1. Introduction

On the 30th of June, 2024, Dr. Leon Amos Schreiber was announced as the Minister of Home Affairs. For those who had to deal with the inefficiency of his predecessor, that came as a relief. There were a lot of interesting things about Minister Dr. Leon, and one of those was his age and qualifications—finally, someone smart enough to possibly get the job. My first impression after listening to the Minister in an interview (2833) New Home Affairs Minister to prioritise work visa processes - YouTube , was that the Minister was thinking in the right direction and most importantly had identified key problems - one of which is the constant system downtime. This article will propose possible solutions and insights to revitalize the South African Department of Home Affairs.

2. Solution objective

The main problem facing the department is frequent system downtimes, which hinder its ability to fulfill its mandate. The goal is to proffer possible solutions to address this challenge swiftly and effectively, thereby, aiding the ministry to fulfill its mandate.

3. Possible solutions

Prior to proposing any possible solutions, it's important to note that it may be premature to propose solutions without a thorough assessment. The ideal scenario is to onboard all stakeholders and identify key challenges. However, in this case, the challenges are apparent and hypothetically assessed and defined based on my limited interaction with the department as an applicant -myself.

Having said the above, as a solutions/enterprise architect, here are some of my professional recommendations.

i. Embrace the use of a massive amount of technology sourced locally

At first, it might seem obvious that technology is needed and that will be correct, but “locally” should not be ignored. One of the biggest pitfalls observed in making digital and technological transformations within the African continent is outsourcing this process to foreign companies. Africa has enough talents at home and abroad to lead this transformation.

The benefit of doing so, will not only aid the ministry in fulfilling its mandate but also, aid in addressing the high rate of unemployment within the country. Adopting solutions that not only cater to the primary needs of the ministry but also the nation at large is a definite win.

ii. Migrate physical resources to the cloud

The nature of the problem, which is constant downtime, leads me to assume the likely causes. These may include the utilisation of on-premise infrastructure, and power outages, among other factors. By adopting robust cloud solutions, we eliminate the limitation that comes with using physical infrastructures. A properly architected cloud environment is secured, highly scalable, and highly available.

iii. To Buy or To Build

When the current system limitations are caused by software application constraints, the following factors should be considered when evaluating whether to buy or to build.

If speed is of the essence, it might be better to purchase an existing application rather than build one internally. In this case, the organization might need to structure itself around the modularity of the software application.

What is more important is to consider timelines alongside other factors when deciding on a software upgrade. An enterprise architect will be better poised in this regard. This is because one of the main tasks of an enterprise architect is to deliver strategic goals using technology. They evaluate options and trade-offs and are well-trained to make those evaluations.

iv. Go paperless and re-assign and re-deploy human assets into relevant functions

Going paperless has 2 instant benefits.

a. The first is the shared responsibility between the department and the applicant. The current process entails having the applicant fill out some paperwork. This is then re-entered by the officers into the system. By going paperless, we eliminate the redundant tasks performed by the officer and have the responsibility entirely delegated to the applicant. Next, we can re-assign human resources responsible for such tasks into my impactful process, such as reviewing the applications.

b. By going paperless, Officers of the department can now be re-assigned and re-deployed to focus on the actual core mandate of the department. re-entering information is simply a miscellaneous activity that can be delegated back to the Applicant.

Also note, a paperless system creates a robust digital system which in turn creates trails called logs. Which can then be used to track assess and make informed business decisions (BI - Business intelligence). These logs can then also be used to reward excellence, build intelligent systems, and root out corruption amongst other use cases.

V. Micronise, then unify

As speed is important, micronization allows for immediate delivery and progress. Unification brings all the working parts into a robust and highly integrated system. This is one of the core principles of agile wildly adopted for its merit. By micronizing tasks and deliverables, we attain goals faster through incremental small changes.

4. Conclusion

Solutions/Enterprise architecture can be somewhat a long-winded process with profound benefits. The solutions and recommendations can easily span 40 pages and more- going from not just “what to do”, but also “how to execute”. This is by no means is comprehensive solution, but a nudge in the right direction. At AWS tech consult (www.awstechconsult.com), we focus on technology and creative solutions, to support organization reach their core mandate and beyond.