The Driving Standards Agency has become one of the first
UK public sector organisations to deploy a service oriented
architecture (SOA).
The agency, which handles driving tests and instructor
registrations, is rolling out applications based on an architecture
devised by outsourcing provider Capita, in a bid to boost online
service delivery and improve efficiency.
The Driving Standards Agency is an executive agency of the
Department for Transport and is part of the Driver, Vehicle and
Operator Group. Stephen Hickey, director general of the group,
said, "Electronic, self-service systems are more efficient to run,
as well as offering new and better services to customers. They will
help us meet the major challenge of delivering better value for
money by reducing costs while improving outputs."
As well as customer-facing transactional processes, Hickey's
strategy will look at streamlining support systems and
processes.
Rob Hailstone, director of analyst firm IDC's European SOA and
application platforms service, said, "One of the benefits brought
by SOA is greater adaptability in the use of outsourced IT
services.
"However, organisations still need to keep ownership of services
that they decide to outsource and this requires solid management
technology."
The first application to use SOA, the Integrated Registry of
Driver Trainers, is due to go live to internal users within the
next month. In the summer, the system will go live to external
users, with driving instructors being responsible for their own
data online.
The architecture is built on BEA Weblogic 8.1 application server
and portal server, managed using Amber Point's SOA governance
tool.