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Building a Web-Based Reporting System: Lessons Learned. AIR 2005. Presenters . Jacque Frost Chris Maxwell. Presentation Overview. Project plan and required resources Tool demonstration Project timeline Issued faced and lessons learned: Working with Information Technology - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Building a Web-Based Reporting System:
Lessons Learned
AIR 2005
Presenters
Jacque Frost
Chris Maxwell
Presentation Overview Project plan and required resources Tool demonstration Project timeline Issued faced and lessons learned:
Working with Information Technology Working with the data owners Data issues Policy/Security issues
Summery
Why a Web-Based Reporting System
Meet increasing unit level data requests Provide data to non-experts Decrease OIR ad-hoc reporting volume
Provide data standardization Provide roll-up to official totals Consistency in unit Strategic Plans
Planned Project Scope Web tools:
100% thin-client Intuitive in use, zero training
Reporting focus: Most requested type of information Start with drilling into the Data Digest totals Will not be comprehensive or a full BI solution
Planned Resources Required Institutional Research (OIR):
Will be responsible for application development About 0.4FTE for up to a year to establish a
series of web tools
Information Technology (IT) Purchase, install, configure software Set up and maintain server Troubleshoot as needed
Project Timeline
November 2002: Development begins
February 2003: First application published
August 2003: First production tool published
October 2003: First three Data Digest tools
published
Project Timeline (cont.) February 2004: Salary tools and portal published
under direction of provost July 2004: Sponsored Program Services (SPS)
tools published November 2003 - Present: More Data Digest
and other tools are published, tool edits continue. Service also used for data collection and surveys
Issues Faced and Lessons learned
Working with Information Technology (IT): Issues Faced
Initial Resistance Did not see need for pre-BI solution Did not want to support non-IT chosen technology Not in line with IT’s OnePurdue vision
Agreement to OIR plan for project
Additional support: IDN datamart project If you can’t beat them, join them!
Working with IT: Lessons Learned
Do not give up or give in on key issues
If necessary, use the leverage of the OIR office
Always look forward Concentrate on successes Leave conflicts behind
Working with the Data Owners: Issues Faced
Publishing web tools can make OIR look like the data owner OIR does not own the data - yet is providing it at
any imaginable level of breakdown, at any time with the click of a mouse
Encountered initial data owner resistance/concerns Data security/policy issues Loss of control over the information
Working with the Data Owners: Lessons Learned
Involve them very early in the process - show them the earliest drafts of the web tool
Communicate continually
Quickly address concerns and suggestions
Use a “sign off” policy on tool release
Working with the Data: Issues Faced
Web tools are very demanding of the data Great data for campus reporting can look much
worse on drill downs
Data availability was a critical limiting factor in this project Time needed to build a typical new tool: days Time needed to get “signed off” data: months
Working with the Data: Lessons Learned
Do not wait until the data are perfect Release tools with notes and caveats
In general, do not fix the data with application programming The web tool needs to agree with SQL database
queries that use the same criteria Allow the web tool to expose some deficiencies, it
can spur data owners and IT to make fixes
Security and Policy issues FERPA
Drill downs can easily expose unit=1 records
Internal Purdue policies Might not be well documented – in one case we
received a waiver
Goal is to provide access to anyone with a business need for the information No real sensitive information available with tools
Summary
Overall Results Project was a success!
Proceeded on schedule with anticipated resources
IT’s IDN datamart project was a plus
Tool use 3,000 primary queries by about 300 users in our
first full year (Oct 03 – Sep 04) Increasing traffic – now averaging about 18
primary queries per business day
Overall Results (cont.) Still the source for Purdue data over the web
IT’s BI tool still not in production
Standardization of reported data a big plus
Overall Lessons Learned IT support role / OIR application developer
role worked very well Used strengths of each area OIR control of tools enabled very fast turn around
times for any needed edits / enhancements
Data Digest totals validated the tools
In retrospect, could have more aggressively marketed the project
Overall Lessons Learned (cont.) Tool logging is invaluable
Technical issues were not the most challenging aspects of this project Data, people, and politics
Accept politics as an integral part of the project
“This is exactly what I need. Now I can sleep peacefully over the weekend!”
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS
Office of Institutional Researchwww.purdue.edu/oir