HERM is a set of vendor-neutral reference models that give every university a common vocabulary for what it does, the data it holds, the applications it runs, and the technology beneath them. Because the models are shared across the sector, systems can be classified consistently and compared institution to institution.
Curated by CAUDIT with EDUCAUSE / Itana, UCISA, and EUNIS. The five models below stack from strategy at the top to technology at the base — the four reference models each ground one architecture layer of the system catalog.
A one-page view of how the institution creates and delivers value — its constituents, value propositions, channels, activities, and cost and revenue logic. The canvas sets the strategic context that the four reference models below make concrete. It ships as an explainer and a poster; it is not a classification dimension for the catalog.
A hierarchical map of business capabilities — what the institution does, independent of the systems that do it. It is organised into two core value chains plus a set of enabling capabilities. Capabilities stay stable as applications change, which makes them the backbone for planning, investment, and gap analysis.
The subject areas the institution holds data about and the entities inside them. Topics are grouped into Core (aligned to core capabilities), Enabling (supporting functions), and Foundation (shared building blocks used everywhere). It answers where each fact lives and who is its authoritative source of record.
Local extension: our 4-level data classification crosswalks onto these topics to power the sensitivity view.
A catalog of application component types — the kinds of systems a university runs, grouped into three domains that mirror the business value chains. It gives every system a consistent "what kind of thing is this" label, so functional overlaps between products become visible.
The technology domains that host and run the estate — from end-user computing down to infrastructure, security, and operations. Paired with the local criticality extension, it drives the recovery-tier view: what must come back first when something fails.