An example of a Microsoft IT architecture. Source: www.quotesque.net

Microsoft has released technology architecture and a web services framework for the Connected HHS Framework, designed to improve connections among government agencies that use similar processes in delivering services to their constituents and improve the coordination of business processes among those agencies.

 “This group of partners is coming together to put a stake in the ground around connecting information technology and cross-agency processes so citizens are the beneficiaries of top-notch service,” said Bill O’Leary, executive director of HHS for the U.S. public sector at Microsoft.

“Agencies have operated within a siloed system in the past,” which resulted in duplicated efforts and little information sharing, O’Leary said. The framework “provides them with a [practical] vision of how they can operate through shared, connected web services.”

Through the new alliance, the group will combine applications, information infrastructure and delivery expertise to accelerate the bridging of legacy program silos to better serve state and municipality constituencies, Microsoft said. The company said that the framework details the core infrastructure requirements based on its Windows family of servers, tools and applications for integration, security, collaboration, reporting and analysis.

The Connected HHS Framework describes a way in which a web services hub could be established that would enable interoperability across programs and systems to provide a common view of agencies’ clients and resources, Government Health IT reported. The agencies would also have access to a common set of applications via the hub, eliminating the need for each of them to install and manage their own applications.

The framework, which is based on service-oriented architecture, would overlay existing systems, O’Leary said.

Microsoft said its launch partners include: ACS of Atlanta; Avanade of Seattle; CGI of Fairfax, Va.; EDS of Plano, Texas; ESRI of Redlands, Calif.; Harmony Information Systems of Reston, Va.; IDV Solutions of Lansing, Mich.; MidTech Partners of Centennial, Colo.; Netsmart Technologies of Great River, N.Y.; Nets To Ladders of Austin, Texas; NWN of Waltham, Mass.; Plexis Healthcare Systems of Ashland, Ore.; Saber Government Solutions (an EDS company) of Portland, Ore.; Unisys of Blue Bell, Pa.; and VisionWare of Glasgow, Scotland.