| | December 20148CIOReviewAbstract:As we continue to deploy more vendor-hosted or cloud-based applications, we start to experience a phenomenon that I'm calling "cloud sprawl." This cloud sprawl is resulting in a new set of issues and complexities that this article explores. These issues are particularly critical for those applications that are tightly-integrated with other applications (such as the ERP).BackgroundAs many institutions are doing, we are taking the opportunity to host more new applications in the cloud or using a vendor-hosted model. There're lots of good reasons for doing so. These reasons include: quicker to implement, less capital expenditure, fewer specialized staff to maintain the application, and better disaster recovery facilities. So, as a result every time we put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) we put in the option of having the vendor host it. Vendors are doing a much better job by hosting their applications in a reliable fashion than they were doing even a decade ago. So, we've ended up with about 10 of these hosted applications in addition to the infrastructure, other applications, and ERP that we host in our own data center. Our Emerging Cloud SprawlTo illustrate how we are beginning to see the issues involving cloud sprawl, please refer to Fig. 1, a simplified version of what we are experiencing. This doesn't include all of our applications or the complexity, but is merely a small subset to illustrate the issues. In our en v i r o n m en t , we have hosted versions of our Learning Management System (LMS), Constituent Relationship Management System (CRM), Payment Gateway and related Marketplaces/Storefronts, and institutional website is hosted along with its Content Management System (CMS). Both the LMS and CMS have substantial integrations with the ERP, and my expectation is that these will become even more tightly integrated as the LMS and CMS evolve. The substantial integrations are indicated by a heavier dotted line and looser integrations are indicated by a lighter dotted line. Substantial integrations include product dependencies, rather than just supporting a standard interface. For example, support Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and integrating with our LDAP is a loose integration. Integration with our ERP and using a product-specific interface that depends on the version of ERP and interface is a substantial integration. Interestingly, many of these vendor-provided hosts actually end up using one of the large cloud providers. So, several of these systems are actually on Amazon's cloud. Our strategy has been to strongly encourage use of our authentication systems, in order to maintain identities and accounts across these systems in a better way. This allows us to better de-allocate or audit usage, particularly when user leaves the institution or change roles. Until recently, most of these integrations have been relatively loose. Recently, in order to offer more functionality, these integrations have become much more substantial. In particular, the CRM Cloud SprawlBy Kim W. Tracy, CIO, Northeastern Illinois Universityopinionin myKim W. Tracy
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