March 2002 — Special Feature
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How SIF Works
- A software program, written by a vendor, that serves as the intermediary between the software application and the SIF Zone.
- An Agent is able to publish messages when events occur in its application, react to incoming events, and can request data and process responses from other applications.
- The Agent publishes and receives messages through the Zone Integration Server (ZIS).
ZIS (Zone Integration Server)
- A software program that serves as the central communications point in a SIF Zone.
- The ZIS keeps track of all the agents registered in the Zone, and manages all transactions between and among Agents.
- The ZIS is what enables Agents to provide data, subscribe to events, publish events, request data and respond to requests.
- The ZIS is also responsible for all access control and routing within the Zone.
Creating a Unified Data System
SIF "works" when a software application using its Agent sends out a message to the ZIS with information that another software application needs. The ZIS forwards that information onto the requesting application through the receiving application's Agent. SIF-enabled software applications and Agents don't talk to each other directly; each application talks to its Agent which talks to the ZIS, which in turn handles all further communication. The ZIS' role as a "third-party message handler" means that the SIF framework is easily expandable, very reliable and relatively straightforward for software companies to write Agents for.
As you can see, creating a unified system to move data has tremendous advantages for school management. By moving data quickly and accurately, costly and redundant data entry is eliminated, freeing staff to focus on delivering services directly to students. In addition, because all of the data is based on the same source, changes are distributed quickly. This guarantees that everyone has access to the most current and accurate data available.
However, creating a unified system for school data management requires more than just SIF-enabled software. It also requires that the school or district undertake a systemwide analysis of what data is currently collected and some decisions about how this data is to be shared. Without agreement within a school or district about issues, such as data ownership and clarity surrounding which offices or individuals are responsible for adding or updating data, establishing a fully functional SIF Zone would be a difficult task.
The underlying premise of SIF - creating a uniform and unified data system - can act as the catalyst to the kind of management review and business re-engineering in education, which many private sector businesses undertook a decade or more ago. By looking at their data management and operational systems from a data perspective, many businesses were able to implement technology to improve efficiency and help improve their operations. SIF offers the same opportunity to schools today. With budgets under scrutiny and federal and state accountability increasingly apparent, operational efficiency and the ability to generate valid and timely reporting is critical to the successful operation of a school or district. By taking a systematic approach to data management, and by implementing SIF-enabled software to support those systems, schools can redirect resources and staff from redundant data-centric tasks to more valuable child-centered education.
