IT Architecture and Computing Environment Assessment

CAS strategic objective and IT Infrastructure challenges CAS is striving toward achieving a 100% electronic court environment with paper-on-demand (POD) capability within the next few years. To achieve this, the department must implement policies, processes, information and technology security controls embedded in an Information Technology (IT) infrastructure that will enable the courts, registry and litigants to move to a fully integrated use of electronic documents. This will include, for example, e-filing, e-service, e-scanning and e-copy capabilities, as well as digital audio recording of all hearings. Before this new business model can be implemented, CAS must first create and maintain a robust and reliable IT infrastructure on which it can build all of the increasingly vital technological services required by the courts, judiciary and registry offices, as well as by the lawyers, litigants and public. CAS has been working towards standardizing and updating its computing environment. Significant progress has been made in this regard, especially in the areas of server virtualization, system and data center consolidation and equipment replacement due to rust out.

Scope of Work CAS expects that several IT projects will need to be implemented to improve the performance of CAS IT Infrastructure. To support this work, the department wishes to engage a Contractor well versed in innovative and cost-effective solutions to perform the following: 1. Complete an assessment of the current CAS network architecture design, including: • Conduct a full assessment of network architecture • Identify/validate the problems • Define optimal enterprise architecture design • Cost and prioritize the required investments • Identify the optimal path to achieve the desired network performance 2. Provide current-state baseline and performance monitoring indicators, including: • Define network and system state baselines that can be used to facilitate smart decision-making about environmental modification, new technology integration, or system removal or retirement • Define the necessary bandwidth capacity required for efficient application and service network transport • Identify performance and/or reliability problems with applications internetworking devices and LAN or WAN communications • Define baseline metrics, triggers and indicators that will enable CAS to monitor its IT Infrastructure performance and predict crises

3. Confirm the viability of the CAS strategy, portfolio, priorities and roadmap, including: • Confirming the viability and completeness of CAS roadmap and Problems/ Solutions mapping and identifying: 1- any possible new causes of issues that have been missed 2- a resolution plan to address missed issues 3- any additional solutions that should be considered to resolve known or future issues 4- whether the priorities and interdependencies between the projects have been well captured, as well as the level of effort and approximate costs of the roadmap steps

4. Define the required future-state IT architecture and determine the IT performance required to support the CAS vision of a 100% electronic information management environment with paper-on-demand (POD) capability, including: • Determine the IT Infrastructure performance required to support 100% electronic information management with paper-on-demand (POD) capability • Perform a gap analysis to identify key issues and recommend corrective actions to fill the gaps • Develop innovative cost-effective future-state roadmaps to establish a direction for environmental change that will properly support future CAS business and technology requirements complete with timelines and cost estimates

In so doing, the IT Architecture and Computing Environment Assessment will assist CAS management and IT in achieving a common understanding of the IT Environment performance issues and of the cost-efficient solutions that will need to be implemented to solve them. The requirement has a national scope, as the Contractor will be required to conduct assessment work in each of the 13 CAS locations across Canada.

More detailed information is available in the RFP.