FY23 Technology Road Map (TRM) Update Guide

Contact the Enterprise Architecture (EA) Team for support in creating a Technology Road Map.

Teams needing to create an initial road map should not use this update. Use the full Technology Road Maps (TRM) Guide instead.

Table of Contents

Introduction

This year is the third year of incrementally maturing the TRM program to support long-range planning. This guide will introduce the changes and provide step-by-step instructions for developing the two new slides.

The TRM update includes the following.

  • A new slide order for the deck.

  • Updates to all slides from the previous year.

  • A new Capability Map slide.

  • A new Technology Debt Reduction slide.

Slide Order

The new TRM Template is in the Technology Road Map channel of the IT LRP team.

  1. Title

  2. Service Alignment

  3. Capability Map (New)

  4. Time Portfolio Assessment (Formerly Titled “The TIME Model”)

  5. Service Strategy

  6. Technology Strategy

  7. Technology Road Map Diagram

  8. Initiatives

  9. Technical Debt Reduction (New)

  10. Components (1 slide for each component)

Getting Started

Start by updating the Service Alignment slide and the TIME Portfolio Assessment slide. Then develop the new Capability Map (not required for FTS). The Capability Map supports the Service Alignment slide by addressing how the University achieves that scope and those goals. Together, the Service Alignment, Capability Map, and TIME Portfolio Assessment provide essential insight into both the University needs and the current state of the service. This is the foundation for moving forward into the strategic thinking phase.

Capability Map (Not Required for FTS)

Introduction to Business Capability Maps

A business capability map supports the development of strategies by viewing the business as a collection of capabilities that can be adjusted in response to the demands of the business environment. It depicts what the organization is capable of doing. A business capability is a particular logical combination of people, processes, information, and technology necessary to deliver a discrete required outcome to achieve a specific business objective.

Mapping the University capabilities supported by the TRM topic provides insight into the changes the University will need to make to its capabilities to meet its goals. Mapping IT services to the capabilities they support provides additional insight into the changes the services will need to make to support the University’s goals.

These insights drive service strategies.

The Business Capability Model

TRMs will use the Higher Education Business Capability Model to help identify and organize University capabilities in a consistent way across ITS. This Higher Education Reference Model is linked below and available through Educause and the ITS Enterprise Architecture Channel. It was developed and refined through a multi-year effort by the College and University Directors of Information Technology (CAUDIT) in Australasia. It has been adopted by over three hundred higher education institutions.

Download the PDF to view the full Higher Education Capability Reference Model.

Building the Capability Map

Identify Relevant Level 1 and Level 2 Capabilities from the Model

  1. Use the Higher Education Capability Reference Model to identify the Level 1 Capabilities and Level 2 Capabilities supported by the service or topic (see model below).

  2. The top two levels of capabilities are selected from the model in order to maintain consistency in developing an enterprise view of the relationship between ITS services and University capabilities they support.

  3. Transfer those capabilities to the top two rows in the upper table of the Capability Map slide (see capability map template below).

  4. Delete the help text from the template and use that column as well.

  5. Insert or delete columns as needed. Merge cells for the Level 1 capabilities that have multiple Level 2 capabilities under them as in the example capability map below.

Higher Education Capability Reference Model

 

Capability Map Template

Develop Level 3 Capabilities

  1. Work with the constituents to define Level 3 capabilities falling under each of the Level 2 capabilities. This is an opportunity to refine the understanding of how the University gets work done. Enter Level 3 capabilities in the rows under the Level 2 capabilities (see the template and example).

  2. Note, rows can be inserted or deleted to accommodate the number of Level 3 capabilities.

  3. That completes the capability section.

  4. NOTE: Complete the rest of the slides in the TRM and then return to map the components to the capability map.

 

Map Components to Capabilities

  1. NOTE: Complete the TIME Portfolio Assessment and the Roadmap Diagram before completing this section.

  2. In the Component table, respectively list the components for the TRM in the Topic/Service Components column and the ITS Supporting Components column.

  3. Note that the bottom of the table can be pulled down to support more components as needed.

  4. Color-code the components corresponding to the TIME rating from the TIME Portfolio Assessment.

  5. Finally, map the components to each of the Level 2 capabilities. Enter the color-coded number or letter representing each component at the bottom of each Level 2 capability that it supports. Place the Topic/Service components in the orange-tinted cells. Place the ITS Supporting Components in the purple-tinted cells.

  6. The capability map now provides visualization as to the relative status of the components supporting Level 2 capabilities.


Technical Debt Reduction

Next, communicate plans for technical debt reduction and take credit for prior efforts in eliminating technical debt. Eliminating technical debt is a key component of long range planning.

  1. List the planned components to decommission over the next five years. Indicate the year and anticipated savings in TCO.

  2. List the decommissioned components over the last five years. Indicate the year and realized savings in TCO.

  3. List technical debt eliminated by remediation to conform to ITS standards (see IT Architecture Standards Repository). Include a description and the year.

If dollar costs are not yet available express the cost with one-to-three dollar signs as follows.
$=Less than $25k
$$=$25k-$100k
$$$=Over $100k

 


Finishing Up

Make sure the deck is in the new order and that the title of the TIME Application Assessment slide has been made. Review and post to your folder in the Technology Road Map Channel of the IT LRP team. The Enterprise Architecture Team will provide written feedback. Upload the final deck back to your folder and let the Enterprise Architecture team know by email or the Teams channel.


End of Document.