§ 1-505 Enterprise Architecture Standards

A. Definition. “Enterprise architecture” means a set of principles, standards and products consistently applied across the judiciary that guides the development and implementation of information systems and technology infrastructure. The enterprise architecture is a disciplined process that details the enterprise technology strategies and directions and provides technical guidance to managers, systems designers, application developers, and project managers in creating and acquiring information technology products compliant with the long-term technical direction of the Arizona judicial branch.

B. Purpose. This section provides standardization and elimination of redundancy and complexity in technology across the judicial branch. The cross-jurisdictional nature of criminal justice activities supports adopting common architectures to facilitate integration, avoid duplicative infrastructure and control growing complexities of technology by setting enterprise-wide, leveragable, standards for information technology. Further, there is a lower cost to buy and support a limited set of products and standards; the judiciary can leverage both volume discount buying and maintain a less complex environment. Finally, an enterprise architecture assures that courts statewide are creating new systems and migrating old systems through a consistent process. Enterprise architecture is critical because it provides the basis for the integration of information and services at the design level across individual court boundaries. The components or domains of an enterprise architecture standard include but are not limited to the following: • Applications and application development tools • Network services • Integration and data exchange • Enterprise systems management • Security and disaster recovery • Platforms and operating systems • Data, audio and video formats and management • Web and e-government services

C. Arizona Judicial Branch Enterprise Architecture Standards. The standards, published on the Commission on Technology (COT) Web site, are adopted and all courts shall comply with the standards except as provided in subsection Ebelow. The current standards will be maintained on the Web site of COT.

D. Existing Systems.

1. Courts operating on systems not in compliance with specific standards on the date they are adopted but which otherwise meet the minimum standards for automation and reporting are not required to replace existing systems. These courts shall migrate to systems in compliance with the standards when they replace their current systems unless an exception is approved pursuant to subsection (E).

2. Pursuant to plans adopted byCOT, courts not in compliance shall participate in mandated statewide automation initiatives with no expectation for state funding.

E. Enterprise Architecture Standards Exception Process. A court may petition for an exception to an enterprise architecture standard due to deficiencies in an adopted one. The petitioning court shall prepare a functional needs justification and perform a business analysis of both the state and local costs. Applications for exceptions shall be processed as follows:

1. The court shall submit its justification and analysis to The Technical Advisory Council (TAC), a subcommittee of COT, in a format TAC prescribes.

2. TAC shall review the court submitted documentation and develop a recommendation, and the recommendation will be forwarded to COT.

3. COT shall review the court submitted documentation and TAC recommendation. It will develop a recommendation which shall be forwarded to the chief justice for consideration.

4. The chief justice shall determine whether to approve an exception to the existing standard or adopt a new standard.

F. Automation Funding. The administrative office shall fund court automation and technology projects that comply with the enterprise architecture standards, as they are refined and modified over time, if funds are available. For court automation projects or initiatives that are not in compliance with the standards, courts will have to seek local funds unless state funds are granted.

G. Annual Information Technology Strategic Plan. The three year information technology strategic plan submitted annually to COT for review and approval shall include a reference to standards incorporated in automation and technology projects as well as any deviations from them.

H. Review. TAC shall review the enterprise architecture standards at least once every two years and recommend updates, as needed, to COT. A court may request a review and reevaluation of specific items at any time. The recommendation shall include a justification for the new or updated standard in a format specified by TAC. COT shall develop a recommendation which will be forwarded to the chief justice and the chief justice shall determine whether to approve the adoption of a new enterprise architecture standard. Adopted by Administrative Order 2004-18 effective March 18, 2004.