John Wilder

COLLEGIS, Inc.

CUMREC 2000

May 15, 2000

Implementation Projects:Land Mines and Other

Lessons

© 1999 by John Wilder

System

Implementation

Projects

“Although each situation is different, chief information officers and provosts who are trying to modernize their universities' administrative systems say without exception that the projects are proving harder, lengthier, and more costly than expected... Many such projects have crept over budget and fallen behind schedule. ”

From: “Delays, Bugs, and Cost Overruns Plague PeopleSoft's Services”, The Chronicle of Higher Education

September 24, 1999 vol 46 Pg. A31-A34, written by Florence Olsen

Technological University Enrollment

4,850 Undergraduate 4,350 Graduate

Carnegie Research II Medium-sized, with all the complexity

RPI Administrative Computing

in the 1990s1992

IBM mainframe running Michigan Terminal System

Major applications IA c. 1978, some in house c. 1970’s

Not integrated or state-of-anything

1999 Core: Banner suite GUI, Web, and thin

client All purchased

packages with regular upgrades

GettingStarted

Stealth

Go Live

It Isn’t OverYet

UpgradesForever

Six

Project

Phases

Foundation

Banner Project Timeframes

Banner Finance & HR

19 141296

Banner Student & Financial Aid

21 4 10 12 11

Year 5Year 2 Year 3 Year 4Year 1Foundation

GettingStarted

Stealth

Go Live

It Isn’tOver Yet

Start with: the foundation

Starting with a need not yet defined

Through project approval

Secure the resources Obtain agreement on objectives

and key principles Build support for the solution Create the culture to get the

work done

Foundation

Needs

Approval

Foundation: Key activities...

Define the needs and objectives

Map business functions Select software Build the technical picture Define project approach Estimate resources: time,

money,people

Business Solution

The Plan

Technical Solution

Software

Project Definition

1Land Mine 1: Buying Software is the

same as Defining the Solution

Avoid the land mine: Define both the solution (end result) and the plan to get there before starting

Then Disaster Strikes...

Fortunately...

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Journey to the land that time (or plans) forgot...

Starting a project takes time and effort - from nothing to something

Most time is spent securing resources laying hands on the money

getting work underway

purchasing hardware and software

2

Startup

Short termstartuptasks

Long termplanning &organizing

3The Schizophrenia of Startup

Start the parade...

Recognize that both near term and long term must be addressed

Long term: Quickly develop high level schemata - milestones, not tasks

Short term: Use the test system and decision-maker training as near term objectives

SkilledTechnical

Staff

In the short run: don’t break the chain...

TrainingHardware &

Software

TrainingSystem

DecisionMaker

Training

4

ConfigurationDecisions

Stealth: Under the Radar...

So is anything going on...5

Others need to know

Make communicationpart of the plan

Set up a schedule for both general and specific information

I love you, tomorrow...6

Q. How does a project become six months late?

A. One day at a time.

Start preaching

Target intermediate milestones

Talk days, not months

Things that will shoot you down...

Faith that things will work as expected9

Assuming that Whole = Sum of Parts

8

7 Letting the system block your view of the solution

Testing is the savior

There is no substitute for running a

representative sample of the work from the

whole business process through the test system

Going Live!

Limited timeframes No room for errors

It’s all real

So what dowe call it?

Going “live” is a CRISIS!

Avoidthe Crisis

Managethe Crisis

Solvethe Crisis

Plan and practice thecut-over Work outcontingencies

Problem(not project)management

Depth ofresources Focus untilit’s done

Not Planning for D+110

Going live can draw too much attention

Schedules can go out the window during the crisis

First impressions count. So do second impressions

And it isn’t over yet...

Go live is only another beginning

Problems are now “production critical”

Mix of “go lives”, “firsts”, and ongoing problems

“Seconds” can be killers Don’t forget what you

didn’t do before

Don’t forget the upgrades...

Ongoing changes are a fact of life

Don’t forget the lessons learned

Don’t fall behind

Keep the organization and structure intact

John WilderCOLLEGIS, Incjdw@alpha.rwu.edu

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