University Park, Pa. -- Through the largest gift in kind in the history of Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), Armstrong Process Group (APG), a leading enterprise architecture service provider, is contributing software and content to support research and educational initiatives in the college’s Center for Enterprise Architecture (EA). The commitment is valued at $9 million dollars, to be utilized over several years, and it will help to shape the partnerships formed by the college and the center with businesses and organizations.
“APG’s support of the Center for Enterprise Architecture is an extraordinary example of corporate vision and philanthropic investment,” said David Hall, dean of the College of IST. “The commitment not only helps to set a new standard for giving by our partners in industry; it will also fuel the kind of boundary-crossing, solution-driven research and education that is the core of the IST mission.”
The Center for Enterprise Architecture will utilize intellectual resources across Penn State to address open and important research concerns and questions that span the design, functioning and governance of contemporary, information-driven enterprises. Research will include underlying information technology architectures, data and application architecture and complex, enterprise-level “systems of systems” that make use of these underlying architectures in a legislative and institutional marketplace.
The center applies multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research methods to address large-scale application domains such as health care informatics, large service-based and manufacturing firms, nonprofit initiatives, federal and state government transformation, and homeland security agencies. The architecture and “systems of systems” perspective allows for addressing concerns focused on the design and effective functioning of organizations and networks of organizations with results such as enterprise transformation, enterprise and network design, global information infrastructure design and management, and global enterprise presence and competitiveness.
Representatives from APG serve on the center’s advisory board, which provides thought leadership, research collaboration and organizational guidance to the Center.
“We are very happy to have the Armstrong Process Group as a partner as we build the Center for Enterprise Architecture,” said Brian Cameron, IST professor of practice and executive director of the center. “APG is very supportive of our EA initiatives and center and offered to donate courseware and content to augment our courses as we deem appropriate.”
The commitment is the first major gift to the center, which was established in 2011. Chris Armstrong, president of APG, said, “Our participation in the center is a wonderful opportunity to influence the development of future EA practitioners. It is a natural extension of our long-time commitment to the development of best practices through our membership in industry standard organizations.”
The APG gift will enhance the planned Master of Professional Studies in Enterprise Architecture. Plans for an undergraduate option in EA also are in the works. Cameron said, “These new programs will add a unique industry-driven dimension to the college. Support from companies like APG provides our students and faculty with leading edge resources in enterprise architecture. This type of industry collaboration will help us maintain our leadership position in this area.”
Chris Armstrong said, “IST at Penn State is playing an essential role in the continuing evolution of the EA profession, which must include formal education opportunities from accredited world-class universities. By making this philanthropic investment in the center, APG is investing in the future of our own field.”
As the center continues to grow, Cameron said he expects increased content and software support from other providers. “We are honored that our first major gift has come from a well-rounded organization that is not only a leading EA service provider but also offers a diverse portfolio of IT- and business- related professional courses,” he said. “We believe that the APG commitment will inspire gifts from other partners who represent the broad range of perspectives in the enterprise architecture industry.”
APG is committed to providing proven and practical process guidance for aligning information technology and systems engineering capabilities with business strategy. APG’s unique combination of integrated strategic process improvement consulting, customized classroom training, professional development products, and project coaching ensures that each client will practice a sustainable development process. APG is also a member of industry standards organizations including The Open Group and the Object Management Group (OMG).
Gifts from corporate supporters such as APG count toward the goals of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students. This University-wide fundraising effort is directed toward a shared vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America. The University is engaging Penn State’s alumni and friends as partners in achieving six key objectives: ensuring student access and opportunity, enhancing honors education, enriching the student experience, building faculty strength and capacity, fostering discovery and creativity, and sustaining the University’s tradition of quality. The campaign’s top priority is keeping a Penn State degree affordable for students and families. The For the Future campaign is the most ambitious effort of its kind in Penn State’s history, with the goal of securing $2 billion in private support by 2014.
For more information about the Center for Enterprise Architecture at Penn State, visit http://ea.ist.psu.edu/.
For more information about Armstrong Process Group, Inc., go to http://www.aprocessgroup.com/.