Technical standards in DfE

Like all UK Government departments, architects in DfE are guided by the UK Government Service Standard, the Technology Code of Practice and the Government Functional Standards.

Architects in DfE should also be familiar with our Enterprise Architecture principles, Technical Architecture principles and Enterprise Data Architecture principles.

Architects involved in developing software should also be familiar with our coding principles and front-end development principles.

Standards in development

Some technical standards have already been published, but require work to make them fit-for-purpose across DfE. Most technical standards do not yet exist or are in development.

The architecture team are co-ordinating the creation of technical standards in DfE. The following list shows proposed technical standards - derived from the Technology Reference Model and grouped by component - and who owns them.

We’re working with these owners and teams to prioritise creation of the standards that will provide the most value to both delivery teams and DfE. The ones actively being worked on are in bold. As standards are agreed and published, they will be updated on this page.

Accepted products

Whilst technical standards are being developed, some accepted products in DfE have been highlighted (in italics) against some of the higher priority groups. These are products that are currently in use in the department and make most sense to use / re-use. If you choose one of these products, you are most likely to be aligned with the standard being developed. More will be added as more data is gathered and analysed.

Management components

Group	Standard areas	Product	Division
Strategic Management	Strategy Development		DDaT Senior Leadership Team
	Goals and Outcomes
Security Management	Perimeter and Network Security		Networks
	Device Security		End User Compute Services
	Virus and Malware Prevention and Management		Cyber Security
	Data/Communication Security and Confidentiality
	Platform and System Security
	Vulnerability and Threat Management
	Identity Management B2C	GOV.UK One Login
	Identity Management B2B	DfE Sign in
	Identity Management B2E	MS Azure Active Directory
	Security Incident Management
	Monitoring, Traceability, Auditing and Forensics
System Management	Service Desk and CMDB Tools		End User Compute Services
	Deployment, Audit and Inventory		Service Operations
	Monitoring and Event Management
	Performance and Capacity Management
	Mobile Device Management		End User Compute Services
	Device Management and Configuration Tools
	Remote Control Management Tools
Delivery Management	Portfolio and Project Management		Delivery Management
	Architecture Management		Architecture
	Roadmap Development and Management		Strategy & Engagement
	Performance Metrics		Delivery Management
	Service Catalogue		Service Operations
	Resource Capacity Management		Capability
	Prioritisation		Strategy & Engagement
Application Development	Development Tools	MS Visual Studio	Software Development
		VS Code
		Azure DevOps
	Data Access Tools
	Scripting Tools
	Modelling and Design Tools		Architecture
	Requirements Management Tools		Business Analysis community
	Programming Languages	C# .NET	Software Development
	Testing Tools
	Source Code Management Tools	Github
	Lifecycle and Configuration Management Tools

Devices and peripherals

Group	Standard areas	Division
End User Devices	Desktop Devices	End User Compute Services
	Laptop Devices
	BYOD
	Mobile Devices
	Tablet Devices
	End User Device OS
Peripherals	Printers	End User Compute Services
	Scanners
	Other Devices
IOT Devices	Edge Devices	End User Compute Services

Application components

Group	Standard areas	Product	Division
Business Applications	Finance and Accounting Applications
	Human Resource Management Applications		Human resources
	Sales, Purchasing and Commercial Applications	Jaeggar	Customer Experience
	Marketing Applications	GOV.UK Notify
		MailChimp
		SendGrid
		SurveyMonkey
	Customer Service Applications	MS Dynamics 365	End User Compute Services
		Zendesk (Customer Service Desk)
	Case Management Applications		Infrastructure & Platforms
	Business Operations Management Applications	MS Power Automate	Business Operations
		MS Azure Data Factory
		MS Forms (Data Capture)
Productivity Tools	Collaboration Applications	MS Teams	End User Compute Services
		Slack
		LucidSpark
	Productivity and Office Applications	MS Office 365
	Email and Calendar Applications
	Common Desktop Tools
	Instant Messaging and Presence Applications
	Document Management and Workflow Applications	MS SharePoint	Knowledge & Information Management
		MS Power Automate
	Browser and Web Desktop Applications		End User Compute Services
	Content Management Applications	Contentful
		GOV.UK Publisher
	Enterprise Search Applications		Knowledge & Information Management
	Accessibility Applicatons		Accessibility
	Video and Telephony Conferencing Applications		End User Compute Services
	Digital Signature Tools		Cyber Security / Service Operations
Middleware	API Management	FaUAPI	Infrastructure & Platforms
	Container Management
	Enterprise Service Bus
	Message/Event Stream Processing
	Middleware connectors
	IOT Platforms

Data components

Group	Standard areas	Product	Division
Analytics and Reporting	Data Warehouse Systems		Data Architecture
	Dashboard Reporting
	Operational/Transactional Reporting
	Analytical Reporting
	Advanced Analytics Platforms
	IOT Stream Analytics
Data Platforms	Relational Database Management Systems	MS Azure SQL
		PostgreSQL
	Unstructured Data Management Systems
	Analytical Data Management Systems
	Data Integration and Orchestration Systems		Data Engineering
	Data Transfer and Transformation Systems
	Data Connectors
	Data Governance and Quality Systems		Data Architecture
	Master Data Management

Infrastructure components

Group	Standard areas	Division
Server Platform	Server Hardware	Infrastructure & Platforms
	Server OS
	Server Virtualisation Platform
	File and Print Services
	High Availability Platform Services
	Application Virtualisation Platform
Storage and Backup	Storage System
	Data Management and Replication
	Backup and Recovery
	Network Attached Storage
Network and Telecoms Management	Network Event and Fault Management	Networks
	Network Configuration Management
	Voice/Video Management Tools	End User Compute Services
	Network Performance and Capacity Management	Networks
	Wireless LAN Management
	Conferencing Management Tools	End User Compute Services
Network and Telecoms Infrastructure	LAN Services	Networks
	WAN Services
	Voice Services
	Video Services
	Wireless Services
	Conferencing Services
Data Centre and Facilities	Racking	Infrastructure & Platforms
	Facilities Management	Estates
	Fire Protection
	Physical Security
	Cabling Management
	Environment Management	Infrastructure & Platforms

Published standards

Whilst technical standards are being developed, architects may also find the following information useful in their work:

API standards
Software development standards, including things like naming things, storing source code and licensing software
Data policies and standards
Information security assurance
Guidance on meeting accessibility requirements and the technical standard for digital accessibility

Standard owners

Every standard has an owner. This is typically a technical lead in a particular domain.

A standard owner’s responsibilities are to:

Ensure the standard is published and available to all
Ensure the standard is fit-for-purpose across DfE
Consult (or facilitate consultation) with stakeholders impacted by the standard
Ensure the standard is iterated and updated in the architecture repository

Application of standards

The application of standards is generally assured through co-design in teams, and peer review in architecture and technical communities. There will also be checks that standards have been met during service assessment. Occasionally, there may be spot checks to ensure consistent and appropriate application of DfE technical standards.

Architects are responsible for architecture and design decisions in their respective portfolio, service or domain. They should be confident in representing these in their respective communities and any DfE governance or assurance forums. Typically, design decisions are recorded as Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) and stored alongside other design and technical documentation (ideally in Github).