Handling the Elderly Systems

1
Handling the Elderly (Systems)

• Strategies for Extending the Life of Legacy
  Systems

2
Introduction

• Topic Options for Legacy Extension
• Strategies for interconnecting large systems
• Projects that allow business flexibility within
  older system environment
• Tools for taking legacy applications to the web
• Trever Esko
• Program Manager, King Countys LSJ Integration
  Program
• Enterprise program reporting to the county CIO
• Involves seven internal agencies, 42 external
  agencies, and 55 computer systems

3
Issue for Today Elderly Systems

• Business need facing IT align the technology to
  the business
• Customer agencies expect
• Distributed access (web based internal and
  external)
• New and flexible functionality
• Integration/interoperability (sharing)
• Bottom line Agencies need business decisions to
  drive operations, not technology capabilities

4
What the Need Looks Like 3 Models
5
What are Elderly Systems?

• COBOL/CICS systems
• 2-3 Tier Client/Server applications
• COTS vendor products
• In other words, Legacy
• Direct relationship between business functions
  and business objects
• Embedded linear processing logic
• Point-to-point system interfaces

6
Defining Legacy by Architecture
7
Why is Legacy a Problem?

• Direct relationship between business functions
  and business objects
• Every change to operations requires modification
  to a computer program
• Embedded linear processing logic
• Every program change affects other programs
  (potentially the full application)
• Point-to-point system interfaces
• Every application change affects other systems in
  a spaghetti string manner

8
The Result of these Issues

• Past projects designed to support operational
  changes have been done as one-off solutions
• More complex application environment
• More hard coded interdependencies
• Prior ideas for operational improvement have been
  compromised or shelved due to technical
  limitations
• Technology becomes a business driver
• What can we do? defines change

9
So Why Keep Legacy Systems?

• Legacy systems work
• The platforms are stable
• The applications support existing operations
• Business rules are deeply embedded in the
  applications
• IT currently supports the technology
• Replacement is high-risk and expensive

10
The 21st Century Vision

• Your clients
• Web-based thin client interfaces
• Access to information when/where needed
• Make technology an operational tool, not a driver
  or limiting factor
• Yours
• Upgrade legacy systems incrementally
• Respond to change without reworking full systems
• Reduce costs associated with maintaining
  workarounds
• Begin to migrate an aging workforce

11
Future End-State Architecture
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Solution Legacy Extension

• Build upon legacy systems
• Transform existing programs into business objects
• Build new logic in another layer
• Create new applications as a composite of larger
  application logic
• Justification
• No need to wholesale replace systems
• Ability to leverage what is currently working
• Fewer moving parts to support change
• The technology to accomplish this has finally
  matured

13
Extended Applications
14
Case Study - King County

• LSJ Integration Program
• Goal
• Facilitate data sharing for all LSJ agencies
• Create new capabilities based on data
  availability
• Challenge
• Incongruous collection of platforms
• Very old legacy systems
• Heavy dependency on outside agencies
• Application replacement not an option

15
LSJ Solution

• Extend capabilities through integration and
  service oriented architecture
• Create hub and spoke integration capability
• Web service enable legacy applications
• Implement tactical projects that involve all
  three business models
• Status
• Pilot project live since April 2004
• Next project live in August
• Next two projects live by February

16
Approach

• Step 1 Strategic Plan
• Based on agency business goals
• Independent of any current technology
  consideration or limitation
• Step 2 Comprehensive Business Analysis
• Workflow analysis
• Current and end-state operations

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Approach (cont.)

• Step 3 Core Capability
• Align business analysis to technology (existing
  and future)
• Define and develop the necessary technical
  capability
• Step 4 Implementation
• Option A Incremental development of new
  operational projects
• Option B Incremental replacement of existing
  operational components

18
Applying It

• Business need Improve data sharing and
  information management throughout criminal
  justice operations
• Strategy Identify priority operations where
  improved data sharing would
• Reduce business operational costs
• Provide new analytical capabilities to decision
  makers
• Improve public safety

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Applying It (cont.)

• Business Analysis
• Initial analysis 38 distinct operations
• Refined to 22 target operations
• Broken into 151 job functions
• Comprised of 132 information exchanges involving
• 129 paper documents
• 81 agencies
• 223 conditions

20
Workflow Example Jail Booking
21
Applying It (cont.)

• Core Capability
• Align business analysis to 35 IT applications
• Develop integration hub necessary to move data
  between systems based on current and new
  operational workflow
• Existing legacy applications remain in place!!
• Implementation
• Incremental projects based on target operations
• First seven funded by County Council

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Pilot Project - JILS

• Jail Inmate Look-up Service
• Provides consolidated view of jail inmate status
• Separate versions for law enforcement and general
  public
• Completely web-based user interface available on
  intranet, internet, and extranet
  http//www.metrokc.gov/dad/inmatelookup/
• Back-end legacy systems involved
• Three mainframe (CICS/VSAM) jail applications
• Client/server court calendar application
• COTS vendor mugshot/image system

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JILS Screen Shot Deleted for Public Viewing
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JILS Architecture
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Next Projects

• Consolidated Criminal History
• Include WSP history and AOC case info into JILS
• Extend composite application to 5 more
  state/federal applications
• Booking and Referral Filing
• Convert manual paper-based process into fully
  automated system-to-system exchange
• Completely retool the jail intake process
• Data exchange from all police systems to King
  County
• Includes data driven workflow exchange between
  new applications and legacy systems

26
Next Projects (cont.)

• Case Disposition Update
• Dissemination of court judgments to all legacy
  systems
• Automate paper-based business process
• Improved Warrant Management
• Create ability to manage warrant process
  throughout multiple KC agencies
• Includes WSP interaction
• Jail Program Management
• Create new tools to improve jail classification
  and alternative detention programs
• Ability to obtain and reconcile data from
  multiple internal and external sources

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Legacy Extension Results

• Ability to represent legacy systems on web
• Reuse of legacy assets and logic
• Relatively rapid response to business need
• Improved partnership between IT and business
  units
• Decoupling of applications to support later
  incremental replacement
• Support knowledge transfer between technical
  teams within IT

28
Conclusions

• Legacy systems can be extended to
• Leverage existing functionality and data sources
• Support web-based applications
• Key points
• Strategy is business driven
• Technology tools are FINALLY mature and ready
• One working approach integration strategy
• Define business strategy and objectives
• Perform business analysis to identify
  opportunities
• Deploy tools to support service oriented
  architecture
• Turn existing applications/files/transactions
  into business objects
• Perform incremental projects to achieve goals

29
Questions

• ??

Trever Esko trever.esko_at_metrokc.gov (206)
205-9237 http//www.metrokc.gov/dad/inmatelookup/
http//www.metrokc.gov/oirm/projects/lsji.aspx