Integrated Enrollment Solutions Newsletter Technology

Scope Creep. Scope creep (both in time and financial resources) will take its toll if you don’t consider additional factors now. The number of software implementation projects that exceed budget or time lines is estimated to be close to two-thirds! The following is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but does provide you with the type of issues that are likely to arise.

Hardware Needs. Will you need to upgrade or purchase additional hardware? How does it interact with your current systems?

Merge Systems, Concurrent Systems or Both?. Are you implementing one comprehensive, integrated program or will you run other department-specific software along side your new system? Does the pre-packaged software have all the modules you will need? Are they effective for each department or will you need to purchase additional programs to supplement? If you are merging all your information in to one program, how does your current data structure map to the new? Who will be responsible for doing this…your staff, the vendor, a joint group? What will be lost, if anything, and how will you resolve this? If you will be running additional software programs, what effect will this have on accessing your data? How will it impact the other programs and/or your systems? Do the programs communicate with each other? Will you need an integration/migration package to do this? If so, will you purchase this or develop it in-house? Do you have the resources (staff, time, financial) to do that?

Security Issues. You may need to implement a different security system (possibly more or less robust than your current system).

IT Personnel. Will the new system require the addition of trained personnel not currently on staff? Will you be able to outsource all the support? Will your current staff need additional training?

Buy or build? It is not uncommon at this point for someone at your organization to suggest building your own, customized application. At what point does it make more sense to do this? There are two primary questions that need to be answered to determine the best course of action.

The Worst Thing You Can Do is Launch Before Thoroughly Testing

1. Is there any missing functionality in the prepacked program? If so how much? What are the costs associated with additional development?

2. Does that expense exceed the costs associated with developing your own (measured in money, time, and human resources)? Do you have the current expertise on staff or will you need to o utilize existing staff, what other projects or tasks will be postponed while they are doing this? Are you willing to accommodate that?

If you build your own, you will need much more comprehensive and detailed information than if you purchase. In pre-packaged software programs, much of this is already determined, which may or may not be how you would like to have things done. Building your own program requires that you articulate detailed specifications. You will need to be clearly define your needs: the data to be collected; reporting needs; how processes and data need to work together to name a few. For example: You can’t just say that you want to report enrollment. Do you need to count by gender, by ethnicity, age, high school, GPA, etc.? All possible factors need to be identified at the beginning for maximum efficiency. The time needed to identify this information, build and test may exceed that of purchasing an off-the-shelf program. Of course, the advantage is that you have an integrated program that meets your unique needs and requirements and it’s yours! There are no annual licensing fees or additional expenses for increases in users, locations or FTEs.

If you purchase pre-packaged software, you may be able to access or subcontract support at less expense than hiring additional staff. It can (if you’ve done your homework) take you considerably less time to implement as well. You also have the advantage of accessing industry procedural standards. However, as previously mentioned the processes and functions are all pre-determined and may not fit your institution. Customization may either not be available or cost prohibitive. Updated versions of the pre-packaged software may overwrite previous customization and result in additional expense. You may need to purchase additional software programs or modules to meet all departmental needs; and this may cause difficulties and/or additional expense.

Other Considerations. Once you have made your decision to build or buy, you also need to include in to your implementation considerations the following:

Versioning Systems. During any software implementation project, you will need to keep back-ups (versions) of your data and to document all your changes, decisions, requests for new modules, updates, enhancement requests, etc. This is a significant point of anxiety during implementation projects if not initially planned correctly. You will more than likely want a detailed history of everything for future reference including all ‘old’ versions of data.

Testing, Testing, Testing. The worst thing you can do is launch before thorough testing. If you do, you will more than likely lose credibility with users if there are noticable issues. Also, this may prolong your implementation. Regression/incremental testing is key as time permits. Test per module for easy identification and resolution of issues. Have users test, provide feedback, and approve changes.

Training. It is usually beneficial to train your staff by department. Each area has specific needs, questions and processes. General training is a great first step to overview how everything works together, but the ideal situation is for people to learn how to do their specific, every day tasks on the new system.

Help is Available! One of the reasons IES began was the need we saw to assist colleges in identifying applications (customized or prepackaged) that work within existing resources. There are always alternatives. Integrated Enrollment Solutions can help you identify the benefits and disadvantages of alternatives and find the solution that best fits your needs and resources. We act as liaison between operations, IT, vendors and other groups to facilitate expedient resolution to issues. Many organizations do not have the personnel to dedicate to projects of this magnitude. It results in an ‘add on’ task to existing personnel resulting in delays or postponement of other important duties. Our staff can relieve the pressure associated with software selection, systems design and implementation. Contact us today!

Hunter Griffith is a founding partner and the Chief Information Officer at Integrated Enrollment Solutions. He has worked in the technology field for over 10 years and has extensive experience in a variety of industries and platforms. Hunter has written a multitude of custom applications including: security programs; custom drug testing and camera/security software enabling uploads of the results to the company’s database from remote locations; and a contract management program. Most recently Hunter has written and maintained a complex sales management application supporting a partnership between higher education and a call center. This web-based program includes a database of 78 tables comprising over 1578 data fields that integrate five data input streams. Over the years, Hunter has developed software systems using various environments including C++, C, C#, Java, Javascript, Perl, Oracle PL/SQL, SQLServer, TransSQL, ANSI-Compliant SQL, Oracle, SQLServer, MySQL and Access.