Administrative Systems (ERP) Replacement Projects: … Moran - ERP Vision... · Administrative Systems (ERP) Replacement Projects: The Vision vs. The Reality ... • Project Management

Administrative Systems (ERP) Replacement Projects:

The Vision vs. The Reality

© Moran Technology Consulting, Inc. 2011

Presented By:Charlie MoranSenior Partner

[email protected]

Page 2 © Moran Technology Consulting, Inc. 2011

A Thought…

"There is a fine line betweenVision and Hallucination"

(Ram Charan, HBS Professor)


Focus of this Document

This document is intended to identify a common set of current administrative systems (ERP) replacement project issues that we have seen across the Higher Education industry. These issues seem to be independent of nations, cultures and institution type.

Additionally, we’ll discuss a set of risk mitigation strategies that we’ve seen to be successful.

Smaller institutions have all of these same challenges, but without the same financial and staff resources to address them as larger institutions.


Moran Technology Consulting: What We Do….

MTC offers a FULL RANGE of IT and Management Consulting Services:

Strategic Services:- Strategic Planning and Governance - IT Assessment and Planning- Process Re-design / Transformation - Change Management - Organization Assessment/Re-Alignment

Technology Acquisition / Deployment Services:- Requirements & RFP Development - Change Readiness Assessments- Applications Portfolio Assessment - ERP Implementation Planning- Independent Project Audits - Technical Contract Review

Infrastructure Support Services:- Unified Communications Planning - Security Planning / Assessment - Business / Continuity Planning - Infrastructure upgrades

IT Outsourcing Services:- Interim IT and Project Management - Management and Staff Outsourcing- Outsourcing Planning and Acquisition - Outsourcing Contract Reviews


Moran Technology Consulting: Where We’ve Done It….

International School of Beijing

(a small subset)


Background: Two major areas of our consulting business: ERP Planning and ERP Independent Project Audits

ERP Planning Projects

• Develop Requirements and RFP

• Change Readiness Assessment

• Business Process Re-engineering

• Project Management or Oversight

ERP Independent Project Audits

• Broken / Run-away Project: Over-Budget / Over-Time

• Contractual arguments between vendor(s) and school

• Internal ‘fights’ over project decisions

1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 5Q 6Q

Project Plan• Step 1• Step 2• Step 3• Step 4• Step 5• Step 6• Step 7• Step 8• Step 9• Step 10• Step …• Step …• Step …


Quick Definitions – Different Approaches to Systems

• ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning): o Generically: it refers to the collection of administrative software that supports:

Finance needs; Student Information needs; and HR/Payroll needs. o Technically: it refers to an integrated system supporting the administrative

systems needs of a college/university by a single, integrated set of productsExamples: SGHE Banner, Datatel Colleague, Oracle PeopleSoft, 3Rivers/CAMS, etc.

• Open Source/Community Source: Software developed and available free (for the license) to schools. Support (free and fee) for patches and new versions varies widely. (Think: Free Puppies) Examples: Kuali (Finance, Student, …), Moodle

• Cloud Computing/Web Hosting: Using a remote vendor data center across the Internet, where a commercial provider maintains the hardware and/or software for a fee. Relatively new and immature for higher education…

In this presentation, we’ll use the generic definition of ERP…


Replacing major components of an institution’s administrative systems can impact a wide range of people.

Alumni and Friends

FacultyStudents

Staff

Researchers

Community

The areas most often considered ERP components:• Recruiting and Admissions• Student Registration• Student Curriculum Planning• Student Financial Aid• Student Accounts Receivable• Student Graduation• Alumni Support• Faculty Planning• Finance System• Human Resources / Payroll• Data Warehouse• Imaging• Grants & Contracts Mgmt./

Sponsored Programs• Fundraising / Advancement /

Development / OutreachBusiness Partners


Gartner’s View of the Major Available Higher Education ERP Systems

Interesting Note: Microsoft is becoming a major power in Higher Education ERP.

• MS SharePoint is becoming the portal tool at:o Datatelo SunGard HEo Campus Mgmt.

• MS Dynamics is taking over the Finance & HR at:o Three Riverso Campus Mgmt.o PowerCampus


Where will our money be spent?

ERP Project “Cost Buckets”

• One-Time Costs

o Vendor Implementation Consulting Costs (€€€€€€€€)

o Vendor Software License (€€)

o Hardware and Systems Software Costs (€€)

Backfill (Mythical Functional User Backfill During Implementation)

IT Staffing – Implementation Work

• On-Going Operating Budget Costs (often not considered) Annual Software License and Maintenance Costs

o IT Staffing – Annual Support (post-implementation = think: “forever”)

Future Upgrade Costs (Systems and Consulting)


Most common DESIRED benefits for a new ERP Vision…Typical expectations of a new ERP system:

• Ability to provide new and improved innovative services to student, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and other constituents

• Significantly improved management reporting capabilities

• Streamlined business processes with improved operational efficiencies

• More intuitive, browser-based user interface

• Integrated notification, alerting, and communication capabilities

• 24/7 real-time processing and batch-processing capabilities

• Robust self-service functionality (registration, bill payment, degree audit, …)

• Configurable approval workflow that can be set up based on user profile

• Potential operational cost savings

• Elimination of paper where logical Great goals…. MANY obstacles to achieving them…..


We found common themes from our ERP Independent Project Audits, as well as research from other ERP audits.

Typical Problem Findings From Our ERP Audits:• Poor / invisible executive support

• Poor / non-existent Project Management (both Vendors and Schools)

• Poor / non-existent stakeholder communications

• Minimal / non-existent software requirements used to select products

• No assessment / remediation plan for problems created by ERP change

• No framework to make decisions in a timely manner

• Confusing vendor promises with contractual obligations

• Not really reading vendor contracts

• Schools not owning the implementation

• No process streamlining / re-engineering

• Cutting training and testing to save money

• They didn’t know how to do things right….


Additionally, international institutions face other challenges to success….

Typical Package Problems Facing International Institutions:

• Frequent lack of true multi-currency support

• Vendor support hours not aligning with local hours

• Older technology underlying many products

• Vendor support staff and materials may only be in English

• Limited/non-existent multi-language capabilities within product screens

• Remote vendor hosting of applications may not be reliable / affordable

• Institution’s staff and financial resources may not match resource demands of some packages


Addressed Primarilyby OrganizationalChange Management

People

Process TechnologyAddressed Primarilyby BusinessProcess Redesign

AddressedPrimarily

by Software Package

People and process issues are often overlooked in planning ERP projects.

The Challenge: Avoiding These ProblemsThe Solution: Think Holistically about major changes… Successful Change Involves Focusing on the People, Processes and Technology

Ohio University – Admissionsfrom Recruiting to Final Admit

First DARS report is created

Housing Confirmations

are created

Admissions creates STUD

record

Student registers for classes

Student account is created in SIS

Attend Precollege?

Precollege records No

Show

Students meet with Advisors

Precollege fee is applied to account

Registration is blocked

OU Housing Application SIS

Student confirms Precolllege slot

online

Admits receive Housing

confirmation

OU Precollege Application

Admits invited to Precollege

No

Yes

Financial Aid is Disbursed

(Financial Aid Packaging)


Based on our research, we developed a set of ERP Critical Success Factors that can significantly improve success.

Higher Education IT Project - Critical Success Factors:• Strong and demonstrated Executive Leadership and support

• Clearly defined application requirements

• Broad stakeholder participation

• Functional Executives own / drive the project

• Focus on minimizing package changes by re-engineering processes

• Clear Project Governance and Decision-Making Framework

• Aggressive focus on understanding and tracking project costs / benefits

• Active and on-going communications planning

• Strong Project Management resources and processes

• Clear project roles and responsibilities

• Strong focus on managing change

Critical Success Factors: Those few areas where things must go just right for our efforts to succeed


Best Practice: Why does everyone say “… no mods!”

One

-Tim

e an

d “F

orev

er”

Supp

ort

Cos

ts (€

& IT

Sta

ff)

Customization Level

Modern vendro ERP systems are very CONFIGURABLE, reducing the need for modifications (also called ‘customizations’).

Every software modification is expensive to build (one-time €€) and expensive to maintain (requires more permanent IT staff to maintain €€€€).

Replacing old systems is the best time to get rid of antiquated business processes – it may be 20+ years until you get this chance again….


How do you make decisions efficiently and quickly….

Universities and Colleges can become more effective at making decisions if they understand and break their decision-making bottlenecks:

Effective and timely decisions means reduced cost for major IT projects

Decision Inhibitors:• More than one person thinks they

have final decision authority• No one knows who has final

decision authority• No one is accountable for crucial

decisions• Too many people have veto power

for decisions• No tie-breaking escalation person• No time limits on discussions• 100% Consensus is required

Decision Enablers:• Clearly defined and communicated

roles and responsibilities for each type of decision

• The final decision maker is identified and accountable before discussion begins

• There is a clearly defined tie-breaking escalation process and person

• Empower staff • Decision dates are set and met• Consensus is desired not required

NOTE: These concepts are modeled on the 2006 Harvard Business Review article “Who has the ‘D’?”


Who will make decisions for YOUR ERP Project???

DECISION-MAKING ROLES

Project SponsorOverall Project Leadership / Escalation Point

DeciderFinal Decision Maker / Tie-Breaker / Authority to Decide

RecommendersMake Proposals / Have Veto Power

ReviewersReview Proposed Decisions / Make Case For Change

AdvisorsConsulted on Decision / Provide input on alternatives

PerformersResponsible / Accountable to Execute Decisions


What is Business Process Re-engineering for ERP?Business process reengineering / redesign (BPR) seeks to streamline, improve service quality and performance of administrative and student services in preparation for a new ERP project. BPR goals may vary by institution, but often include the following:

• Reducing the number of steps in a process

• Increase the use of new technology tools and self-service opportunities

• Reducing (eliminating!) duplicate data entry tasks

• Increasing stakeholdersatisfaction with the service

• Reducing the time and effort needed to complete tasks

• Increasing the accuracy and quality of activities

• Utilize a new package without major software changes

Ohio University – Admissionsfrom Recruiting to Final Admit

First DARS report is created

Housing Confirmations

are created

Admissions creates STUD

record

Student registers for classes

Student account is created in SIS

Attend Precollege?

Precollege records No

Show

Students meet with Advisors

Precollege fee is applied to account

Registration is blocked

OU Housing Application SIS

Student confirms Precolllege slot

online

Admits receive Housing

confirmation

OU Precollege Application

Admits invited to Precollege

No

Yes

Financial Aid is Disbursed

(Financial Aid Packaging)


How will you manage your ERP, AFTER you ‘go-live’????

You may not believe it, but someday the ERP project will end….

WHEN it does….

How do you want to manage the systems in your new ERP world?

• Deploying new version functionality

• Tweaking configuration business rules

• Turn on things you skipped the first time….

• Creating new reports to better understand what’s happening across the school

• Etc…


Wrap-up….

? ? ?

Questions and Answers

? ? ?


Contact:

Moran Technology Consultingwww.morantechnology.com

Charlie MoranSenior Partner

877-212-6379 – US Toll-free Voice & [email protected]

Documents

Administrative Systems (ERP) Replacement Projects: … Moran - ERP Vision... · Administrative Systems (ERP) Replacement Projects: The Vision vs. The Reality ... • Project Management