Intended Audience and Contact Information
| Contact | Chief Data Officer, Office of the CIO |
|---|---|
| UDM Domain | Asset |
| Intended Audience | Internal UBC |
| Metadata Standard ID | DG0067 |
Purpose
This standard aims to achieve consistency in naming and describing technology assets, including Business Applications and Business Platforms. This standard was developed from the proposal presented by the Application Naming Convention Working Group (ANCWG).
The successful process flow for providing access to data requires knowledge of the movement of data within uniquely identifiable technology assets. In supporting teaching, learning, research, and administrative functions at UBC, applications are expected to be registered and uniquely named in their inventory System of Record (SoR), such as a Configuration Management Database (CMDB). The trustworthy inventory information can then be leveraged for both strategic and operational needs, enabling regulatory compliance requirements, data access requests, and other projects and initiatives.
Before productionizing a new application, an application record must be created to support service management workflow and other UBC processes. This standard is to be adhered to at all times across all UBC applications and business processes collecting application metadata. Exceptions are listed in the Dispensation section.
Standard
The defined attributes are required to capture supplementary data and relationships to other assets to enable search and discovery. This standard includes two types of attributes:
- Value attributes: descriptive or metric related data associated with the technology Asset
- Relationship attributes: the relationship of the Technology Asset to a service, other assets, owners or other related entity.
The following are attributes of business applications and platforms:
| Attribute | Description | Format / Standard | Required for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application Name | A word or set of words referring to a UBC business application or business platform. | See the Application Naming Standard section for more information. |
Business Applications Business Platforms |
| Short Code | UBC assigned unique abbreviation of which it is known and referred to as opposed to the name of application. |
4-character alpha See the Short Code Section for more information. |
Business Applications |
| Manufacturer |
An internal or external third-party entity offering the technology asset as a trackable asset of UBC. |
Text |
Business Applications Business Platforms |
| Version |
A release of the technology asset deployed at or for UBC as defined by the product life cycle, subject to technology or vendor driven convention. Examples: 1.0, V1.2 |
Alphanumeric (usually with a period '.' as separator) |
Business Applications Business Platforms |
| Environment |
A Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) instance or a collection of hardware and software tools to which a UBC technology asset is deployed, subject to technology or vendor driven architecture. |
Reference List:
|
Business Applications Business Platforms |
| Instance |
A physical or virtual server hardware within a public or private network deployed for or managed by UBC. Examples: Cloud or SaaS (Software as a Service) |
Name in alphanumeric | Business Platforms |
| Purpose (Description) | A statement which defines and outlines the fundamental UBC customer needs the application exists to fulfill. | Text |
Business Applications Business Platforms |
| [CMDB] Class |
A classification of application or CMDB object. Examples: Business Application, SaaS Platform, Technical Service, Product |
CMDB object |
Business Applications Business Platforms |
| Lifecycle Status |
The state of the supportable life of the technology asset. Usages: Tracking of supportable life of product |
Reference List
|
Business Applications Business Platforms |
| Technical Address |
A reference to a physical or web resource that specifies the network location of the technological asset. Examples: Uniform Resource Locator (URL) |
Text - Valid address |
Business Applications Business Platforms |
| Service Offering | A comprehensive list of services delivered to the institutional customer based on the capabilities of the application to UBC business units and students. | One or more allowed values from Business Service | Business Applications |
| Implemented by | A relation between two or more technological assets or CMDB objects. | Text - Valid Business Platform Name | Business Applications |
| Implements |
A relation between two or more technological assets or CMDB objects. Examples: UBC -- Facility Management -- Planon |
Text - Valid Business Application Name | Business Platforms |
| Business Owner | A person that has direct operational-level responsibility for fulfilling institutional consumer needs based on the service capabilities of the technological asset and has authority to make decisions on strategic and financial allocation plans. | Text - Person Name |
Business Applications Business Platforms |
| Technical Owner | A person that has direct operational-level responsibility for supporting institutional functions based on the level of service expectation and has authority to make decisions on keeping the technological asset up and running. | Text - Person Name |
Business Applications Business Platforms |
| Responsible [Group] | A support group that has direct operational-level responsibility with the right experience and capability to provide application consumers with supportive and practical advice in relation to the use and behavior of the application. | Text - A support group from a Functional Unit |
Business Applications Business Platforms |
The naming standards provide the in-scope technology assets with a naming pattern, name elements, delimiter and other constraints or recommendations as appropriate.
Business Application Naming Convention
Definition: A Business Application is a technological system equipped by UBC in the context of business value and perceived functionality enabling business capabilities.
Business Applications include ERP, CRM, point solutions, mobile apps, function or module of service/platform, such as, Workday HCM, CABI, SIS, ePayment, Sauder CRM, Wayfinding app
The following is the naming convention standard for Business Application:
Naming pattern: <SCOPE> -- <BUSINESS SERVICE> -- <PRODUCT>
A space- dash dash- space ( -- ) combination must be used to distinguish name elements within the character string. The double-dash will avoid confusion of 'elemental' delimiter with 'structured value' delimiter and, in extension, support automatic parsing of name elements.
| Name Element | Definition | Format / Standard | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope |
A Business Application name element that refers to the functional unit for which the application has been tailored. |
Text |
Optional Note: where scope is (all of) UBC then it can be omitted. Exception to this rule is if another instance of the application is used at a functional or departmental level. |
| Business Service |
A Business Application name element that refers to a service delivered to an institutional customer made available by a functional unit to UBC business units and students. |
Text | Mandatory |
| Product |
A technology asset name element that refers to the vendor’s name for a product or service of which it is known and referred to. |
Text | Optional |
Examples:
UBC -- Facility Management -- Planon
Tuition Waiver -- SalesForce
Sauder -- CRM -- Salesforce
Human Capital Management -- Workday
Business Platform Naming Convention
Definition: A Business platform is a trackable asset as a single or multi-tenant application or product, either commercially acquired from a third party or built in-house, enabling the creation or delivery of business (application) functionality.
Some examples include Workday and Salesforce.
The following is the naming convention standard for Business Platform:
Naming Pattern: <PRODUCT> -- <VERSION> -- <ENVIRONMENT>
A space- dash dash- space ( -- ) combination must be used to distinguish name elements within the character string. The double-dash will avoid confusion of 'elemental' delimiter with 'structured value' delimiter and, in extension, support automatic parsing of name elements.
| Name Element | Definition | Format / Standard | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product |
A technology asset name element that refers to the vendor’s name for a product or service of which it is known and referred to. |
Text | Mandatory |
| Version |
A release of the technology asset deployed at or for UBC as defined by the product life cycle, subject to technology or vendor driven convention. |
Alphanumeric (usually with a period ‘.’ as separator) |
Optional Note: for SAAS the version may be specified as an attribute of the Business Platform instead as part of the name. |
| Environment |
A Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) instance or a collection of hardware and software tools to which a UBC technology asset is deployed, subject to technology or vendor driven architecture. |
Reference List:
|
Optional |
Examples
Planon
Planon Universe -- 1.0 -- PROD
Planon Universe -- 1.2 -- DEV
Salesforce
The Application Short Code exists as a convenience attribute to help tie business and technology ecosystems together. From the business perspective, an Application Short Code is intended to be a memorable attribute that the business may use when referring to a particular application. From the technology perspective, the Application Short Code is consumable for the Application itself, as well as for objects and services that are part of the Application and/or Application ecosystem, both vertically and horizontally within the architecture stack.
While the generation and assignment of a unique Application Short code is mandatory, its use is intentionally non-prescriptive.
| Format |
4 alpha characters* *If the application is exclusive to the Okanagan Campus, the 4th position alpha character must be indicated as such by the letter 'O', e.g., ACMO |
|---|---|
| Validation Rule | Unique within pool of Application Short Codes |
Compliance
The above standard must be complied at every stage of the data lifecycle with the exception of any dispensations (see Dispensation section).
Reference Data Compliance for Data Integration
The use of accepted reference data values in this standard for data integration among applications must comply with the enterprise integration pattern of leveraging the reference data common service API (Application Programming Interface) published in UBC MuleSoft Exchange.
Any application that intends to access real-time, case-level reference data should have the application owner or manager complete and submit a Request API Access form.
For any compliance questions or requests for a dispensation temporarily, please contact the Enterprise Data Governance Team.
Mapping of Invalid Values from System(s) of Record (SOR) to Common Services
A common service can only accommodate standard reference data enumerations that are available in the System(s) of Record (SoR) as approved by the Data Governance Steering Committee or Data Trustee.
A reference data value that does not match any of the standard reference data value enumerations is considered ‘invalid’. Any records from a SoR containing an invalid reference data value for a given data element or attribute must be mapped as an empty value in common service(s). Where a reference data value may potentially have the same meaning as a standard enumeration but named differently in the SoR, can be corrected to match the appropriate standard enumeration. Please consult with the EDG team in such cases.
Additional reference data values in a SoR that are not part of the standard reference data enumerations are to be omitted in the common service.
Dispensation
As existing systems change to adopt this standard, the Enterprise Data Governance team needs to be informed.
For any compliance questions or requests for a temporary dispensation, please contact the Enterprise Data Governance Team.