Managing Governments Shared Platforms Business Case

Transcription

1 Managing Governments Shared Platforms Business Case

2 Version Control Version Date Edited By V March 2015 BDO 2 Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case

3 Executive Summary Harnessing the benefits of open source technologies has been a challenge for both the private and public sectors for many years. In particular, governments around the world have been attempting to leverage open source enterprise platforms however are still struggling with making these assets more accessible to other government entities. There are many example of open source government platforms developed in isolation with no conduit to make the asset available to other government bodies. In essence, the opportunity to re-use, avoid potentially expensive commercial license fees and improve the platform through a collaborative open source support model between multiple entities is lost. This business case has identified a number of models to create a more conducive framework for sharing and supporting open source government enterprise systems to benefit more government entities. Each of the different models identified considered the roles and responsibilities of a number of key support elements for open source technology platforms. These elements include: Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case 3

4 In addition to the key support elements, the roles for a potential support model have also been defined and include: One of the models that has been developed for consideration is a Service/Cloud model. The diagram below describes how the roles and support elements may be structured to create a support framework for all open source government enterprise platforms. 4 Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case

5 Project Description Background Governments around the world are continually looking for ways to drive greater value from open source technology. A challenge facing government at all levels is taking a single open source asset and leveraging its capabilities across multiple government departments and jurisdictions. The re-use of an open source enterprise platform is a significant opportunity to delivery government benefits at a lower cost than compared to commercial technology options. The sharing on an enterprise platform across multiple government bodies and jurisdictions has a number of obvious benefits. Some of the key benefits include being able to drive greater value from greater economies of scale and collaborative contribution to the platforms development and support. There are many factors that must be considered to achieve effective and efficient management of shared enterprise platforms for Government. A collaborative software development environment with collaborative services is a core component, and there are many existing options to select from, but this needs to be supplemented with a service management and SDLC framework which ensures that practises are in place to sustainably manage the platform to the level required of its Government stakeholders. Scope The Open Technology Foundation has commissioned the development of a business case that will detail an appropriate management capability that is fit for purpose for Governments to manage shared enterprise open source platforms. A key objective of the business case is to present the functions, roles and technology considerations required for managing multiple platforms within a single holistic management framework. Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case 5

6 The case for change The leveraging of enterprise open source platforms in the Australian government sector has not been previously directly addressed by any formal project or initiative. Open source assets are continuing to be developed with no formal process, entity or instructions on how to leverage the asset for potentially more government entities to benefit from. The benefits in taking open source platforms and creating a support structure around the assets include: Lower total cost of ownership as multiple open source systems are supported by a single support framework An increased take-up of open source platforms as there will be a central repository/source of open source systems for government entities to share A consistent approach to open source platform support will standardise the process reducing costs in transition from development to support Open source platforms will be opened to a broader support community reducing defects and increasing innovation Government can reduce spend on commercial software licensing if a suitable open source platform is supported and available for potential use Global Trends There are a number of global trends in the open source community that are important for consideration when developing the business case. Some these most relevant trends are summarised below and have been collected from leading authorities in the open source space: Support entities There has been a significant rise in the number of independent legal entities that act as supporters for open source communities. The increased use of open source in the corporate world has identified the need for some platforms to have their own common support function that act as a container for open source communities. This has been demonstrated in the continued growth of long-term entities such as the Apache Software Foundation and the Eclipse Foundation. These entities typically offer multiple benefits including: A potential infrastructure services provider A host for managing fiscal and other shared resources (e.g. trademarks and shared copyrights) An employer for staff serving the community and project A guarantor and enabler for governance A liability firewall for community participants Cloud computing Open source software, does not have the same need to obtain or track licenses as commercial software does. As a consequence, open source software is hugely preferred for delivering the cloud. As a result, the wide range of organisations using open source in the cloud has increased pressure to create nonprofit foundations to host shared code. 6 Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case

7 Value of data The rise of data-centric and data-driven organisations is changing the historic revenue model around open source software which has been based on monetise consulting, support, and services around software delivered free of charge. In today's market, the largest base for open source software -- companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter -- derive value from the way their users or customers access software online, rather than by charging for access to the software. They gather massive amounts of data about user activity and process it to drive their actual business. Thus, what differentiates their business is not the software itself, but the way it is configured, deployed, and combined with other software to manage and extract value from data on an epic scale. The How to challenge Increasingly, governments are wrestling with the 'how tos' of open source choices; not whether to use it. As broader acceptance of open source grows, governments are seeking to understand how to grasp the broad array of open source offerings that are available. Today, the cloud, big data, and mobile which are heavily enabled by open source are driving IT strategies. They make the question of How? very important. To start, it s important to understand the differences. There are open source products which have commercial support from firms with proven track records of service and integrity. There are also "insourced" projects where agencies share software with each other, but not with the private sector. Finally, some agencies download community (also known as "freebie") projects without any commercial support. If government IT professionals rely solely on ad hoc rules or seat-of-the pants judgement, this exposes government agencies to significant risk that is not, at present, properly documented or understood: There are distinct risks associated with choosing a "freebie/insourced" model for use of open source software. In particular, community/freebie projects or "insourced" projects are likely to lack key security certifications, regular updates, support from third-party vendors, and interoperability with your critical applications. Relying on freebie/insourced open source software effectively means a strategy of relying on internal support for critical mission which is unknown territory and potentially expensive, given the difficulty of obtaining and retaining qualified IT and management personnel. We could see a repeat of the failures and long-term costs associated with government-off-theshelf (GOTS) solutions. Although the projects may be, technically, commercial items as generally understood by governments, they present the same risks and economic liabilities as government-off-the-shelf software. Sources Infoworld, Opensource.com Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case 7

8 Open Source System Support Models There are a number of different support models available for open source platforms to adopt. Each has a varying degree of engagement with the open source community 1. The diagram below simplistically describes three different models: Model 1: Complete integration with open source community This model is based on the open source platform being completely supported by the open source community. This is the traditional open source model providing the opportunity for any entity to develop and contribute to the open source platform. Model 2: Partial integration with open source community This model has partial integration between the original developer/supporter and the open source community. In some scenarios, the original developer of the platform may wish to share only components of the open source asset. This may be applicable where the asset has components that are specific for a particular industry (e.g. government) however has components that are universal for all industries. Model 3: No integration with open source community This model is based on a closed community, for example, an open source asset for use only in the government sector. In this scenario, the open source platform is not shared with the broader open source community. The remainder of this discussion paper will focus on Model 3 as this is the proposed model for the business case being considered. Based on Model 3, the utilisation of the open source platform can take two different paths: 1 We have defined the open source community as being any member of the general public that wishes to contribute to an open source platform 8 Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case

9 Path 1: Open source platform provided to multiple jurisdictions creating numerous versions A government entity may choose to customise an open source platform effectively creating a new and divergent version from the original software platform. This would create multiple versions of the platform. Path 2: Single version of the open source platform used by multiple entities This path follows the model that just a single version of the open source platform can be utilised by multiple government entities. All customisations and changes are shared and potentially managed through configuration. Support Model Considerations Due to the open collaborative nature of open source platforms, it is important to consider the key support elements. These elements are described in the diagram below: Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case 9

10 Governance Governance layer will evaluate and prioritise business requirements. It will monitor build/release progress/schedules. Service Delivery ITIL represents the operational support and management of the customer s ICT services and environment. Supplier/Contract Management Supplier and contract management layer will provide the mechanism to manage relationships and agreements between user and supplier parties. System Development Lifecycle (SDLC) The SDLC layer represents the method to manage the on-going development of the open source asset. Roles There are a number of roles that need to be considered in developing options for the support of government enterprise open source platforms. The diagram below describes four of the key roles and their associated responsibilities that need to be included in the process of developing support options and models. 10 Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case

11 Options Considering the support elements above, there are a number of options available for consideration. Below are some of these options: Option 1: Disconnected support model Governance'(COBIT)' Evaluate' Direct' Monitor' Governance'(COBIT)' Evaluate' Direct' Monitor' Strategy' Delivery'(ITIL)' Strategy' Design' Transi0on' Opera0on' Strategy' Delivery'(ITIL)' Strategy' Design' Transi0on' Opera0on' Requirements' System'Development'Lifecycle' (SDLC)' Plan' Design' Build' Test' Deploy' Requirements' System'Development'Lifecycle' (SDLC)' Plan' Design' Build' Test' Deploy' Governance'(COBIT)' Evaluate' Direct' Monitor' Delivery'(ITIL)' Strategy' Design' Strategy' Transi0on' Opera0on' Governance'(COBIT)' Requirements' System'Development'Lifecycle' (SDLC)' Plan' Design' Build' Test' Deploy' Evaluate' Direct' Monitor' Requirements' Strategy' Delivery'(ITIL)' Design' Strategy' Transi0on' System'Development'Lifecycle' (SDLC)' Opera0on' Plan' Design' Build' Test' Deploy' Requirements' Strategy' Governance'(COBIT)' Evaluate' Direct' Monitor' Delivery'(ITIL)' Design' Strategy' Transi0on' System'Development'Lifecycle' (SDLC)' Opera0on' Plan' Design' Build' Test' Deploy' The Do Nothing option is to have multiple entities supporting multiple open source platforms in various jurisdictions with no central support model/mechanism. The diagram above represents these entities with little or no collaboration. Qualitative Summary Benefits Responsive platform development Local support team Stable platform Description Platform development is simpler and potentially more responsive to business requirements Service delivery potentially more efficient with localised support team Platform knowledge kept localised potentially reducing stability issues compared to a shared support model Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case 11

12 Option 2a: Centralised support model with partial virtual support This option is based on a structure that has a single support group for open source platforms and the support group has a virtualised resource element. In this option, the customer/consumer of the platform will be responsible for defining business requirements, user acceptance testing and deployment. They will also be responsible for all service delivery processes. Governance and Supplier/Contract management will be managed between the customer/consumer and the support provider. The support provider will have dedicated resources to plan, build and system testing. The design (i.e. architect) element may be a virtual team being constructed by resources from the customer/consumer group. Qualitative Summary Benefits Lower support costs Lower support costs Improved utilisation of government enterprise OSS platforms Better design support Stable platform Description Able to utilise economy of scale to reduce support costs, for multiple platforms, through a single dedicated support group Using partial community support for the platform may reduce support costs for the platform A single support group can raise greater awareness of open source platforms available for government entities to utilise Domain architectural knowledge remains in the customer/consumer groups, closer to the operating environment, reducing potential design issues Single group can standardise open source support processes increasing platform stability 12 Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case

13 Option 2b: Centralised support model This option is based on a structure that has a single support group for open source platforms. In this option, the customer/consumer of the platform will be responsible for defining business requirements, user acceptance testing and deployment. They will also be responsible for all service delivery processes. Governance and Supplier/Contract management will be managed between the customer/consumer and the support provider. The support provider will have dedicated resources to plan, design, build and system testing. Qualitative Summary Benefits Lower support costs Platform stability Improved utilisation of government enterprise OSS platforms Description Able to utilise economy of scale to reduce support costs, for multiple platforms, through a single dedicated support group Single group can standardise open source support processes increasing platform stability A single support group can raise greater awareness of open source platforms available for government entities to utilise Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case 13

14 Option 2c: Centralised support model with virtual support This option is based on a structure that has a virtual single support group. The support group will be constructed with resources from all customer/consumer entities. In this option, the customer/consumer of the platform will be responsible for defining business requirements, user acceptance testing and deployment. They will also be responsible for all service delivery processes. Governance and Supplier/Contract management will be managed between the customer/consumer and the support provider. The virtual support provider will have dedicated resources to plan, design, build and system testing. Qualitative Summary Benefits Lower support costs Lower support costs Platform stability Improved utilisation of government enterprise OSS platforms Efficient platform planning process Description Able to utilise economy of scale to reduce support costs, for multiple platforms, through a single dedicated support group Using community support for the platform may reduce support costs for the platform Single group can standardise open source support processes increasing platform stability A single support group can raise greater awareness of open source platforms available for government entities to utilise Expertise/domain knowledge is distributed and closer to the business users of each platform potentially streamlining planning processes 14 Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case

15 Option 3: Multiple support groups model This option is based on a structure that has a multiple support groups for open source platforms. In this option, the customer/consumer of the platform will be responsible for defining business requirements, user acceptance testing and deployment. They will also be responsible for all service delivery processes. Governance and Supplier/Contract management will be managed between the customer/consumer and the support providers. The support providers will have dedicated resources to plan, design, build and system testing. Qualitative Summary Benefits Lower support costs Platform stability Key support organisation risk Description Able to utilise economies of scale to reduce costs through a reduced number of support groups (compared to the Do Nothing option) Specialist support skills may develop per support group for group s of open source platforms hence increasing platform stability Having a single support organisation supporting all open source enterprise platforms creates a risk in that if they are disbanded/dissolved there will be a significant impact to all users. Having multiple groups supporting mitigates this risk. Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case 15

16 Option 4: Service/Cloud model This option is based on a service/cloud model where consumers will use open source systems through a defined service catalogue. In this option, the customer/consumer of the platform will be responsible for defining business requirements and consuming services as defined through the catalogue. The broker will manage the service catalogue, all governance and Supplier/Contract management between the customer/consumer and the support providers. The support providers will have resources to plan, design, build and system testing. It will also be responsible for all Service Delivery. Qualitative Summary Benefits Lower support costs Simple engagement model Lower cost based on consumption model Users can scale up and down Improved utilisation of government enterprise OSS platforms Description Able to utilise economies of scale to reduce support costs, for multiple platforms, through a single dedicated support group Service consumption model will simplify the engagement of consumers who wish to use an open source platform Aligns with industry trends for consumption based IT/cloud services Government users of the platform(s) can scale up/down their usage based on their consumption needs A single support group and published service catalogue can raise greater awareness of open source platforms available for government entities to utilise 16 Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case

17 Risks The initiative to create a support a model for government enterprise platforms has a number of risks associated. These include: Risk The complexity of government requirements and differences in state legislation may result in no platforms being suitable for a shared model Government participants are unable to agree on priorities, governance and engagement models The expected benefits of creating a single support model for enterprise open source systems is unrealised or never delivered Government executive s do not support the business case Government entities can not agree on the funding model and the initiative stalls/stops The investment required to implement the support mode is prohibitive There is no budget to implement this initiative Rating High High High High High Medium Medium Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case 17

18 Technology Considerations Enterprise Platform Support To implement any of the support models described in this business case, a tool will be needed to assist in the management of source code, versions, contributions, etc. A logical platform to be considered is the Github tool. Github claims to be the world s largest code host and each source code repository, large or small, comes with the same tools. The Github tools are open to the community for public projects and secure for private projects. As part of the implementation of a support framework detailed requirements, based on the model chosen, will need to be collected and platforms like Github assessed to determine if they are suitable. There is little doubt that the Github platform is suitable for open source system managing however special consideration will need to be given to: 1. It s ability to potentially manage multiple platforms by a single support group 2. The platforms capability to meet government software security requirements 3. The systems ability to provide access to collaborators that sit within a closed government community 4. Any potential costs associated with using the platform for the needs of multiple state/federal entities participating in the model Based on the model selected to be the most appropriate to support multiple open source government platforms, detailed requirements on how the actual systems will be supported will need to be identified. These requirements will need to be compared against the offerings of the Github tool and other open source management systems. The analysis on which of these tools will best support the model will need to be considered when selecting a technology platform. 18 Managing Governments Shared Platforms - Business Case