Domain information model UML class diagram for capturing set of elements and roles in the course validation domain High level of abstraction with only key relationships between the elements included

15. Domain model example

16. Synthesizing the process models

17. Rule based approach to process and information synthesis Identify elements in a process that were common to all four institutions Identify the principal variation points where an institution may differ from others Define activities that are unique to an institution and provide a mechanism for those activities to be integrated into the common set.

18. Synthesis Rules

19. Process model: synthesis

20. Information model: synthesis

21. Stages

22. Design the web services Model the web services at the business level Define XML data representations of the information consumed and produced by services Generate appropriate implementation models of the service specifications.

23. Modelling services specification Method based on a number of sources. (Cheesman Daniels, DSouza and Will..)

24. Initial results Positive response from institutions whose enterprises have been modelled. Staffs have indicated that this activity has raised some questions on their processes Manchester want posters of the process! TVU have expressed interest in the additional reporting that will be possible via tools hosted on the reference model Process Patterns emerging from the models Consultation with expert; Assessment and Approval; Convene Panel; Meet Conditions; Refinement Pattern Sign-off Pattern; Collaboration Pattern;

25. Initial results (cont) Business Process and Information models from 4 institutions Rules for combining process models Generalised Canonical Process and Information Model Utility web service : document management service Business web service: Event coordination service

26. Questions?