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Executive Summary

The University has initiated an the Drew 360 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project, a University-wide initiative that was recommended by the Administrative Technology Committee and approved by the Board of Trustees. With a wide consensus in a participatory selection process, SunGard Banner has been selected as the core software to replace AIMS, along with various other software products that will support University business objectives. The University has also selected Strata Information Group to provide implementation services, including project management services and functional area training and consulting.

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June 28, 2010

Dear Colleagues,

This week, the university will embark on an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project, a long overdue campus-wide initiative that will replace AIMS, our 30-year-old administrative software, with SunGard Banner, a suite of newer, more advanced programs. Some of the benefits we can expect from this new system include:

  • A portal that allows individual students, faculty and staff to see information that is specific to their identities and interests
  • An online purchasing and procurement process, including online approvals
  • A degree planning tool that allows students and advisors to plan and manage a student's entire program of study
  • Online applications that tie directly into our admission databases
  • The ability to offer students online room selection

The implementation effort will be overseen by an executive committee, which I have asked Alan Candiotti, assistant vice president, university technology, to chair. It will include members of both his staff and Cabinet.

The ERP Executive Committee's first task will be to identify project leaders for each of the major administrative areas. These individuals will serve on the front line throughout the process as members of a cross-functional Implementation Lead Team. I ask that vice presidents, deans and directors support this effort by making sure their departments are represented as needed and participate fully. The project includes a budget for supplemental staffing in areas that are severely impacted by the increased workload.

I have also asked the executive committee to ensure that the conversion process includes a thorough review and updating of our business processes. We would be missing a major and multifaceted opportunity if we did not explore how they might be streamlined or improved upon to better serve students, staff and faculty.

While we have a lot of work ahead of us, I am confident in our community's ability to meet the challenge and am excited about the enormous benefits it will yield for Drew. The leadership of the project is committed to its successful completion and will do its best to keep everyone informed about progress. Alan will be writing with more detailed information in the coming weeks.

Best,

Bob

Project Objectives

The expectations and objectives for the ERP Drew 360 project are:

  • Replace and enhance functionality provided by AIMS with the SunGard and third-party software identified in the project scope and retire the AIMS system by December 2012
  • Streamline access to University information and processes, both academic and administrative, by delivering a customized user experience for students, faculty, and staff via a portal.
  • Provide user offices with the tools for self-reliance, including reporting tools and distributed printing
  • Create an environment that encourages quality and continuous improvement
  • Preserve the security and integrity of University data.
  • Improve staff access to reliable, consistent and timely data, and eliminate redundancies
  • Enhance decision-making capabilities via accurate and timely access to appropriate data
  • Leverage the investment in a new system by assessing and improving current practices and policies wherever practical in order to improve office efficiency by implementing such measures as:
    • Enabling identity management and single sign-on functionality via a portal
    • Streamlining the purchasing and procurement process with online procedures, including online approvals
    • Providing a degree planning tool that allows students and advisers to plan and manage a student's entire program of study
    • Tying online application data directly into the admissions database

Measures of Success

The Banner ERP implementation Drew 360 project will be deemed successful when:

  • The University's faculty and staff can perform their job responsibilities effectively in Banner or other ancillary software according to the Project Timeline.
  • The University has retired the AIMS system at the conclusion of the project. 
  • The need for duplicate data entry and shadow databases has been greatly reduced or eliminated.
  • Ad hoc reporting capabilities are made available to and are utilized for report generation in departments.
  • Students, faculty and staff are provided direct access to a single integrated view of personalized information from the Luminis portal and other web applications.
  • The University is able to communicate effectively with current students, prospective students, and applicants.
  • Use of manual or paper-based administrative processes has been significantly reduced.
  • Modern standards-based methods are utilized to integrate Banner data with other University IT systems, including Moodle, Identity Management, Campus Cards, and Facilities management.

Project Scope

Banner modules and other SunGard Higher Education software purchased as part of Drew 360 are:

  • Banner Finance (G/L, A/P, A/R, Purchasing)
  • Banner HR/Payroll
  • Banner Student (Admissions, Student Records, Student Accounts Receivable, Catalog/Schedule, Flexible Registration)
  • Banner Relationship Management (Admissions and Recruiting communications)
  • Banner Financial Aid
  • DegreeWorks (Degree Audit)
  • Luminis (Portal)
  • ODS (Operational Data Store)
  • Banner Document Management Suite (Document Imaging)
  • Banner Workflow - not phase one (refers to the SunGard Workflow product. Workflow processes built into Banner are in scope for phase one planning)
  • Recruiting and Admissions Performance (Admissions dashboard) – not phase one
  • Travel and Expense Management – not phase one 
  • EDW (Enterprise Data Warehouse) – not phase one 

Other ancillary software products included in the initial scope of Drew 360 are:

  • Ad-Hoc Reporting Tools
  • Identity Management
  • NOLIJ Transfer (electronic file import for Admissions)
  • XLerant BudgetPak (Budget Development) - completed implementation. Interface to Banner to be created.
  • Adirondack Solutions (Housing)
  • Parking system (Adirondack)
  • Classroom and Event Scheduling (EMS)
  • PeopleAdmin (HR applicant tracking) – not phase one 
  • Judicial system (Adirondack) – not phase one 

"Not phase one" refers to implementation software or activities that will be deferred beyond the go-live dates for the core software modules. These items will not appear in the initial project timeline.

Project Timeline

Key implementation start dates are:

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A detailed schedule of project activities can always be found in the Project Calendar on U-KNOW.

Project Assumptions

The successful completion of the Drew 360 project within the established time line and budget is based on adherence to the following assumptions. Any deviation from the project assumptions due to critical institutional need must be approved by the Executive Steering Committee and would involve budget and timing contingencies.

  • The Banner implementation will be 'vanilla' – no modifications of the program source code will be made.
  • The project will be limited in scope as described under Project Scope, which will include replacement functionality and other enhancements specifically indicated; Other approved initiatives will be included in not-phase-one planning. Given the necessity of meeting the implementation time-line in order to conduct the University's business, replacement functionality will receive the highest priority.
  • Replacement functionality refers to the ability to achieve required business objectives, but not necessarily to replicate current procedures. Assessment and improvement of practices and policies is expected.
  • No development, modification, or report development will be done on AIMS except as required to comply with federal and state regulatory requirements.
  • Given the necessity of meeting implementation goals to support the University's mission, the ERP Drew 360 project and its associated components will be University Technology's highest priority.  New projects that compromise the resources of the ERP project, or major upgrades to enterprise applications supported by University Technology and not identified in the project scope, with the exception of security patches or upgrades mandated by vendor support policies, will not be undertaken. 
  • Interfaces will be written as needed to achieve continuity and maintain functionality through the implementation cycle.
  • Printing of reports and forms will be done locally in user offices using a laser printing strategy.
  • Ad hoc reporting capabilities will be available to end-users.
  • Training will be conducted using a "train the trainer" model. Functional consulting will include training for the project teams. End-user training will be conducted by University staff in functional offices with the assistance of ETC training resources.
  • The Data Standards team will be responsible for establishing policies and relevant standards for data entry, including the use of shared codes.
  • Project documents will be posted on U-KNOW.

Project Risks

Project constraints and challenges ("boundary conditions") include:

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  • Staff turnover for key personnel
  • Unforeseen events
  • Scope creep

Project Organization and Project Governance

The organization of the Drew 360 project organization is comprised of a top-level Executive Steering Committee, an implementation cross-functional leadership team (Team Leads Committee), and various project teams and work groups. See Project Organization for an organizational chart and complete list of teams.

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A primary and backup technical staff member will be assigned to each module team, and will be responsible for supporting or coordinating technical requirements for that team. These may include: hardware/software setup and testing, conversion program mapping, programming and/or testing, interface processes, script-writing, report development, and troubleshooting.

Project Budget

The Board of Trustees have approved a budget for the ERP implementation Drew 360 project based upon the above assumptions and project scope. The budget includes funds for the procurement of hardware and the core SunGard software, as well as the above-mentioned ancillary systems to accompany the ERP system. The budget includes funding for the SIG, SunGard, and third-party consulting resources based on the projected number of service hours required to successfully execute the project. In addition, the project budget includes some funding for staff supplementation and/or additional compensation. Finally, the project budget includes a 10% contingency line to accommodate any unforeseen circumstances.

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