Purpose
The Architecture Review Board (ARB) is responsible for reviewing, validating and approving the design for solutions that have received approval under Capital Policy 126, as well as the overall standards and principles for system design at UBC. The intended outcome is the alignment of the design and implementation of technology to the desired outcomes of specific projects and programs, and UBC’s goals and objectives. Adherence to the principles, policies, standards, and the defined industry proven practices should help to ensure this alignment.
The ARB advises the IT Advisory Council (ITAC), IT Capital Planning Committee (ITCPC) and UBC’s CIO to ensure:
- The outcomes of technology design and delivery meet UBC’s needs
- The technology risk to UBC is managed appropriately through adherence to standards and principles.
Objectives
- Mitigate risks and impacts to the University through the development of standards and principles to be applied to projects and operational infrastructure
- Ensure due diligence and adherence to standards and principles through awareness building and governance.
- Optimize investments in technology through informed decision making, technology reuse and consolidation.
- Establish standards and principles to manage complexity in the enterprise.
Reporting Relationship
The ARB reports to the Associate Vice President Information Technology & CIO.
Terms of Reference
- To approve and communicate standards, principles and guidelines
- To recommend policies where necessary
- To validate and verify solutions based on their alignment to UBC’s goals and objectives
- Enable visibility and cross-organizational transparency in decision making
- Communication vehicle across and up the organization that will illustrate the overall health of solutions
- Ensuring that solutions leverage the organizations and the industry proven practices to architecture work
- Provide an overview of the compliance of architecture to mandated enterprise standards
- Identify where the standards themselves may require modification and request review by an Architecture Guidance Team.
- Identify point solutions that may qualify as reusable enterprise services.
- Identification of emerging technologies and how they are applicable to the university
Discussion Inputs
- Current or emerging technology architecture principles, strategy, policies, project demands, solution design, procurement, delivery priority, and technology implementation plans
- Risk assessments of IT projects and issues
- Points of view from subject matter experts attending meetings or prepared ahead of the meetings and distributed to Board members
- Relevant contextual information about the institution
Discussion Outcomes
Advice to the ITAC, ITCPC and UBC IT Leadership about:
- IT architecture strategy development across UBC
Enterprise Architecture blueprints, standards, principles and application roadmaps.
- Strategic and architectural alignment for existing UBC technology projects, investments, services and other priorities or ongoing projects and operations at UBC
- Strategic opportunities and cross program synergies
- Appropriateness of proposed technology design, solution, application sustainment, retirement and procurement against EA standards and principles
- ARB will share its views and recommendations with the ITAC, ITCPC in writing or in presentation form, as requested by the ITAC or ITCPC.
Membership
To ensure alignment with broader UBC strategies and direction, ARB membership is comprised of institutional stakeholders across the organization and leadership from the CIO’s portfolio. Members will be drawn from:
- Academic leadership
- Information Technology Units
- Administrative leadership
A current list of members and term expiry dates shall be maintained by the CIO’s office and will be attached to the Terms of Reference as an appendix. ARB membership term is role-based where possible. All other members will have 2-year terms.
Meeting Format
- The ARB will meet on a monthly basis for regularly scheduled one or two-hour meetings or as required.
- The ARB, may be called for extraordinary occasions to resolve escalated issues: where the particular issue may exist, whereby specific institutional or architectural domain stakeholders will be engaged to support issue resolution.
- Required notice for meetings and online votes is one week, or as otherwise agreed by the ARB.
- Each meeting will be attended at a minimum by the Chair and/or Deputy Chair of the Board, one representative from each: Academic, Administrative, and Information Technology Units.
- All members are invited to attend every session.
- Resolutions will be carried by a majority vote subject to quorum requirements being met.
- The Office of the CIO will be responsible for overseeing the preparation of the pre-read and discussion materials and for the facilitation of each session, in coordination with the Chair of the Board.
Architecture Review Board Chair / Deputy Chair:
The role of the Chair is to:
- Set the meeting agendas
- Coordinate with the CIO about the preparation of meeting materials and presentations
- Lead the meetings
- Ensure meetings are documented, action items noted and minutes are circulated promptly
The Deputy Chair’s role is to:
- Provide advice to the Chair
- Act in the Chair’s absence upon request