March 8, 2005

Portal Delivery: A Bold ApproachPresented by: Rick Bunt, Jonathan Moore-Wright, Lea Pennock, Sharon Scott, Todd Trann

University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Tuesday, 7:30 am – 8:30 amEvaluation Code 376

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Acting boldly and seizing their chanceWith no promise of funds in advance A team of mere mortals Unacquainted with portalsPut one in by the seats of their pants.

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PAWS

Background

Our approach

Some challenges

Lessons learned

Outline

Personalized Access to Web Services

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The University of Saskatchewan

Located in Saskatoon, Canada A “medical-doctoral” University

20,000 students 7,500 faculty and staff 14 colleges and schools with a full range of programs

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Our ERP Timeline

May 2002 – Board of Governors approves Si! project; selection process begins

November 2002 – RFP issued May 2003 – SCT Banner selected June 2003 – Contract signed; project planning begins September 2003 – PAWS launched “quietly” March 2004 – PAWS launched “loudly” April 2005 – Student goes live May 2005 – Finance goes live

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The Case for a Portal

What we had in May 2003 Institutional readiness Existing work Lists of desired services to deliver

What we didn’t have Process to implement Support (read: budget)

uPortal chosen as way to “break in” Then, along came Luminis …

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The Luminis Decision

Serendipity Luminis came as part of Si! project

purchase Not our first choice, but a good one

Leveraged existing uPortal work Provided a vendor partner Project credibility

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Project Strategy

First tangible deliverable of our Si! project We required a bold approach

Tight scope, focus on quick wins Nimble governance, “just-in-time” project

management Evolutionary budgeting Staged rollout

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Project Timeline

May 03 Sep 03 Mar 04 Sept 04

Adjustments

Train Users

Faculty Pilot

Implement

Tech training

Plan

Banner Prep

3.2 Upgrade

3.2 Beta

3.1 Upgrade

New Server

Sign Contract

Loud Launch

SoftLaunch

Email

MyTaxForms

MyGrades

MyFiles

Calendar

Courses

MyFees

Groups

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Functionality & Services

Just-in-time delivery: leverage existing work Out-of-the-box functionality

Email, calendar, groups, courses, announcements

Grab the “low-hanging fruit” RSS, XML, WebProxy, CPIP

Throwaways

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Things don’t always follow the plan…

Rick,The portal is not yet live due to an unforeseen

requirement to re-install the entire portal…

Todd

From our Technical Lead …

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Many Challenges

Both technical and organisational A portal is a great “exposer” of

existing issues Enterprise-wide coordination

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Authentication

Issues Centralised authentication Distribution of login credentials

Strategies Leveraged previous work to establish a

campus-wide identifier Chose LDAP, maintained via existing

management system

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Email

Issues Multiple existing services No central directory Coincident email system upgrade

Strategies “Bless” one system, guess for the rest Go live with old email server

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Instructor Data

Issues No central instructor identification

(>5000 class assignments) Several existing manual processes and

applications Negative impact on MyCourses

Strategies Opportunity for process improvement Collect with “throwaway” application

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Eligibility

Issues How to assign and control access to

services? Who is eligible for portal access?

Strategies Calls for clear definition of roles Use existing account management system (Continually) redefine “university community”

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Defining Responsibilities

Issues A portal is not “just an IT project” Unclear responsibility for communications

Strategies Establish “Content Lead” Clearly separate responsibilities

(management, steering, operations) Co-development model

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Staffing

A special challenge: no budget for staff Relied on “contributed” resources

Core skills needed Technical Lead, systems and database

admin, developers Content Lead User support and training

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A quick look at PAWS…

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1-Sep-03 1-Jul-041-Mar-041-Dec-03 1-Sep-04

Soft launch

Christmas break

Spring break

Loud launch

End of term

NSID distribution

to newly admitted students

Classes resume

Usage

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In Retrospect

Our bold approach has paid off Clear vision, build the plan as required Leverage existing work Staged rollout, to everyone

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In Retrospect

Some challenges Test vs. production environment Everything on one server (scaling) SSO to Banner

Email not the carrot we thought Open-source vs vendor Changing processes takes time (and

patience)

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Now What?

Tie-in to Banner (Student and Finance) WebCT integration Integration – legacy middleware and role of

LDIS Enhancements to Luminis More services

integration with legacy systems (eg. PS HR) New channel development

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Summary:With PAWS, we are…

Responding to expectations of our students and faculty

Facilitating faculty adoption of technology

Reducing email clutter (via Targetted messaging)

Enhancing U of S reputation Leveraging existing brand awareness

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With PAWS, we are…

Providing a common platform for service delivery Building communities of both users and service

providers Preparing the community for on-line service

delivery Continuing to work with SCT in feature

development Proving value through usage – the system sells

itself

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And Usage Continues to Grow …

Term Two2004/05

Sept 03 Sept 04

Jan 05

Soft launch

Loud launch

NSIDs distributed to newly admitted

students

Term One2004/05

Mar 04

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Lessons Learned

Pay attention to governance Take advantage of quick wins Be ready

If you build it, they will come!

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Questions?

Rick.Bunt@usask.caJonathan.Moore-Wright@usask.ca